Back again! Who’d have thunk it?

In this article I’m going to look at the tokens, rules, and general gubbins that come with Oak & Iron. I’m not actually going to run through the rules point by point. That would be tedious for not only me but also you, the reader. You don’t want a rehash of a painstakingly well-written tome, as that helps no one. What I will do, though, is give you my ‘impression’ of the rules and contents, what I think about them and if they ‘feel right’ or not.

Rulebook

All good games come with a rulebook (obviously). A stack of tokens and playing pieces would be rendered moot without a recognised way to employ them on the tabletop! This one is small at only 32 pages long, but it packs a lot in. In the first article I said how much I prefer smaller rulesets. They are less intimidating, of course, but often have subsection after subsection, which, in all honesty does not really help the gamer. It can lead games to become too reliant on an encyclopaedia-like knowledge of a set rather than guiding principles that allow you to have fun.

However, Oak & Iron greets you with a quick start set up, and lays down what you need to get ready on and off the Sea Mat. It then walks you through the game, adding new terms and rules in each section, to slowly acclimate you to how the game is meant to flow, gradually growing in complexity. Essentially you learn while you play. I like this, and think it’s a great way to have fun straight from the box.

Like most games now it also has a quick reference sheet printed as the back cover. This is probably the best way to explain the turn sequence, as you can happily reference the picture. It goes a little something like this: pick a card from your deck with the initiative number on it. Decide who’s highest and then take turns - I go/ you go - but ship by ship, rather than fleet by fleet. You roll through the phases quite neatly until the end phase where you clear tokens, choose cards for the turn after next - you more-or-less choose a card a turn in hand, which can either be brilliant, or scupper you completely) and go again.

All in all it’s a compact and tightly written rulebook, and leads you through the game in a clear and understandable order. There are plenty of pictures and graphical layouts included to show examples of how a rule should be played etc, and they are simple yet effectively presented.

If I had one complaint, it would be the layout, as I don’t enjoy reading text blocks split over two pages. It’s a personal thing and not in any way an indictment on the ruleset or book. I understand costs/space/printing issues etc so forcing a solution just to satisfy my own taste is not a problem at all.

The rules give you a flavour of naval combat without tying you in reef knots. There is a heavy reliance on the movement sticks and range ruler, but they are also definitive and easy to understand.

Put point A to this line, slide until that line meets point B. You have moved. During the move, with this movement stick you can turn the prescribed angle of the pointy end. Job done. No measuring, no protractors or inch stealing on the tabletop. Swift clean movement.

Shooting / ranged combat is dictated by the simple range ruler.

Long Range: you can hit on either of the symbols noted – skull or cannon

Medium Range: you have more chances to hit, by being able to hit on three symbols - skull, cannon and now musket.

Close Range: you can throw the proverbial kitchen sink at the enemy, scoring hits on skulls, cannons, muskets and pistols.

Each class of ship, level of fatigue etc can affect how many dice are thrown by each vessel, and the ones pictured are just to show how the dice tie in against the ranges ,enhancing your chance of success. It’s a neat and tidy system, with the only modifiers being the number of dice thrown, rather than a mathematical equation of percentages. Oooh I do love a simple, clean system. And bespoke dice!

Cards me hearties … .Caaaaaaaaards!

There are several types of cards that come in Oak & Iron. You have scenario, deployment, national, and event - to name a few. I won’t discuss most of them because they deal with the conditions of the game, and are nicely explored within the ruleset. As I’ve said, this is an overview ,but I will discuss the national cards a bit, because this is what elevates the game in terms of customisation and fleet building.

Each represented nation (there are four, and of course, pirates!) has its own mini deck of cards for you to add to your hand. They have a number of named characters with their associated points, as well as special rules which allow you to customise the way you want to run your fleet or flagship. There are also five initiative cards which you can add to your initiative deck (you learn about this in the rulebook, so for now, just understand that you build one) that allow a specific flavour to your fleet. This runs true for the English, French, Spanish and Dutch.

Pirates being pirates, though, play by their own rules, and have four named admirals for their flagship. But this is offset by only having two of the initiative cards. So it’s nicely balanced, and an efficient way of adding flavour to each fleet.

Scenic bits!

Seas are wobbly and wiggly and blue … but they also have bits of land scattered around, and so does this box. There are rules for deploying said land masses, to give an always-changing seascape to battle upon. Or you can just put them on the sea mat to look pretty, and take a picture while humming the theme tune to Pirates of the Caribbean to yourself … I guess it’s up to you!

Overall thoughts on the rules, cards and contents

Well… do you like Blood Red Skies? or X-Wing?

Do you want to play a naval game that has the best attributes of those, which prioritise fun over weighing yourself down with charts and tables? If so, give this a bash.

I have played both, and believe this to be just as fast paced, and easy to navigate.

How does it stack up against Black Seas? Well that’s an open question. Both have ships; both use turning angles etc but both are inherently different.

Oak and Iron requires nothing that isn’t included in the box. Nada. Zip. It has easy measuring devices, a simple range system, and a unique system for working out damage (and fatigue) with its own dice.

Black Seas is more in the traditional Warlord vein of simple rules that can be expanded upon to increase complexity.

I’m not taking an easy route out on this one, but the best way I think I could put it across is … If you want a beer and pretzels game - something you can throw down quickly and add to a campaign, then Oak and Iron will scratch that itch. The rules are easy to learn, and provide quick cinematic gaming.

If you want a deeper game with extra tables, rulers and tokens, then Black Seas is probably more your poison.

In Summary (Imagine me walking around like that Peck fella in To Kill A Mockingbird)

Oak and Iron is well presented. The contents of the box are all high quality, and allow you to play a game of naval combat, be it Pirates, or Nation on Nation, quickly.

The learning curve is shallow enough for casual play, but deep enough to require tactical thinking.

Success and failure for actions and events is always dictated by a dice roll, with the only modifiers being the number of dice in your pool. It very much falls into the methodology employed in a lot of games by Mantic so if you are familiar with that you are on to a winner.

For deeper play and fleet building there is enough in the starter box that you can have the same ships in your fleet and play differently with each game you run.

Would I play this game ‘full time’? Maybe not, but I would use it as the naval aspect for certain games. Firelock Games’ own Blood & Plunder, or maybe for Dead Earth Games’ Pirates of the Dread Seas. I see it as a game to add flavour to bigger campaigns, or to throw down on an evening with a few hours to spare.

I said earlier that I thought Oak and Iron was like Blood Red Skies or X Wing, and I stick by it.

Overall: enjoyable, affordable, and engaging.