A moderate level complexity game covering the battles fought by the Peruvian Ironclad Huáscar during the 1879 War of the Pacific against Chile. The ship outclassed everything it met but there was only one (think of the SF classic, Ogre, but on the waters this time).
Five scenarios trace the adventures of the Huáscar starting with the first battle of the war in May 1879 between it and the Chilean Steam Screw Corvette Esmeralda, followed by a series of hit-and-run raids against the Chileans that frustrated repeated invasion attempts and embarrassed the Chilean government. Peruvian Admiral Grau took increasing risks with the Huáscar as success followed success. The toll on ship and crew, however, mounted as the Peruvians pressed their luck against increasingly long odds. Finally, by October 1879, the Peruvian ironclad’s luck eventually ran out. Earlier, the Chilean military’s high command was replaced, and its navy refitted and reorganized to deal with the Huáscar once and for all….
Units consist of individual ships and shore batteries with game play modeling the changeover in naval technology for both fire and movement. Ramming as the preferred method of sinking ships was giving way to large caliber guns and the armor to resist them. Sails were being replaced by steam power. The game comes complete with 100 die-cut pieces and three different maps to depict action close into shore and far out to sea.
