Ramming Speed! - Beer and Pretzels Ironclads

This past Saturday, Gary decided to pull out his collection of ACW Ironclads and put on a game of BAPI. This would be a bit different compared to our last game, however. No forts were in sight, and the ships we were using were better suited to ramming than actual gunnery (apart from the Ironclads both sides had). 

It was going to be a brawl, a knock down, drag out fight, and the winner would be the fleet with the last ship left floating. 

The attacking Union fleet was made up of four ships: the USS Hammer and the USS Slammer (both Ram-class), the USS Rambait (a Schooner-class, and the only ship on the table without a bow ram), and the USS Outtaluck (a Keokuk-class Ironclad).

The Confederate fleet, moving out from their positions along the coast, consisted of the CSS Butterbean (Cottonclad-class), the CSS Razorback (Arkansas-class), the CSS Bob, Jr. VIII (Casemate-class), and the CSS Quaker (Manassas-class). 

The two fleet approached one another at speed, bow guns blazing away at range. Gary's Butterbean and Razorback led the charge, while Bob's Bob, Jr. and Quaker used their heavier guns at range. I controlled the Union fleet until Carl arrived a few turns in, taking control of the Hammer and Rambait. 

As the fleets maneuvered closer, both sides began to slow to battle speed. The Hammer had Bob, Jr. in her sights, while the Slammer and Rambait turned to face the oncoming Butterbean and Razorback.

My plan to ram the Razorback from both sides failed utterly, however, as the Rebel ships got the initiative and scooted past the Union attackers. Like a vengeful schoolmarm, the Razorback let loose with her bow and starboard guns, walloping the Slammer and Rambait. Even worse, the Slammer and the Outtaluck were in danger of colliding with each other!

Luckily, the Slammer and the Outtaluck managed to slip past each other, and the Outtaluck steamed towards a new target - the Quaker!

Meanwhile the Razorback had gotten past the Rambait and opened up on the Hammer (the ship at the bottom of the picture), damaging the ship enough that she was forced to move at half speed.

With a ship-shattering impact, the Outtaluck rammed the Quaker, doing massive hull damage in the process. Unfortunately, Bob's crew quickly swarmed over my ship, killing the crew before I was able to button up belowdecks.

The Hammer was forced to watch as the Bob, Jr. slipped past, while the Razorback stalked forward.

In their own little fight, the Rambait and the Slammer tried to come to grips with the Butterbean, but the Confederate ship quickly moved away.

Hoping to do enough damage to the Bob, Jr. with my guns, I had the Outtaluck open her firing ports. The resulting crew damage from the boarders left my ship unmanned, and the Bob, Jr. pulled away - right into the ram of the Hammer, who sunk the Confederate ironclad. 

Unfortunately, the Hammer then took enough damage from the Razorback and the Butterbean, and sunk, her wreck joining the Bob, Jr. in a watery grave. 

The Confederates now had the advantage. The Quaker, having slipped through the melee, rammed the Slammer. Although she was heavily damaged, the massive crew of the Union shipped jumped aboard the Confederate ironclad and slaughtered her crew in a combat that echoed the death of the Outtaluck. 

Unfortunately, the valiant Rambait exploded when a round from the Butterbean went into one of her munition caches and lit off the entirety of her ammo. 

Seeing that the situation was dire - there was no way the heavily damaged Slammer was going to escape from both the Razorback and the Butterbean - I conceded the game to Gary and Bob. The Confederates had turned back the Union attack!

It was another enjoyable game, although the group did begin to realize that the ramming rules in BAPI were somewhat lacking in clarity. Gary has now begun an investigation into other potential rulesets that we can use for both his and Carl's collections. 

Additionally, I showed my copy of Frostgrave to the group and it was generally well received, with one person going so far as to grab a bunch of Reaper Bones minis that very day.  

Go With the Flow - Beer and Pretzels Ironclads AAR

Having an interest in both ACW and naval warfare, I was definitely interested when Gary (one of the guys who frequents 7th Dimension Games) announced he would be running a game of Beer and Pretzels Ironclads. He and a few of the other guys were kind enough to provide the terrain, models, markers, game aids, and terrain, so a big thanks to them. 

The scenario was that a group of Union ironclads had to make their way downriver to try and meet up with a Union army. The Confederates (myself included) commanded two forts (Ridge and Thumb) and 4 Ironclads of their own in an attempt to keep the Union ships from passing.

The Table. Fort Ridge is the farther fort near the window, and Fort Thumb is on the peninsula.

The Union ships entered the table from the edge closest to Fort Ridge all at once, and opened fire on the Confederate ship that had been docked across the river.

Before the Confederate ship could move, she was given a merciless beating.

And as it turns out, wooden ships burn!

With the fire quickly contained, the Rebel ship made a run for freedom under covering fire from the fort. Complicating matters, however, was the damage the ship had taken to its rudder.

Other Confederate ironclads moved upstream to challenge their Union counterparts. 

But trying to get those slow ships moving against the current took too much time, and the wooden ship was sunk. 

Despite the long range, the Confederate ironclads opened fire.

"Look, either he's getting rammed, or I am. Let's hope you go first."

Guns blazed in every direction as my ship (the Arkansas, the one being t-boned at the top right) was rammed.

But with grapeshot and bayonets, I managed to capture the damnyankee ship. Which I was then stuck to for the next few turns.

With Fort Ridge out of range, the guns of Fort Thumb began to open on the escaping Union ships. The Arkansas was still stuck, and was mauled by the passing enemy force.

But she wasn't out of the fight just yet, even as another Confederate ship was sunk.

The Manassas and the Arkansas managed to corner the Union flagship while the rest of the flotilla escaped.

And the Union flagship went down - but it took the Arkansas with it!

So the Union players managed to get 4 ships downriver, while managing to destroy 3 Confederate ships and taking out the better part of Fort Ridge. Gary had mentioned that he had been worried that the forts would be too powerful (Ridge had done a number on the Union force in the beginning of the game) but the range and firing angles of the emplaced guns made it so that a ship was never in danger from them for too long.

It was a fun game and very rules light. I'd also imagine that the game will speed up - it took us three hours to finish - once we start playing more. If everything goes according to plan, BAPI games should happen once a month. I'm looking forward to my next game!