Dreadnoughts and Super-Dreadnoughts

by

Chris McNab

   In building the Deadnought, the English actually shot themselves in the foot. This one ship with its 10 x 12" guns was a radical change from the 'Battleships' that came before it. Overnight it made every other ship in the world obsolete. Until then, the armaments on battleships were a hodge podge of different size calibers, with at most four main guns of roughly 12". The Dreadnought's speed of twenty-one knots also made it much faster than all the other battleships in the world. However, just like any other country, all of England's battleships were also made obsolete by the Dreadnought. This meant that every country was now in a race to build their own Dreadnought. It also started a Cold War of sorts between the German and English Navies. Germany saw her chance for her Navy to become just as strong as the British Navy. While this did not happen (England started a massive program of battleship building), it did give the Germans a chance to become a world naval power. 

 All of the above is shown to the reader by the author. The story of the development of the Dreadnought herself and her contemporaries and then onto the Super-Dreadnoughts is all here. The arguments of the type of boilers (coal or oil), and the amount and placement of the main guns, along with their massive increase in gun size, are all shown.

 This book is about an era of a few short years, roughly 1906 until 1918. In twelve years, the naval builders had gone from the Dreadnought to the Hood and Bayern classes. For anyone who is interested in the First World War at sea, or just these mighty ships themselves, this needs to be in your library. It is filled with facts, figures, and photos of all of the world's different capitol ships of that era. Unlike most books of this kind, it does not show the later battleships built during, before, and after World War II. The author does show us the history of the Battlecruisers but does not go into them in the detail that is shown with the Battleships.

 This is a large book, almost what you would consider a coffee table book. Unlike those books which are mostly eye candy, this book is a naval history connoisseurs' version of meat and potatoes. Thank you, Casemate Publishers for allowing me to review this very good book.

Robert

Book: Dreadnoughts and Super-Dreadnoughts

Author: Chris McNab

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

 The Seven Days Battles

by

Worthington Publishing

  In Porter Alexander's mind the only real chance the Confederacy had to become free from the Union was during the Seven Days Battles. In truth both governments were upset with their army leaders in the Eastern Theater of the Civil War. The North was upset at the snail's pace of George B, McClellan's, the Union commander, advance toward Richmond, while the South was angered at how close McClellan was coming toward Richmond. Not only that, but Joseph E. Johnston, the Confederate commander, was not fighting the Union army at all. If McClellan got any closer to Richmond, he would be able to start using siege tactics and his larger artillery to bombard the city. Johnston was almost forced by Jefferson Davis to attack the Union Army. Johnston was subsequently wounded in the Battle of the Seven Pines and Davis put Robert E. Lee in charge of the Confederate Army outside of Richmond. Lee immediately started to build fortifications around Richmond. This was not taken well by the Southern press. He was given the nickname of 'Granny Lee', among others. While Lee was very well known in the U.S. Army (he was actually offered the command of the Union Armies) he was not very well known outside of it. In point of fact, he had actually already lost to McClellan in the fight to keep West Virginia from breaking away from Virginia and joining the Union States. So, that is the situation that we have here in Virginia before the Seven Days Battles begin. Lee is actually in command of the most troops he would ever have during the war, while McClellan, who has more troops, believes the Confederate Army is close to 200,000 strong almost twice the size of his army. Apparently, the Pinkerton Agency detectives were prone to double the number of troops that they investigated.

 This is the third game in Worthington Publishing's Civil War Brigade Battle Series. The other games were Antietam and Shiloh. The next battle that is on track for the series is Gettysburg. So, let us take a look at what comes with this game:

Two double sided hard mounted game boards (each map is 25" x 22---joins together to make a "44 x 25")

