The Ships of Rebel Raiders   -  The Don

Rebel Raiders on the High Seas is a strategic game of the Civil War which focuses on the role of the navies on the rivers, along the coasts and on the oceans.  While most ships are represented by generic counters for Ironclads, Blockade Runners, Gunboats, Screw Sloops and, of course Raiders, there are cards and corresponding counters for many individual vessels.  This series presents those cards and offers a glimpse into the history of these storied ships.

The Blockade Runners -  The Don

With few arsenals or factories of its own, the Confederacy relied upon European manufacturers for much of its war material as well as other vital supplies.  As European vessels would not cross the Union naval blockade to deliver those goods into Southern ports, the South relied upon a fleet of swift merchantmen to “run” the blockade.  

The Don (CSN Card 66) was a particularly fast twin-screw, two-stacker Blockade Runner.   Capable of 14 knots and drawing only six feet, The Don was hard to run down and could slip into coastal inlets to hide.  The vessel cost $115,000 to build, but made back that and more for her owners, who included the State of North Carolina and Francis Muir of Pudding Lane in London and on her first trip from England via Nassau in 1863.  Her 32-year-old captain, Fred Cory, made a second similarly successful voyage, but on his third trip his ship was caught off Beauport, on March 4, 1864, by the wooden screw gunboat USS Pequot.

On that final voyage the ship was packed not with weapons and munitions, but with uniforms, blankets and shoes, a cargo valued at over $200,000 – or twice what it cost to build The Don.

Rebel Raiders Rocks –

What Gamers Are Saying About Rebel Raiders on the High Seas – June 24, 2013

Good reports, congratulations and recommendations continue to flow in for Rebel Raiders on the High Seas;  here are some of the latest:

Rebel Raiders Rocks!

“Kudos Fred and Mark on this gem. Really captures the feel of the naval war, with lots of flavor and definitely a player’s game.”

-Darin Leviloff, Foster City CA (and designer of Soviet Dawn, Israeli Independence and Ottoman Sunset)

That Game Really Rocks!

“Charles and I just played about 2/3 of a game of Rebel Raiders (it’s set up on my table until we can finish it). That game really rocks! I’ll write more later, I just wanted to let you know I really enjoy it....I really enjoyed the game, can't wait to finish it. 

Chris Buhl, Pittsfield, MA

A Very Entertaining Game..Oodles of choices to make...

“A very entertaining game.  Oodles of choices to make and opportunities for variation.  I’ve started a second.”

-John Bolash, Consimworld

A Nail Biter Down to the Wire and We Had a Great Time With It

“Got to play our first full game of RR last Wednesday and had a great time with it.”

“A nail biter down to the wire and we had a great time with it.”

-Chuck Parrot, Winnabow, NC

This is a Game I Would Recommend to Anyone

“This is a game I would recommend to anyone. It is fairly simple to learn and understand, but it does not suffer from insufficient strategy and AP. You are constantly second guessing yourself and wondering what you could have done differently with each play.  Really well done game and one I think will hit the table a few more times.”

- Erich Vereen, Leland NC

And Cheers for the AAR too….

….and on the just-completed After Action Report of the game between the designer and naval historian Brandon Musler:

-“I must say this was one of the most exciting AARs I’ve ever read. It reinforces my desire to play RR to death.”

-Pat Kairns, Montreal, Canada

-“I think it says a lot (in a good way) that the designer wants to play his game after all the toil to produce it. I hear sometimes/often that is not the case”

-Steve Duke, Georgetown, Texas

Rebel Raiders Replay  (Turn 8 –August 1863)

Designer Mark McLaughlin as CSA; Naval Historian Brandon Musler as USA

When we last left off, the South was reeling from the loss of Nashville – whose capture took no less than three assaults (two by river and one by land) in one turn to secure.  The capture of the city allowed the North to declare the Emancipation Proclamation, thus further hampering Southern efforts to bring in badly needed cargo from abroad...

