2022 International Naval Wargamine Day - Lissa 1866

After a bit of a hiatus from gaming and painting, a few of us got together on Saturday for an International Naval Wargaming Day game. For those of you that are unfamiliar with International Naval Wargaming Day (INWaD), in 2017 David Manley, well know rule writer and naval gamer, kicked off the first INWaD as a day to "Celebrate the birth of the father of naval wargaming, Fred T. Jane, by running or taking part in a game of your own!"

 

Our INWaD game this year covered the 1866 Battle of Lissa. We used 1/600 scale ships and the Sail and Steam Navies rules with the optional gun group rule (slightly modified). The ships are from Bay Area Yards, which can still be found on Facebook. It was a group project with 3 of us putting together the ships. We included all 1 Italian ironclads, 7 Austrian ironclads, and 7 Austrian wooden ships that formed the Austrian second line. 

 

The Austrians were set up in 2 wedge formations, with the ironclads leading the way, and could start at full speed. The Italian ships were set up in a line ahead formation, but a little strung out and limited in their initial speed. This was done to represent Italian command confusion in the historic battle.

Austrian setup, with the ironclads in front

Italians in line ahead (the last 3 ships are out of the photo)

To help get the game going, the Austrians were set up close enough for some ships to make ram attacks on by the end of turn 1.

Austrians closing with the Italian line

The Italians fired at the closing Austrians. Most shots were ineffective, but one lucky hit damaged the engines on the Austrian ironclad Salamander leaving it to limp along. But even with the close setup, the Austrians were only able to ram 2 Italians on the first turn.

Two Italians (top and center) are rammed. The lower ship didn't quite make it

The ram results proved to be devastating, leaving both Italian ships (Ancona and Re D'Italia) in a sinking condition. The Austrian rammers were able to back out and look for other Italians.

Hapsburg (top) and Erzherzog Ferdinand Max leave Ancona and Re D'Italia sinking

The Italians exacted some revenge on the next turn as San Martino rammed and sank Don Juan De Austria.

Don Juan sinking

At the rear of the Italian formation, Prinz Eugen rammed Re Di Portogallo but didn't do enough damage to sink the giant ironclad. However, the ships did become fouled and would spend the next couple of turns trying to separate themselves.

Prinz Eugen and Re Di Portogallo locked together

By this time the Austrian second line was getting into action. The Austrian wooden 92-gun steam ship of the line Kaiser tried to ram the Palestro, but it was only a glancing blow with no damage done. But this did allow Kaiser to turn parallel to Palestro and unleash a full broadside on the next turn. The short range broadside racked the armor on Palestro and encouraged the Austrians to try to get Kaiser within short range of other Austrian ships.

Kaiser attempts to ram

Kaiser and Palestro exchange fire

The lead Italian ships, Principe De Carignano and Castelfidardo, found themselves in a target rich environment, which made maneuvering, ramming, and avoiding being rammed difficult. 

Lead Italian ships moving through the Austrians

During the game, there were some effective gun shots, but most of the time it was just chipping away at armor. Several players remarked that the game felt more like galley warfare than ironclads. 

The scrum on the right side was starting to break up with several ships seeking open water, so we decided to call the game at this point. The Italians had lost 2 ironclads, but most of the remaining ships were battered enough that they may no survive further action. The Austrians lost 2 ironclads and 2 wooden ships, but most of their other ships were in decent shape. We decided this was an Austrian Pyrrhic victory - a win but not a great win.  

One last photo of the scrum on the right side of the table

Overall it was a fun game and kept everyone involved. The results were mostly historical, with ram attacks proving effective and gunnery not so much.

April Roundup

After a couple good gaming weekends in March, things slowed down in April. In amongst other things I had to take care of, I was able to paint up some ships and play a game of Saga.