Four counter sheets of thick 7/8" counters with rounded corners

Two 8 page full color rulebooks

Two 12 page full color playbooks

Two player full color player aids

Two 10 sided dice

 So, the first thing to talk about is the maps. You get two double-sided mounted maps. No wonder why the box was so heavy. The maps themselves do not veer toward the artistic in their depiction of the battlegrounds. They remind me of SPI maps made in the twenty-first century. They were produced to be the playing field for a wargame, and in this they succeed. Their one big plus is that the hexes are one inch wide. There is a trend in some wargame companies to go with larger hexes than ever before. The older I get the more I am liking larger hexes. I believe Worthington Publishing was at the forefront of that design decision. Next up will be the counters. These are also large, coming in at 3/4" size. These have been produced in the same manner as the maps. Kind of a 'more is less' approach. Everything you need to read on the counters is nice and large. They are not cluttered at all. The brigades belonging to a division all have a colored stripe across the counter. This is because one of the big parts of the rules of the game is command and control through leaders. On the counters is also what larger force they belong to corps/division. The counters come pre-rounded and really want to jump out of their slightly confining cardboard sprues. Unless you are ready to have counters everywhere, hold them gingerly. There are two identical Player Aids that are made from card stock. These have all of the charts needed to play on them. The charts include everything but the Turn Record Tracks and Casualty Track, which are on the maps. There are only nine different terrain types in the game. The Series Rulebook is only eight pages long. It comes in full color and also has some play examples in it. The Seven Days Battles Playbook is twelve pages long. There are only a little more than two and a half pages of rules just for this game. The other pages are for the different scenario setups. On the back is a third copy of the Terrain Chart. The game also comes with two dice and small plastic bags for the counters. If you have seen one of these Brigade Series games from Worthington Publishing, the above will all be very familiar. I did a review of their Antietam game from the series, and I will include the link below. These were produced, as all of Worthington Publishing games are, to be played and not looked at lovingly. 

 So, we have gone through the components; what is the game play like? Worthington Publishing goes by the KISS method of designing wargames. The Series Rules being less than eight pages prove my point. They rules are clear and come with no ambiguity. You keep track of a unit's strength points by using the strength point markers. In some games these become a hassle because of there being so many units on the map. In the Brigade Series there are very few counters and no stacking of units (leader counters are the exception). So, dealing with the strength point markers is a breeze. The series is designed mostly around command and control of your various leaders. The usual command range is four hexes for a unit. The Army leaders, Lee and McClellan, bring this up to five. Your leaders can become casualties. A replacement leader only has a command range of three hexes. However, the commanders are able to give a nice -1 die morale check modifier for any unit they are stacked with. So, you must choose wisely when to put your leaders in harm's way. 

 What the rules give you is a relatively fast playing, but still deep, wargame about the Seven Days Battles, or at least about some of the battles. The Jackson Initiative rules are a simple, and might I say, an elegant way of dealing with Stonewall during these battles. You really have no idea if you are getting the Stonewall from the Valley campaign or the one from the Seven Days. The battles are bloody, just as in real life. Just like Antietam, the previous game of the series, I really like this game and the system in general.

This is the Sequence of Play:

First Player

1. First player COMMAND PHASE

2. First Player ORGANIZATION PHASE

3. First Player OFFENSIVE ARTILLERY PHASE

4. First Player MOVEMENT PHASE

5. First Player COMBAT PHASE

» Second Player Defensive Fire

» First Player Offensive Fire

6. First Player RALLY PHASE

Second Player

1. Second player COMMAND PHASE

2. Second Player ORGANIZATION PHASE

3. Second Player OFFENSIVE ARTILLERY PHASE

4. Second Player MOVEMENT PHASE

5. Second Player COMBAT PHASE

» First Player Defensive Fire

» Second Player Offensive Fire

6. Second Player RALLY PHASE

The Turn Marker is advanced to the next hour on the turn

track. Players continue the sequence until the end of the

scenario being played.

 See what I mean about KISS.

 These are the scenarios that come with the game:

Scenario 1: HISTORICAL BATTLE OF BEAVER DAM CREEK (one map)

Scenario 2: HERE COMES JACKSON (This scenario assumes Jackson is behind schedule but rouses himself to attack). (one map)

Scenario 3: JACKSON ARRIVES ON TIME (This scenario assumes Jackson arrives on time and is ready to fight). (one map)

Scenario 4: HISTORICAL BATTLE OF GAINES MILL (one map)

Scenario 5: BEAVER DAM CREEK TO GAINES MILL (two map)

Scenario 6: HISTORICAL BATTLE OF GLENDALE. (two map)

Scenario 7: HISTORICAL BATTLE OF MALVERN HILL. (one map)

Scenario 8: GLENDALE TO MALVERN HILL (two map)

There are special rules to portray Stonewall Jackson's lethargy during this campaign.

