I just got and read the Hammer'in Iron rules... good stuff. I have a few ideas to add a bit more detail to the game (optional rules) one would reflect difference in rifled and smooth bore weapons used by both sides. Would you be interested in this and do i post it here?(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/92/d0/fc/92d0fcd638dcaee6accc1d668d7ae7d5--cannon-parrots.jpg) I will be willing to dig up the cannon stats, smooth bore or rifled, for your current ship stats....
Commander Klank
Why not submit your alternative rule Ideas to Martin for inclusion in the next edition of the Mill.
John
Hello Charles
Sounds like you are getting into the period and enjoying it.
That is good news.
I suggest that you play a whole load of games as it is, in order to know what any changes might do to the pace and ease of play.
Here is the best place to post it. Then folk can give it a "tumble" and feed back straight away.
The ranges they often fought at (often 150 yards or less) make little advantage to using rifled weapons. Most damage is caused by bludgeon effect rather than just tank like penetration.
Good luck with the work Charles
martin :)
Oh yeah, my gaming group is going to give the game a good run over the next few weeks. Several of us are really into ACW naval gaming but most rules tend to be overwhelming for all but hardened ACW history buffs. We already used the old Yamamoto Ironclad board games counters and map to give the rules a play while I get the minis ready for play. The CSS Arkansas repeated history and beat up three Yankee gunboats on the Yazoo river. It's just right for our group.
Been playing HI for a bit now and we played with a simple mod for rifles firing an extra hex range... 6 hexes instead of 5; while it was a neat new feature and added more flavor to the game we came to the conclusion differentiating between smooth bore and rifled cannons is not worth all the change it could bring to points and ship stats. It makes for a good house rule or even a special rule for a particular scenario.
Commander Klank
Would you be willing to write up your findings for the Mill? Always intertested to hear people who have tinkered around a bit.
Sure give me a bit... (agh yes another iron in the fire to be worked)...LOL :D
(Union) 6 gun cannon battery, 3 inch ordnance rifle or 12-pounder Napoleon cannon stats
(https://i.postimg.cc/p9mRqf09/Hammerin-Iron-Land-Batles-003.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/p9mRqf09)
Hit points 22 OOXOOOOXOOOOXOOOOXOOOO
Saves as tinclad vs gunfire
light cannon X 6, firing line of sight rules as fort
Points:
12-pounder Napoleon cannons (6X light cannons); 488 points
3 inch ordnance rifle cannons (6X rifled light cannons); 608
special rules:
3 Inch Ordnance Rifle Cannon: counts as light cannon, range is 6 hexes, only is reduced by -1 to attack dice instead of -2 for light cannon; shoots 3 dice base per gun. (adds 20 points per gun for unit cost)
Battery Pivot: Battery can pivot one hex side left or right a turn to change it's facing; it can not fire that turn when it does so. Can be done by both rifled and smoothbore batteries.
Notes/thoughts: The 3-inch ordnance rifle, model 1861 was a wrought iron muzzle-loading rifled cannon that was adopted by the United States Army in 1861 and widely used in field artillery units during the American Civil War. It fired a 9.5 lb (4.3 kg) projectile to a distance of 1,830 yd (1,670 m) at an elevation of 5°. The 3-inch rifle was not as effective in firing canister shot as the heavier 12-pounder Napoleon, but it proved to be highly accurate at longer ranges when firing shell or shrapnel. There was only one reported case of a 3-inch ordnance rifle bursting in action. This was in stark contrast to the similarly-sized cast iron 10-pounder Parrott rifles which occasionally burst without warning, inflicting injury on the gun crews. The Confederate States of America lacked the technology to manufacture successful copies of the 3-inch ordnance rifle. However, the Confederate States Army respected the weapons and employed those captured from Federal forces.
The 3-inch ordnance rifle was also capable of extraordinary accuracy. During one of the battles of the Atlanta Campaign in 1864, a Confederate gunner in Lumsden's battery reported that one of his guns was placed in a fortification with an embrasure about one foot wide. Within a short time, three shells came through this opening from a 3-inch ordnance rifle without exploding. The first struck the gun between the trunnions and vent, gouging out some metal. The second damaged the left cheek of the gun carriage. The third struck the gun's muzzle, crushing it inward, making the gun impossible to load and putting it out of action.
So to represent this weapon in our game a 3 inch ordnance rifle battery of six guns can shoot one extra hex in range (6 hexes) and only suffers a -1 for light gun instead on -2 to represent it's accuracy over longer ranges... I don't even want to go into medium and heavy rifles... not yet anyways...LOL Oh and I added 20 points per gun for the rifled mod to a light cannon. Try them out and post After Action Reviews.
3 inch ordnance rifle battery in our game:
Ha the rebels think they are safe from that yankee battery on the point over yonder...
(https://i.postimg.cc/LJLzhWKD/3-inch-Rifle-1.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/LJLzhWKD)
Oh no, shot and shell fall upon the insurrectionist ships... what a world!
(https://i.postimg.cc/Y4JK8jyM/3-inch-Rifle-2.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/Y4JK8jyM)
What a world indeed!
Great write up. Send it in to Martin for the Mil so it can be saved for posterity.
Quote from: Sean Clark on July 24, 2021, 01:48:59 PM
What a world indeed!
Great write up. Send it in to Martin for the Mil so it can be saved for posterity.
How do I do that? Is that a link or an e-mail address I need to use? I don't know what the Mil is... ???
Apologies. The Mill is a free online magazine Peter Pig produce and is made available through their website. All details are on there.
It's available here:
https://www.peterpig.co.uk/the15MILL.html
Simon
Thanks Simon... Beat me to it!
Must admit, had the 3 light cannons bases as a defender the other week in a game, they played havoc with the attackers ships especially the wooden ones, in combination with my own ships in proximity the shore guns were sniping away and contributing to bringing the Hit points down, only a few at a time. But they made their presence felt.
Must admit just like AK, Hammerin Iron is a Jewel in the PP/RFCM crown.
Might invest in a bigger cloth and do some of the coastal battles at somepoint as well as the river battles ?
But I need a few more ships yet ? LoL
Miles