Since this blog is named Naval Gazing, it seems best to start with the ships. I finally got back to working ships for the planned Battle of Lissa games (early playtest photos here). I have five ships I'm working on: Re Di Portogallo (that's the big one in the middle below), Ancona, San Martino (both Regina Maris Pia ironclads), Varese, and Palestro (the smaller ships). All the ships are 1/600 scale from Bay Area Yards. Here they are after the initial paint work. 

Lissa ships ready for fitting out

After the paint work, I started putting together masts for the ships. They didn't come with any, so I had to make my own out of plastic rod. Here are a couple of photo with masts.

All masted up

Grouped a little closer, so you can see the masts a little better

As far as I can tell, the ships were all jackass-barque rigged. Meaning they were partially fore-aft rigged and partially square-rigged. With the masts in place, the next step is adding ratlines and rigging. 

In the middle of the month, one of my gaming group said that they were putting together a Saga army. All of the sudden several others chimed in that they already had armies and it was off to a new project. The base rules of the game are pretty easy, the real meat of the game comes from the faction battle boards. The battle boards give each faction their own advantages and actions. Players roll Saga dice and place them on their battle board to activate units and gain advantages in movement and combat. Most of the group already had armies for the Viking era, so I decided to get in with a Norman army. I chose the Normans because there was only one other person in group with Normans and I thought they could always double as Crusaders. While my army was on order, I had a chance to play my first game with a borrowed army. We started with 4-player game with two Viking armies up against an Anglo-Saxon army and Norse Gael army. I was one of the Vikings and faced off against the Anglo-Saxons.

The setup from the Anglo-Saxon view

I had some archers, a couple warrior groups, and a couple Hearthguards (aka Hirdmen). I was the least experienced player and was just trying to figure out how everything worked together. I did start off with some good early shooting dice for my archers. 

My borrowed Vikings looking for some leadership

One thing I didn't appreciate when we started was how different the battle boards are. The Vikings are a pretty basic melee army. The Anglo-Saxons are more of a big unit, sit and wait type army (I'm sure more experienced players will tell me I'm wrong, but that was how this battle went). After my initial success with shooting, I moved in for melee and my dice went cold. I threw my forces against the Anglo-Saxon shieldwall and bounced back. I know I made some mistakes in my attacks (they were too spread out) and my poor understanding of my opponent's capabilities compounded my mistakes.

Now there are a lot fewer Vikings looking for a leader

It was good to try out the rules, but I'm glad I didn't get a Viking army. The Normans have more shooters and charge/melee options, which I think will better suit how I play games.

On a personal note, April was a little more challenging. I had some test results that concerned my oncologist, so I went in for a CT scan and bone scan. The scans showed that my cancer was growing again. My oncologist recommended we start a new chemotherapy series as soon as possible (I had my first series last summer after my initial cancer diagnosis). So, I'm back in treatment and it will last until late July. This series will use some more powerful chemicals. In addition to the normal fatigue side-effects, it will really affect my immune system. That means I'll have to avoid large groups of people (especially if they are a little sick) until August. So, I won't be able to attend the Enfilade gaming convention in May. I had been hoping to attend for the first time in 2 years (technically, the 2020 convention was cancelled), but no dice this year. I was planning to help out with the Lissa game and the group decided to post-pone it until I can be there to help out. Needless to say, my gaming will be somewhat limited until August. But I still plan on painting and getting in a few small game sessions.

Ersatz Enfilade - Ironclads Game

In normal years the Enfilade gaming convention would have happened over the U.S. Memorial Day weekend. But we still aren't in normal times and the 2021 Enfilade was moved to U.S. Labor Day weekend (September 3 - 5).  But with the first really good weather weekend coming up, I decided to have an Ersatz Enfilade game on my lawn.

Ersatz (ˈerˌzäts,ˈerˌsäts) Not real or genuine.

 

The lawn games from last year worked so well that I thought I would put up the pop-up canopy again for this game.

