The BC is introduced to naval combat in the era of Dreadnought. So it only follows that we should see them a lot at tournaments. However this is not the case.

So why are players saying that they don’t want to use them competitively?

Drachinifel describes the chaos that is the BC design better than anyone.

As you can hear from the video, at first BC were built to best AC. The next few designs were built to scout for the BB. Then they were meant to break a hole in the enemy screen for the DD to attack the BB. Lastly they were meant to try their luck against the older BB classes.

After speaking with many Broadsiders on how they expect BC to perform/behave in a tabletop game and after much in-house deliberation; here is how we see BC in BoS:

They can be your Battlesquadron screened by LC and AC. In this roll you should choose BC with BB like guns and protection. Borodino, Derfflinger & Tiger go well in this roll. You should have a DD attack as well here just in case Bayern, New Mexico or Lizzy appear.

They can fill the AC killer midfield roll. Von Der Tann is perfect here with her triple close range batteries. Her protection of 1 makes her laugh at all ACs not armed like Monmouth.

For breaking the enemy screen for your torpedo attack try a Kongo. She has the forward guns to pierce the line, the broadside to make a hole and the speed to deliver her hefty torpedo load afterwards.

In the case of Lion class where main guns is all they have going for them. A sizeable points cut helps you put them into your battlesquadron without the expectation that they are going to win gunnery duels with real BB.

In conclusion, you should look at BC as inclusions to your fleet on a ship by ship basis as they have much less in common with each other than other ship types do. The modified Courageous has more in common with a destroyer than it does with Tiger. Defflinger is much more likely to survive attacking the enemy line head on than Invincible. She just needs to stay way back and hope that her guns were worth the points.

Please note the new card template graphics. These cards are already up in the online builder. Not all of the ships from some classes have been updated so you can see the difference in points. The updated cards are the correct points cost and stats for the class. We will get to updating all the cards but for now the new template means new points so if you have ship with a new card it is part of this years points update.

Lastly BC have better acceleration. This is a design choice. As newer BC were expected to form line of battle and duel in the traditional way, they do not have the freedom of movement that AC and LC have in the screen. We feel the acceleration difference gives them a modicum of difference from BB.

MOAB is almost here! Don’t forget to register! Click the above pic to get to the tournament page.

Our prize pool will contain great war themed dice, Broadside T-shirts, single ships and an event trophy.

Every player will collect a free USS Texas mini just for coming along.

But that is not all, come see our stall for a sneak peek of our new product… More news on this coming soon…

Phil has posted a video showing the retail Spitfire.

https://www.facebook.com/angelsonesix

If you are looking for a great game for an earlier era may we recommend a game from one of the Flames of war writers.

https://www.scarybiscuitsstudios.com/dawnofiron

Dawn of Iron is set in the American civil war, cannons, sails and ironclads. Give it a look!

When Andrew and I started the design brief for our ships, the concept of turning gun turrets was thrown around a lot. Sadly, at the time, we simply couldn’t be sure that enough Kickstarter backers would have a printer that could achieve the detail needed to make this work.

Now however we have a great local manufacturing hub and a great production manager in Aaron. So here we go with our first Cap ship with rotating turrets!

Here is a video of me turning her guns.

Where else should we start but Texas? The only Dreadnought still standing. Doesn’t she look amazing? This is her 1918 config. so she differs a little from the one currently available from Shipyards (1914).

So why am I teasing her here? Because she is available as a show exclusive at MOAB 25′.

What do you think of this concept? Is this something we should do more of? Let us know!

Don’t forget MOAB is coming soon! Come play in the ‘Open 600’ for your chance to win one.

One of the fun aspects of our game is the ability to use six sided dice. This was always something we wanted in our first published game. The great thing about the ancient six sider is the face size. It is perfect for icons or pictures; like skulls on the 1 face or explosions on the 6.

Our mate Adam has our game covered as he has a huge range of navy themed dice.

We use them here at Broadside HQ, we will even be giving away a box or two at MOAB 25′.

Go check his range out here: https://diceofwar.com.au/index.php?option=com_mijoshop&Itemid=154&route=product/search&search=navy

May 3rd & 4th Broadside will run a 4 game two day event. The tournament will be a 600 point open format (bring 600 points of whatever nation you like).

