Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls: Naval Wargame Rules for the Age of Sail

By Alan Abbey

Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls is a set of wargame rules for naval battles in the age of sail. With them you can recreate the triumphs of Nelson or Hawke or tackle pirates on the Spanish Main. The rules themselves are very simple and easy to learn. Each player can easily command a single ship or several, the rules working equally well for a single frigate chasing down a privateer, or a large-scale fleet action with multiple players on each side. The basic rules have been written with the emphasis on providing a fast-playing and fun game, but optional rules are included which will add a greater level of historical realism and detail. A unique card-driven turn sequence prevents the game becoming too predictable. Also included are a selection of scenarios for re-fighting specific historical battles and simple campaign rules. Although intended for use with model ships, the rule book includes sheets of ship counters which can be used to get started. Just add dice, tape measure and pencil and you're ready to play.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Feb 2, 2012
• ISBN: 9781783032532

Alan Abbey

Alan Abbey is an author and a historian.

Book preview

The Rules

The rules for Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls are based around three key features:

Damage Cards: Actually a set of ordinary playing cards including the two Jokers, where each of the four suits represents different areas on a ship and the cards within that suit the degree of damage inflicted by each hit from the enemy guns.

Ship Record Sheets: Charts upon which all of the required game data for each type of ship is provided and on which all subsequent damage is recorded.

Event or Turn Sequence Cards: These are sets of three cards, one set for each fleet in the game, that represent three distinct phase types. These are drawn randomly and dictate the order of the Game Turn sequences.

First we will need to discuss the Damage Cards and take a look at the four possible areas of ship damage used in the game. This will make understanding the Ship Record Sheets and some of the main rules that much easier. This will be followed by an introduction to the Ship Record Sheets themselves and a description of the form and function of the various icons and tables that make up each ship. This will allow players to better understand the vessels under their command, their strengths and weaknesses and the roles of the officers and crew. Finally, the Event Cards will be considered. Here will be learnt the main rules of the game, laid out in the form of the three individual events that control the game. Once these have been read through a couple of time and players have become familiar with the basics, you will be able to run games with just the Ship Record Sheets and the handy Quick Reference Sheet.

Important – Before any game starts the Wind Direction Indicator (see the game tools in Appendix One) must be placed on the table. Simply hold the indicator above the playing surface, point up, and let it drop. Whichever way it points is the direction the wind is blowing for that game.

Secondly – a d6 must be rolled. A score of one indicates that the game will take place in heavy seas, the principle effect of which will simply be to reduce the range of all guns for the entire game.

Thirdly – shuffle a deck of Damage Cards, including the two Jokers, and place them face down on the edge of the playing surface.

The Damage Cards

To simulate the random effect of enemy fire on a ship, Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls uses a deck of ordinary playing cards, including the two Jokers. Each suit in the deck represents a specific area of the ship, such as the hull or the sails and masts, and each card within that suit determines the degree of damage the hit caused; the higher the card the greater the damage. The following table is used to allocate any hit a ship receives.

e9781783032532_i0002.jpg

Diamond Cards will inflict damage on the ship’s command and control systems. It can damage the ship’s steering, kill members of the crew or its officers and generally make things that much harder to do. Hits here will reduce a ship’s general combat effectiveness.

Spade Cards will inflict damage to the ship’s gun decks. These narrow and crowded spaces can be deadly places to be when an enemy broadside hits, guns can be destroyed and their densely packed crews killed or wounded. Hits here will drastically reduce a ship’s ability to take the fight to the enemy.

Club Cards will inflict damage on a ship’s rigging, sails and masts which are the ships only source of power to move. The fantastically complicated system of ropes, pulleys, wooden spars and tall masts are fragile and easily torn, cut or smashed by incoming fire. Damage here will severely reduce a ship’s ability to move.

Heart Cards will inflict damage to a ship’s hull. Despite being made of heavy timbers the wooden beams can splinter and the seams between them be split apart by enemy fire causing the hull to breach. The pressure of the sea water will force its way into the ship causing flooding and, if severe enough, can sink the ship.

Joker Cards are used to represent near disastrous levels of damage caused by a lucky shot by the enemy, such as an exploding powder magazine or series of massive fires. Whilst their occurrence in a game is relatively rare they can be deadly and cripple or even destroy a ship in one devastating moment!

The Ship Record Sheets

One of the most important aspects of the game is the ship record sheets. Each ship in the game will require its own record sheet upon which all damage will be marked and the ship’s condition and speed noted. The ships of the period were built to standard sizes called ratings, based upon the number of guns each ship was fitted with. The main ships used in the battle line were usually third rates and carried either sixty-four, seventy-four or eighty guns divided equally between the port (left) and starboard (right) sides of the ship. The word Port is a fairly recent term that replaced the word Larboard. It was considered by many that the Larboard and Starboard were too similar and could be confused, especially during high winds and storms, and so the word was changed. Some ships were bigger and one or two even carried as many as one hundred and forty guns although these were very rare. In these rules we have provided a record sheet for each historical rate of ship, simply scan and print or copy the required sheets to match your chosen fleet.

e9781783032532_i0003.jpg

The example above is the record sheet for an eighty gun ship of the line. It is important that each player understands the record sheets and knows how they are used. Below is a description of each of the icons used on the record sheets and their effect upon the ship and game. There are also descriptions of the two tables and how to use them. Don’t worry, the record sheets are actually very simple to use and provide almost everything you need to know to play the game in one handy place. When your ship is fired upon it will take damage in one of the areas shown on the record sheet and an icon or box on a chart will need to be crossed out to show the damage. Some damage can be repaired so a pencil and eraser will come in handy to show when a damaged area can be used again.

Every aspect of the ship relevant to the game is represented on the record sheets. Every icon represents a specific piece of equipment or important member of the crew, the loss of which will cause a ship difficulties and effect how the ship operates during the game. The more damage it receives the less effective a ship will be, hits to your guns will make it harder for you to attack enemy ships, hits to your sails will make it harder for you to move and so on. Let us take a closer look at each of the icons and how they affect a ship and the game. There are two basic Icon types, those representing the ship and its equipment, and those representing the ship’s commanders and crew.

The Crew Icons

This section is a general introduction to the various crew icons and their role on the ships. It outlines the effect their loss would have on the ship too but further details can be found in the main rule sections that follow.

THE CREW STAR

e9781783032532_i0004.jpg

The Crew Stars do not represent every member of a ship’s company, rather the number below which the ship will be unable to function.

Each crew star has seven points, six outer and one inner, one of which must be crossed out for each hit by enemy fire. All the points on one Crew Star must be crossed out before crossing off points on other crew stars.

Some damage cards will call for further star points to be removed and if an area of the ship is hit but has no icons left in that area, such as when all of the ship’s guns have been hit already and a damage card hits the area again, cross off one Crew Star point per hit instead.

Once a ship has no Crew Stars the ship will Strike its colours and take no further part in the battle. It cannot defend itself against boarders and if boarded by the enemy will be captured and become a part of the enemy fleet!

The ship’s crew can be used to board other ships or defend against enemy boarders, they can