Blockade Runners – We Few, We Happy Few…

While there are still at least a few (oh, how very few) Blockade Runners out there, Mark plays Cotton is King (Card 87) which increases the value of each Cargo counter brought home this turn by 1 extra VP.  Although three (fully loaded, of course) Blockade Runners go down, five get through – and thanks to King Cotton they unload 12 VP.   Raiders manage to scramble about for 4 more VP.

Of course one problem with being one of the “few” is that the band of brothers keeps getting fewer….

After losing 5 VP on the Supply roll (an attrition roll to reflect on the cost of maintaining the war effort) the South has 35 VP left – and Mark cashes in 20 of them to start another Ironclad.  Batteries go down in Chattanooga and Atlanta, to attempt to build up a line of defense against the now unleashed Grant, who may strike out of Nashville toward the Confederate heartland. Four Blockade Runners, bringing the total in play to eight, and a Raider are built.

The Rebel deck is reshuffled as per Cotton is King.

Tomorrow, the Union half of the turn....To be continued....

Rebel Raiders Replay  (Turn 7 –Mid-game Pause and Assessment)

Designer Mark McLaughlin as CSA; Naval Historian Brandon Musler as USA

When we last left off, the South was reeling from the loss of Nashville – whose capture took no less than three assaults (two by river and one by land) in one turn to secure. 

The fall of Nashville means more than just battering open the gates to the largely unprotected heartland of the Confederacy.  It also allows the Union player to declare the Emancipation Proclamation.  Here is a brief note as to what that means, and an assessment of the game’s overall situation as the players cross the midpoint.

Emancipation Proclamation

The capture of a city in 1863 allows the Union to declare the Emancipation Proclamation – which Brandon does.  This removes the Trent and Royal Navy cards now in play – and forever removing the threat that the North will again have to send three Screw Sloops that had been placed on the later earlier in the game.  Maximillian is also removed from the deck, and both sides reshuffle all discards.  In addition, two of the six 2VP cargo markers are removed from play, which, combined with the nearly complete destruction of the Blockade Running fleet, and the tight inner and outer blockade, all but put an end to the Confederate blockade running option.

All hope for VP to keep the South in the war now rests with the Raiders, who are being hunted mercilessly by killer packs of Screw Sloops…..one pack of which finds but misses one Raider, while another pair of stacks sinks two more Raiders.

The Union builds two Ironclads and buys a third attack for next turn….

OVER THE HUMP – Mid-game Situation

Rebel Raiders normally has 12 turns, although a 13^th is possible through card play and die rolling.  Seven of those turns are now over, putting the game over the hump and past the midpoint.

In terms of cities, as August 1863 (Turn 8) dawns,  the South is not doing badly at all.  It has lost Island No. 10 and Fort Henry, and Louisville. It is not the loss of this shield but the capture of Nashville that truly hurts – for this opens up the Confederate heartland, which Mark has ignored in favor of building a strong outer ring.  It also allows the Union a shot at Memphis from the land side.  This means that even if the Union fleets do not manage to sink the Rebel ships (two ironclads, two gunboats) the Union Army can take its chances against the Batteries.

On the coast, only St. Augustine has fallen, but the blockade is solid.  Every Blockade Station on the Atlantic and most on the Gulf has one or more ships on patrol, and there are one or two Screw Sloops offshore in each zone as well.  There are very few Blockade Runners left, and with Emancipation Proclamation reducing the number of 2 VP cargo available, things look very bleak for the smuggling trade.   The Raiding fleet has been decimated, and the Union has strong forces sweeping the seas.

While the South has a long way to go before falling,  the tide has turned…..

