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Voice of the Rulers

Era: Age of Sail · Source: Naval Wargames Society

Age of Sail naval scenario: Voice of the Rulers.

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Victory on the Rivers V1.1 Page 1 of 15 Introduction This VAS variant, despite the title, covers not only riverine actions of the American Civil War, but ironclad (and wooden ship) actions from 1850 to the 1870s and even some of the smaller actions of the 1880s. This was one of the times of great technological change in naval warfare. Steam had been employed at sea for several decades but achieved levels of reliability and power where it overtook sail as the primary form of propulsion for many warships. The Crimean War saw the introduction of the ironclad warship as the Royal Navy and French Navy employed armoured batteries in the Black Sea, armoured turrets went to sea first on HMS Trusty in 1859 and then later on the USS Monitor and HMS Sovereign; rifled breech loading guns with superior ballistic properties and improved armour penetration began to take over from older muzzle loading smoothbores. The range of vessels available to naval commanders widened as submarines and torpedo boats entered the scene (albeit with significant reliability and operability problems, often posing a more severe risk to their crews than the enemy), whilst contact and remote operated mines and even (at the end of the era) wire guided torpedoes were fielded. The core VAS system lends itself rather nicely to an adaptation to cover the ironclad period. The variant rules below overlay the existing rules, which generally remain in force. Ship Statistics Movement A ship’s maximum movement is equal to 1” per knot of its maximum speed. For example a ship that had a maximum speed of 7 knots could move up to 7” per turn. Turning and Target Number Turning and Target Number are dependent on vessel size, type and manoeuvrability. Basic Turn and Target numbers are as follows: Length Turn No. Target No. I&F 150’ or less 3 6+ VS, S 151-300’ 2 5+ M 301’+ 1 4+ L, VL If the vessel is a side-wheel paddle steamer increase Turn Number by 1 (max. 3). If the vessel is noted as being unmanoeuvrable (such as CSS Virginia) decrease Turn Number by 1 minimum 1). If the vessel is a single turret monitor increase Target Number by 1 (max. 6) Victory on the Rivers – an Ironclad VAS Variant By David Manley

Victory on the Rivers V1.1 Page 2 of 15 Crew Within this variant the fate of the crew is considered to be inextricably entwined with the fate of, and damage to, the ship. Hence, crew numbers are not taken into account. Damage Points Damage points are based on the standard displacement of the intact vessel. Displacement is 1500 tons or less: Damage points = Displacement / 50 Displacement between 1500 and 3000 tons Damage Points = 30 + (disp. – 1500)/75 Displacement is >3000 tons Damage Points = 50 + (disp. – 3000)/100 Armour For armoured vessels the Armour Value is equal to the armour thickness in inches (rounded down, with a minimum of 2). The Armour Value is increased by 1 if the armour is sloped at more than 30 degrees or if it has more than 13” of wood backing. The Armour Value is decreased by 25% if the armour is laminated. All unarmoured wooden vessels have an armour value of 2W (W denoting Wood). “Tinclad” river gunboats with only partial coverage can be represented by wooden vessels with the Thick Front Armour trait (see below) Vessel Traits The following traits can be used to customise or better describe ships Ram Bow: Vessel has a hardened bow designed for ramming Low Freeboard: The vessel rides very low in the water. This makes it susceptible to flooding damage Poor Rear Armour (X): The ship has a weakly protected rear. “X” denotes the Armour Value used when incoming fire is coming from the ship’s rear arc. Thick Front Armour (X): The ship has a heavily protected front face. “X” denotes the Armour Value used when incoming fire is coming from the ship’s forward arc. Sail: The vessel can move under sail only Side Wheel: the ship uses exposed side paddle wheels for propulsion. If the ship suffers gunnery damage from the side roll a d6. If the result is lower than the number of damage points scored the wheel is damaged and the ship immobilised. Stern Wheel: the ship uses an exposed stern paddle wheel for propulsion. If the ship suffers gunnery damage from the rear roll a d6. If the result is lower than the number of damage points scored the wheel is damaged and the ship immobilised. Spar Torpedo: The vessel is able to rig a spar torpedo.

Victory on the Rivers V1.1 Page 3 of 15 Movement A ship’s current speed is announced at the start of its movement. Ships can change speed by +/- 5 knots from their speed at the end of the previous turn. The distance that a ship moves in the current turn is referred to as its “speed” A normal move will see a ship move ½ its speed, execute a turn, move the remaining half of its speed and then turn again. Each turn can be up to the craft’s full Turn Number. The ship may delay executing its turn until after the ½ move point but in that case it cannot make a turn at the end of movement. Example. A ship’s declared movement or speed is 6”. It may move 3”, turn, move another 3” and then turn again. If it moves 4” then turns and moves another 2” it may not turn again at the end of movement. Each point of turn is equal to 30 degrees. Astern Movement Unlike normal VAS ships can move astern (backwards). In order to do so a ship must slow to a stop and then spend at least one turn stationary. The ship can then move backwards at a maximum speed of 3 knots. Turn numbers remain the same but a vessel moving astern only executes turns after its movement is completed. Changing from astern movement to forward movement uses the same process. Sails The emphasis of these rules is on steam powered warships. However, there were still some sailing warships in the world’s navies, and many sail powered merchantmen. Ocean going ironclads often had full sailing rigs (see the picture of HMS SCORPION on a later page) and would use sails on transit to reduce coal consumption. However, they were rarely used in combat since falling masts and sails posed a significant threat to the ship; instead sailing rigs were often reduced once the theatre of operations was reached. The sailing rules that follow are for ships that rely solely on sail power. Combined use of sail and steam is not allowed. It is possible that a scenario may feature a steam ship that has had its propulsion system disabled and thus is moving only under sail. Wind Direction Determine the direction from which the wind is blowing at the start of the game. For simplicity it should blow from one table edge directly towards the opposite edge.

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