John Corrigan Memorial game 2020 - "Attack on a Prepared Position" - Game

...and so to the game report which was - as one of the commenters to the last post mentioned - a hard nut to crack indeed for the defender...

I think most people interested in military history would be aware of the maxim that as an attacker you need a least a two to one superiority when attacking a fixed position, but in this case/scenario it's a difficult proposition for the defender due to the amount of ground they have to defend*..

 Scenario specifics:

• Rules were the Will McNally free one's available here [clicky] but with some amendments as documented on my project page (link over on the side there)
• Blue (defender - DG) will be the Americans, Red (attacker - me) the British/Hessians
• Hidden deployment is available to the Blue player if he wishes with a maximum of one unit per wood. We played it that the red player deployed first, then the blue player deploys any units he wants to, but deploys the rest on a map and reveals them as and when he felt that they would be "discovered". For the woods we agreed units could remain hidden until the red player has one of his units in contact (ie, base edge on the wood edge) at which point the wood is considered “scouted” and any hidden units should be deployed.
• Hills - the lower/single slopes were classed "gentle", the upper/secondary slopes "steep". Woods are classed as “open”.
• Game length - 12 turns (which is 8 infantry moves in line from one end to the other plus 50% as per the scenario guidance)

So having mentioned forces then, the orbats were as follows:

 

Defenders:

• 1 Light Infantry unit
  
• 3 Line Infantry units
• 1 Artillery unit (we agreed "Light" for both sides)
  

Attackers:

 

..this was also my order of march for entering the table, going front to back, from the right to the left..

• 2 Light Infantry unit
  
• 6 Line Infantry units
• 1 Cavalry unit
  
• 1 Artillery unit

The Game:

First contact (following) - about move two I think - my scouting dragoons have uncovered Americans (light infantry) in the woods).. I'm bringing up my lights to support the cavalry. On the other flank I have sent my other unit of lights to scout the other wood...

Couple - maybe three? - moves later (following) and the American lights have retired from the woods so I have pursued with my cavalry with the intention of 'handling them roughly' only to be met by a volley consisting most of bent nails and scrap iron..  first blood to the Americans, and the cavalry retire wounded to the woods... 

The other woods have proved to be clear of enemy, and a general advance is underway - both sides have deployed artillery and are popping away at each other at extreme range; DG has already scored a hit on my artillery (dice and yellow pin to denote "shaken")

Later - I would think 4 or 5 moves - it is beginning to get a bit hairy..  the cavalry recovered and charged again but as you can see were repulsed (shaken but still on 5 so no additional casualties) their place has been taken by the lights who are bravely charging up the hill to get at their American opposite numbers. My regulars are shaking out in to line for the inevitable close assault. On the other flank the lights have hot footed forward with the intention of taking on the American artillery..

Schwerpunkt (following)..  again, a few moves later - going to guess around move 8 or 9..  all American forces are now deployed in plain sight. From the left, my lights have pushed back the American lights who's place has been taken by a battalion of Green Mountain Boys who are already taking a bit of a licking..  at the bottom of the hill the Hessian Erbprinz grenadiers are about to amble up the hill (they're pretty, but as useless as they are magnificent looking! ) The cavalry have regrouped and about to charge the American regulars in the middle (purple dice) who have already seen off those British lights. On the far right, my assault columns are forming..

End game - following - move 11...  on the far right the last remaining American foot battalion has seen off one attack  (the Brunswick regiment moving away with the red pin is routing) but the second regiment following up closely behind see's them defeated and retiring off the table..  a British win, though Pyrrhic to say the least..

Post match analysis:

• * An extra unit for the defenders would make this a slightly more balanced game I think..  maybe dice for it using a D6 (1,2 Regular Infantry; 3,4 Lights; 5, Cavalry; 6 Artillery)
• Game  turn length was about right - I only won this on the last, or last but one, move..
• Zoom was excellent - no glitches at all - once we got the sound and microphones working it was all pretty seamless and I guess we played for two or more hours, with no timeout (which may have been because there were only two of us - Zoom may have a 40 minute limit for multiple participant calls if you are using the free version??) Technically, I had an HD quality camera mounted high over the table (which showed the whole table bar two or three inches on the attackers edge), plus an older non-HD camera on a long lead for any closer shots, pls the camera on the lap top..  for the next game I'll get another HD quality camera for the close ups, as the old one had poor  picture quality. One thing I noticed with Zoom was that the picture quality overall was far better than Skype.
• I think the best bet for the defender in this scenario, is to deploy forward of the ridge line so that the ridge can be used as a fall-back position.. deploying directly onto the ridge doesn't leave much room for retire/retreat/recovery
• Battle honours for this game go to the American lights (the heroes of Carnine [clicky]) who performed valiantly!
• ...and finally.. Cheers, John! 👍

Bear with - next post will be the newly painted American Civil War ships (and DG and I have already committed to a Zoom game featuring them next month - date/time to be advised..