To be continued…. (Illustration below is a (fuzzy) bird's eye view of the situation)

"Wow!" and other nice things gamers are saying about Rebel Raiders on the High Seas

-We pause in our continuing coverage of the replay of a game between the designer and a naval historian to note and acknowledge some kind words posted about the game:

"Wow!"
- Jean Leviathan of Lublin, Poland

"Oh, now you've gone and made me want to buy this.  My wife will not like you."
-Barry Kendall, Lebanon PA

"It's an easy system to teach and learn.  As others have said, 15-20 minutes and we're good to go! If anyone likes tension in a game they will love Rebel Raiders."
-Pat Kearns, BGG

and also from Pat:

 "Happy to read that a module" (for Vassal) "is in the 'works.' I (and others) will patiently await its arrival as I go about teaching the game to a few more eager friends"

-Thank you all, and I hope you all continue to enjoy playing Rebel Raiders on the High Seas!

Rebel Raiders Replay  (Turn 7, Continued)

Designer Mark McLaughlin as CSA; Naval Historian Brandon Musler as USA

When we were last here, the North had just retreated from its abortive naval attack on Nashville…a battle in which three Rebel and two Union cards were played.  Brandon, however, pulled back the remnants of one fleet only to come on again with a fresh force…

Turn 7  (Part II)  The Second Battle of Nashville:  – Gunboats vs. Batteries

Brandon may have retreated from his first attack, but he is not done with Nashville.    He has a SECOND fleet on the river - with one Ironclad and five Gunboats….and in they come to fight the two remaining Rebel batteries.

The battle opens with a mighty cannonade of rolling dice and….

Every shot by every ship and battery in round one MISSES!

Round Two:  One Union Gunboat is sunk.  Yankees miss.

Round Three:  Three Gunboats go down.   No Batteries are hit.

The much-reduced Union fleet retires.

A lesser man (say, a Halleck or a McClellan) would call it a day – especially after losing two battles and two-thirds of the fleet in that second battle, but Brandon is made of sterner stuff.  Even if he can not weaken the city sufficiently by water, he will try by land….

Third Nashville  -  On Comes Grant and his Big Guns

The Union always gets two attacks a turn but Brandon, however, as is good practice for the Union from 1863 on has bought a third attack (the North can buy enough to make four attacks per turn).  He comes at Nashville by land, with Siege Train (Card 48) and Grant (Card 8).  He uses Union Tactics (which is a rule, not a card, giving up one of his dice to gain a +1 to the highest die he rolls).   Mark rolls higher…but Brandon throws down “Willing to Fight”  (Card 5) which allows the North to re-roll..and comes back in again – and Nashville FALLS!

It took five of the six cards in Brandon’s hand to take Nashville … but he got Siege Train back into his hand (a property of the card if victorious and with a decent die roll) and now Grant is out in the open, face up.

Having kicked open the door to the Confederate heartland (which is entirely undefended) presents the Union with many possibilities, and also allows for the declaration of the Emancipation Proclamation....the consequences of which, along with the mid-game strategic situation, will be discussed in the next posting....

To be continued….

Rebel Raiders Replay  (Turn  5)

Designer Mark McLaughlin as CSA; Naval Historian Brandon Musler as USA

When we left off last time, the Union had gained its first big victories, taking the port of St. Augustine and the fort space at Island No. 10…

Turn 5 – August 1862…Blockade Runner Captains Rethinking Career Choices…

Six Blockade Runners are caught in the Union net! Four of them loaded!  The Francis Bonneau card   comes out again, giving the South a much needed free Blockade Runner.  Even with Bonneau, only 8 VP of cargo make it through.  A desperate attempt to clear out the Blockade Station at Norfolk in a one-on-one gunboat sortie fails, and the Blockade Runner in the port has to take its chances getting out – and is promptly intercepted by the Union.

At least now the growing fleet of Raiders is taking a toll – sweeping up 10 VP for the South. 

Batteries are placed in Memphis and Nashville in response to the Union push down the River to Island No. 10.   The new Ironclad appears in Memphis, along with a Gunboat.  Three Blockade Runners and a Raider are built, and 20 VP is spent to place a Battery in Savannah. 

