Ironclads, Dawn of Iron, 1/600 scale 

We haven’t played much of Dawn of Iron yet, but I’m impressed by the rules – just the right balance of playability and detail to make for a fast-paced game. They’re designed for naval actions of the American Civil War, but this week we took them out for a spin in the Baltic, in a fictitious engagement fought off Peenemünde, on the south (side of the bay leading to Stralsund. In this one, Sean commanded the Danes, while I led out the Prussians. The game was set in the Prusso-Danish War of 1864, which we’ve wargamed before, but this one was a little different. While we used ships that either formed part of the Danish blockade of the Prussian coast, or the Prussian navy eager to break it, this was  a what-if game, as we added two ironclads into the mix – the Danish Rolf Krake (which served elsewhere) and the Prussian Armenius (which entered service after the war ended). Essentially, this was a European Monitor and Merrimac confrontation – the first between ironclads. The Danish blockading squadron was made up of the ship-of-the-line Skold (flagship) and the corvette Thor – both wooden-hulled steam-powered warships. Facing them were the Prussians, with a more varied assortment – the wooden steam-powered corvettes Arcona (flagship) and Nymphe, the gunboat Comet and the sidewheel Dispatch Boat Loreley. In terms of points the two sides were fairly equal. However, joining these wooden-hulled forces were the two ironclads , each with four guns, mounted in a pair of turrets. Now, I’d approached Mike Haught, who created Dawn of Iron, and he very kindly crunched the numbers needed to produce these ship cards. Most of the ships had Light or Very Light guns – the exceptions being the Rolf Krake and the Arcona. That became quite important in our game!  The battle opened with the Prussians approaching the blockading Danes, with the Skold and the Thor cruising off the entrance to Stralsund’s bay, the Griefswalder Bodden. The night before, the four Prussian ships, accompanied by the Arminius had put into Peenemünde, so at dawn they could leap out and take the Danes by surprise. So, when the game began the two ironclads weren’t on the table – both would appear as the game went on. I have to say, I was a bit wary of the Skold (converted from a plastic model of HMS Victory), but her numerous 30pdrs. were still light guns, and so not devastatingly powerful. So, I headed for the leading Danish ship, the Thor, while my two puny ships Comet and Loreley sort of hung back out of the way. I was lucky – I rolled well, and Arminius appeared on Turn 2. So, I could use my ironclad in the attack, while there was still no sign of its Danish rival. We shot at each other at close range, and while Thor inflicted some  damage on Arcona, the Prussian 68pdr. smoothbores proved devastating. By Turn 3 the poor Thor was holed and sinking, having lost all her hull points. That’s her getting slammed with shot up above. This was a boost to the Prussians, but at that point the Skjold joined the fight, and a lucky hit took out the Arcona’s rudder. That’s when I noticed I was heading towards the rocks…In Dawn of Iron you have to roll for Damage Control – and the crew of Arcona had to roll twice as hard, fixing the rudder and putting out a fire. It was at that moment that the Rolf Krake appeared, on the other side of the table, astern of the Skold. The plucky Arminus immediately squared off against her – covering the Comet and Loreley, which had been battered by Skold, and now scattered like minnows when the Danish ironclad appeared!That was when I found that in Mike’s stats, when you’re shooting an an ironclad, there’s a world of difference between a 60pdr. rifle and a 68pdr. one! While Rolf Krake’s Medium guns could inflict ‘Cumulative Damage’ on the Armenius, her own Prussian Light guns couldn’t even dent the hull of her Danish opponent. the only plus was that thanks to the armour of both ships, the Danish 68pdrs. couldn’t do that much damage. Clearly the only ship in the Prussian fleet which could take on the Danish ironclad was the wooden-hulled steam corvette Arcona. Fortunately at that pretty critical moment, the Damage Control teams rolled well, and the rudder was fixed in the nick of time. The ship had been slowing down, and had stopped too – just clear of the shore. So, it began going astern, and turning before steaming off to rejoin the fight – or what was left of it.By that stage I’d decided to send the fairly useless Comet, Loreley and Nymphe back to port, screened by the Armenius (pictured above).At that point though, a shot from the Rolf Krake (below)  hit Arcona, and rendering her ‘Derelict’. She began limping off soon after though, but that effectively ended the game. So, it was a draw – the Prussians sank the Thor, but the Arcona was close to foundering. Next time, I’ll need bigger guns – and more iron! 

Tags: Dawn of Iron