Wargaming the AWI, Past and Present

One of those weeks. Didn't get much hobby time but I did manage to grab the 2nd last spot in Alan Coughlin's (https://derresinkavalier.blogspot.com/)  54mm AWI game at Huzzah!. {Whew!)

The last survivors of my 2001 54mm AWI armies. (Well, them and a score of friends< I really need to find them a new home where they can get some TLC and exercise)

This brings back fond memories of March 2001 when two friends and I were headed down to Cold Wars in Lancaster PA where I was scheduled to run two 54mm AWI games. One was a LittleWars Yahoo group "bring your own figures" Battle of Hubbarton, the other was Montgomery's New Year's Eve assault on Quebec, complete with town, walls and cliffs. The cliffs were cardboard boxes full of troops and buildings etc which were emptied and covered by a couple of Christmas village snow cloths.  I only had a little hatchback for three men, two 54m armies and the city of Quebec so, whoever rode in the backseat on that 20 hour drive had to sit with a box full of troops on his lap. 

On the day before we were due to leave a sudden, unexpected, heavy, snowstorm was predicted to hit on the next day. I got hold of Tom and gave him 30  minutes to pack while I loaded the car. Together we drove around the Dalhousie campus where Bruce was adding another Master's to his credentials. Luckily we spotted him, grabbed him, gave him 10 minutes to pack. We hit my Mom's place outside Fredericton just after midnight, grabbed a few hours sleep and headed out again. We made it to the outskirts of Portland before hubcap deep snow on the Interstate forced us  into a motel. In the morning the road ahead was clear and by noon we were at the Toy Soldier Museum in Pennsylvania and stripped down to our tshirts. The road behind was closed for two days! Called that one right and we had a great long weekend.

Hard to believe that I don't have even a single picture of that game, not even of the practice ones. Thank goodness for smartphones these days.

MacDuff at Huzzah 2014 when my carts were new, built for this game and my long gone 40mm AWI collection. (20mm, 40mm and 54mm AWI armies have all come and gone, maybe I should do a PA semiflat one, just a small one.....)

I did manage to fix a broken part one of my old carts this week but not to touch up the paint or replace the missing draft horse. Still its the weekend, rife with possibilities.

Fire and Fallback!

One down side to cramming too many games into an extended weekend is that I don't have time to write battle reports when the memories are fresh and I'm still excited.

This was the 3rd of 4 iterations of Holding Action, Scenario 4 from CS Grant's Programed Scenarios (the 1st AWI one, a medieval fantasy version and an 1870s Atlantica one suspended 1/2 way through, waiting for me to return.)

The American advance guards were ambushed and suffered heavily. The main body has now arrived and is forming to assault the hill.

 For this game I used the alternate dicing for initiative system which I prefer when there is a General with a plan commanding and as far as possible controling each side. I also upped the units to 12 men each for the infantry, 8 for the lights. The British had 2 Elite, 2 regular, 2 light and 2 gun. The Americans had 4 line, 4 militia, 2 guns and 2 rifle units.

The attack has been repulsed leaving the American line in considerable disarray as more troops continue to arrive. 

 I also made a small rule change. Instead of units that move only being able to return fire or to fire if charged, I let them fire after all units have moved or fired but before melee. The game rolled along nicely with some ebb and flow and some tight moments where a successful Ametican charge might easily have turned the tide.

As the Americans form for a 2nd assault, the Hessians fall back. 

 I enjoyed the game enough to start thinking about what I needed to fill out the armies. That gave me pause. I have a limited appetite for skirmishes but I would need to double the number of figures for a battle scenario and really it wouldn't  give me anything gaming wise that I couldn't get from my NQSYW collection. Since I don't have a deep interest in the AWI, the only real reason for me to keep them is for convention or local group games but  that's good enough for now. When I've managed to sell or place most of my surplus figures, then I can revisit.