The 'Jackson Command Initiative' is needed to play historically.

 Thank you, Grant Wylie, for allowing me to review another one of your fine games. Mr. Wylie is a scholar and a gentleman and one of the nicest, if not the nicest, persons I have met through wargaming. He also has an incredible knack for designing wargames. By the way, the maps have grown on me since I started writing this. I possibly made them sound too stark.

 This is the link to the Brigade Series Rules:

Brigade Rules v1.3b_v2.pdf - Google Drive

Worthington Publishing:

Worthington Publishing / Old School Wargames / Pungo Games

Seven Days Battles:

Seven Days Battles 1862 — Worthington Publishing / Old School Wargames / Pungo Games

My review of Antietam from the series:

Antietam Septmber 17, 1862 by Worthington Publishing - A Wargamers Needful Things

 

DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE THE LAUNCH TOMORROW OF THE RECENTLY REVIEWED

LIMITS OF GLORY: 

BONAPARTE'S EASTERN EMPIRE

FOR MORE INFORMATION CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

LINK

 

Wouter Schoutteten on his upcoming game 'Dreaded Flags'

Naval Conflict in the Age of Piracy 1568-1720

 This is look into Wouter Schoutteten's new, and first, game Dreaded Flags. Everyone, please practice your Arrgghhs.

 Dreaded Flags is a game for 1 - 3 players about historical naval conflicts between small fleets in the Age of Piracy. It's a hex-and-counter wargame of medium-light complexity, with playtime ranging between 30min and about 2 hours and available as a gamebook.

It is my first release and hence my first (very instructive and enjoyable) experience with game design! 

Robert asked me to write something about the game and since this piece goes together with a review, I like to give you an inside look into the development process.

Much of what we (think we) know about pirates, stories with protagonists like Blackbeard, is highly romanticized. Many of those stories can be traced to Charles Johnson's collection of stories (fact or fiction?), A General History of Pyrates. Nonetheless, when we look at the facts behind the legend, a fascinating story persists. These freebooters did manage to hijack ships or steal goods. How did they do it, with a small - often outdated - ship, only a few cannons and a very small crew? 

Rulebook

The few alliances we know of did not last (as we see between Bonnet and Blackbeard, and Every and Pharo, all featured in the game). Sea battles were deadly dangerous and the gains often unpredictable. A captain had to earn the trust of his men, and had to be able to maintain it in chaotic combat. And then there is the trick of just also being an agile, technical captain who can skillfully steer his ship and keep it on course. My first goal for the game was to make a realistic game in the setting of the age of piracy.

In addition, I also made an amazing observation. Just about all games about the age of piracy lose themselves in the romanticized, mysterious portrait of pirates. A historical simulation - or wargame - based on the facts at hand, is almost impossible to find. And the few I did find are outdated, cumbersome and/or out of print. That brings me to my second goal Dreaded Flags should also be a fun, playable game in addition to its historical depth.

The Counters are on the Back Page of the Rulebook

Playable for me meant that the game should not take hours. One of the mechanisms that slow down play is when the main action or narrative has to be interrupted to do some bookkeeping or when dice have to be rolled again (e.g. if a player rolls an X, roll again to see what happens). 

I wanted as much info as possible to already be hardwired into the game, before any dice are rolled. I believe we have succeeded in that, and it’s the strongest point in the gameplay, if you ask me. Some modifiers provide more or less dice, while others manipulate the value of the dice. Factors such as number of guns, distance, morale, wind speed...all are contained in one small table. Players roll a number of dice once for their cannon fire and immediately read the result. And with the addition of 2 colored dice for the optional hit table we increase the realism (and the agency of the players because with this rule they can aim at either hull or rigging). This way, Cannon fire and combat is very fast and yet yields incredible detailed results. To interrupt the action as little as possible, most bookkeeping and extra checks happen after the main action. 

Some Action from a Test Game

Another way we want to make the game accessible and playable is by avoiding jargon (and probably naval wargame fanatics will raise their eyebrows here!). But new players can't tell terms like backing, aft or port. And because there is already so much info for new players, we have left out any jargon as much as possible. This way gameplay is more intuitive and easier to understand for novice naval wargames. To preserve some of the atmosphere, the well-known terms bow and tern have remained. But wind attitudes have been translated to a number, from 1 to 6. We speak of small fleets - not flotilla, and so on.

