The game of a few weeks ago, while
absolutely hilarious (clicky), still rumbles (and rankles) in the back of my mind as it was quite clearly
one of those utterly strange, 'quirks of fate' type game, where die rolls and
their outcomes resulted in an outrageously easy win for the Royalist/"Blue"
force...
Time then I thought, to have another go, and confirm one way or the other
whether the scenario is flawed, or whether it really was just luck last
time...
DG and I are about to embark on our next virtual game, which will be an
American War of Independence outing, using Battle Chronicler, and my go-to AWI
rules by Will McNally (details as ever in the project page in the side bar),
so I thought, 'why not?', and set this game in the period as well - I never
need much of an excuse to get those glorious Minifigs out of their
boxes..
Off we go...
Forces for each side were diced for on the relevant table in the book, the
only change being to ignore the skirmisher column and substitute regular foot.
I threw for and deployed the Red / British (or rather Hessian) force ie. the
ambushed force, first. They got five regiments of foot, and an artillery piece
(classed as light). I deployed them in a straight line, two of foot, gun, and
two of foot, with another unit set back as a reserve, and at the front of the
allowed deployment zone..
The Americans threw and got three of foot, and a regiment of horse, so I
deployed one of the foot regiments in the redoubt with the rest of the
force at the edge of the wood waiting to unleash death and
destruction...
All foot for both sides get maximum strength points (6), and are classed as
regular with no morale modifiers - there are also no national modifiers, so
both sides are equal in fire/melee..
On to the game - which was a cracker... click on any of the following to
embigen..
Initial deployment and table layout following.. the line of trees marks the
edge of the wood
End of turn 1, following.. and an immediate change of fortunes for the
Hessians (c/w with their Parliamentary colleagues in the previous game) - the
American infantry have piled out and attacked the first/nearest Hessian
regiment in the flank with the other American regiment providing an
overlap.. in an outrageous change in fortune though, the Hessians throw
off the attack, and both sides recoil! The American cavalry however are
better.. crashing into the rear of the second Hessian regiment in the
line, the Hessians are sent howling off into the pre-dawn dusk (the unit with
the red dice / rout, heading for the right table edge following)...
End of turn 2, following.. not put off in the slightest the American infantry
pile in again, and this time the second regiment have enough movement to bend
round and attack in the rear rather than just providing an overlap - the
result is inevitable, the Hessians break and run (foreground). The American
cavalry pivot, and attack the artillery, routing it (the crew can be seen
legging it)..
End of turn 3, following.. the Hessian fight back starts.. the first Hessian
regiment to rout recovers, and the Hessian regiment next to the artillery
turns to face the American cavalry who are about to charge and deliver a
stinging volley stopping them in their tracks (shaken/yellow dice).. the
American foot advance rapidly to get into the fight. The British general
meanwhile has chased after the other Hessian regiment to provide aid in the
forthcoming morale check...
End of turn 4, following.. the American cavalry has had a retire morale check,
but the two American foot regiments (one of whom is French) march on with
flags waving and drums drumming - the green flagged regiment charge, but are
halted in their tracks and sent packing - can Gallic verve save the day?? In
the background another Hessian regiment has been sent packing, but the
artillery crew have rallied, and the British general's presence has also
steadied another regiment.. things are getting desperate for the
American's, and the regiment from the redoubt ready themselves to enter the
fray..
End of turn 5, following.. a turning point move... the British re-crew
their artillery, all the morale checks have been cleared, and two un-blooded
Hessian regiments send the French packing.. the only glimmer on the
horizon is on the British/Hessian right flank where the cavalry and the
garrison are ready to take on a single slightly battered Hessian infantry
regiment
End of turn 6, following.. the American infantry both recover enough to halt,
but take fire from the British artillery, elsewhere as expected that battered
Hessian infantry regiment breaks and scatters while the British general
organises his remaining troops to cover the flank..
End of turn 7, following.. charge! The American cavalry who have worked
so hard throughout the game charge and are halted in their tracks by a perfect
volley.. the green flagged regiment however have girded their loins,
passed their morale check and charged home on the artillery sending their crew
off in disarray for the second time this game, they are however, about to be flanked..
End of turn 8, following.. the flank attack sees for the green flag regiment,
the cavalry fail a morale check and rout from the table, and in the melee the American regiment from the redoubt are also sent packing..
...end of game.. the American general realises that he can't achieve
his goal and orders his troops to retire.. "we shall fight again"!
Post match analysis:
-
one of the quirks of the scenario is that it is only the blue player that can win -
all the red player has to do is survive for the game duration... anything else is a red win..
- realising that, and I've played the scenario twice which shows how dull I am, it makes no sense for the red player to deploy anywhere near the front of the deployment zone as that makes it easier for the blue player to get to you..
- I enjoyed that.. good fun..
