Monitor vs Merrimack

 Last night, Doug invited Arthur and me to play his What a Tanker variant for the famous ACW battle of the ironclads at Hampton Roads between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (aka Merrimack).  

To begin with, here are Doug's homemade models of the Monitor:

And the Merrimack:

The game uses the WaT system of command dice, with slightly different effects than in WaT - for example, there is no spotting but there are different dice for movement and steering.  Monitor gets 6 command dice, and Merrimack gets 6 normal dice plus an extra 6 that can only be used for the guns, to allow for Merrimack's full broadside versus Monitor's two guns in a rotating turret.

The ship profiles are a bit different from WaT again, with characteristics for steam (aka speed) and rudder setting.

Our ships started at opposite ends of the muddy-looking Hampton Roads.  Turn gauges are visible in the lower left corner, with different gauges depending on the rudder angle.

Monitor speeds ahead at full steam.

Merrimack uses the turn gauge to bring a broadside to bear on Monitor.

Doug created some creative critical hit effects, including effects such as additional damage points or more specific effects inspired by actual incidents in the battle such as when the Monitor's captain was injured by a hit on the pilot house.


In last night's game, Monitor managed to inflict some damage on Merrimack, but under Arthur's command, Merrimack battered Monitor.  Once I was down to 3 command dice, I decided it was time to exercise the better of valour and fled the battlefield, leaving the Confederate Navy in command of Hampton Roads.

Doug has done a great job with this WaT variant.  Hopefully he'll take my advice and get it into print!