The Portable Ironclads Wargame

This book builds on the earlier Portable Wargame rules for fighting battles during the so-called ‘ironclad’ era of naval warfare that were included in ‘The Gridded Naval Wargame’. In this book, the author has created a set of rules that are mainly aimed at the American Civil War, a war that saw both sides embrace the new concept of armouring warships to make them less vulnerable to the more powerful guns that were being manufactured. The fact that both sides were capable of building or extemporising such warships – sometimes in a very short time and in very difficult and trying circumstances – is testament to their ingenuity and skill, and to the pioneer spirit exhibited by so many Americans in those days.

The Americans were not – however – unique in having the capacity to both build and operate ironclad warships, and as the book shows, the French and British were more than capable of building sea-going ironclads – and the guns with which to arm them – in large numbers in a relatively short time. They soon became the suppliers of ironclad warships to the world, and many of the warships that took part in the other naval conflicts of this era were launched in British or French shipyards. The rules in this book can be used to recreate these other battles, and it is hoped to produce appropriate supplements at a later date.