The Rebel spy A Rose by Any Other Name (Card 82) allows Mark a sneak peak at two cards from the Union hand, and Mark chooses to discard the Engine Breakdown  (Card 47) which can immobilize Rebel Ironclads, as this could seriously hamper his defense of Memphis, which now has two Ironclads and two Gunboats with its Batteries.  

...Be Vewy, Vewy Quiet, Wewe Hunting Webel Waiders...eh eh eh eh eh

The Union, its blockade now solid on the Atlantic Coast and with gunboats filtering around into the Gulf ports as well, decides it has such as surfeit of Screw Sloops that it can afford to go hunting Raiders.    Brandon has been sending out single sloops to search for and sit beside Raiders (this later tactic means the South can not just sit in one spot and raid-raid-raid, as it would be subject to increasingly better searches, but must move and thus give up at least one of those raid attempts).   Now he is send out stacks to hunt them…no luck at first, but the “happy time” for Raiders is drawing to its end.

Rather than take on the massive force at Memphis, Brandon sends his river fleet to Henry & Donelson, where he destroys the battery but TWICE fails the attack rolls, leaving it in Rebel hands.  (See Illustration Below).

 Brandon builds two more Ironclads, a Gunboat and two Screw Sloops.

To be continued…..

Rebel Raiders Replay  (Turn 3)

Designer Mark McLaughlin as CSA; Naval Historian Brandon Musler as USA

When we last left our intrepid gamers, the Union had been rebuffed twice at Louisville, and the Confederacy was enjoying the first “happy time” running the blockade…

Turn 3 – December 1861

The “happy time” is no more.  The Thin Blue Line rounds up THREE Blockade Runners in the Caribbean (one fewer than the South built last turn), and all of those were stacked with cargo, so it is a double loss!  The remainder manage to unload a mere 7 VP – most of which is eaten up by the attrition roll in the Supply Phase – and the two Raiders contribute nothing, finding no targets to sink or ransom.

 (NB: The South wants VP to build extra ships and defenses, buy extra cards and counterattacks – but also needs VP to keep getting three cards a turn).

Fortunately the Tredegar Iron Works  (Card 95) gives the South an extra battery, one of which goes to setting down an Ironclad.  (The others are placed in Savannah and, as seems fitting, Richmond, where those Iron Works were situated).    The South also builds a Raider and 3 Blockade Runners (to replace the 3 it lost), and spends 20 VP to build an Ironclad.

Brandon, despite not liking the odds, decides to go for Louisville again.  The South wins but Brandon plays “Lack of Brains” (Card 7) forcing a re-roll.  This turns the battle around and the Union takes Louisville!

Heady with victory, Brandon decides to rush for Nashville, which has no Battery, so it is two Rebel to one Yankee die.  The Union rolls a “1” and the South a “6”, which instead of a loss of merely 5 VP is doubled to 10 by play of Card 102 - Matthew Brady. To add insult to injury, this card also requires the Union to discard a card at random from its hand as further penance for its battlefield loss.   

At the start of the Union Build Phase the Confederacy plays Corruption (Card 58) – increasing the cost to build Union ships this turn and forcing the discard of Yankee Guns (Card 3) – which gives the Union Screw Sloops and Ironclads some re-rolls.

The North builds 3 Screw Sloops….which cost 2 each not just 1 due to Corruption.

Rebel Raiders Replay  (Turn 2)

Designer Mark McLaughlin as CSA; Naval Historian Brandon Musler as USA

When we last left our plucky warriors, the South had taken Louisville and strengthened Wilmington, and had a fleet of Blockade Runners ready to race in to deliver their cargo…

Turn 2- August 1861

Although one Blockade Runner is caught, the rest scurry through to unload 16 VPs of cargo – truly an auspicious beginning to the Southern “happy time.”  (If the South can’t make the VP in these early turns, they never will). Confederate Batteries are placed in New Berne and Key West, an aptly named “key” port as it allows Blockade Runners from all directions a refuge – and is a short hop for in-and-out runs to the many nearby foreign ports. Four Blockade Runners and a Raider are built.

