The Complete Brigadier: Playtest #2

#8 Lundy's Lane... actually fought in the War of 1812!

I've played #8 Melee from "One-Hour Wargames" at least a score of times, using a variety of rule sets, including Neil Thomas' "4-Base" rules, Simplicity in Practice, and several others including ones from different historical periods. The series of decision tensions created in it make it a great battle, time after time: 

- Defender starts with 1/3 of Force, gets two reinforcements of 1/3 more each.

- Attacker starts with 1/2 of Force, gets one reinforcement of 1/2 between the two Defender reinforcement arrivals.

NOTE: due to the different move rates between the games, the arrival of reinforcements is about 50% later each.  Also, there is no time limit as TCB uses a fatigue mechanic and morale rules that will end the game.

There are three tactical choices for the Attacker:

1) Attack left, leaving the woods to the right;

2) Attack the woods, use them as a base of fire to make the near portion of the hill untenable to the defense;

3) Maneuver straight then attack around the woods to left - this requires fighting the first reinforcements coming on at the road at 3-2. 

This is a tough scenario to win due to the difficult victory conditions:  

Victory. Winner has complete control of the large hill [ridge].

How will The Complete Brigadier [TCB] fare here?  Let's see!

Above and below, two maps of this War of 1812 battle, none detailed enough to be  definitive:

Here's the two side by side for a close comparison:

 

[left from click]

Note that the left includes the river, but less of the battlefield. The right seems to be a higher level view and includes all the troops involved, but historically they arrived sequentially, so there's some time distortion there unless you figure it as the final phase of the battle. 

Hopefully, you get a pretty decent idea of the battle despite the limits of these maps... which are more like diagrams.

For the forces, especially the numbers, I used:

...since One-Hour Wargames doesn't do detailed OOB or unit compositions. This suited TCB better than generic units, but I could have done that, also.

American forces - 2 Generals, five Infantry battalions and one Heavy Battery.

Turn 1, General Scott, three Infantry: 9th, 22nd & 25th U.S. [Green, Green, Regular] on left;

Turn 6, General Ripley, two more Infantry [Regular, Green] and the Towson's heavy battery [Elite] on right.

British Forces - almost identical: 2 Generals, 5 Infantry, 1 Medium Battery.

At start - General Pearson, Green Glengarry Fencibles and Elite medium battery on the hill.

Turn 6, General Drummond with two Regular Infantry, 103rd and 104th.

Turn 12, last two Infantry, Raw Militia [back] and Elite 8th Foot [front].

Turns 1-2. Americans send 9th & 22nd to pin the defender's front, and 25th to threaten their flank. They are generally moving at the Quick and Double rates. This will Fatigue them faster but I'm hoping the positional advantage will result in a relatively quick, cheap win. We'll see! 

Turn 3. Plan seems to be working. The 25th to right are almost clear of the woods. 

Brigadier leading from the rear!  Behind green units! Hardly seems inspiring...must be Ripley

Turn 4. Considering the hammer and anvil threat, the Guns did a limber and wheel. This will keep both American units in their sights, regardless of which charges. Note that they only *barely* kept the right unit - the 25th - on their front side...

Above, the 22nd - smaller unit to left - basically I'm having trouble maneuvering it well, and it isn't coordinating with the 9th on the right.

Turn 5 - what will happen to the limbered Artillery unit? The 25th is Charging!

Unfortunately, the column was *just* out of Quick charge range - they should have Charged at the Double!  Oops - my bad! I habitually try to conserve Stamina Points.

Below, the British battery ordered Unlimber and Fire. Which they do, causing several casualties. Musketry erupts on the hillside as well. NOTE: TCB includes the - historical but rare - penalties for musket fire between different elevations. This results in a general reduction in musketry effects between two elevations.

Turn 5. American reinforcements arrive at the road, 21st, 23rd, Towson's Battery. 

NOTE: I did the math wrong, so Turn 6 was too late, it's really Turn 5 for their arrival, a >50% later arrival. Similarly, the Brits arrive T9 not T12.

Turn 6. I maneuvered the American battalions poorly, so now the 22nd is partially masked. The 9th is re-positioning to get closer while losing the firefight against the Glengarry's on the hill. British Brigadier Gen Pearson had horse shot out from under him and can't move for a Turn.

Meanwhile, the poor 25th U.S. Infantry run away to fight another day [or turn].

Fortunately, help is on the way, and the heavy guns are laying down effective Fire against the British columns - they have to deploy in line.

Turn 7. The threat gone, British battery limbers up and moves back over the military crest to re-engage the threat from the front. Meanwhile, the 9th engages the Glengarry's in a Firefight, which will pin them in place.

The Americans rush towards the woods and the hill. The Heavy Battery is inflicting casualties, but the British correctly advanced with the large battalion -103rd, and maneuvered with the small battalion, the 104th Foot.

The 25th is Rallied from Broken by their Brigadier Scott who Commands them to "Rally On Me!" The bonus is just enough to improve their Morale up to Shaken.

