About this game
"Shot and Shell: Naval Combat in the Civil War", is a sequel of the Yaquinto wargame The Ironclads: A Tactical Level Game of Naval Combat in the American Civil War 1861-1865 and includes a conversion chart. Scale is 100 yards per hex, 3 minutes per turn, with 1 ship or regiment (of infantry, or equivalent in cavalry or artillery) per unit-counter. 27 scenarios and 6 maps. Shot and Shell can be treated as a stand-alone wargame. It comes with everything needed to play. The land-warfare dimension is greatly expanded in Shot and Shell (over that of the "Ironclads Expansion Kit"). Scenarios can be naval only or land-sea combined--or even land-only, if one wanted to design such a scenario. There are also rules for firing several same-caliber guns at once, reducing the amount of die rolling.
Does it fit your group?
- Group size. Works with 1 to 4. It has a designed solo mode.
- Rules load. At 3.5/5 this is a heavy game — read the rulebook before people arrive.
- Age. The publisher suggests 12 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.