The North decides that despite the poor odds the Union will try to take Louisville:  even with the South rolling three dice (two for being Southern, one for the battery) vs. his one die, the first attack is a close run thing, but the Union loses by 1 and gives the South a VP.  Second attack, however, is a rout:  a difference of 5 on the dice – and a corresponding gain of 5 VP for the South.

Brandon takes this as corroborative evidence of his being correct in the initial assumption that attacking this early was not a good idea.   He spreads out some gunboats, sliding down the coast to set up the inshore blockade, with Screw Sloops in the outer blockade.  A thin line, but a lengthening lasso nevertheless, as there is now only one port on the entire Atlantic coast that does not have at least one Yankee ship in its Blockade Station.. 

Brandon plays Card 31 – John Dahlgren for free Screw Sloops and Yankee Guns – and builds 2 Ironclads and a gunboat.

To be continued…..

Rebel Raiders Replay

Designer Mark McLaughlin as CSA; Naval Historian Brandon Musler as USA

My old friend Brandon knows more about naval warfare and naval games than just about anybody I know, and as he had invited me to NYC where lives to hear a lecture at the Soldiers and Sailors Club that night, we decided to make a full day of it by gaming Rebel Raiders.  Although the Playbook offers many optional rules for advanced and enhanced play that “spice up the game considerably with added variability,” as Brandon put it, we decided to stick with just the basic game as this is where all new gamers should start.

 Turn 1 – April 1861

As the Confederates I open with Card 96 – “The Most Daring Blockade Runner” Francis Nathaniel Bonneau.  This gives me a free Blockade Runner in Havana, loaded with a 2 VP cargo and immune to interception this turn.  I also play Card 94 -  To the Dark Shores, putting bonus VP cargo on three foreign ports ..AND then I also play Card 83 - Trent Affair – a prerequisite for play of cards that can be quite detrimental to the Union (Royal Navy and Maximillian) should I draw them.

Playing my entire starting hand at once is lot a shot across the bow to Brandon, letting him know this game is not going to start slow.

My first move is to take the Raider that begins in New Orleans (historically Raphael Semmes and his CSS Sumter) out into the Gulf – and she is immediately caught and sank!  (A bad opening omen for the South). I send out my six Blockade Runners to load cargo, and hover offshore in international waters rather than use up all of their movement points just to leave them vulnerable to Union searches in the Blockade Stations or Coastal Areas.   Bonneau, of course, does come home to deliver his cargo.

The Confederacy places batteries at Louisville (taking Kentucky) and Wilmington, to guard a Blockade Runner I built there.  Two other Blockade Runners are built in other fortified Atlantic ports, and another Blockade Runner and a Raider are built in Europe..

The Union moves to reinforce the blockade but eschews land combat, preferring not to risk losing VPs in attacks where the Union rolls only 1 die and the South 2 – and where the South wins ties.   As Brandon put it:  “I’m a numbers kind of guy, and the odds aren’t even 50-50.”

He plays Card 30 - Gustavus Fox to get some free gunboats for this and subsequent turns.

To be continued…..

This day 150 years ago in Rebel Raiders’ History

-Dedicated to Civil War episodes, battles, people and ships that also appear in my game, GMT’s Rebel Raiders on the High Seas.

Silly Ships of the Civil War: The “Double-Ender” Gunboat Design Pays Off

May 29, 1863

            Historical Event:  The “double-ender” gunboat USS Cimarron captured the Confederate blockade runner Evening Star as she tried to slip through the close-in blockade of Wassaw Sound, Georgia.   The “double-ender” sidewheel design incorporated a rudder at each end so the ship could go in either direction without having to turn around.  They were designed specifically for service in narrow inland waterways.