We will have the new starter box ‘Conqueror’ there so even if you are just visiting, stock will be available.

Register here: SHIRECON 25′

Don’t forget we have these things available through email as well for those of you too far away to drop in.

I would like to introduce another kind of tournament game format. This format really opens a can of worms. Empires of Steel is set in the ‘era of the great war dreadnought’. I’d like to test this theory on the table.

But first here is a lot of background information:

I really like this video because it’s got a lot of info in it for new players.

I’m sure there are many folks with their own mind on how big an impact HMS Dreadnought had. Feel free to comment on this post. Get flaming people!

Ok so I mentioned a game format:

Chase the Dreadnought format.

Players bring two 400 point fleet lists.

One fleet list contains just HMS Dreadnought and no other capital ships (no battlecruisers or other battleships). This list can contain any other class of ship that has a date of 1914 or earlier.

The other list is made the same way as the Pre-Dreadnought only format. Here is a link to these rules: https://broadsideempiresofsteel.com/2024/12/30/list-building-formats/

Each player alternates between these two lists. One player playing Dreadnought and the other pre-dreadnought only list.

At the end of the tournament we will see if Dreadnought really is a game changer!

Another surprise benefactor of the ‘no dreadnought’ list building format is the A/H Kriegsmarine. This is because of the Radetzky class pre-dread.

Yes she is far more expensive than the cap ships we have discussed so far but she is a perfect match for the torpedo spam list. She has protection 1, M size and eight first class directed guns. She is faster than most pre-dreads so she takes longer to chase down with torpedo boats. This gives your light cruisers more time to spend shooting at them. As a result you can run a list with one less light cruiser to protect your BB’s.

BATTLE SQUADRON

Flagship

SMS Radetzky (1911) [105]

Battleships

SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand (1910) [105]

SCREENING SHIPS

Light Cruisers

SMS Saida (1914) [23]
SMS Zenta (1899) [23]
SMS Szigetvár (1901) [23]

SUPPORT SHIPS
Destroyer

SMS Balaton (1913) [33]

SMS Tátra (1913) [33]

SMS Huszár (1911) [18]

Destroyer leader

SMS Helgoland (1914) [23]

Points: 386/400

The Novara class in this list are a part of your torpedo attack. Leaving your BB’s with only the two Zenta class LC to keep them safe. Lead your attack on your enemy BB’s and AC’s with the cheap and nasty Huszar then follow up with twelve torpedoes from the rest of the boats.

There are lots of points left for the two fire control upgrade cards to really make those 12″ range band guns hit home.

Let’s talk about all out attack.

BATTLE SQUADRON

Flagship

HMS King Edward VII (1905)

Battleships

HMS Africa (1905)

HMS Hibernia (1905)

SCREENING SHIPS

Light Cruisers

HMS Challenger (1904), HMS Encounter (1905)

HMS Topaze (1904), HMS Sapphire (1905)

‘Eddie’ is the RN’s poster boy. All guns no protection. Yes 1 really makes a difference. Having three of these ‘six gun supermen’ is all about beating your opponents ability to take evasive action. Your opponent shakes one set of ranging in and you just start with another from your next King Edward. This list will punish your opponent for taking an armoured cruiser as well. Don’t forget two sets of directed guns means two different directed gun targets! Send the 4+ FP guns at an armoured cruiser while hitting a BB with the 3+ guns.

Range is the asset you are looking for here. Put these three at the very back of your deployment zone and let the 12″ range band on their guns make all the difference.

This list has a two tiered defense. Put your two Challengers out into the middle of the table to utilize their nasty long range gear and the Topaz will finish off what gets through them. Feel free to lose all your cruisers as long as the 267 points worth of Eddies are left. If you do have a DD break through all that, check out the aggressive self defense these pre-dreads have. Seven 12/18 guns.

I hope you give this format a go. It really is a completely different experience from the ‘Open’ format. Next time we discuss the ‘Chase the HMS Dreadnought’ format.

If you are interested in this style of play don’t forget day three of CANCON 25′ still has spots available.

Cheers and a happy 2025 to you!

-Ben

As we are doing something a little different for CANCON on Day Three, I’d thought I’d share some list ideas for our Pre-Dreadnoughts only tournament.

Firstly, here are the rules:

• 400 point lists only.

