Germantown 1777 (with Battle Command)

 Being Father's day, of course my daughter suggested that a wargame was in the offing, and being an anniversary year (well 1776 is key, and that means it's almost 1777), I suggested an American Revolution game...

'NO taxation without multi sided dice...don't tread on my D4!!!'

 A pastiche of Germantown was therefore in the offing - with some semi-serious pre-map movement to sort out proper Generalship in light of Mr Washington's obvious mistakes (yeah..I went there).

"Steady...steady..."

 Played with 'Battle Command' (Field of Battle with new card mechanics/flexibility/choices). 

 To quote her - 'These rules are really quite clever...', as I continued to roll 5 x '1's on a d12 during the game. (Needless to say, said D12 has been paraded in front of the other dice and gone under the hammer...so that they all learn the rules...). I was soundly defeated - of course I blame the dice!

Chew House on the American right, will face significant pressure, and the British place far too much stress upon holding it, as the centre begins to fall

'Don't worry none Zeke...the commander seems quite sensible on this occasion...'

With the pre-emptive map movement, lots of Americans in the centre...

Armstrong's militia in the British rear, actually give good account of themselves

American dragoons attack the guns ...successfully, damn their eyes!

...too many Continentals

Pressure on the British left, but they can not get enough troops to the centre, fast enough

British guards falter on their right flank, and then the centre starts to collapse

Too many British units with faltering musketry - I blame the fog!

In the thick of it...

In the thick of the action, due to rallying rolls, Howe is at risk - and falls dead from the saddle due to a well aimed rifle shot - this has major effects on initiative and Army Morale (you won't see this D12 again, trust me).

The new nails...oh and some figures too...

In the end, American pressure, and tremendous shooting, managed to rout the British centre, and it was all over on the next morale card

Cowpens 1781 - the Battle

 So, the Wing Scale variant of V&B, extends ranges, and utilises skirmishers/detachments in a more period manner. (available on the Mr McNelley'sV&B fansite and J.D.Glasco's site). For example, light infantry can break down and recombine, yet light units can also be charged etc.

I re-arranged the American deployment historically, and juggled with some of Tarleton's position viz the 71st Highlanders and British Legion - otherwise, the battle was pretty close to the historical layout; the American first line mainly composed of militia - who predictably, using the militia/poor troops rule, were very brittle, then the continentals who would give excellent account...until the last turn, and the cavalry, who would become engaged early on the American left, holding British dragoons.

British 1st attack: Dragoons on the British right. Legion cavalry on the left, though this shows the British problem - with troops with good morale, and only Tarleton and a sub commander, V&B punishes the lack of command with a shorter command radius at wing scale - historically accurate, since Tarleton had great concerns on the day co-ordinating movements.

American response on their left...the militia holds the line under the first vollies of British fire.

The militia hold for the most part (amazingly so against the Legion charge)

Legion cavalry charge on the British left - though they charge their way out of Tarleton's command radius - a one hit wonder...

Americans defend the flank - British dragoons can not break through.

The legion cavalry breaks through, but will now have to move back toward command, rather than be free to exploit the flank.

Of course, the flank move brings the legion cavalry into range of the continental line...(range is extended at this scale, making stationary troops in good positions VERY deadly)

A strong British attack starting to build.

71st Highlander assault

The Continental line

Trading muskets and charges, battalions become rapidly exhausted and/or are shot from the field...the Scots remain in place, but are slowly eroded by accurate American skirmish fired

By game end, the British are exhausted, with very few units that can move toward the enemy...an American victory, and very close to the historical battle.

A great variant of the original rules. The changes ALL make sense - range, command determination, movement, co-ordination of units within the scale...the changes work - the main mechanisms change to suit that. Contrast with Black Powder, which simply seems to throw a scale at an existing warhammer style game to suit the beer and pretzels experience. BP thereby doesn't work. V&B has a sensible and elegant design mechanism, and thus gives a good, reliable and historical game and experience...always.

Battle of Hannah's Cowpens 1781 - setup

 Just in time to get a post in for the end of the month(!), I spent the evening setting up for wing scale 'Cowpens' battle for Volley and Bayonet, from the American revolution. Battle to follow soon.

