No, the price you see is not a mistake. This rather nifty little game on the Battle of Lake Erie (1812, Oliver Hazard Perry, and more famous naval sayings than any one engagement has any right to have) costs $7. And that’s full, list price. And, I’ll tell ya, I’ve played a lot worse for a lot more. Chatham Hill is an interesting enterprise. Started some years ago by an old SPI playtester, and friend of the legendary Frank Davis - known to most of us old-timers as “Mr Molasses” - Ron Toelke, Chatham distributes a rather interesting variety of history games, only about a third of which are on military subjects. His main target outlets are museums, national parks, and the like, and, while a few titles are of the boxed/mounted board variety, most (almost 20) are all paper, packaged in folders, although not devoid of graphic charm. (Most are being reprinted, with improved graphics, even as we speak.) Titles truly run the gamut of historical interest, from your basic battle stuff - Bunker Hill, Frigates (U.S. Constitution in action), Flames Across the Valley (the American Revolution in the Albany region), et al. - to some more unusual subjects, such as the Underground Railroad, the Erie Canal, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. We decided to take a look at Don’t Give Up the Ship because it had the appearance of a standard wargame. And a pleasant surprise it was. The components are all paper, except for the spinner. (No dice; you use the spinner, a method I am not enamored of - the usual “it’s on the line, it’s on the line” stuff - but which does allow for some unusual statistical possibilities.) You’ve got to cut out all the ships, but they do have folds and stand upright, much like the counter in We the People. They proved stalwart enough, but I don’t think they’d last more than 4 or 5 playings without the help of some scotch tape. The map is simply all water, crisscrossed by a rather interesting diamond-like pattern. The 4-page rules folder was quite well written, and, for the most part, clear. Now, Ship is not a complex game, but, for what it intended to do, it succeeded quite well. Each player has his fleet, the individual ships present at the Battle of Lake Erie. The US ships move slightly faster than the British ships - the crews for the latter were raw and relatively incapable - all movement occurring along the lines provided by the diamond-like grid. They can change direction at any intersection, wind permitting. It’s Igo-Hugo, with ships pounding away at the enemy, if within range (not hard to do), firepower a diceroll range dependent on number of guns. Targets check off hits; when they reach a certain point they just stop dead, drifting off the map … or into your path, making the whole thing resemble a galley battle as much as the Age of Sail. The game does have some nice optional and chromey rules, including leadership, different crews, and a host of other neat stuff. Nothing overwhelming, and all of it quite accessible. The battle took about 1 and 1/2 hours to finish, with the provincials pounding HRH’s twits into oblivion. Not surprising, considering the movement benefits the Americans get. You can always even it out, which then gives the Brits a big advantage, as they have the bigger ships-of-the-line. Fun stuff. Patrick O’Brien might quibble over a few details, but you get a lot of bang for your buck here. Give ‘em a call; they have a rather nice catalogue. Warning: the Gettysburg game is not a battle game; it is a battlefield tour game. You’re better off at sea. CAPSULE COMMENTS Overall: Good, cheap fun. from CHATHAM HILL GAMES 1 11” x 17” map, attached to which are the ships for cutting out; spinner; Rules folder; enveloped. From Chatham Hill, POB 253, Chatham NY 12037, 1-800-554-3039. $7 Back to Berg's Review of Games Vol. II # 23 Table of Contents Back to Berg's Review of Games List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1995 by Richard Berg This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com