From: Christopher Salander Subject: Board game review Monitor and Merrimack by Chatham Hill Games Game review by Chris Salander The Monitor and the Merrimack is a simple yet interesting DTP game of the battle between the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S. Virginia (correctly identified in the game, in spite of the title). Chatham makes many of these $7 - $12 games, all focused on American history. They are ideal for introducing children to wargaming while teaching them national history, and some of the games have enough complexity and chrome to interest experienced wargamers. With wargames now selling at around $40, it is unlikely that you will find a game for just this battle, and the last copy of Ironclads that I saw in an auction went for $100. M & M is the solution. It is also excellent for those of us who have just small blocks of time. You can usually play it in about 2 hours. Materials: Except for the plastic spinner, the game is all card stock, printed in 3 colors. The map is 11" x 17", while the ships are vertical "stand up" counters that you must cut out and fold. The ships and the map of Hampton Roads are drawn to look as if they were drawn in the 1860s. The effect is quite nice. Most of the charts are on the map. The hit table for the ships is in the 8 half-pages rulebook, and should be photocopied. The Ships: The game includes two small CSS steamships, the Patrick Henry and the Jamestown. On the Union side, besides the Monitor, there are the steamships Minnesota and Roanoke, and the sailing ships St. Lawrence, Congress, and Cumberland. There are also tugboats. Movement: The ships move from point to point on a grid. Certain points are under fire from shore batteries. The spinner produces 1 through 12 for shooting and 1, 2, and 3 (with the possibility of grounding) for moving. Some grid points are in shallow water. Sailing ships move only on a 1, steamships on any number. Three ships in the game are too shallow to ground. Shooting: Ranges are one and two grid points. Each ship has a number out of 1 through 12 that it must stay below to hit at short and long ranges. This number represents both the size and number of guns carried by each ship. All ships except the Monitor can only fire to the side. After taking a certain number of hits, ships become Disabled, then Sunk. The sailing ships can only take about 5 or 6 hits, while the ironclads can take around 20. The Viriginia also has the option of ramming enemy ships. The Scenario: The game covers two days, the first day the Virginia appeared, and started smashing the Federal ships, and the second day, when the Monitor appears to redress the balance. The Confederate player must sink at least three ships. The Union player must disable the Virginia. There is an option for variable entry by the Monitor. The Chrome: The Roanoke is disabled, and starting at a certain time the Union player can send tugboats out to bring it back in. The Virginia has a bad engine. On certain rolls it malfunctions, adding to the number of hits on the Virginia. When the Virginia rams another ship, there is a chance it could damage its ram. After a certain amount of damage, it can no longer ram. Play: The Virginia and its escorts appear in the SW corner of the map. The Cumberland and the Congress are in the NW corner, while the Minnesota, Roanoke, and St. Lawrence are in the east. The Reb player has the initiative and has to decide which group to attack first. One option is to send the two small steamships off to screen or harass one group while the Virginia demolishes the other group. The Patrick Henry and the Jamestown can dance around the Union sailing ships and can add to their hit total, but they usually cannot sink a ship on their own in one day, and they are fairly fragile. Because sailing ships can only move 1/3 as often as steamships, and only 1/6 as far, the Cumberland and the Congress are sitting ducks. They have good firepower, but they have to rely upon chance to give them the spin result that they need to turn to face their attacker. And if they do present a broadside to the Virginia, they could get rammed. The Minnesota is more nimble and able to get some hits in on the Virginia, but it will usually be busy screening the Roanoke until the crippled ship can be towed away. The sailing frigate St. Lawrence is pretty worthless, being too far away from the fight. The Union player's main task on the first day is to stay alive and stay away from the ironclad. On the second day there is nothing to be gained by sinking the Reb steamships, so the Monitor will chase the Virginia. Given the number of turns in the game and the likelihood of a hit, it is not worthwhile for the Virginia to shoot at the Monitor. Instead, it will ignore the floating cheesebox and try to finish off the Union wooden ships. Ramming is also less effective against the Monitor. All in all, this is a great little game. A good value for the money. Last games played: War Galley, GMT Rise of the Luftwaffe, GMT Napoleon, AH (2nd ed.)