Meanwhile, I'll paint up a few figures from my AWI lead molehill and restore them to their old 20 figure organization, (close enough for Charge! ), and add a PA Hessian regiment which can take part in either war.

After engaging in several brief long range musket duels the British commander takes advantage of an initiative flip double move to break contact just before reaching their maximum allowed losses.  The impartial GM awards them the victory for an appreciable delay with acceptable losses.

In the meantime, I've finally gotten back to the Square Brigadier but more on that in a few days.

MacDuff shakes himself off and does battle.

Twice!!

The scenario I chose to play this weekend was number 4 from Programmed Scenarios. It wasn't actually because I just played and lost a Memoir44 version at Ron's on Wednesday, but because I wanted some sort of holding game but not one I have fielded a lot and I'm not sure I've ever hosted this one myself. Actually there are quite a few of the Programmed Scenarios that I'm not very familiar with. Something to look forward to over the next year I think.

I felt a bit lost as I set up the AWI  game on Friday though and it showed. I chose the wrong rules options and made some poor choices on converting the scenario forces to what troops I have. The resulting game was OK, barely not not satisfying. Rather than fret about it right away, I cleared the table and set up the planned Gathering of Hosts game (which I played most happily yesterday) and let my brain work on the problem in background mode. Today's forecast sun turned to rain and I had had time to consider things so I reset the table and played again with different rules options and a different Order of Battle. To my great relief the result was a fun, engaging game that whisked along to a nail biter ending. But that's for later. I'll just say a few words about the rules and the choices  I made and  append the Quick Reference Sheet to this post although it is also available as a download .

Game 1: 8 man companies of Continentals deploy and advance against the Hessians. 

When I wrote the original rules they were designed for companies grouped into battalions for bigger games. In some ways it worked and in some ways it was always a pain since sometime this group was a unit and sometimes this larger group was a unit and it easily got confusing. Eventually I found that life was easier and the game played better if game units were game units and I started using 8 man companies for petit guerre scenarios and 16 to 20 man battalions for larger actions. I have been reading up a bit on the AWI in Nova Scotia over the last year and while there are some interesting little engagements they are all very (Very) small. With that in mind I decided to use 8 man units and a nominal scale of 1:5. I also decided to use the deck of cards sequencing which was really designed for those ambush in the forest type of games, not for a straight forward assault. The resulting game didn't flow well, especially when playing both sides, the units were too small and fragile and the card deck was too small. In short the game was just OK, barely.

Somehow I had managed to forget that our War of Acadian Independence was based on the completely non-serious premise that Congress had sent the troops that invaded Quebec in 1775 and 1776 to Nova Scotia instead leading to campaigns involving several thousand troops on either side. So today, I reset the board with 12 man battalions and played using the initiative system. The result was a very traditional OS feel game which kept me on the edge the whole way through. Whew!

In truth the current (final?? maybe??) version has as much Rattle of Dice and Hearts of Tin in it as it does MacDuff but MacDuff has seniority and the intent on the sort of game is the same so I'm sticking with him! I'm 90% sure that these are the rules that the boys in havelocks will be marching to when their time comes.  

Tomorrow the 2nd game.

I think this might be the end of the game. Might have been a draw as in enemy delayed at too high a cost or maybe it was a victory. Oh well.

_____________________________

WITH MACDUFF TO THE FRONTIER
AWI Quick Reference  20 June 2015
(typing edited 24 May 2016)

SEQUENCE of PLAY. Roll for initiative each turn, winner chooses to go 1st or 2nd with all units. Once all units on both sides have acted resolve any end of move shooting then resolve all melees.
Alt sequence. If agreed players may use a deck of cards instead of rolling for initiative. Assign red to 1 side black to the other. When a player’s colour is drawn he may activate 1 commander or unit. This is especially relevant for small skirmishes or games set at night, in fog, forest. In multiplayer games allow each player on a side to activate 1 unit. Once all units on both sides have acted resolve any end of move shooting then resolve all melees.