Playable for me also means replayability. And that means versatility. In the choice of scenarios we have taken this into account. There are 2 completely solitary scenarios in it, while other scenarios are perfect with 2 players. There is 1 scenario for 3 players. Some scenarios are short and can be played in 30 min, others are longer but can also be played in 1 evening. Something for everyone. Another nice extra, I think, is that besides the 8 scenarios, players can easily create their own scenario. In the book are blank log pages with which they can work out their own duel. The system is perfectly scalable to play with even more players as well ( I think 8 players is a bit the maximum for practical reasons) Also, the standardized map makes working out scenarios easier.

Developing a game from A to Z is an incredible experience. But as a rookie, I still have a lot to learn. I am incredibly grateful to my test players and proof readers. It never ceases to amaze me that people want to take the trouble and time to test a game that may turn out to be rubbish. Or to pick out spelling errors from a text not written by a native English speaker! But it is indeed the passion, knowledge and willingness to help that makes our niche so wonderful. 

One of the things I had the hardest time with was deciding which input from the test players to respond to and which not to. In doing so, I tried to go back to my original goal: a fairly fast-playing, accessible game of medium complexity with the necessary historical depth and realism. Balancing realism with playability became a real obsession. 

You can also use Miniatures to play

For example, I was satisfied with how hits translated into damage. You always have to consult and execute the hit table in a fixed order. This yields predictable damage results. One test player found that not realistic enough and upon request I developed the Advanced Hit Table. Since this adds another layer of complexity to the game, I decided to make this an optional game rule (again, pondering how complex game rules should be).... But I notice that I now always play Dreaded Flags with that optional rule, so maybe that should become a standard rule! So, putting my ego aside here, input from playtesters is very valuable.

I think making a complex game is easier than a simple but challenging game. So what to delete and what to keep? If you want the development process to keep moving forward smoothly, you have to be prepared to make choices quickly. 

This whole process went pretty fast but that's what I had chosen. In a short period of time, this gave me a much better overall understanding of game development and what is involved. I hope Dreaded Flags finds a small, enthusiastic group of players. I am working on new games, and I hope the success of dreaded flags motivates me to continue working on them.

Thank you all for your support!

Wouter

 Thank you Mr. Schoutteten for giving us a look at your new game.

 These are some of the Battles:

The Trader (A learning Scenario) - 1716
The Ambush: John Hawkins vs. the City of San Juan de Ulúa - 1568
The Sacking: Henry Morgan vs the city of Maracaibo - 1669 (Solitaire)
The Heist: Henry Every vs. the Murghal Fleet - 1695
The Salvaging: Charles Vane and Henry Jennings vs. The Spanish Salvage Fleet - 1715
The Hunt: Frances Hume vs. John Martel - 1717
The Reckoning: Blackbeard vs. Stede Bonnet - 1718
The Menace: Black Bart vs. the people of Barbados - 1720 (Solitaire)

This is the Amazon page for the U.S.:

Dreaded Flags: Naval Conflict in the Age of Piracy 1568 - 1720: A Wargame Book: Schoutteten, Wouter: 9798390935064: Amazon.com: Books

 They Were Soldiers and Dak To - Hill 875

by

Cadet Games

 

 This game, or actually games, has done exactly what I love about wargaming. It has presented me with a piece of history that I know little about. So, naturally I had to find books about the two battles. I knew some about the Battle of The Ia Drang Valley, as it was the first time that a group of U.S. soldiers were used in Vietnam en masse and not just as trainers or Green Berets. I had never watched the film 'We Were Soldiers' either. I know, shame on me. I knew next to nothing about the Battle for Hill 875. The way I look at it is you cannot judge a historical wargame without knowing the true details about the battle or campaign.

 Cadet Games gives you both battles inside the box. Let us look at the historical synopsis from Cadet Games:

"At 10:48 A.M. on the morning of November 14th, 1965, the first 80 soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the U.S. 7th Cavalry landed in a small clearing at the foot of the Chu Pong Massif in central Vietnam near the Cambodian border.  The Americans had landed in the middle of the base area for an entire North Vietnamese division, and were almost immediately attacked from multiple sides of their small landing zone - called ‘LZ X-Ray’.

