Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Wooden Ships & Iron Men is a Tactical level Nautical board-wargame - Fighting ships in the Age of Sail !!! This classic title details military engagements in the golden Age of Sail with a plethora of historical scenarios.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Action Queue
Place actions into an ordered queue that resolves now or on later turns.
Dice Rolling
Roll dice to introduce uncertainty into actions, production, movement, or resolution.
Hexagon Grid
Use a hexagonal map where each space connects evenly in six directions.
Line of Sight
Visibility between pieces determines valid targets, movement, or effects.
Simulation
Model a real or imagined system through detailed cause-and-effect rules.
Read the full game description
Wooden Ships & Iron Men is a Tactical level Nautical board-wargame - Fighting ships in the Age of Sail !!! This classic title details military engagements in the golden Age of Sail with a plethora of historical scenarios. Players take their groups of ships and form their ship lines and then go at it. The game comes with a large generic ocean map overlaid with a hex grid. The ship counters occupy two hexes and include special rules for moving and firing with this design. Players can begin with the smaller scenarios and work up to whole fleets engaged in pitched battle. Avalon Hill Complexity Rating - 6