Angus Konstam's Edinburgh Wargames
American Civil War Naval
The ugliest ships known to man
It had to be done. The mid-19th century was a real transition time for warship design - sail to steam, wood to iron, smoothbores to rifled guns, roundshot to shell - and the American Civil War landed plump in the middle of this naval revolution! While some wargamers dismiss the whole thing as a boring standoff (citing the battle between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (nee Merrimac) as an example), I would argue that the truth was very different. A n ironclad like the CSS Tennessee might have been relatively immune to shot, but she was still forced to surrender at Mobile Bay after being rammed, her guns knocked out and her crew concussed beyond endurance! Then you've got all those wooden gunboats, or cottonclads, or tinclads, or rams. It all makes for a diverse and amusing game - quite different from any more conventional naval wargame.
My 1/600 scale ships are a mixture of metal Thoroughbred models from the United States, and resin Peter Pig ones from Britain (at a fraction of the price). To be honest once they're painted up its often difficult to tell them apart. I have fleets for the Mississippi Campaigns (where these pictures were set), and also for a few of the actions fought on the Atlantic or Gulf seaboard, such as Charleston, Mobile Bay, Hampton Roads and on the James River.
As for rules, I've experimented with a few sets, but in the end I settled for Smoke on the Water, from Canis Publications.
They're available as a free download
Well over a year ago I bought a bunch of ship models from Thoroughbred which I never found time to build, including the USS New Ironsides and the Hartford. While we mainly game Mississippi River actions at the moment, I can see myself expanding the range a little to encompass Charleston Harbor and even (one day) Mobile Bay. I've also got several ships which operated on the James River, which of course would make a great little campaign... aaargh!
The Mississippi (under construction) The Blockade
Ships: Confederate Ironclads & Union Blockaders Mississippi River Gunboats (under construction)
For American Civil War Naval games see Journal 1 and Journal 9
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American Civil War Pre-Dreadnought WW2 Coastal Forces WW2 Pacific