 

After talking with the group about what they wanted to play, we decided to do an American Civil War (ACW) naval action using the Ironclads rules. Kevin generously volunteered to run a hypothetical Confederate attack on Fort Pickens, which is the fort that was defending Pensacola Florida.

Target for Today - Fort Pickens

In addition to the fort, the Union would have a couple earthworks batteries and two Passaic class monitors. The fort and one battery defended the main ship channel, while the other battery covered a smaller channel. The monitors started on the land side of the fort near the main ship channel. The two ship channels were separated by a shallow bar, so the best entry points were through the channels. 

Union Monitors to help the defense

The Confederates had the Mobile squadron with the ironclads Nashville, Tennessee and Tuscaloosa and the wooden ships Gaines, Selma, and Morgan. 

 

Additionally, the Confederate force included the really hypothetical CSS North Carolina and CSS Stonewall ironclad cruisers. Historically, CSS North Carolina was seized by the British in October 1863, then purchased for the Royal Navy. CSS Stonewall was sold by the French to the Danes in 1863 and then to the Confederates in 1865, but it did not reach the Confederates before the end of the war; where it was taken over by the United States and later sold to Japan.

All the Confederates

CSS North Carolina and CSS Stonewall

The Confederates were split into two groups, the Mobile squadron and the hypothetical squadron. The Mobile squadron was set up in two parallel line-ahead formations, mainly due to the speed differences between all the ships. The slower ironclads (Tennessee and Tuscaloosa) were in a line closer to Fort Pickens and the faster ships (led by Nashville with the wooden ships following) in a line further away from the fort. The general idea was the faster ships could speed ahead to the main ship channel and keep firing on the fort, while the slower ironclads would take their shots and try to draw Union fire. This also allowed the ships to get on the map and engage with the fort fairly quickly. 

 

The hypothetical squadron planned to pass through the smaller ship channel and then make their way over to attack Fort Pickens. 

 

But, as with most plans, they weren't well explained and did not survive contact with the enemy. The mortars firing from Fort Pickens caused Nashville to turn out of line to avoid the shells. This in turn forced the following wooden ships to take evasive action to avoid collision. The outer line was never able to get reformed and the wooden ships were targets more than expected. The wooden ships turned away before they could get close to the main ship channel, while Nashville drove into the channel alone.

Confederate line in disorder

Trying to get the line back in order

The Union monitors moved slowly toward the main channel and decided to go after the closer Nashville, rather than the more distant hypothetical squadron. 

Union defenders head for the channel

The hypothetical squadron engaged the earthworks battery and silenced it. Then they turned toward Fort Pickens and began to engage the Union monitors at long range. 

Confederate heavies take on an earthworks battery

The guns on the monitors didn't quite have the range to damage the hypothetical squadron, so they held their fire for Nashville. But the Confederates were in range and caused a fire and magazine hit on one of the monitors.

Heavy action in the channel

With things very crowded in the main channel, the monitors went to ram Nashville, while Nashville tried to return the favor with a bow on bow ram.

Ramming and fires!

Damage was done to both sides, but everyone was still afloat. At this point we took a break to evaluate what had happened and decide if we wanted to continue.

Confederate decision point

Looking over the current situation; the main ship channel was blocked, two of the three Confederate wooden ships had taken heavy damage and Nashville was not in great shape. But the other Confederate ironclads only had minor damage and could still fight. On the Union side, one monitor was sinking, one fort face had taken heavy damage, and the other monitor had light damage.

 

After talking through the situation, things still seemed undecided. But we agreed the Confederates had an edge at this point with the heavy guns of the hypothetical squadron now able to be turned on the fort. Although it would be a near run thing for either side. 

 

With that, we wrapped up the game and spent the remaining time visiting and talking about current and future projects. Overall it was a fun game and day. It was good to see and game with people in person after a long winter.