The battle raged over the next several days, with high losses on both sides.  In the end, the Americans had proved their new airmobility tactics and had inflicted high losses on the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) soldiers they faced.  The NVA had also learned how to fight the Americans - and had inflicted serious losses on a high-tech superpower enemy by using classic light infantry tactics with only a fraction of the firepower available to the Americans.

This game challenges the players to re-fight the first day or so of that battle - the critical time when the NVA forces had the chance to overwhelm the Americans and overrun the landing zone.  Can you, as the U.S. player, hold your ground and repeat history?  Or will the NVA player triumph and overwhelm the perimeter - cutting the Americans off from supply and reinforcement?  Get ready to re-live or re-write history in the battle for LZ-Xray!

At 09:43 A.M. on the morning of November 19th, 1967, the lead platoons of the 2/503rd Airborne Infantry began advancing south up the north face of hill 875 in the central highlands of Vietnam near Cambodia.  The Americans, just 330 strong, expected to face a company of the NVA.  The pre-assault bombardment by aircraft and artillery had created much deadfall, craters and holes in the thick jungle.

The battle that followed became one of the bloodiest in the Vietnam War.  The NVA had been expecting the Americans and had a plan of their own.  The 2/503rd was nearly wiped out but was quickly reinforced by their 4th battalion.  The battle for the hilltop raged for days with serious losses on both sides.  In the end, the Americans took the hill - but the NVA had slipped away with many of their soldiers to fight again."

Map for the Ia Drang Battle

 So, both battles have the U.S. player definitely on the backfoot. Your job as the U.S. is to survive the onslaughts. If playing as the Vietnamese, you must try and destroy the U.S. units without using up all of your troops to do so. 

 This is what comes with the game:

32 NVA And Vietcong Soldiers

20 U.S. Cavalry Troopers

2 105mm Howitzers

3 Huey Helicopters

2 A1 Skyraiders

1 Mortar

50 Number Markers

40 NVA Unit Markers

40 Wounded Markers

30 NVA Markers

100 Gray Chips

40 White Chips

23 U.S. Unit Markers

30 Bright Green Chips

50 Olive Drab Chips

20 Green Chips

5 Downed Huey Markers

78 Game Cards

10 Fire Mission Markers

2-Sided Mounted Map

1 Rulebook

1 Battleboard

1 NVA Reinforcement Card With Hidden Unit Boxes

1 Cavalry Reinforcement Card

1 Fire Support Layout

2 Status Markers

1 Initiative Marker

1 Game Turn Marker

2 Landing/Take Off Hex Markers

15 Airborne Unit Markers

2 NVA AAA Unit Markers

2 NVA Mortar Unit Markers

10 NVA Bunker Markers

1 Spooky Marker

 This is quite the list!

 The map is mounted and double-sided. The maps are very nicely done and really show off the terrain you have to deal with. Both Maps show a smaller area than you might have thought. The scenarios for the battles are very early in each battle and only show the part of the terrain that matches with the beginning of both battles. Think of it as a map of one of the fortified positions of Dien Bien Phu and not the entire valley. I cannot go over all of the game's components separately or this would be one very long review. All of the plastic soldiers and counters etc. are manufactured to a very high degree of workmanship. As I mentioned in my last Cadet Games review, if you do get soldiers or planes that are a bit bent, do not sweat it. Just put them in some hot water and they can be fixed into their original positions. One thing that is great for we grognards that are getting older is that all of the components are large. You will not have to fiddle with 1/2" counters in these games. The game comes with two rulebooks. One is for the Battle of Ia Drang Valley (and is the main rulebook for the games). The other is for the Battle of Dak To Hill 875. The Ia Drang Rulebook is twenty-three pages long, while the one for Dak To is just eleven pages. They are in full color and have some illustrations of the rules inside. The components, maps, and Rulebooks are definitely up the level of the other Cadet Games wargame that I reviewed 'Nguyen Hue '72, The 1972 Easter Offensive in Vietnam'.

 The different colored 'chips' to the side of the map are used underneath the plastic soldiers to show the unit's strength. A full-strength unit of either side has 7 'steps' and thirty-five soldiers. It is an easy and simple way to keep track of your units' strength points. 

Everything that was encountered by either side in the battle is included. There are NVA bunkers, anti-aircraft, and mortar units. The U.S. has Huey helicopters and howitzers. These are just a few of the units that you are capable of using in the game. 

