Developing The Portable Ironclads Wargame

The latest addition to the library and a fairly significant clue as to where my current focus is for the period!

As it has been quite a while since this title was first mooted I figured that it would be a good time to outline what it will consist of - and what it will not! This has been prompted by a couple of things. Firstly, I have chopped and changed my mind about certain elements over time which has proven to be rather confusing - especially when I was revisiting the draft text! Secondly, I have recently exchanged emails with Simon Wilson, one of my blog readers and a play-tester extraordinaire for the original Portable Ironclads Wargame, in which questions were raised about the new book.

Taking these two points together I decided that the time was nigh to describe what ‘Developing’ will look like and hopefully allay any concerns about ‘new versions’ and suchlike. 

What is in it

DTPIW is first and foremost a collection of optional rules for use with the original version. Players can use some, all or none of these as they are suggestions only - just to mix things up a little and to tailor their gaming experience to what works best for them. In keeping within the spirit of the Portable Wargame the core rules are designed to be a toolkit that can be tinkered with to suit a player’s own ideas for the rules governing naval battles during the period. If something does not feel right then it can be changed or discarded as required.

There will be included a full square grid based adaptation - this will include firing arcs and adjustments to the rules where needed. Originally I wanted to use a square grid but I really struggled to get it to work but after experimentation etc I reckon I have nailed it down at last.

There will be a full errata to the original version. I am working on a PDF that is concerned solely with the rules - to be honest this is more of clarification of certain points than a wholesale change - which should be available shortly, free of charge. There are a few errors in the supporting text but nothing major and so tidying these up makes sense.

At the time of writing there is only one change to the rules that is recommended - that of firing arcs which has featured in my two recent blog posts. I have added to the armour and gunnery factor tables so that the rules can use broadside battery ships of the line - two and three deckers still in service. 

The ACW ship specification list will appear in an expanded form featuring more ships. There will also be some more model pictures as I have added to the ACW collection since publication (although I still have some to build!).

There will be an action fought on a square grid and for this I have chosen to go down the fictional route rather than looking at a historical campaign. I will be featuring a battle taken from the war of 1880 between Great Britain and Turkey and so am currently designing and building the models for this.

What is not in it

This is not a second edition, it is merely the first edition tidied up and with a suite of optional rules to try. 

There is no expanded historical background nor details of technical evolution. Lissa or the War of the Pacific will not be appearing as they have been extensively covered elsewhere - I wanted something a little different - which is why I opted for a fictional campaign. 

Final Thoughts

At the risk of repeating myself, most of what will be featuring in DTPIW is what could have been in the original Portable Ironclads Wargame but time and circumstances were not on my side in 2022. I hope that this volume will help to round out the rules for the period 1860 to around 1880 and to demonstrate that they are usable beyond the American Civil War - fascinating though it is!

My thanks to Simon Wilson for helping to prompt this post!