            The USS Cimarron was constructed in New Jersey and outfitted at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1862.  The 860-ton vessel could only make 10 knots, but carried a powerful arsenal of eight guns:  six 24-pound howitzers, one 9-inch smoothbore and one 100-pound rifle.  She participated in several engagements and caught three blockade runners during her service, the first of which was the ill-fated “Evening Star” she took as a prize on May 29, 1863.

            Game Connection:   The Confederate player relies on his Blockade Runners to bring in cargo that translates into badly-needed Victory Points.  These points are vital to Southern production, as they can be traded in for the additional ships, batteries, cards and counterattacks needed to match the growing industrial behemoth of the North.   Gunboats play a key role in making it more difficult for these ships to deliver the goods, as gunboats can stack up in the Blockade Stations, thus increasing the odds of intercepting the Rebel vessels as they try to enter and then leave Rebel ports.

USS Cimarron, courtesy U.S. Naval Historical Center.

           

A Game in New York City --- After Action Report to Follow

Yesterday I went to New York City and played Rebel Raiders with my friend Brandon, who knows more about all things naval than any other person (save one) I know. (That other one is Christopher Vorder Bruegge, another old friend who also served as historical consultant for the game).

It was a lot of fun to finally play with my own game in its published form.   I will be posting turn-by-turn after action reports of the game over the next week, in between "This Day in Rebel Raiders History" and other entries.  I figure it is better to present it in small bites, rather than put it all on the table at once.   Suffice it to say that we start out nice and slow, but the game gathers speed quickly, and Turn 7 (April 1863) was the real thriller -- where we dumped half of our hands in one battle.....

More anon....in the meantime, a good Memorial Day Weekend to all....

PBS Airing Rebel, About a Confederate Female Soldier Turned Spy -
-and there are spies for both sides in Rebel Raiders on the High Seas

One of the perks of being a journalist is previewing television shows for PBS, and today on Examiner.com I posted one for Rebel, which airs tomorrow (Friday, May 24) at 10 p.m. on most PBS stations.

Told through dramatic re-enactments Rebel is the true story of Loretta Velazquez, "an Hispanic woman in a white man's war" as she described herself in her memoir, A Woman in Battle, first published in 1876 (and still in print).    Donning her late husband's uniform she enlisted as a lieutenant in the 7th Louisiana and fought at both Bull Run and Shiloh.  She later became a spy for the Confederacy - and eventually may have been turned into a double-agent by the Union.

Two well-known female spies of the war appear on cards in Rebel Raiders:  actress Pauline Cushman (USN Card 39: "All the World's a Stage) and Rose O'Neal Greenhow (CSN Card 82: "A Rose by any other name...")

For more on Rebel, follow the link below to my article:  (the illustration below is of actress Romi Dias, who plays Loretta Velazquez in Rebel; photo courtesy of PBS Voces).

http://www.examiner.com/review/rebel-an-hispanic-woman-a-white-man-s-war-premieres-on-pbs

This day 150 years ago in Rebel Raiders’ History

-Dedicated to Civil War episodes, battles, people and ships that also appear in my game, GMT’s Rebel Raiders on the High Seas,  

May 16, 1863

            Historical Event:  Champion’s Hill.  Two Union corps under generals McPherson and McClernand repeatedly attack Confederate forces on Champion’s Hill.  Although the combat is indecisive, Confederate general Pemberton decides to retreat – but instead of marching to link up with J.E. Johnston as ordered, he decides to fall back upon Vicksburg.  It is a fatal decision, as not only with the South lose the city in two months, Pemberton’s 20,000-man army will fall with it.

            Game Connection:  Vicksburg is one of the three key cities, along with New Orleans and Memphis, which the Union needs to take to control the Mississippi.  Taking those cites not only costs the Confederate player much needed supplies (represented in victory points lost through die rolls each turn)  but is also one of the key conditions of victory for the Union.