• No ships after 1914. (You can include ships from 1914).

–The only ships you can have in your battle squadron are Pre-Dreadnoughts. (No Battle cruisers or dreadnoughts)

-No Lord Nelson Class ships. (Not cricket. This class isn’t really a Pre-Dread).

I use Lord Nelsons when ever I can. I am a really big fan of the class. Sadly, she is just too advanced for this format and would dominate list building.

If you have a bit of a click through list building following the above rules you will see it still leaves a lot of options open. The 1914 date helps many nations field a good mix of gear. In truth, the RN could be limited to earlier but we will see what our players deliver.

The bad news is the Ottomans are out. The format doesn’t allow BC. Sorry Ottoman players!

What this format does do is let other ships rise to the top of the pile. I will highlight this in some lists below. Without a dreadnought on table to ruin your second line battleships’ day, its fun to see just how many great ships there are to choose from.

All this being said, Pre-Dread combat is a completely different game. For a start, your older destroyers are way faster than the average Pre-Dread. So DD’s you normally skip past are good again, especially considering the thin 400 point total. Pre-Dreads have just 6 hull. Any torpedo hit will cripple them. Given that some nations can put a DD on table for less than 20, the DD spam can be even spammier!

Pre-Dreads have a low directed gun count so ranging in isn’t the end of your enemy battleship. It takes time and patience to grind your way though your opponents hull count. This opens up room for evasive action to really work keeping your cap ships alive if you are on the pointy end of a round one double 6.

At around 85 points each your 400 point lists can go as high as three Pre-Dreads! This makes the table look a lot more like Tsushima era combat. It also build a formidable hull point wall your opponent has to push through to get the big points from your fleet.

Don’t forget to add aircraft. 15 points to get you the jump on your opponents ranging in attempt can be game changing.

Okay, without more text, lets get to list ideas…

BATTLE SQUADRON

Flagship

SMS Preussen (1905) [94]

Battleships

SMS Braunschweiger (1904) [94]

SMS Lothringen (1906) [94]

SCREENING SHIPS

Light Cruisers

SMS Mainz (1909) [26]

SMS Magdeburg (1912) [30]

SMS Kolberg (1908) [26]

SMS Augsburg (1910) [26]

Points: 390/400

So here we have a list that has the all important ‘Protection 1’. It is a big ‘point wall’ (hiding your fleets points behind big hull counts and strong armour). The cruisers are there just to keep DD from getting to your ‘point ships’. They all have torpedo rooms though so if you have the chance launch, do it every activation! These BB’s have a high directed gun count so getting points, from AC and protection 0 BB will be easier than most. If your opponent has a used all of their 400 points, you might be able to use ‘advanced gunnery’ upgrades to pick on a single ship with two of yours.

BATTLE SQUADRON
Flagship
Danton (1911) [91]
Battleships
Voltaire (1911)

SCREENING SHIPS
Armoured Cruiser
Victor Hugo (1905)
Leon Gambetta (1905)

Light Cruisers
Friant (1895)
Chasseloup-Laubat (1895)
Bugeaud (1895)

Points: 399/400

Unlike the RN, the French Navy budget was strangled by the necessaries of the land war; otherwise we would have these beauties! It might surprise you to see that France is an apex predator in this list format. Check out Danton Class:

She has the same number of directed guns as the Braunschweiger (Der Shwagger) but because of her points reduction from her gun keyword, they are all better. Add protection 1 to the mix and you have a BB killer. She can’t defend herself so the Friants must always be between the enemy DD’s and your point box. Space them out so when your Danton slides forward she has a clear line of sight to the enemy BB’s. You don’t want to give your opponent free obstruction save bonuses.

Speaking of bonuses, the French has one of, if not THE best, AC in the game.

Leon Gambetta (Le’ Bettah) has speed 6 and size M, making her fast and hard to hit, she has the best AC protection of -1 and to top it off she has the best DD killing guns in the game! Seven of them. Give her a more speed order to get her 12″ torpedo room in range of something big & slow and you have expendable mid field power.

I will leave this format with you to try with your favorite nation. I am sure you will find it a refreshing change from the normal shopping list BB’s you default to when building a 600 point fleet.

I’ll be back a little later with two more lists for this format.

-Ben