Enfilade: the games

I didn't do a really good job of taking pictures of my own games, but I'll share what I have.

Friday Night: Tripwire- The Straits of Hormuz


Dave and I had six willing participants for the game.  Let's face it, modern naval combat is fairly unique at a game convention.  Andrew, Steve, John and Brian chose the Iranians and Andy and Chris managed the Americans.  It was different than our playtest in some ways, but very similar in others. The Americans, again, chose the LCS 1 and the bunch of American and UAE  gunboats and missile boats.  The Iranians went a bit different direction with two groups of Boghammars, and one each of China Cats and the Tir torpedo boats in reserve.  What we wanted was the tension of when to start fighting, and we got it.  Lots of bluster and warning until  Andy Doty's Cyclone stepped on a mine.  Then it was missiles galore.  The Iranians game out on the short end of this fight, with many losses, but they clearly won the propaganda fight with the Americans starting the shooting.

An American Cyclone gunboat tripped over a mine and began the entire incident

Captured live on CNN, Exocet missiles streak toward and IRGN Thondar class missile boat, and a fishing trawler (??!!) Hmm, Charles Taylor just got 50 years.  Andy Doty?

Saturday Morning

This was the only period I didn't have anything going on.  I didn't sleep much the night before so I wandered the Bring and Buy and dealer areas, helped out Jim Denberger totaling receipts.  Just kind of tried to wake up. 

American troops emerge from their water transport and mass for their advance against the Spanish positions.

Saturday Afternoon-Chickasaw Bluffs Part One: Smoke on the Water

As the morning game period came to a close, I shifted into full fretting mode.  I never playtested the scenario, though I walked through things in my mind many times. Most troubling was that the board was fairly busy and I was concerned the board area wouldn't quite work out.  Thankfully, Mark Waddington gave me a hand setting up and it was fine.

Dave Schueler and Lloyd Bowler ran the American assault on Spanish prepared positions controlling the Mississippi.  The Spanish, controlled by Thomas Moore and Francis Munroe  deployed their Spanish regulars into the redoubt, and waited sleepily for the fun to start.  By turn three, the Americans climbed the steep hill from their boats to the hilltop and were beginning to form for battle, when the Spanish gave the alarm to their camp.  Thomas moved one of his infantry squads out of the redoubt, to receive the attack, but retreated back in a hail of gunfire.  As the Americans spiked the Spanish guns, they began to close in on three sides of the redoubt.  Just as things began to look hopeless for the defenders, reinforcments arrived from the camp.  Choosing to mount one of their militia units, Francis hurled the cuera lancers at the Americans, and really did do nasty stuff, but there were enough Americans to drive them off.  Though the Spanish were able to hold on to the redoubt, the Americans with their long range riflemen were sufficient to inflict unanswered damage, and they surrendered.

An American infantry squad masses in formation

Spaniards of the Louisiana Regiment awake to find the Americans ready for a fight.

Yikes, lots more Americans than they counted on.

It was actually a nice game of back and forth.  All played well and it was fun.

Saturday Night-Chickasaw Bluffs Part Two: Just a big Indian Fight

This is the game I did playtest and it went badly sideways.  Sam, Mark and Tim played the Indians while Doug, Brian and Scott ran the Americans.  The playtesters suggested the Americans be allowed to set on to the table two feet rather than the 18" I allowed.  It was a disaster.  On the first turn, the Americans, getting ready to cross the little creek were blasted by Indians.  The militia was routed and the regulars were mauled.  Though the Chickasaw units were also weakened, they had plenty of reserves, and when I called the game, were in danger of surrounding the advancing regular units. Yecchhh.
Sunday Morning-Atlantic Blockading Squadron, in the Gulf

Three ironclads looking for something wooden to ram.

David Sullivan and I agreed to host a Sail and Steam Navy game at Enfilade some time ago, but didn't finalize its contents until Wednesday night.  It had some interesting elements-Confederate ironclads attempting to break through some Union blockaders at Mobile.  The rebels had the ram Tennessee, the sidewheel ironclad Nashville, and the barely armored steamer Baltic.  Together they sailed through early morning fog toward the Union fleet.  The Tennessee rammed and sank the wee monitor Neosho.  The Baltic absorbed, sort of, the scalding effects of having a steam line severed. But heavily armored Nashville and Tennessee were sort of the "men about town" administering nasty shots with their Brooke rifles.  Well, until their stacks were shot away and then they were sort of the "cripples about town," absorbing the broadsides of Hartford, Iroquois, and a fine supporting cast as well.  Needless to say, this turned out badly for the Confederates. 

A glimpse down the barrels of a pair of 7" Brooke rifles.

The Hartford, ready to let fly with a broadside.

