From the Publisher's website:
"Behind wooden walls beat hearts of iron..."
— Austrian Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff,
private letter to his mistress, June 1866
In the summer of 1866, the Austrian fleet fought the Italians in the first open-sea battle between ironclad fleets, at Lissa in the Adriatic. An Austrian victory, it prevented Italian seizure of the strategic island of Lissa.
Hearts of Iron is loosely based on the Great War at Sea series of games. The operational part of the game is very similar; there is an operational map of the Adriatic and central Mediterranean, on which fleets move and attempt to make contact. The tactical part of the game is more detailed, with armor (or lack of it), rifled and smooth-bore ordinance, ship maneuvering and leadership playing much more prominent roles.
In addition to the Austrian and Italian fleets, there is the American Mediterranean Squadron that the Austrians believed would fight alongside the Italians, and the Turkish European Fleet that entered the Adriatic to support Austria. Plus the British Mediterranean Fleet and a large French contingent, along with the Greeks, Egyptians and several other smaller navies. There are a wide variety of both operational and battle scenarios, based on extensive archival research into the original reports and dispatches of the Austro-Italian conflict along with many hypothetical engagements.