A detailed wargame of the first armored naval engagements, Ironclads has clear rules and lots of flavor. The game simulates American Civil War naval actions, 1862-1865. The scale is 100 yards per hex, 3 minutes per turn, and the game features simultaneous plotted movement. Since ship-to-ship communication is (nearly) out of the question, this makes for collisions and misunderstandings. The combat system is about 5 largish charts, which, after a few games, become quite easy to use.The game's not perfect (which game is?) but is still one of the best for this topic.There have been some complaints about the Excalibre 'second edition' (the ship counters changed from top view to profile, the turret counters are now too big, etc.), but the latter's overall production quality is probably better. And it gives more people a chance to own a hard-to-find game. - BoardGameGeek