I must cite these superlative references: Kieth McNelly's excellent V&B site, and J.D.Glasco's equally superb gaming and research resource.

The V&B wing scale is proving to be an excellent simulation for the smaller battles of the war, just as the larger scales allow for good 'scaling' up to Saratoga, Germantown and Monmouth. As Cowpens is a small battle, this level of flexibility allows the same set to be used across the period, across the campaigns, and with a few tweaks, across centuries of linear warfare. (Apparently there is another set which tries this, without success, but with lots of D6, lots of expensive black books, and lots of confusion...it's slack, and tastes of chowder :O )

British entry - Tarleton's command not as flexible as the Americans, though his troops have the edge in quality

...having to use a standard English redcoat commander...you may note that my Tarleton figure has been subsumed into the British Legion cavalry at the end there ...I had to 'smush' a few units' strength points together to make it work, due to lack of a few figures.

American defenders, and the ridgeline is not 'exactly' perfect, but will suffice

Looking forward to getting this done during the week - a relatively small battle, but don't those open flanks look inviting?

...and now a nod to the kids' D&D game, where I am moving from the 5e funk to a proper old school rpg - 'Shadowdark'... You can thank me later.

Guilford Courthouse - with Volley & Bayonet

 That time of year again for the annual Birthday Bash, where my eldest daughter plays Dad at a wargame of his choice. So far, I have yet to win any of these encounters. This year ...would be no different.

Selecting Volley & Bayonet, and setting myself the challenge of taking the British at Guilford Courthouse, I would be able to test the stationary fire dynamic (doubling dice for non moving troops' fire), contrast it with the Militia rule (where militia, in contrast with 'poor troops' always have a 'disordered' status), and see just how close to a historical result we could get. 

The British have their work cut out - well, sort of - the initial American line is easily surpassed; in fact half the militia were routed in the first line - the stationary second line however would deliver sufficient fire to promote divisional exhaustion amongst the British units, and pretty much hamstring them before they could contact the regular continentals in the 3rd line - or at least, ensure that they would be attacking at 3:4 odds.

'Here we go again Zeke...'

For stats, I used the amazing V&B AWI information available at J D Glasco's 'Gentlemanly Wargaming' site. A great resource. Also of note is Kieth McNelly's excellent V&B site at https://volleyandbayonet.wordpress.com/.

British forces are compact, but tough - combining elite troops (with shock factor on hits) with good skirmishers.

American forces deployed in three lines - today the militia might have got more than 'two vollies' off, but it was the second line that did the damage.

On the British right, an American cavalry charge, met by British Legion cavalry.

The centre pushes forward, I was reasonably happy with the flanks thus far...

Especially as my infantry were having very favourable results against brave, yet fruitless, American cavalry charges

Pushing forward with Hessians on the right

The centre moves forward steadily

In the American rear, the stalwart continentals remain in place...all day in the end

Predictably, the 1st line of militia get the worst of British infantry charges, despite some protection - their permanent disordered status is not helping, as their shooting can be saved against.

It's the second line, that will be a problem - they are rated as 'poor troops' but that is still better than militia, and can thereby gain a stationary status

The first line melts away, leaving dangerous gaps

There is the danger of routing troops, but some of these are rallied.

The British make good progress through the heavier wooded area

'HOLD THE LINE!'

Second line - would suffer greatly, would be outflanked...but then the British luck would start to run out

...and the British rear is threatened by skirmishers

The second line becomes chaotic, and yet holds

Division exhaustion - prevents charging home - and scuppers the British plan on their left flank

Melee and disintegration of units

'Give Fire!!!'

A British outflanking manoeuvre - though conceptually fantastic (even if I do say so myself!) - comes to nothing

The last charge!

By game end, the British have turned a flank, but the Americans have recovered. there are two British units left that can charge - and they have not hit the third line yet . I called it, and gave Madame the win ...again :)

Another great game with a superb set of rules. More to follow with V&B - it translates well across periods, and is very flexible, as well as giving a great game - without needless complexity.