This is intended to be a set of quick-moving, hard-hitting rules, best suited to those who wish to sacrifice a certain amount of realism for the sake of the game. It is not intended to be comprehensive and cover every possible situation that could arise out of the U.S. Civil War. it is, rather, a playable game… a framework around which you can build as elaborate a set of rules as you wish.
– Ironclad Gunboat Rules introduction
The scale of the rules is for approximately 1:1200 ships (such as those made by Houston’s Ships) or something close to this scale. for table top play, the model ships used should be something between 1 inch and 2-1/2 inches long. Larger ships such as 1/600 scale could be used with little change. Much larger ships could be used on the floor or out-of-doors, but be sure to increase the ranges and speeds proportionately when doing so.
– Ironclad Gunboat Rules introduction