Bonus round: Sunday afternoon-Crysler's Farm

In the weeks before the convention, Mark, Doug and I agreed we'd try out a War of 1812 battle, Crysler's Farm.  Fought in 1813 near Montreal, it's one of those tried and true American disasters.  The heart was willing but the brain was petrified, so the attack failed.  We agreed to play using Regimental Fire and Fury, but it's a challenge for scenario designers because the British are so badly outnumbered.  The Americans, rated as trained, advanced against the Brits and just sort of ran them over.  Unfortunately, in the actual battle the American commanders, that slimy bastard James Wilkinson, was quite ill, and his sub-commanders lacked talent.  The Brits pretty much held them off all day. We definitely need to do some fiddling as I expect we'll host this game next year on the 200th anniversary.

A full weekend of hosting.  I really didn't get around to see as many games as I would have liked.

Fix Bayonets: My first game of Sail and Steam Navies

Today was the second installment of Fix Bayonets.  Held at historic Fort Steilacoom, it's a nice little gathering at a great location.

I hosted a small ACW naval game using the Sail and Steam Navies rules I bought last month.  While I'd read the rules pretty thoroughly it was the first game I'd actually played.  I chose a scenario I'd run before with Ironclads featuring the large Union wooden vessels Niagara and Vanderbilt intercepting the Stonewall with wooden consorts in stormy conditions headed for Havana.

Confederate fleet enters the board, looking something like a hydroplane race.  From top:  Texas (Thoroughbred Alabama), Bat (Peter Pig blockade runner), Thoroughbred Stonewall, scratchbuilt blockade runner masquerading as Tuscaloosa after I left my actual miniature at home! Dopey me.

The Union squadron.  From top: scratchbuilt Niagara, Thoroughbred Kearsarge, and scratchbuilt Vanderbilt.  All scratchbuilt ships by Larry Enoch.

I hadn't counted on the small table (6' X 5'), which was kind of cozy for 1/600 scale, but due to the scenario conditions it worked out-visibility and movement were both reduced to 42"

There are some real advantages to S&SN.  The rules can be played off the ship cards and a one page quick sheet.  At least in theory.  The ship cards are color coded and are provided as part of the rules package that come in a 535 page .pdf on a CD-ROM.  The ships are rated throughout the war, so many have more than one card.  Because the game is basically played on the ship cards, it's important to have the capacity to print them out in color, which can be an expensive proposition.  I printed out the cards I needed and then laminated them with my handy home laminator.

This single exchange of broadsides between Tuscaloosa and Vanderbilt resulted in a magazine explosion and plunge to the bottom for the tiny Confederate ship.

Far in the background, the sloop Niagara is pounding the Texas to splinters, while the Kearsarge and Stonewall prepare for a one sided exchange.

Stonewall has sailed through her Union adversaries and isn't looking back.  On to Havana and victory.

The game itself is somewhat less important as I was trying to to get a handle on the rules and especially to see if the players liked them.   Nevertheless, a quick blow by blow is in order.  The Confederates entered the table somewhat the worse for wear due to storm damage.  The Stonewall, accompanied by the steamers Texas (freshly escaped from a French shipyard and fitted out in the Azores), the Tuscaloosa, and the blockade runner ran headlong into the open arms of the an American squadron searching for the French-built vessels.  The super-sloop Niagara, Cornelius Vanderbilt's armed steamship Vanderbilt, and the Kearsarge.

USS Kearsarge ignominiously ramming USS Vanderbilt.  Kearsarge, with her steering destroyed, had little choice in the matter.

 The game opened outside of the limited visibility, due to rain and fog.  Speed was reduced by 1/3, and gunnery suffered a minus due to high seas.  On turn two that changed as Niagara devastated Texas with her massive broadside.  Kearsarge and Niagara continued pounding Texas, while the diminutive Tuscaloosa tangled with the massive Vanderbilt.  Meanwhile Bat and Stonewall seemed to slip through the Union net.  Stonewall connected once with her massive 12 inch Armstrong rifle, tearing through Kearsarge, causing a boiler explosion, damaging steering and killing crew.  This bit of good fortune did not prevent Tuscaloosa from suffering a mortal magazine explosion after a one sided exchange with Vanderbilt.  Kearsarge, out of control, eventually collided with Vanderbilt, nearly sinking in the process, while Bat and Stonewall steamed for Havana--only to be interned and sold by the U.S. Navy.  Based on the scenario rules, the Confederates won.

I found the rules to be more playable than Ironclads without much loss of authenticity.  There are a couple of clarifications needed to some language-as with all rules. Everyone liked the simple order writing requirements.  Some differences in the game really did unbalance the game.  In Ironclads, Niagara's 150 pdr. Parrotts and 11 inch smoothbores would fire every other turn, as would Stonewall's Armstrong rifle.  In this game only monitor guns fire every other turn.  I truly don't have a problem with this but it made Niagara the grim reaper against wooden ships.  However, against armored Stonewall, hits pretty much pinged off with little opportunity to do serious damage. 

I'm anxious to try a bit more evenly balanced game in the near future.  I think Sail and Steam Navies is a winner.