 

Beyond Trent's Reach

With another good weather weekend, I offered up my yard for some outdoor gaming (with proper mask-wearing and social distancing). This time we decided to play Ironclads and Kevin came up with an alternate Battle of Trent's Reach scenario called "Beyond Trent's Reach." The scenario assumed the Confederate James River Squadron was able to make it past the Union obstacles and fortification (with the chance of some damage) to fight the Union James River Flotilla. The Confederates victory conditions were to exit their ironclads off the edge of the board without taking too much damage, while the Union tried to stop them.

Kevin also had some show and tell with the latest ironclad ships he had finished. None of which were involved in the battle, but it is always fun to have a little show & tell.

From the bottom to top USS Tuscarora, USS Dunderberg, and USS Mississippi with the Hunchback and Miami in the background

I set up my naval mats with some river banks and a little bend. We also threw out some shallows near the banks, but I didn't have them out when the picture was taken.

The James River (although the water is a little choppy for a river)

The Confederates started with the ironclads Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Virginia II, along with the gunboats Hampton and Nansemond. They set up first and rolled for damage from running the obstructions and forts. Overall damage was light, but the Fredericksburg did take some speed damage, slowing her down.

Gunboats near the bottom, Virginia II in the middle, then Richmond and Fredericksburg

The Union side started with the converted ferry Hunchback and sidewheeler Miami on the board with reinforcements coming on turns 3 and 6.

Union ships making a tactical withdrawl

Out-numbered and out-gunned, the Union ships started making their way down river hoping to meet with their reinforcements. But the initial Confederate shots struck home. On turn 1, Hunchback was set on fire.

Hunchback on fire

Then on the next turn a critical hit exploded Hunchback's boiler putting it out of action and sinking. Meanwhile, Miami was also taking some hits and got a rudder jam that forced it to turn back toward the Confederates.

Hunchback explodes while Miami's rudder is stuck in a starboard turn

Miami did get some good hits on the gunboat Nansemond, which failed a morale check and was forced to turn away from the battle. Nansemond would later recover morale, but played only a minor part in the rest of the battle. The other gunboat, Hampton, continued to battle away with Miami. The two boats had a minor collision and gunfire from Hampton set Miami on fire.

Hampton and Miami at close quarters

The ironclads also fired at Miami causing even more damage. The sidewheeler was soon put out of action and would eventually sink.

But things weren't all bad for the Union. On turn 3 the reinforcement roll gave them the twin-turret monitor Onondaga and the 90-day gunboat Itasca. Itasca moved up to engage Virginia II, while Onondaga went up the center.

The mighty Onondaga arrives

The problem for the Union was too many targets and not enough guns. Onondaga fired on Richmond, which was trying to slip down river along one bank, and also block Fredericksburg, which had fallen behind the other ironclads.

Onondaga in the center, Richmond at the top, and Virginia II at the bottom. Fredericksburg is just out of the picture to the left

Turn 6 brought more Union reinforcements with the arrival of the captured and re-flagged ironclad Atlanta and double-ended gunboat Massasoit. Atlanta entered near Onondaga (and the Confederate Richmond), while Massasoit rushed to help Itasca.

Massasoit (bottom) and Atlanta arrive to bolster the Union line.

Atlanta turned to fire at Richmond as Onondaga moved to engage Fredericksburg. Itasca and Massasoit were firing their large guns at Virginia II and taking some pot shots at the gunboat Hampton. But a critical hit on Itasca temporarily knocked out her boilers and forced her out of action.

Itasca and Massasoit take on Hampton and Virginia II (with Atlanta in the background)

But the way was clear for Richmond and Virginia II to make a run for the board edge for the victory points.

That left Fredericksburg alone to face Onondaga and Atalanta (yes, the gunboats were still there, but they didn't have much firepower to take on the Union ironclads).

Onondaga blast away at Fredericksburg, while barely noticing the little gunboat

Atlanta (on the right) also gets into the action

By this time Fredericksburg was close to the point of having to turn back due to damage. The ironclad had been heavily hit by the 15" Dahlgren guns and Brooke rifles and, due to its slow speed, probably would not have gotten away. At this point we decided to end the game.

