Our Thursday Semi Regular Retirees Game on 04/30/26 held at Miniature Market Cave Springs was a trip back to the American Civil War and a lovely spot on the James River as the crews boarded their sturdy ironclads to do battle. Greg Dieckhaus and Jay Clendenny combined their talents and expertise of the era to present a “new to us” set of rules (with a few tweaks) on this inflection point in our national saga.
The Union (Kent L, Jules R and Mark J) were heading towards Richmond and it was up to the Rebel Navy (Steve T, Pat L, Ravi R ad D.J.) to stand in the way of this infamous plan.
D.J. was kind enough to provide us with some photos and a report so we will turn this over to him…..
“Big Muddy Historical Gaming Alliance – St. Louis Semi Regular Retirees Game 04/30/26.”
“Our Thursday Semi Regular Retirees Game held at Cave Springs Miniature Market simulated a Civil War period Ironclad ship battle. The rule system backing this reenactment was Beer and Pretzels Ironclads – Rules for fighting small naval engagements of the American Civil War (by John R. ‘Buck’ Surdu and Michael Miller.”
“Greg Dieckhaus hosted the session and provided his own 3d printed ironclads. Jay Clendenny assisted Greg with being the referee overlord of all attacks and damage dispensation results.”
“The battle fleets consisted of various named ironclad, tin-clad, and timber clad boats along rivers during the American CivilWar and even a ferry boat converted with armaments.”
“It only took a few turns before ships were pelting each other with heavy guns that unfortunately caused a sunken junkyard in the center of the river.“
“The Confederate flagship CSS Virginia wreaked havoc wherever she went while others Confederate ships pelted the Union into a slow submission. Only the USS Weehawken survived minimal damage and removed itself from the losing battle.“
“The rules system provided a lighthearted but strategic play with much laughter amongst the payers. Greg and Jay had tweaked the rules a bit to allow more historic armaments than the original ruleset. It was wholly agreed upon that the rules tweaking brought a new level of challenges without burying the players in additional rules..”
Thanks Greg and Jay presenting this game for the group and their dedication to making it come out well for all. Thanks to D.J. for his after battle report and the great photos. A big Thank You to all the players for taking time to run through these rules and for their thoughtful critiques of the system and to Miniature Market Cave Springs for their for their continued support.
Remember to shop local.
