So, I have
invested in the ACW riverine period as my next project using the Hammerin’ Iron
2 rules from RFCM (2011). I have the rules, two fleets from Peter Pig, a
game-mat, and a set of markers. I intended writing a review of the rules, but I
first checked some already out there and found an excellent detailed review (https://misternizz.wordpress.com/2011/09/04/hammerin-iron2-rules-review/) that almost exactly matches my own
views. So rather than duplicate these opinions, I have decided to simply add a
few of my personal thoughts about these great rules. Please note I have played
a couple of games before, plus a demo game at Salute a couple of years ago. So
I have some experience but would still class myself as a novice player, and I
don’t claim to have any detailed historical knowledge of the setting.
As with all
RFCM rules the pre-game procedures are a core feature producing an
attacker/defender set-up that is balanced in the victory conditions at the game
end. The defender has control of the terrain but this can be modified by the
attacker. The defender starts with a significantly weaker force, but
re-enforcements arrive with the passage of time, plus there is a fort to aid
the fleet. The attacker force is stronger and more compact at the start, but to
win they have to progress across the board and destroy shore targets as well as
enemy ships. When designing the fleets, both have exactly 6 ships and comprise
6000 points (including a fort), so if you want a powerful ironclad then the
other ships will have to include small weaker vessels, and there is a risk that
the ironclad may be delayed or not arrive at all! I really like the differing
pre-game ideas offered by RFCM rules, and I think those in Hammerin’ Iron are
amongst the best to date. The use of non-point assets is a good way to
introduce those unusual period elements such as mines, torpedoes and submarines
into games without players having to cost them into their fleets.
Command and
control utilises an unusual card selection mechanism. Ships each start with 5
five cards randomly drawn from either a ‘Smoke’ or a ‘Ports’ deck (no mixing of
the two). The decks differ in the spread of results and reflect whether the
ship is concentrating on moving or firing. A player then has to play a card per
turn from those available to him, until a single card remains, at which point
he can refill his hand from either of the two decks. I like the constraints
this mechanism places on a player (e.g. you don’t have the card you really
want) and the ‘signals’ you pass to your opponent by the choice of deck you are
drawing from.
The gameplay
mechanisms are straight forward and use a ‘bucket of dice’ style of combat
resolution. I know some players don’t like the randomness involved, but it is
important to remember these rules are very much designed with fun, rather than
historical perfection, in mind. I recall the demo game played at Salute where a
young player constantly threw box-cars for critical hits he achieved, resulting
in successive enemy vessels blowing up! The game ended very quickly, all the
players were gob-smacked and trying to calculate the odds for what had just
happened!
The game
length can be manipulated by players and the victory points/conditions are
balanced to reflect the initial disparity between the forces. This type of
procedure will be familiar to players of any RFCM rules, and they add another
layer of randomness to the game; you think you’ve done well but the ‘dice gods’
let you down in this final stage, and the clear ‘victory’ now only scores as a
‘draw’. I’m fine with this because I’m not an especially competitive player,
but I know others who dislike this aspect of the rules; they want clear,
definitive victory points, so they know they have ‘won’ a couple of turns
before the game ends.
Finally, the
rules provide a selection of non-standard scenarios which look like fun (I’ve
not tried them) and some optional/advanced rules, which look interesting and
which I can see myself using in future. To, conclude I highly recommend
Hammerin’ Iron if you want a fast, fun, enjoyable game on the rivers of the ACW
using the hotch-potch of weird iron/tin/cotton-clad vessels that the shipyards
of the time cobbled together.
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