Hoisting Anchor and getting started in Oak & Iron

By Mitch Reed

Now that conventions are making an appearance again it is time for those who were interested in to start collecting their ships and getting them to a nearby table. Over the last few months gaming admirals have been playing either online or when they get a chance versus a live opponent and many fans of the game have been tinkering with their lists and adjusting how they plan to play the game in the future. Since so few of us have had very much experience in live play, now is a perfect time for those who have yet played the game to get into it. Players will need the core box to play the game and if you plan to provide forces for another player then two core boxes will be needed. This is for the cards needed to play more so than the measuring tools, dice and tokens used to play the game. Getting two boxed also gives you a whopping 12 ships to start play with which should make for some great games. You can also get the cards from the core box individually via pdf delivery which means you will have to get them printed.
Another recommended purchase would be a nice playmat for the game. One beautiful Caribbean colored mat around 4’x4’ is all you will need to play the game in any of three sizes of games that are recommended to play the game. Two other purchases I would recommend is getting extra dice and picking up the expansion deck that are also available for the game. The expansion deck gives you some neat upgrades and some generic admirals that will be make your fleet building so much easier. As for the dice, all gamers know you can never have enough.

One thing that will be apparent is that Oak & Iron is easy to collect and play. The ships can be used for any of the five factions in the game and you do not have to get any terrain since the core box has all you will need. You will also find that the learning curve to play the game is short however, to master the game you will need to put in some work and tinker with your lists as you grow into the game.
Once you have your “sea legs” I would really recommend looking into expanding your fleet. I am a huge fan of battles between the big ships of the line. For this getting the box sets that give you the 1st through 6th rate ships is a must. If you want to play smaller point totals and recreate the skirmishes of some of the famous characters of the era, the other three box sets may be for you which contain some of the smaller and sleeker ships of the period.

Players new to the game should also not feel rushed to paint their ships to start playing, the ships come with a plastic brown hull and white sails that are simple to build and you can start playing right away. I have found that painted ships do roll better in games.

Once you have collected all the ships you desire to play the next job is finding an opponent and playing the game. As stated, before the game is easy to learn and really recreates the naval action of period very well. I have found that during each game I learned a lot on which tactics work best and what the ships in my fleet can do. I have such a great time playing Oak & Iron and I am sure you will too.
For those of you who do not remember what was in the box sets, here is a brief rundown of them.

Core Box: All you need to play the game, six ships, cards, templates and dice. You need this box to play the game.
The rest of the boxes contain ships to grow your collection and have the models, bases and cards for all the ships in the box.
Blackbeard’s Revenge: This contains the Revenge and Queen Anne’s Revenge, two ships made famous by Blackbeard
Gentlemen of Fortune: Petit Frigate, Corvette and Sloop. For those who like the smaller and faster ships.
Merchant Men: Light Galleon, Fluyt and Brigantine. These ships usually carry the plunder you are searching for.
Men of War: 4th Rate Ship of Line, 5th Rate Frigate and the 6th Rate Frigate. These ships will be the ones you will get a lot of use out of, fast and strong and you can get a bunch of these ships on your list for most games.

Ships of the Line: 1st Rate Ship of Line, 2nd Rate Ship of Line and the 3rd Rate Ship of Line. These are the big ships that will make up your battle line as you bring your ships alongside those of your enemy.

Skirmish Games
With the core box you can play some great games at a lower point cost that only involves a few ships per side. However you really want to expand that collection and check out the ships in the Gentlemen of Fortune, Merchant Men and the Blackbeard’s Revenge box sets. Each of these sets have two to three ships each and they have a lower point cost when putting together a list for a lower point battle.

These ships also represent a lot of different capabilities found in in the ships used during this period. Some ships like the Sloop and Corvette leverage speed and agility over firepower and protection. These come in handy when you play a mission when you are fighting against bad winds. These sleek ships can catch up to any ship in the game, you just must use this speed to quickly bring fire and perhaps board your prey.

Some ships like the Petit Corvette and the unique ships of Blackbeard’s fleet also have speed but can bring more firepower than a lot of the other smaller ships in the game. I still would not bring my ship within broadside range of a 1st Rate, but you can develop some great tactics to stalk and defeat the larger ships in the game. You will also find the ships in the Merchantmen box lack speed, but in some cases like the Galleon and Fluyt can take a beating and put out some shots on you opponent.

Big Ships and Bigger Battles
Like many of you I love to play the major engagements of the period, where the great ships of the line slug it out on the seas. This is why the Ships of the Line box has become one of my favorites. It contains a 1st, 2nd and 3rd Rate ship and I have a few boxes in my collection.

With these ships you can play the larger point total games and even recreate some of the most famous battles of period in a narrative mission you create. These big ships can surely dish out and can take some punishment and the key to winning these engagements lies in the admirals and upgrades you select along with the initiative cards you pick for your hand.

Some of these cards really give you some amazing benefits and if you can play them at the right time, you can really again an edge over your enemy. One thing I love about playing with these big ships is how the game changes so much from playing with the smaller ships. You really must think of developing new tactics for each type of squadron you build in the game. I love how this keeps the game fresh and re-playable for years to come.

In-Between but not Forgotten
The Men of War box comes with 4th, 5th and 6th Rate ships and you will get a lot of use out of them. They represent a mix of some of the best attributes of the smaller and larger ships. For a small skirmish list, they are cheap enough points wise to take one or two of these ships in your squadron and in bigger point total games a ship like the 4th Rate will not get blown out of the water by a bigger ship of you use the ship the right way, as in do not put them in your line of battle with a 1st Rate ship.

What all of these boxes give the Oak & Iron gamer is some great options on fleet building and the type and style of games you want to play. What players will really like is how much flavor these boxes will give you as you fight it out on the seas.