Some time ago the naval might of the United States and Confederate States squared off in a fictional battle very loosely based on Plum Point in 1862. Since I didn't have the exact ships involved it was scaled down a bit and substitutions made.
Rules were the excellent Steam and Black Powder as authored by the late Neil Stokes of the Saint Paul Irregulars. They are easy to pick up and the result feels historic. More importantly, you can get to a result in one session! Models are a combination of Thoroughbred Miniatures and scratch-builts, in 1/600 scale.
Click to enlarge the pictures, comments and additions or corrections are always welcome.
Looking down river and with the benefit of the current, steam the rams Governor Moore, General Earl van Dorn, General Beauregard and Colonel Lovell, lead by the ironclad ram Arkansas at the point.
They sail past a rebel held community with gun batteries and infantry protecting it.
Opposing them and simply trying to hold position against the current, are the ironclad gunboats Essex, Benton and Cairo. This being a surprise attack, their starting speed was just matching the current.
Historically, the Confederates emerged from the morning mist and were on the ironclads so fast most only had time for a single shot before ramming attempts were made. In our case the cover lifted early so the Yankees could start working up to speed.
Splitting their force to navigate around a small island, the Rebs and Yankees began exchanging ineffective fire. The two rams closest in the picture were not happy with the development.
But attempts had to be made! A ramming attempt glanced off the Benton as the next tried to set up his run. The large Yankee guns began punching holes in the "cottonclads."
The Earl van Dorn came sweeping around the island, took a full broadside in passing from the Benton and was raked by the Cairo, catching fire. More glancing ram attempts were made, but bow to bow has a low productivity.
The Governor Moore had better luck against the Essex, but was punished in return. Looks like the Arkansas has a perfect ram attempt lined up.... right?
Wrong! A hit to the wheelhouse left her repeating her previous move, turning away from a dream shot. Meanwhile, the van Dorn succumbed to flooding and fire and sank. Now it was the turn of the Col. Lovell to burn.
But her misery was short-lived as the still turning Arkansas cut her in half. Note the turn arc shown. Vessels have variable turn arcs depending on size and speed and the rules have a nifty chart for pro-rating the simultaneous movement based on your speed.
Unfortunately I dropped the ball on more pictures. Here we see the General Beauregard burning and eventually sinking. The Benton suddenly fell victim to the chip-chip-chip effect or glancing rams and gunfire. The Essex is off camera in a sinking condition. The Cairo will likely escape, as will the "tinclad" that sailed on to support the ironclads.
Although the River Defense Fleet could hardly bear to lose any ships, the blockading squadron had been driven off with major losses and the Arkansas survived to fight another day. So the lose of three cottonclad rams was acceptable.
I'm looking to do the full version of Plum Point at a convention this year. To that effect the General Sumpter, General Sterling Price, General Bragg and Little Rebel are in progress. The additional "Pook" ironclads are covered.
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