| Private Matter | 03 Mar 2009 6:29 p.m. PST |
Can any one give me some feedback on either of these Rules. I'm interested in playability and whether or not they give a feel for the period. I am mostly interested in river actions. I'd also be keen to hear about any other free rules for ironclads that are playable. |
| Ditto Tango 2 1 | 03 Mar 2009 7:24 p.m. PST |
I don't know Iron & Steam, but have some mostly positive feelings about SOTW. We played a lot of Smoke on the Water: link My friends especially enjoy the mechanic of writing down orders and then moving the ships using turning templates. The gunnery system is particularly detailed and perhaps over detailed in my opinion – it involves resolving the shot of each and every gun and rolling for each of the following: to hit; determining location hit; whether the shot penetrates; does it explode in the case of shell; and finally effect (there might be one or two other things in there). This really is great fun for smallish vessels with not a lot of guns but gets wearisome with larger vessels like the Hartford. As I discuss here, link , I think this is far too much detail. I'm not sure what perspective SOTW is written from, ie, is it from the point of view of an individual vessel commander (I think this is JAson's perspective, but can't tell for sure) or of a larger formation. In either case, I think the gunnery system is too detailed for either perspective and would be more appropriate if we were worried about individual gun crew commanders. Just my opinion. I started to write my own substitute gunnery system to try and do a combined roll – and there's some stuff buried in my site, but wouldn't recommend doing anything with it as I let the project slip to the bottom of my pile a few years ago. In any event, Smoke on The Water is a very much enjoyed rule system with us, it's just that the gunnery system becomes onerous with large numbers of vessels – we first noticed this in a marked way with our Mobile Bay scenario, ucs.mun.ca/~tmarshal/mobile .
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Tim |
| Master Caster | 03 Mar 2009 7:58 p.m. PST |
Traveler: if you don't have SOTW, you can download a free copy and check them out yourself off of the Yahoo Ironclads Group. You can find a link to it in the links section of my web site. You must join the group….a short statement mentioning ironclads and/or an interest in the period will suffice to let you join. The rules and other items are in the files and photo sections which you can access once you join. We have over 900 members worldwide and it's a good group. Check it out.
Toby Barrett Thoroughbred Figures |
| Syr Otto | 03 Mar 2009 9:44 p.m. PST |
I used to play Iron & Steam, our group used the 1/600 Thoroughbred models and scratch built the ones that we could not find commercially at the time. Ship's maximum movement is their speed in inches. Maximum gun ranges are 60" unless you use the optional expanded gun chart. Moves are plotted as are pivot gun facings, and then ships are moved simultaneously. Gunfire that penetrates the target's armor can will inflict dammage, gunfire that does not can slowly reduce the target's armor. I found it to be an enjoyable game. |
| Ditto Tango 2 1 | 04 Mar 2009 4:19 a.m. PST |
Note to file – I just destroyed my web site while trying to back it up. I'll have it up and running again in a day or two. Jeez what a moron I am…  |
| Steve | 04 Mar 2009 6:31 a.m. PST |
I've played SOTW for years and run it at many conventions. A good system and easy to learn. Each player can run 1 ship if a newbie or around 5 if experienced. Since its free might as well give it a try. Steve |
| Ceterman | 04 Mar 2009 10:50 a.m. PST |
Wait for Toby at Thoroughbred to get his "Ironclads" rules revamped! TMP link
Sorry Toby, not a jab, actually, just the oppisite! Just trying to get another gamer onboard which means another order for you, when you do put 'em out!
Peter |
| EJNashIII | 04 Mar 2009 1:00 p.m. PST |
I haven't actually played Iron and steam, but looking at the rules they seem fairly similar to SOTW. Plotted movement, individual gunfire. I do like that they have a 2 page summary cheat sheet. SOTW seems a bit more inclusive and thought out in it's breath, but you will probably be just as happy with either one. I know you are looking for free, but you should check out Iron and Fire link
link A little different. no plotted movement (less ramming big islands). Individual weapon fire, but alternative rules for mass fire in larger engagements. |
The G Dog  | 05 Mar 2009 6:16 a.m. PST |
We played a large game of SOTW last month – 14 ships with shore batteries – and it took a long time to play. Now mind you, we were using a lot of ironclads and monitors with the rate of fire rules, so things got tedious shooting – not pentrating – and then reloading for 3-8 turns. But still a good game. I've leafed through my copy of Iron and Fire and it looks interesting. We'd play it this Saturday, but our campaign is facing its largest game yet (close to 30 ships) and we don't want to learn new rules for such a big game. I'll just echo EJ's comments – its looks interesting. I'll need to double all the ranges as its written for 1/1200 and we use 1/600 and the rivers are narrow enough as it stands now. |
| The G Dog | 07 Mar 2009 10:50 p.m. PST |
3-4 players. 32 ships and shore batteries. 24 turns. 9 hours of game play. I'm wasted. Too long standing and reading charts. Massive carnage – New Ironsides sunk, Texas abandoned and captured, Passaic struck and captured. Tecumseh and Manhattan heavily damaged. Either we needed more players, or fewer ships. SOTW was right at the breaking point with what we asked of it. |
