ACW Ironclads

[Andrew_McGuire]

With regard to the choice of miniatures, I may have to revise my earlier stated preference, having discovered a new range, albeit, rather frustratingly from the point of view of compatibility, in 1:700 scale, and, even more frustratingly, apparently consisting at present of only one vessel, viz. USS Onondaga:





The model in question, which is clearly rather more than a mere playing piece, and would appear to require considerable patience in construction, replaces the iron of the original with brass, and is produced by CRM, or Captain Rabbit Models. It's available from a China-based eBay seller known as alfahobby.

[aphillathehun]

Beautiful.  Do you use it in a game and tell the players - "please, don't touch the model"?

[StoneMtnMinis]

Nice looking model and a good looking game that appears to have been fun to play.

Monitors had a very low freeboard which limited their use to rivers and costal waters.  It wasn't until late 1864 that ocean going, two turret monitors were launched.  The coverings on the turrets were only use when the ships were moored to protect the insides of the turrets.  The turrets were open-topped to provide ventilation for the ship and gun crews.

Here are some of the Houstons Ships painted and assembled by Paul Meyer.

https://wargamephotos.com/houstons-ships-photos/#jp-carousel-628
https://wargamephotos.com/houstons-ships-photos/#jp-carousel-626
https://wargamephotos.com/houstons-ships-photos/#jp-carousel-629

Dave

[Andrew_McGuire]

Beautiful.  Do you use it in a game and tell the players - "please, don't touch the model"?

Sounds sensible. I don't have the model, which I only encountered yesterday on eBay, from which I took the photos. All it lacks is a working engine and screw, and some smoke. I doubt I'd have the patience or skill to build it, but I'm very tempted to get one anyway. I hope there will be more, but I can't find a website for the manufacturer. (A Google search for Captain Rabbit brings up some rather different products, some of them battery-operated.)

Here's the listing for anyone who wants to investigate further:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CRM-1-700-American-Civil-War-monitor-ironclad-warship-USS-Onondaga-1864/273426937779?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3De690a6fb1b3842518a0b127d3f13d9c9%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D372577600961%26itm%3D273426937779&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A2e449a22-20c3-11e9-ba67-74dbd180933f%7Cparentrq%3A85f7ac381680aa417112204ffffd83c0%7Ciid%3A1

Apologies for the excessive length of the URL, but I thought it best to leave it untrimmed.

[Andrew_McGuire]

Nice looking model and a good looking game that appears to have been fun to play.

As mentioned in my other reply, the pics come from an eBay listing. A game with a flotilla of these would be quite something to look at.

Thanks for the info and pictures. Ironclads are supposed to be simple, but that rigging - not on the ironclads themselves, obviously - looks intimidating. Based on an earlier comment, the Houston models appear to be on the old side, if still serviceable: are they still in production?

As previously mentioned, the intended source of my navies is Thoroughbred, which has been recommended. I see USS Onondaga is included, and, while lacking the razor-sharp detail of the CRM piece, doesn't look half bad, as well as being presumably better suited to the rigours of the table top.

[StoneMtnMinis]

Yes, they are still in production as we own and produce them.  Many of the ships have been re-designed from the original masters and they continue to sell quite well.  And as you saw from the photos they paint-up and look very good.

Dave
www.WargamingMiniatures.com

[Andrew_McGuire]

Thanks. I wasn't familiar with the store. I see the Houston models are in 1/1200 scale, so are obviously not compatible with the other ranges mentioned, but may still be worth considering, particularly for larger engagements. I also noticed a couple of naval rule sets, which goes some way to addressing the other part of my earlier query. Do you know where I can find more details on these, particularly reviews?

[StoneMtnMinis]

The rules were written in the 1980's, so there aren't any current reivews available.  You might try speciality sites that are dedicated the the ACW naval perios.

[Go player1]

A rules option might be "Shot & Shell", a board game by 3W from the 1980s.  Unsure how easily the rules could be adapted for figures and models. I believe you could adopt movement from another rule set to get past the hex movement of a board game and use S&S rules for firing, damage repair, etc.  The rules author (Roger Nord) notes that he wrote the rules to improve some of the mechanics of "Ironclads" (published 1979).
The Wargamer magazine Volume 2 #4 (January 1988) includes articles and scenarios for S&S.

[Go player1]

http://theminiaturespage.com/rules/acw/sotw.html

Smoke on the Water is another option.

[Andrew_McGuire]

http://theminiaturespage.com/rules/acw/sotw.html

Smoke on the Water is another option.

For some reason, while irrelevant in terms of subject matter, I can't help mentioning the board game Fire in the Sky, which covered the WW2 war in the Pacific. Apparently an excellent design, it is now out of print.

Thanks to all respondents for the suggestions, which I will investigate.

[robh]

For some reason, while irrelevant in terms of subject matter, I can't help mentioning the board game Fire in the Sky, which covered the WW2 war in the Pacific. Apparently an excellent design, it is now out of print.

Thanks to all respondents for the suggestions, which I will investigate.