[JHS]

Played through a big battle scenario on the demo. South (my side): one British-design CAPTAIN class turret ship, three big Austrian-built broadside battery rams, three or so total wimp light ships with popguns. Union: Murder Incorporated---a couple of double turret monitors, couple single turret monitors, a couple unarmored steam sloops with guns coming out of their ears, and a couple light vessels with turntable guns and some broadside guns. Well, it is not a low-IQ toy, as the Russian designer insisted. The turn style play is maybe questionable, but it works well. You can interrupt your individual ship's move to blast an opponent whenever you like. You can't fine-tune your move perfectly, so some of the unrealism of a turn system is eliminated---if you think you can make your move perfectly to run right up along side an enemy ships, you might find yourself colliding. Best advice: don't try running close to anything unless you intend to ram. Ramming is the way to go if you have a big Austrian ram and you see a big, fat, vulnerable Union steam sloop in range. Monitors try to ram the tender ends of the Austrian rams because they are wood. The Austrian rams are white elephants. They are fast (they are big seagoing steamships with armor amidships). Their guns are useless against monitors. The way to nail the Austrians is to ram their wooden ends which causes them to flood over time (game has excellent flooding/structural-above-water/fire/armament damage displays). If you have to run with a badly damaged underwater bow, the high speed causes further flooding and you founder (believe me, I know). Sank two of my Austrians this way.

The heavyweights in the game are the monitors. They can't be knocked out. Massive turret armor prevents damage. They are too low in the water to hit their sides. You can't ram them because of the overhang above the underwater hull won't let you reach the hull with your rams. Brawling with them puts you in range of their gigantic Dahlgren smoothbores which blow your wooden ends in on you. Add to all of the above, they are very maneuverable. Once you slow yourself down in a twisting fight, they dance all around you pummeling you to pieces. You can see why the USN loved monitors and kept building them until the 1890s. Wonder if the game will have any rough weather scenarios? Rough weather would ruin the monitors' day because they were so low in the water---they flooded and sank in heavy weather. Guess why the RN hated them?! Their solution was the CAPTAIN class turret ship with high ends but low amidships to carry the massive turrets.

As for the scenario I played, the only way to win as the South is to blow right through the Union squadron at full speed, ram the wooden steam sloops, and get out at high speed. Don't even bother shooting at or ramming the monitors. If they start to swarm your big Austrians, use their greater speed and seaworthiness to run away. My efficiency rating at the end was 16%---all I managed to do was wreck one steam sloop with a perfect ram job. Union had 68% because they wiped me out---one of my big Austrians was able to run for dear life and escape the pack of monitors.

The game beautifully models the effect of turning on these ships. If you keep turning, pretty soon you run out of momentum just like a turning airplane. You stall to practically 0 speed. I didn't fully realize what I was doing to my ships by trying to maneuver all the time. It takes several turns to build up speed again and you only do this by steaming straight ahead.

There was one mystery: sometimes I managed to pull right next to an enemy, and I expected my guns would blow him to kingdom come, but, no, nothing happened. I could not shoot. This was very frustrating!

I think IRONCLADS is a brilliant design. I've always wondered what would have happened if British ironclad designs had been in battle in this period. Most of the fights are "what if" but I think it is a legitimate "what if".

Graphics and detail supposed to be better with full monty version. Bought it but haven't loaded it yet.

☆☆☆☆