COMMAND CONTROL.(optional)  If a unit is not within 12” and line of sight of its commander when activated roll 1d needing 4 or better to move.  +1 Elite, -1 Militia

MOVEMENT.  Player must declare move before rolling. A unit may advance at full speed or retire full speed backs to the enemy. It may also move backwards or sideways at 1/2 speed. Wheels are made on a stationary pivot.

Charges. Enemy must be visible to front before moving. A unit is pinned if contacted by a charge except that cavalry which has not yet moved may counter charge and skirmishers that have not yet moved may retreat.

UNIT	BASIC MOVE	SPECIAL
Regular Infantry	6+d6”	+d6 if beginning or ending in column
Irregular Infantry	3d6"
Cavalry, Commanders	6+ d6" x 2
Artillery	1d6”+6” if limbered	+d6 on road
Wagons, Heavy Artillery	d6”	+d6” on road
Boats	12+2d6”	-1d6 against or across current +1d6 with current

Terrain:  Roads negate terrain. Visibility in woods etc 3”.
Broken Ground. Irregulars and skirmishers move full, formed reg infantry, cav ½ move.
Difficult Ground. Irregular and skirmishers and infantry columns ½ move

SHOOTING.  Once per turn. Shoot instead of move or at end of turn.
2 ranks if formed inf o/w 1. Arc 45 either side.Roll 1d6/2 inf or 1 gunner

Effect:  5 or 6 = hit.   1/2 dice long range,  +1 to die if sharpshooter or regular 1st fire or if shooting at column of flank.
-1 if inferior.  Troops in cover and skirmishers suffer ½ hits. Round ½ up if partial cover, round down in full cover.

WEAPON	RANGE     CLOSE/LONG
Musket	6”/12”
Rifles	12”/24"
Light gun	12”/36”
Foot artillery	12”/48”

MELEE: 1d6 /2 infantry or gunners or 1 cavalry. Count 2 ranks in line. 1 rank if others or if attacked in flank or rear.

Effect. Each modified score of 5 or 6 inflicts 1 hit on the target.

• Troop Quality +1 If Elite or Shock Troops, -1 if Militia or not equipped for melee.
• Charging. +1 if charging without having fired this turn or if pursuing
• Obstructed :  -1 if attacking an obstacle or uphill

Result. Unit taking more than inflicted test morale.

MORALE.  Unit lost melee or lost 25% from shooting must roll 1 die:
+1 Commander joined, +1 Elite, -1 Militia or irregular. -2 Below 1/2

4,5,6 Steady. if lost melee fall back in good order, if disordered, rally.
1,2,3 Retreat full move in disorder facing enemy.
0 Rout.
DISORDER. Count ½ when shooting and in melee, may only shoot as a reaction. They must spend a move halted to recover.

RALLY MEN! A Commander may move up to 12” to join a unit which has lost a casualty to shooting or which is in melee. He must stay with the unit till the en of the turn. Roll 1 die 1 d6 4,5,6 =1 hit cancelled, 1 = Cdr ko.
FOLLOW ME! A commander may join a unit and add 1d6" of movement but must stay with the unit till the end of the turn.

Privateer's War

Here are the rules and set up for the game I've put together for the  Arts of the Sailor Board and Card Games event at the Maritime museum on June 28.

_________________________________________________________________________

PRIVATEER'S WAR

This is a simple, homemade, historical miniature board game by Ross Macfarlane. (gameofmonth.blogspot.ca). It is loosely based on a number of historical privateer raids on the coast of Nova Scotia during the American Revolution but is not an attempt to recreate any particular raid on any particular location.

1. The Gameboard & Setup. The game board is marked off into a number of areas. Those painted blue are ocean, the rest are land. Areas which share a border are adjacent. Those which only touch at a corner are not adjacent. There are 5 borders between land and sea areas which are marked as beaches. These are the only areas where figures on board ship may come ashore or where figures on land may embark onto a waiting ship. Three brown areas are marked as town areas containing loot. One area is marked as the blockhouse and battery area.

