Ironclads

by: James Cobb

Ever since computer wargaming became serious, many gamers have cried out for a computer version of Yaquinto/Excalibre’s Ironclads board game. Oddly enough, no American developer took up the challenge, leaving the field open for Russia’s Totem Games to do Ironclads: American Civil War. Can both the accuracy and excitement of the board game be captured on the PC?

Half-Armored

The manual for the turn-based Ironclads is only five pages and no tutorial is present. Not to worry; the mechanics are so simple that the information given and the help screen are more than adequate. However, the manual is a bit misleading as it speaks to the differences between shell and solid shot while mentioning targeting specific areas on an enemy ship. Players have no control over ammunition or precision aiming.

The game is purchased by download only, although a backup can be purchased. Ironclads has a unique installation system. Buyers get a purchase code from the site. When the download is installed, the application generates an activation file. This file and the purchase code are then emailed to Totem Games who emails a license key back. An extended download period can be purchased.

The graphics for vessel models on the battle screen are great with details shown clearly at zoomed-in levels. The same loving care is shown on the line drawings invoked on the 2D map. Fifty-four Union and Confederate ships, ranging from sloops to men-of war, have the specifications, armament, armor, any ram present and builder identified. The quality of the images rivals the best tabletop models. A compass rose around selected ships and possible targets facilitates play. The 2D map of the battle area has a nice period touch while showing the relative position of ships and important features like shores and hidden shoals.

Other parts of the graphics don’t live up to the vessel model standards. Although the beaches and the shore look good, other environmental effects are notable for their absence. Every day is bright and calm. The only time waves are seen is when they lap over the decks of low freeboard craft such as monitors, making them look like submersibles. The lack of bow waves or wakes give the impression of ships aquaplaning across the screen. The sparse animation adds to the rather stiff feel of the graphics. Flags and banners don’t snap in the breeze; funnel smoke goes straight up; spar and hull damage isn’t shown. Ships don’t explode spectacularly or slowly capsize; they just sink quickly on an even keel. Smoke, important in the black-powder era, isn’t persistent. Some animation can be seen, such as the movement of swivel guns, muzzle and hit flashes, static flames for ships on fire and water gouts for misses. But, overall, this part of the graphic package was left behind in the 1980s.

An ambiguous feature is the ship diagram that covers a large part of the main screen. Panning and rotating the view by pressing the right mouse button keeps the diagram from blocking targets but its generic character disappoints. The top-down view of a masted steam ship is divided into six sections for four different purposes. The first purpose is the most important, dealing with guns. The diagram has one gun icon fore and aft along with three icons per broadside. An icon can represent more than one gun with the actual number shown on a present/operable tag by the icon. Guns are color-coded with red as fired, green as loaded, bright green as having a target in sight and gray for knocked out or non-existent. Thus, the U.S.S Monitor only had the fore gun colored with all the other icons grayed. Five types of guns are included. The three other purposes are for general, flooding and fire damage. Each type has its own icon that changes colors as the situation worsens. A percent level for any damage is also present.

Sound is fairly well done with the constant chug-a-chug of engines, boom of guns and crackling of fire when zoomed in on a stricken ship. The hollow thuds of collisions or rams could be more dramatic.

Battle without the Wind Gauge

The faults in the graphics tend to fade when the battle is joined. Ironclads has 14 missions in each of the Union and Confederate campaigns. The missions must be played in sequence but results are not carried over and score is not kept; players just know if they’ve met the victory conditions. The battles take place in the same areas but have different objectives for each side. For example, Union goals in the third mission are to destroy all the shore batteries while the Confederates must stop this activity and have at least one ship afloat at mission’s end. Mission lengths vary from 35 to 70 turns but can be terminated quicker if all of one side’s ship are sunk or have exited the 2D map. Action is confined to Eastern ports and the Atlantic.

Players’ forces at hand are shown as bow-on icons across the bottom of the main screen with small dots above them. Green dots indicate that ships can be moved, red when finished and gray when aground. Some ships are linked in pairs at the beginning of a mission so that clicking on one allows both to move and fire. These pairs can be split but not rejoined. Switching from one ship to another in the middle of a turn can optimize firing positions.

Ships’ speeds and courses are handled with sliders with actual speed being diminished by course turns. The course is marked by a series of buoys. Movement is started and stopped by clicking on a button. When a target comes within range and firing arc, the appropriate guns glow and movement should be stopped. Clicking on a gun turns the cursor into a gray shell that turns pink when moused over a viable target. The targets name and accuracy of the shot is shown. Another click fires and any other eligible gun can be fired or movement continued.

Tactics depend on the target. Wooden ships can be disabled and sunk by fast circles and sweeps if players keep their eyes open for bright guns and stop before their ship moves beyond the firing arc. Ironclads can have their guns disabled this way but only pounding at close quarters will sink them. Unfortunate “overs” can damage friendly ships. Enemy damage is shown only by fires and vague labels of “light damage”, “damaged” and “hard damage”. However, slowness and no fire when in a good position denoted something’s amiss. Damage control and repair is automatic. Care should be taken not to run aground – especially beneath shore batteries - as no reverse movement is provided. Rams and collisions cause ships to bounce backwards and lose speed for some turns.

The AI is masterful at movement and medium range fire but tends to shy away from close combat, allowing damaged enemies to escape. It also has an odd tendency to collide with its own ships and run aground in friendly harbors. Superior Union technology shows early and grows as campaigns progress. Missions are balanced by giving the Confederates a few more ships than they would have had.

Ironclads has some unfortunate flaws. Its turn-based basis allows a ship to come alongside, fire and move on with impunity; no exchanges of broadsides occur. Totem Games is considering giving the AI ability to fire back but humans will just have to take their lumps. After playing each campaign twice, players will be bored. Some sort of multiplayer function or scenario editor would have fixed this problem. American Civil War buffs will notice the lack of sidewheelers, tinclads and river action.