"gunboats in TSATF" Topic

Hey all,

Hope everyone is well! I was curious- I've read a bit about using gunboats in TSATF (particularly on this board) and was wondering if there are published rules anywhere for them?

For those of you that use gunboats- do you crew them with sailors in addition to whatever regular troops it may carry?

Did these gunboats have below decks to place other troops (and possibly leave them off the gameboard until they are needed?)

Thanks!

J

Boilers and Breachloaders at The Virtual Armchair General.
I crew with sailors.

jfishm1981, there are no official gunboat rules for TSATF at this time but there are (3) sets people are using. The B&B rules from TVAG as stated above, which are a stand alone set of rules with different mechanisms. Overboard Ship to Shore Rules for TSATF, which are a couple pages long and use some similar mechanisms. I've been told that they are available with the new TSATF scenario book and my personal favorite Gunboat and Dhow! from Last Stand Dan. Gunboat and Dhow where made by Dan to seamlessly transition from land to naval actions in TSATF by using similar mechanics and procedures. We've played G&D many times and love this set!!!

laststanddan.blogspot.com

sergeants3.com/index.html

link

sgtguinness.blogspot.com

Check out all (3) websites for availability, prices, details, pics, AAR's, WIP, etc.

Cheers,
JB

There are armored car and tank rules (brief ones, admittedly) in "The Sword in Palestine" variant of TSATF. I use them for gunboats. Just keep it in the water.

The only crew members I've ever worried about are the gun crews, the captain, and the man at the wheel.

There is also chapter 35 in my old copy of Science vs. Pluck (SvP)(Umpire's Pocket Book) entitled "Gunboats on the Nile". I have thought that the information there could be incorporated in a TSATF scenario. I am not sure if the hits work out correctly, but there is a suggested armor rating (none, soft cover, hard cover) which could be transferred to TSATF shooting chart. I suppose a black card could be a standard hit, while a red card would be a critical hit, which would subtract one hit from the gunboat and get a roll on the SvP critical hit charts just for that extra bit of excitement.

For example; Take SvP's Gordon's Steamer (a sidewheeler). It carries 2 4pdrs and 2 gardners. It is listed a soft cover with 5 hits. Maybe this could be a TSATF Class III target that would take 5 cannon hits before sinking.

SvP Gordon's Steamer is listed as speed of 5-10 Kts. That's between 5.8 mph and 11.5 mph. I have only done a quick check of infantry marching speeds and found that infantry marching speeds around 2.5-3.4 mph. Supposing that infantry use 3 dice for TSATF moves, then maybe Gordon's Steamer gets 10 dice maximum. That seems high to me for the gaming table, so maybe 6 dice movement maximum. I would need to playtest this before deciding on movement.

Thanks for all the info. Are the Gunboat and Dhow rules available for purchase?

J

Jfishm1981, yes. Just add a comment on his blog and he will email you back. I know he's putting some together for sale at Recon in Fl in May and will be demoing the rules and selling copies.

Here's the con link for where he will be: hmgs-south.com

Contact Dan for boats and rules sales at: dagurule @ me dot com

Cheers,
JB