The game begins with 2 Loyalists in each marked town area and 2 in the blockhouse area, 1 civilian in each of the 5 town areas, marked or unmarked. The Privateers begin with 2 ships each carrying 10 Privateers. The Privateer may place 1 ship in each of 2 sea areas adjacent to the Eastern edge of the game board.

2. Groups. A group is any number of figures in an area who are going to do the same thing. A player may decide at the start of each turn how many groups to form out of his figures in an area. Civilians must always be a separate group.

2. Sequence of play. The players take turns beginning with the Privateer player. At the start of his turn a player rolls an Activation Die with the result indicating how many groups of figures he may activate that turn. He may roll the dice before deciding how to split his force into groups for that turn. An activated group may move OR shoot OR plunder. Groups which have not been activated may not move or shoot or plunder. Civilians may not shoot or fight in melee. Each group must complete its movement or shooting and melee before the next group is activated. Once the Privateer has finished with all of the groups that he is activating, the Loyalist player takes his turn and repeats the same sequence.

3. Movement.  A group which is activated may move into an adjacent area. Ships may only enter sea areas. A ship must have at least 2 crew figures to move. Figures may only enter land areas or embark on a ship. To disembark from or embark onto a ship, both the ship and the figures must be activated. The ship must begin adjacent to a beach and the figures must disembark into or embark from that area.   Groups may freely move off the board but may not return.
A group which moves into an area containing enemy is making an attack and must immediately resolve melee.

4. Shooting.  A group which is activated may shoot at an enemy in an adjacent area. Roll 1 die per figure with a score of 5 or 6 forcing 1 enemy figure to retreat 1 area. Shooting against the Blockhouse area has no effect. One or more retreat results against a ship will force it to retreat 1 area.

5. Melee. When a player moves into an area containing enemy he pairs his figures up with enemy figures. If one side has more figures then they may double up in as many fights as he can but no more than 2 men can fight each enemy. For each pair of opposing figures roll 1 die per figure and compare the scores. If fighting 2 on 1 the player with 2 figures rolls 1 die per figure then chooses which to use. The Royal Highland Emigrants contained many veteran soldiers and may add +1 to their dice. If one side's die roll is twice the enemy's rolls then 1 enemy figure is removed. If it is higher but not double then 1 enemy figure retreats 1 area unless defending the blockhouse. Once all the pairs have resolved combat if one side lost more combats (figures removed or retreated) then they must retreat, otherwise if there are any defenders left then all remaining attackers must retreat to where they came from.

6. Retreats. When a figure is forced to retreat the owning player must move it to an adjacent area which does not contain any enemy. A figure may not retreat onto a sea area unless it is retreating from a beach onto a friendly ship. It may retreat off the map but may not return. In the case of a melee, attackers must retreat to the area they came from while defenders may not retreat to the area the attackers came from. If a figure is unable to retreat then it will surrender.

5. Plundering. If a group of privateers which is in one of the three marked town areas is activated and NO Loyalist soldiers are in any adjacent area then the privateers may plunder the area. Place 1 loot marker. A maximum of 2 loot markers may be accumulated from each area.  There are also 5 civilians. If a civilian is in an area with a Privateer at the end of a turn they will be taken prisoner and held for ransom (1 loot marker). The Loyalist must hand this over. Plunder must be embarked on board ship to count for victory points. It takes 1 privateer to move 1 loot marker or escort 1 prisoner.

6. The Blockhouse. One area is marked as a blockhouse and battery. No privateer ship may move adjacent to the blockhouse if it contains at least 1 Loyalist soldier and the battery has not been spiked. Spiking the gun may be done by a privateer who is in the area and has been activated when there is no Loyalist figure in an adjacent area. Loyalists defending the blockhouse do not need to retreat from shooting or melee.