 Victory is determined in Ia Drang by the U.S. casualties taken. The smaller the number of casualties means a U.S. victory. In Dak To Hill 875, the NVA player has to eliminate the U.S. soldiers and make sure none are on the top of Hill 875 at the end of the game. The U.S. wins even if they have a wounded unit on the top of Hill 875.

  The other game from Cadet Games that I reviewed was a strategic one encompassing the whole of South Vietnam. The rules for this game are not just leveled down compared to it. The Sequence of Play, movement, and combat have all been designed for a tactical game. The one thing U.S. players have to keep in mind is that neither of these battles shows off the immense resources that the U.S. had during the war. These are both very small action knife fights. In every hex toward your goal might lie an ambush. The NVA player in Dak To Hill 875 can take as many casualties as are needed to reach your goal. As long as you have one unit left and the U.S. has none you are king of the hill.

 

 Both of these battles, as has been shown, are very different from the ones in documentaries. The U.S. player has a very minimal amount of air and artillery to keep the NVA at bay. I am as impressed by this game's rules and play as I was by the Cadet Games strategic game I reviewed. The games have short rulebooks and are easy to learn but still have a lot of depth for the player to revel in.

 Thank you, Cadet Games, for allowing me to review another great product from your stable. Wargamers, and especially grognards, should look past the small plastic soldiers etc. to see the real wargame underneath. These games are not Axis and Allies clones.

Robert

Cadet games:

Cadet Games LLC - Cadet Games

They Were Soldiers, and Dak To Hill 875:

Vietnam War - Cadet Games LLC

My review of:

Nguyen Hue '72 by Cadet Games - A Wargamers Needful Things

Sound of Drums

 

 This is just a brief look at Sound of Drums and their upcoming games. The pictures are about their Eylau 1807 game that is coming soon.

"For thousands of years soldiers all over the world followed the sound of drums marching into battle or marching far away from their homes into unknown territory following a leadership. The Macedonian fighters followed Alexander the Great to India, the French Grognards marched into battle following the “pas de charge” up the hills at the Battle of Waterloo. Military drums have been used for martial music, communication, drill, honors music and military ceremonies."

 

 

  "My name is Uwe Walentin, born in 1970 in southern Germany and playing games since I can remember. I love history, books and board games."

The Gorgeous Map

"At the age of 13 I discovered my first wargame (“Waterloo” by international team). From there my wonderful journey of learning about (military) history with the help of games started. A fascinating hobby.

From 1993 to 1997 I worked for different French game publishers before creating my own game company: PRO LUDO. We published and distributed a huge range of games (like “Ticket to Ride”) but I had never the courage to publish what I really love: Strategy games with a historical context and wargames. In 2006 I sold my company and in 2008 I quit the gaming industry to work as a professional football coach in different countries in Europe."

Map Inset

 "During these years I did not lose my passion for board games and had many ideas working in my mind.

In 2021 I decided to found my company SOUND OF DRUMS to design and publish the games I always wanted to. Dedicated to traditional strategy and wargames with a lot of experience in quality (i.e. components) “Eurogames-style” publishing, I am convinced that we will find a new way how to design and publish wargames. We will break with a couple of traditions (no ZOCs, please!) and will implement new procedures and game components to our designs. The goals of our designs are highly interactive game play with a minimum of downtime and although being epic in scale keeping the games playable."

Setup at the Beginning of the Game

 "We are shipping as we speak the game series “History of the Ancient Seas” and will publish this summer “Battles of Napoleon – Volume I: Eylau 1807”. The first part in a game series covering the major battles in the Napoleonic era on a tactical level. Eylau will be followed by Quatre Bras, Ligny, Waterloo, Borodino, Austerlitz."

Lestocq is Arriving

 "This fall we will present a fantastic game about the French Revolution by Jason St. Just and late fall a game series by Carl Paradis.

We have many more titles in the pipeline like “Roma Victoria Semper” and “Neither King Nor God”. All epic in scale, highly playable, with gorgeous game components."

 I want to thank Mr. Walentin for allowing me to show these pics from Eylau 1807. Please take a look at their Ancients games also.

Sound of Drums – we develop and publish thrilling historical boardgames