Looking at the results, the Union lost two small wooden vessels and probably would have destroyed Fredericksburg. But the other two Confederate ironclads had escaped downriver in pretty good shape, which gave the Confederates the victory.

Overall an enjoyable game and fun to see the ironclads on the table again.

DANG 2018 - The Siege of Charleston

This year’s DANG (Dave's Annual Naval Game) was The Cradle of the Rebellion – The Siege of Charleston. The game covered Union attacks on Confederate fortifications and the blockade of Charleston, South Carolina between July and September 1863. Historically, there were only a couple very minor naval skirmishes during this time. But Confederate General P.T. Beauregard, who oversaw Charleston’s defenses, had requested that the Confederate ironclads attack the Union forces to break the attack on the forts, setting the stage for a nice hypothetical action.

A little something to get players thinking about the action

Everyone began arriving at my place around 9:30 AM and we spent the next hour catching up on things and talking about the projects we are all working on and planning.

I too a pre-game photo of George's Housatonic, since I wasn't sure it would get into a battle

After that we split into two sides with three Confederate players (David S, George, and Arthur) and five Union players (Kevin, Bill, Dave C, Dale, and Scott).

The Union players had to pick an avenue of attack (Sullivan Island or Morris Island) and work to reduce the Confederate forts and batteries along that route so the Union Army could capture the island, while maintaining a tight blockade on the city. The Confederate players got to choose the ships for their fleet (based on available designs and limited resources) to support their fortifications and blockade runners.

Each campaign game turn represented action for a week, with the campaign lasting for a maximum of 8 weeks. During a campaign turn, each side assigned their ships to missions for the week. The missions included attacks on enemy ships, bombardment of the fortifications, escorting supplies or blockade runners, and blockade duty. After resolving the missions, a check was made to see how far the Union Army advanced during the week.

With the background and rules covered, both sides selected their ships for the campaign and the Union players decided to assault Sullivan Island (a departure from history). We started the first week with two potential battles – one over getting supplies through to Sullivan Island and the other in a blockade zone.

In the first battle, the Union sent a monitor and two 90-day gunboats to stop the Confederate resupply run. The Confederates got an early warning of the approaching ships and called out their ironclads to support the wooden cruiser that was covering the resupply. This was a night action, so visibility and firing ranges were short.

Union monitor and two 90-day gunboats hunting for rebel supplies

Confederate cruiser escorting the supplies

The Confederate ship, CSS Ajax, kept its distance as the Union ships approached. But the appearance of two ironclads, CSS Palmetto State and Chicora, changed the situation.

CSS Palmetto State

The ships traded shots, but an early critical hit on the gunboat USS Chippewa slowed down the gunboat, allowing Palmetto State to close.

Things don't look good for Chippewa

Chippewa tried to run, but it kept taking hits. Eventually catching on fire and then surrendering. Outnumbered in ships and ironclads, the remaining Union ships decided to withdraw from the action. The Confederates had some light damage done to their ships, but were happy with the overall results of the battle.

Chippewa on fire and running out of luck

In the blockade zone, the Confederates spotted three Union ships and the escort decided to cut loose the blockade runners and return to Charleston. The Union ships went after the blockade runners – catching one while two others escaped into the night.

With the missions resolved, the results of the Union Army advance were Checked. Sullivan Island had seven batteries (four small and three medium size) and Fort Moultrie. The Union troops landed at the north end of the island and on the first week took two batteries.

Battery Marshall and Battery A fall during the first week

Seeing the Union advance on Sullivan Island, the Confederate defense council talked over the best ways to slow the advance. They knew they had limited ships and that the Union could easily withstand or replace their losses. Talking through their options, they believed their best option was to make a major attack on the Union ships bombarding Sullivan Island, which they hoped would stall the Army’s advance. The Charleston shipyards had promised to deliver three new gunboats and an ironclad over the two weeks. So, the decision was made to wait two weeks and then conduct a daytime attack on the Union ships off Sullivan Island with all their ships in the Charleston fleet.