7. Reinforcements. There are 2 groups of reinforcements for the Loyalists. If the Loyalist rolls a 6 they may enter 1 of of these groups with 4 militia entering from the South or 4 Highlanders entering from the North by land or the East by boat. Reinforcements may not enter the board in an area occupied by privateers. If the Highlanders capture a privateer sloop they will sail off table with their prize.

8. Winning and Losing. The Privateers get 1 point for each Loot marker that they get on board ship. Losing a ship costs them 2 loot markers. If they lose over 1/2 of their original figures they must give up and retreat with what they have. If the Privateers have a final total of 4 or more then they have won, a score of 1,2 or 3 is a tie and less is a Loyalist win.  

Work, work work

It is sort of sad, 10 years ago this would have been fun not work. I can't wait to get back to some glossy toy soldiers.

I don't technically need these guys for Huzzah but they've been on my desk wearing a base coat on flesh and clothes for  2 years now and this could be the last chance for them to appear on a table in the foreseeable future.  Part of it may be that I've done Woodland Indians in 4 scales and the first time was the most fun and I enjoyed going to town on the warpaint. Those were mostly Freikorps 15's, very nice figures. these are Old Glory 40's. The 1 part figures are quite nice but the multipart ones are pretty bad and the separate powder belts and bags are awful and would be better scratch built on.

Anyhow 6 more to go but not this weekend. Tomorrow the 1/72nd  Nine Years War resumes.

Duty before Pleasure

OK this was not an onerous duty but while my mind is buzzing about other projects, Huzzah is only a month away and I have troops and terrain to get ready.


Today I did 3 of the Trident figures that I picked up last year at Huzzah. 1 armed woman and 2 more Loyalist rank and file.  I was a little confused at first by the frontierswoman until I realized that instead of a hunting musket with powder horn and ball, she has a military musket and an apron full of cartridges! This picture looked better when it was only an inch big on my phone rather than blown up to twice life size. They still need to be flocked.

Next up I need to finish a dozen Indians that have been 1/2 painted for a year or more so that I can release the Prince August Skraelings which are just right to go with the Scruby 1812 figures but too short and scrawny for the AWI Tridents and Sash & Saber.

Dress Rehearsal

Huzzah is fast approaching and as of Friday morning my game consisted of a general idea and bits of existing troops and terrain. Rob Dean is going to be cohost and it is years since we last ran a MacDuff game . Taking the opportunity offered by Rob having a day off work we arranged a remote test game. 

An overview of the game about 1/2 way through.
The tablet is clamped in a vise and perched on some books beside the fort.

This was the first remote game where all I had was a 7" tablet and it took a while to figure out how to get something workable but Rob soldiered on  despite limited fuzzy views and abysmal luck with die rolls and event cards.  You can read his experience here and see what he could see here.

The Eastern settlers took most of the game to struggle a foot onto the board but they managed to eventually see off both Loyalists and Indians, largely due to hogging the good rolls, and were well on their way by the end.

I won't go into details even though the real thing will be slightly different on the larger table but I will try to take pictures this year. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed the game, am looking forward to painting up a few more figures and rebasing some of the 4 man stands as individuals and feel much less enthusiastic about selling off the project (always happens when I play something.). Unless of course I get a good offer.........

The harrowing ordeal is almost over for the families.
Here the garrison has sortied out to see the Western settlers to safety.

Off on a new tack

The plan was to finish the boats and to that end I cast up a Zinnbrigade seated limber rider and grabbed a spare sailor to promote to cox'n. However, the bit where I stitch him up is going to have to wait.

With their bases cut down, 8 infantry can squeeze into the bosr.

The deadline to submit my game for Huzzah is rapidly approaching and I have been getting increasingly aware that I've been dragging my feet on registering my game. I just haven't been sure why. Eventually I decided the problem wasn't really the scenario, it was me. It just didn't feel "different" enough to please me. Despite my efforts to dress it up, hidden defenders, delayed deployment for the flanking columns, personal objectives,  guiding victoty conditions etc, its just a dressed up version of line 'em up and go get 'em.

