Great War at Sea: U.S. Navy Plan Gray (2016)

Overview

From the published:

Picking up the story from C.S. Navy: Plan Blue, Great War at Sea: U.S. Navy Plan Gray looks at naval operations in the Second War of the Rebellion as the outnumbered Confederate States Navy along with its British, Canadian and Imperial Mexican allies battles the much larger Union fleet.

In Plan Blue, we covered the early months of the war that followed the Confederacy’s surprising declaration of war against the United States. U.S. Navy Plan Gray sees action taking place in both the North Atlantic theater (on the map from U.S. Navy Plan Red) and in the Caribbean (on the map from U.S. Navy Plan Gold). The Confederates have managed to keep their communications to Britain open, but now the North threatens the economically-vulnerable southern flank of the Confederate Empire in places like Cuba, Santo Domingo and Panama.

The Union fleet adds powerful new warships: additional members of the New York, Nevada and Pennsylvania classes, fast battle cruisers, torpedo battleships (actually proposed in the real world!), some obsolete torpedo rams (the proposed improved version of the useless Katahdin), and the "small battleship" alternative armed with four 16-inch guns (also a real proposal).

The economically-weaker Confederacy tries to even things up with deadly but fragile torpedo cruisers and some small coast defense ships. The Imperial Mexican Navy is there to help out, with a dreadnought and some other foreign-built ships. And there are small contingents from the minor Caribbean powers, Denmark and the Netherlands.

U.S. Navy Plan Gray is a supplement for the Great War at Sea series, based on battles that never happened. It is not a complete game: Ownership of U.S. Navy Plan Red, U.S. Navy Plan Gold, Jutland, C.S. Navy: Plan Blue and Confederate States Navy is necessary to play all of the ten scenarios included.

Plan Gray includes 80 laser-cut and mounted playing pieces: 60 "long" pieces representing major warships and 20 square ones representing smaller craft.