Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame

Ironclads in action during a recent game.

Since the publication of the Portable Ironclads Wargame I have been in something of funk regarding what comes next. It was always my intention to add to the title but I never really had any concrete ideas about what to add. I thought about a series of campaign specific supplements supported by more ship building - nothing wrong with that idea - but decided against that in the way originally considered. There is a plan B for that particular idea which I will outline at a later date. I finally settled on Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame as a kind of ‘blooper reel/outtake/extras’ type of publication which will not only expand on the original by way of optional and advanced rules but will also look at some of the mechanisms that for a variety of reasons did not make the published version.

I experimented with a number of ideas beforehand, particularly with firing mechanisms and these are all largely self contained in that you could readily replace the existing version with them without any major impact. I described the original rules as being very much a toolkit and by offering the alternatives the player can use whichever works best for them. Another option concerns the use of a square grid rather than hexagonal. This has rather more impact and would need to be tidied up considerably before unleashing on the unsuspecting gaming public!

In my mind’s eye I see Developing the Portable Ironclads Wargame as being in two halves. The first covers the aforementioned alternatives that were trialled extensively during the design phase. The second half will be a selection of optional and advanced rules and will include an action fought using some of these - and I am quite excited about this particular part!

Finally, I will also include a far more comprehensive ship listing for the ACW.

When this is finished (and much of the material exists already and merely needs ordering and tidying up) I  reckon all I will be left to do is to enjoy some other periods and make a few more models, as well as getting some games in.

As for the plan B, watch this space but not too carefully as this will be slightly further down the road….

I will say no more.