I decided to go back to a variation on an old favorite,  the CS Grant Wagon Train scenario which always provides a fun game, especially in a convention setting since players are essentially   on their own in a confused situation but with clear objectives to be taken or protected. Since I had an overwhelming urge to call the game "Drums Along the Mohawk" I am adapting the scenario to involve several groups of settlers fleeing to the safety of Fort MacDuff while parties of Loyalists and Indians emerge from the woods to try to cut them off.

Now, I just need to put together a presentable wagon train out of the bits and bobs I cobble together for home use. I'll slip a game of something in there somewhere this weekend but fixing up the wagon train is now top priority. I would particularly like more 2 wheeled carts. Prince August limbers are my starting point there.

How long to whip this lot into shape?

With MacDuff on the Farm

There are more test games coming so I'll skip a detailed description of the action as well as some thoughts around designing convention participation games till another day and talk a little about the rules.

Trying on 12 man units for size.

To save repetion I would like to refer readers to 2 posts from 2010.


The first is what I look for in a wargame.
http://gameofmonth.blogspot.com/2010/04/of-horses-and-courses.html

The second gives my thoughts on friction in a wargame
 http://gameofmonth.blogspot.com/2010/08/control-vs-friction.html

The short summary of the last 3 solo games is that With MacDuff to the Frontier is now, finally, meeting all of my criteria. They are giving me just what I want.

Does that mean that I will abandon all other rules? Don't be silly. I have new requirements dealing with convenience and a potential break through on efforts on the gridded game front!

Now we see the units beefed up to 16.

Ok some longer comments. A couple of key decisions have answered all of the concerns I had with the original variable moves from a practical POV. By stripping out most of the fiddly bits and unclenching enough to just live with the occasional extreme moments and by looking at the base roll as the restricted or basic move that can be doubled in some instances rather than a maximum to be reduced by almost everything, the game had a faster pace and a more free flowing feel which allows players to occasionally suprise the enemy or to have a clever combination foiled by a subordinate. All done in a quick and integrated one step method.

The light from the windows made it particularly  hard to take a shot of the whole table but I wanted to give some idea of the layout. On both flanks American columns advance along paths through the woods opposed by Indians and rangers while in the center militia advance across the open fields against regular infantry and a light gun. Obviously I could use a LOT more trees and bushes. This is a 20 square foot table, picture how naked my old 48 square foot would have been but how much more room for maneuvers or more figures!

Once again the fire chart with the double hit on a 6 provided just the right sort of result. (Thank you WRG for that one) Close range volleys were usually average, taking several turns to resolve but every now and then there would be a devastating volley that would decide the issue or an ineffective one allowing the enemy an opening.

I was uneasy about not having the double hit in melee but it works. Infantry is best relying on firepower until the enemy is shaken unless he is defending cover in which case closing is best.
The cavalry may seem weak vs infantry but the pursuit move should normally help especially if the enemy is in the open and unsupported. Still, its best to wait until the infantry has been shot up a bit.

Charging the gun with a battalion of militia that had already been shot up seemed like a dodgy move. With 3 dice of cannister at least 2 hits would be likely and as many as 6 were possible. As it turns out no hits at all was another possibility! Apparently the gunners must have been too busy limbering to shoot, after losing the melee they managed to outrun pursuit covered by their supports, just, not for long. Next time it was the brown coated Canadian Regiment and no one got away.

The revised shaken rule is having the right result. Units do not automatically flee the table but they become so vulnerable and ineffective that not pulling them back is a desperate act.

The chance cards are still fun. The last game was almost reversed when the Americans pulled a card allowing them to stop one enemy unit from moving. There were the Elite Highlanders, general at their head, about to charge into a continental unit that they had just decimated with return fire.
Saved!

Saved by a chance card but on the next turn the American general errs and finally succeeds in turning a clear victory into a bloody draw in the King's favour.

