Tonight our local club rolled out the river terrain for an ironclad brawl somewhere up the Yazoo. Over the past couple years we've played several games using Peter Pig's Hammerin' Iron rules--always resulting in a good time with lots of fun. Check after the break for more photos of the game, including spar torpedoes and fire rafts!
What does this have to do with Altar of Freedom? Very little, really. I just like puttering around with some unreliable ironclads every now and then. Who doesn't?
What does this have to do with Altar of Freedom? Very little, really. I just like puttering around with some unreliable ironclads every now and then. Who doesn't?
"Hammerin' Iron" Review
I'll make this review brief...Hammerin Iron is a lot of fun, plain and simple. It's a great set of rules for casual gaming, with players each able to handle anywhere from 2-5 ships with ease. The core mechanics are card-driven, and my personal opinions about card-driven activation systems are well-known. But sometimes cards can work really well, and Hammerin' Iron is one of those times. Cards governing your ability to move and fire do seem to capture the unreliable and unpredictable nature of Civil War river warfare. The actual mechanics for moving and fighting are easy to master, with "critical damage" hits occurring frequently, usually with hilarious results. A critical rudder hit tonight left my best ironclad doing circles for several turns until the rudder could be repaired.
Overall, the level of complexity is just right for our local gaming club--enough period flavor to keep you interested, but still playable only using a quick reference sheet. And just so you know I'm not a Peter Pig shill, I can assure you that Hammerin' Iron is as poorly written and laid out as every other Peter Pig book. Seriously, they need to hire an editor and someone with a middle-school understanding of graphic design. But when it comes to rolling dice and having fun, the game delivers. I've played several different Peter Pig rules, and this is certainly my favorite so far. I'll be buying more ships at Cold Wars!
Overall, the level of complexity is just right for our local gaming club--enough period flavor to keep you interested, but still playable only using a quick reference sheet. And just so you know I'm not a Peter Pig shill, I can assure you that Hammerin' Iron is as poorly written and laid out as every other Peter Pig book. Seriously, they need to hire an editor and someone with a middle-school understanding of graphic design. But when it comes to rolling dice and having fun, the game delivers. I've played several different Peter Pig rules, and this is certainly my favorite so far. I'll be buying more ships at Cold Wars!
Some Photos
As previously noted, this post has very little to do with Altar of Freedom, although you may have noticed some AoF 3mm paper buildings in the photos. They are the perfect scale to decorate the shorelines, so don't forget to download them for free and start making some towns. I should also mention that all the ships are Thoroughbred's gorgeous 1:600 models. If you're in the market for a few ironclads, these are truly the finest ships available.
Coming soon...some big Altar of Freedom news and a fresh battle report from a field not far from Atlanta....
--GRW
Coming soon...some big Altar of Freedom news and a fresh battle report from a field not far from Atlanta....
--GRW
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