This day 150 years ago in Rebel Raiders’ History

-Dedicated to Civil War episodes, battles, people and ships that also appear in my game, GMT’s Rebel Raiders on the High Seas,  

May 14, 1863

            Historical Event:   Rebel raiders expelled from England!

Succumbing to growing popular pressure to curtail ties with the South in the wake of Lincoln’s issuing of The Emancipation Proclamation, construction of Confederate raiders in English ports is halted by order of Her Majesty’s Government.  The chief Confederate agent for those in England, Commander James D. Bullock, CSN, is told his ships will not be confiscated, as the Union has asked, but will be allowed to sail for France, where construction may continue, subject to the whim of Emperor Napoleon III.

            Game Connection:  No game of the Civil War would be complete without a nod to The Emancipation Proclamation.  The Union player can enact it starting in 1863 upon capture of a Confederate city or port.  Among the many benefits the Union obtains from this act is the enhanced abilities noted on USN Card 55 (Diplomatic Pressure).   As noted on the card, the Union selects one of the two European port boxes and places a marker there, not only closing it to the South for the duration of the game, but also allowing him to roll a die for each Rebel ship in that port which will result in either it being seized or forced out to sea.

Boardgamegeek hails Rebel Raiders as: “A design that is well worth getting into”

“Rebel Raiders is a game I definitely enjoyed playing,” says noted Boardgamegeek reviewer Marco Arnaudo in a video tour of the game he posted on that site over the weekend.

“It is not complicated but it is complex, in the best sense of the word” says Arnaudo, explaining that by complex he means the “challenges and dilemmas that both sides have to face constantly.”

To watch the nearly 20 minute review, which includes examples of game play and strategy, go to:

http://boardgamegeek.com/video/29095/rebel-raiders-on-the-high-seas/video-review

An Example of Battle:  Farragut takes on the Rebel Ram Manassas

Here is what a bad day for the Union looks like:  Farragut with only three ships has bulled his way into a port.  The Union uses its one screw sloop to protect one of his two gunboats (gunboats are easily sunk)...unfortunately, not only has the Union chosen to attack a very well defended target (this is about as strong as a defense can get) but the Confederate player has decided to really make the Union pay for it - playing both "Hulks, Rafts and Chains" which adds even more dice and having sent in the Manassas - a ram which he used to target a Union ironclad (not shown as the ram SANK the ironclad)....even with "Damn the Torpedoes..." the Union here is pretty much "damned" - and will retreat with his single surviving ship, the gunboat, thus at least saving Farragut himself....

Rebel Raiders Rule Book Posted!

Want a closer look at how to play Rebel Raiders on the High Seas?  GMT has posted the rule book on its website for my game:

http://www.gmtgames.com/p-238-rebel-raiders-on-the-high-seas.aspx

You can browse the site and read strategy, historical and replay articles and other material, or you can go directly to the Final Rules link:  
http://www.gmtgames.com/rebelraiders/RebelRaiders-RULES-FINAL.pdf

A Game in Progress....

Many thanks to Marco Arnaudo of Bloomington, Indiana for posting these pictures of a game in progress on his Facebook page.  These are from last night; today he is playing the 1862 scenario, which he just remarked: "is a great way to use a day off!"

Here are shots of the Rebels trying to run the Atlantic blockade, where the Union has placed gunboats in the Blockade Stations and screw sloops in the coastal sea zones, and of the situation around Memphis, Island No. 10 and Forts Henry & Donelson.

Note the Union has taken Louisville and Nashville and Chattanooga are as yet without batteries to aid in their defense, as the Confederate has instead concentrated his forces on holding Memphis, the northern key to the Mississippi.

The Union also appears to have made progress, seizing New Berne and driving inland to Goldsboro (although if they have indeed taken it the Confederate Battery marker there should be removed).  With Longstreet deployed to Richmond, however, the Union will need some strong cards to drive north and take the Confederate capital from the southern approach.