Now, if the American general had just considered that a bunch of indians that had been sniping at him from the woods might charge into his rear when he led the Blues against the Jagers who could only either stand at 1:2 without bayonets or flee the table, or remembered that more dice with a better chance to hit doesn't guarantee success or that you can't really retreat when surrounded.....

Next post its back to well almost the present with Mk3 Hats of Tin.

Old Macfarlane's Farm A convention game in the making.

When my local gaming group decided to do some 40mm AWI gaming a few years back, I already had 1/72nd and 54mm armies, both aimed primarily at the Saratoga campaign.  While I didn't want to recreate them again and have very little interest in the campaigns further south (as in New Jersey or Pennsylvania let alone the Carolinas) I  did want to participate.  I  had some suitable Indians from my 40mm 1812 collection and some  F&IW Canadiens. I decided to build on these and look at the Oriskany campaign as a starting point.

The scene is set and the American militia have begun their advance.

Once I had a sufficient contribution to the group effort I slid it to the back burner but kept finding small numbers of the excellent Trident  AWI figures following me home from conventions. When I was looking for a game to run at Huzzah last year I didn't have enough AWI done so settled for a War of 1812 game based on Ft Meigs, Indians ambushing American militia on their way to relieve a fort beseiged by British troops.  This year I decided that if I put a push on and borrowed a few figures, I could have enough for Oriskany.  Lets see, American fort beseiged by British, relieving force of militia is ambushed by Indians ok, I could reuse the fort...oh.... ok, 2 historical scenarios from 2 separate wars but just variations on a theme. Maybe not 2 years in a row, even if there would be wagons and no river.

Gratuitous shot of elements of the 84th Foot or Royal Highland Emmigrants and the King's Royal Regiment of New York.

There are some interesting little fights on the Nova Scotia and Maine coasts including bombardments, shore landings and cutting out expeditions not to mention Nova Scotia rebels besieging Fort Cumberland but I don't  have the right figure mix, ships or terrain......... yet. So the search for a scenario began again. For a game rather than a test I like to use historical actions as inspiration rather than worry about precise numbers,  unifoms and terrain so having found a suitable action I set to work.

So it is that a force of Indians and Tories have camped at Macfarlane's Farm on their way home after a successful raid in the Mohawk Valley. Come morning, scouts bring news that a small force of Rebel militia is hot on their heels. They decide to wait and give them a drubbing.

Morgan's Riflemen lead the Belmont Blues and other Continental units along a forest path to cut the Loyalists retreat.

For the first game I decided to give  each "player" a commander and 3 x 8 man "companies" in the  old style. Since I removed both multi-company battalions and the replacement battleline rule, the companies were on their own for morale and to maintain dressing using variable length moves. At first the attacking militia showed admirable restraint, not taking advantage of long rolls, using commanders to chivy along lagging units. Then the shooting started and discipline crumbled. The more excited the player became the easier it was to let units get scattered and isolated on the attack.

 The attack by a single company on the gun didn't go too well and the right hand commander apparently forgot about the possibility of indians emerging from the woods behind his flank. Oddly so had the indians for several turns but they woke up to the possibility first, or maybe they just got bored.

Realistic enough but I'm running a game not a training session for would be battalion commanders. I've been down that route before with these rules. Since most of the militia companies were already shaken as well as being surrounded, I decided to play the next turn   and then reset.

5 or 6 turns after I decided  to quit an attack by the regulars looked like it might reverse the decision.
At least I was having fun.

So, 7 or 8 turns later when the flank attack by continental units which had almost turned the tide was finally repulsed,  and after the indians who were being shot to pieces  by the riflemen made a desperate charge with warclubs, unexpectedly scattering their tormentors,  I finally did  manage to reset.

OK I guess not. Shortly after this shot the Highlanders fired a devastating volley before charging with the bayonet and sweeping the field.

So, I shifted the terrain a bit, added more troops, reorganized the units and  so on then played a bigger, better, more exciting,  closer game, but that's another post.