ACW Naval Game

My friend George had a few of us over for the inaugural game in his new wargaming 'clubhouse' - a purpose built shed for wargaming. This game was specifically for those people who helped George set up the shed - wiring, insulating, adding storage lofts, etc. The game was the first play test in what I hope is many to come ACW naval games using a set of fast play rules that George has created. The rules don't as of yet have a name, but one suggestion was "Broadsides, Valor and Death", abbreviated "BVD".

The game functions on a grid system and allows for movement between grid intersection points using diagonal or orthogonal movement. Combat allows for several classes of ACW ships: wooden, 'tin' clad and ironclad. There are many small nuances that make it a fun game...sort of a DBA for ACW naval. The rules were easy to play and for a first play had surprisingly few problems. With some tweaks I think they'll provide us many fun games in the future.

The scenario required the union players: George, Ed and myself press through a blocking Confederate force of Charlie, Mike and Ralph. The Confederates controlled some blocking forts on a set of river islands. George spear headed the Union attack past the forts and blocking Confederate ships. Although this proved disastrous for his ships, it did cause the Confederates to pull back a large portion of their ships to defend their moored boats. The remaining advance Confederate boats slugged it out with the Union but eventually things turned  and the Union were able to press past the forts and whittle down the Confederate navy. The victory was quite Pyrrhic with the Confederates losing 9 ships, but the Union only having their two weakest wooden boats left at the end of the battle. All in all everyone had a great time and it was a perfect way to break in George's new clubhouse.