Porridge Wars: Blockade Run!

Presents... THE PORRIDGE WARS: BLOCKADE RUN!

The Breakout from Oophakrik

From their outset in 1070, the Porridge Wars had run non-stop, with Dwarf Clan battling Dwarf Clan over the best way to eat their breakfast porridge. Things had only become more confusing since the beginning, with new factions springing up in support of their own ideals, whether they be based on temperature, toppings, or, in the case of the renegade "9 Days Old" faction, runniness.

In 1079 the Hot Porridge Dwarves made a raid up the Oophakrik River. Their target was an important port in alliance with the Cold Porridge Dwarves. Their raid successful, the Hot Porridge Dwarves were returning to the open seas when they ran into a blockade near the mouth of the River. With pursuit close behind, they had no choice but to run the blockade...

The Hot Porridge Fleet at the beginning of the action.

The raiders had two Dagmar Class Ironclads, and a single Monitor Class. Leading the flotilla was a newly constructed Ram, with a single forward-facing cannon and a sturdy hull. Finally, just under the surface, they had an Orca class sub.

Facing them were two redoubts and some enemy ironclads.

The Cold Porridge Dwarves had two redoubts; one on an island bisecting the river, and the other on the banks overlooking. They also had three ironclads of their own - One Dagmar class and two Monocle Class.

The Hot Porridge fleet steams ahead!

A Cold Porridge Monocle chugs out to meet the foe!

The blockading force began to lob in shots from long range from their batteries and their vessels, which were moving to block the narrow straights around the island. Many of their initial shots fell short or did little damage, however, of greater danger was a new minefield, placed overnight by the defenders!

The ram tries to sink the mine with cannon fire.

Intimidated by the freely floating mines, the Hot Porridge Fleet commander signaled his commanders to slow their engines and attempt to take the mines out with ordnance fire. Much ball and powder was spent to this effect, but in the end, only a single mine was destroyed, and the rest, floating on the current, moved closer...

Confusion ensues!

The Cold Porridge Ironclads churned ahead, intent on blocking the passages around the island with their bulk. The range had closed, and round shot was easily finding its target for both sides. Meanwhile, its belly just missing the riverbed by scant few feet, the Hot Porridge Orca drove forward, intent on getting to point blank range before launching its deadly torpedoes.

Deadly close-range action!

The Hot Porridge Ram was taking the brunt of the enemy's attention, with ball after ball smashing into its hull. It was heavily armored, but structure was beginning to buckle.

The conflict converges in front of the island.

Although the Ram was taking a beating, the Ironclad it was facing was faring worse. It had just taken a hit from two large torpedoes from the lurking Orca, and more cannon fire from the Ram and elsewhere. It's hull breached just below the waterline, it was taking on water and was beginning to sink. It's crew, hoping to board and take the Ram, began to surge on deck, but many of them were stopped when a ball penetrated the turret, the blast stunning them senseless for the moment.

Hot ramming action!

In the smoke and confusion, several ships, steaming at full speed towards the action near the island, all of a sudden found themselves in the midst of a massive collision! The sturdy hulls of the metal-clad ships suffered little damage from the impact, but the salvoes of cannon fire that followed dealt death to several ships!

The Ram sank, as did the Monocle Ironclad that had just rammed it. The Cold Porridge ironclad that was already sinking was holed again. With water rushing in, it plunged beneath the depths without further ado, taking all here crew with her. At that point, the Orca was trying to skim underneath the ironclad, but was caught by its bulk as it sank beneath the waves, crushing it and killing all aboard. There would be many Dwarven Ladies and Lasses pulling at their beards that night in grief!

A close range shelling!

The Cold Porridge fleet was devastated, but the Hot Porridge fleet was also damaged, with almost half of her ships sitting on the bottom of the Oophakrik. They had to brave the gunfire of the Cold Porridge batteries if they were t make it through to the open seas beyond. One of the captains noticed that there was a blind spot in the batteries' arcs of fire, but the bombard would have to be silenced first. While one of the surviving Dagmars closed and opened fire on the bombard, the Monocle chugged ahead until it was just off shore of the central island, where it began to pour point blank fire into the defenders. The Cold Porridge Dwarves attempted to sally forth and board the ironclad, but they did not get very far. The battery was silenced, and the surviving Hot Porridge ironclads were able to set out to sea.

This blockade run scenario is a good one if you don't have a lot of space. We were limited to a 4'x8' table for this game. This would be a difficult size to run a game with sailing ships, but with ironclads and subs, it was perfect! The action was incredibly fast, and we played to a conclusion in just over two hours. With everyone running a single ship, we had 8 people playing, and 4 of them had never played before.

Ironclads are a great way to teach new players the rules. You don't have to worry about the wind, you seldom need crew figures, and magic is all but nonexistent (because you have to be on deck to cast a spell, and it would take a pretty gutsy Navigator to go on deck during an ironclad duel!).

As always, our thanks to Mangrove Games for letting us use their table space!

Information on the Porridge Wars