On the Union side, the initial plan seemed to be working – so they maintained their blockade and bombardment strategy. This set up the naval battle of Sullivan Island.

The Confederates sent their whole fleet out for the early morning attack – the ironclads Palmetto State, Chicora, and Milledgeville (a hypothetical ironclad design), the wooden cruisers Ajax, Tallahassee, the cottonclad sidewheeler Calhoun (based on the CSS Oregon), along with two Drewry type gunboats named Ashley and Cooper. On the Union side, the bombardment group was made up of the New Ironsides, the Passaic class monitors Passaic, Lehigh, and Catskill, and the sloop Housatonic.

Union bombardment force arrayed for battle

Confederate gunboats and Palmetto State

The rest of the Confederate ships

The battle started off with the Tallahassee trying to use its speed as armor and get behind the Union line. But long-range fire from Union ships damaged the cruiser, set it on fire, and eventually forced it to surrender.

Tallahassee taking early damage

Tallahassee on fire and screwed

The other confederate cruiser, Ajax, did not have much luck either. Ajax got a little to close to shore and ran aground, then was pounded by Union monitors as she was trying to get up to speed.

Ajax aground

Ajax under attack from the monitors

On the other side of the Confederate fleet – the gunboats Cooper and Ashley moved forward and took shots are the trailing Housatonic. The gunboats hit the sloop several times and started several fires.

Housatonic takes some damage

But the Housatonic’s well-trained crew was able to put out the fires and return fire on the gunboats, inflicting a magazine critical hit on one and damaging the other.

Gunboat goes boom

In the center, the three Union monitors moved to take on the Confederate ironclads, while New Ironsides provided long-range support.

Confederate ironclads move forward

Closing with the Union monitors

The Calhoun steered clear of the center, taking long-range shots at the Union ships. But return shell fire set the cottonclad on fire. Other damage would slow down the sidewheeler, putting the ship out of action.

Cottonclad on fire

The iron ships traded shots, with the Union's 11 and 15 inch guns causing heavy damage to the Confederates and a critical steam line hit on Milledgeville.

Ironclad close action

Steam line damage to Milledgeville

Chicora took heavy waterline damage from a New Ironsides broadside. Damaged and slowly flooding, Chicora almost rammed Housatonic (or maybe it was the other way around), but her fate was sealed as she was caught between the two big Union ships.

Chicora and Housatonic slide by each other

Chicora caught in the middle

With most of the Confederate ships heavily damaged or out-of-action, the remaining forces announced a withdrawal, ending the battle.

The Confederates did succeed in disrupting the Union fleet’s support of the land action for the week, but it was at the cost of most of the Charleston Fleet.

With our gaming time drawing to a close, we decided to roll off the rest of the Union Army advanced for the remaining weeks of the game. Both sides made die rolls to support their land forces (Confederate resupply and Union bombardment and Army assaults). At week 8, Fort Moultrie was the only Confederate fortification left on the island and the Union players rolled their final attack – but it failed (the Union side needed to roll an 84 or higher on a d100). The Confederates won the overall campaign, but their fleet and most of Sullivan Island were in ruins. If this was a historical situation, the Union probably would have stopped the attacks on Charleston and pursued attacks elsewhere along the east coast, leaving the city for Sherman to attack.

The land map showing Fort Moultrie still in Confederate hands

Another DANG is in the books. Overall, the game turned out pretty well and everyone seemed to have a good time. We used Sail and Steam Navies for the tactical battle rules. They worked out fine, but the Confederates did not really have much of a chance against the Union monitors. We did talk about how the battle might have turned out if we had used different rules and the game seemed to rekindle some interest in the era. So, we might seem some more ironclads battles in 2019.

DANG 2018 players