Interesting series of difficult situations. 

The 25th has bad morale and is outnumbered badly by two regular Brits. It is also in the way of the guns field of fire. Obviously, my plan was a poor one!

The British guns will be flanked by the Americans in the Woods, the 23rd U.S., probably what I should have done with the 25th right from the beginning. But the 23rd will in turn be threatened from the British to their right flank, the 104th and 103rd.

Meanwhile, the Brit guns are also being threatened from the front by the 21st U.S., but they can fire some cannister into the 9th U.S. while that threat develops. Despite a bunch of casualties, the morale of the 9th stays Firm!

The Glengarry Fencibles on the hill are slowly being outflanked.  Their only option is to Fall Back, which they may be able to get away with since it is simultaneous Orders followed by [Melee, then] simultaneous Movement. 

This makes the units feel a lot like ships in Wooden Ships & Iron Men. Very interesting mechanic! As you are not alternating movement, you have to plan ahead and not try to constantly be in a "perfect reaction" mode. 

Or they can try and Break the 9th Infantry in front of them with Fire, then deal with the outflanking 22nd. I decide on this course of action, since the entire victory condition is the hill, not units, and I figured If they Fell Back they'd be off the hill and it would be hard to get back on it.

Turn 8. More of the same situation develops. The 25th took a chance and again Rallied, which was sort of pointless as they are also being Threatened.  So I need to pay more attention but it's hard to fight both sides. What they really need to do is Fall Back! Still, the heavy guns are going to cause some sort of morale check on the advancing 103rd Foot soon.

22nd U.S. Charges and rolls up the Fencibles Flank. Guns wisely chose to Limber Up and Move farther away, over the military crest of the hill.

This leaves the other U.S. units free to advance. Note that both Brigadier Scott and Ripley are on the scene, just in case...

Meanwhile, I incorrectly face the Brits with the Shaken 25th - they should have just performed the Fall Back! order, but I completely forgot they were Shaken. The Brits advanced and formed a battle line on Turn 9. 

Turn 10, the 22nd Pursues the Fencibles over the hill, causing some losses. The Artillery continue to move back, planning to unlimber and fire upon the Americans, then support a Brit advance upon the hill.

Meanwhile, the 9th U.S. advances up the hill and becomes Disordered.

Also on Turn 10, the British final reinforcements arrive, a unit of Crack Infantry - the 8th Foot [in green], and a unit of Raw Volunteer Incorporated Militia following. The small 104th Foot charges the U.S. 22nd in the Woods, who are able to face in time. Next to them the large 103rd Foot is facing off against the Unfortunate 25th U.S. because the Brigadier doesn't know the rules Completely!

The larger 21st U.S. advances up the hill in column, so doesn't get Disordered. This turns out to be the single most important thing an American General does all day!  It must be Scott...

Turn 11. The British 104th lose the melee in the woods and Fall Back Shaken. The Fencibles flee off the board. The 22nd U.S. Charges and catches the Battery as it wheels away, another oops...

The Elite 8th Foot advances up the hill in line, disputing the American victory condition.  The Raw Militia continue to advance in a Disorganized manner.

The Disordered U.S. 9th advances in Line, under the Brigadier's Command to Follow Me! which also gives a morale bonus. To their right, the 21st carefully Wheels in Column of Divisions and now is ready to charge the Disordered British troops next turn.

Turn 11 sees the British situation go down the tubes. The 103rd and 104th are Shaken and Broken respectively, and need to Rally. The large 103rd has taken significant casualties from the American battery.  I also corrected the error of the 25th and had them Fall Back! which they should have done earlier.

The British battery is overrun and Breaks. The Elite 8th Foot automatically Falls Back when faced with the American 21st advancing in Column, and in good order.

Turn 12, more of the same. Even having a couple of well ordered Units in Reserve would have kept the British on the table. 

Alas, I was too busy learning the rules to think through every situation!

Well, a decisive win for the Americans, so I can't say that I am unhappy about that!

Clearly, I violated a few rules of both gaming AND historical tactics:

- tried for a quick win on the hill's east flank,

- bungled a pretty straightforward frontal advance for Americans,

- spread defense too thin, resulting in them  getting shot by guns. Instead, should have moved to support the hill defense, where woods would have blocked gun's Fire.

- didn't stay focused on the victory conditions.

Most interesting aspect of the rules was closely examining the difference between a Charge and an Encounter [a contact between opposing units with no Charges ordered].  Disordered Units can Fire just fine [don't like that, but...] but they are not a Threat when they advance, and they will Fall Back if they encounter an enemy Unit that is not Disordered. If Charged, they will likely Retreat unless the opposing unit is very small and can't muster up enough Factors to win.

Since I was unaware of this, and the hill objective was a Gradual Slope that Disorders Infantry in Line, I ended up with a bunch of Disordered Lines that pretty much automatically lose against an orderly column.

I have found just a few small aspects of the rules that I will likely change as they are either mistakes or I question their historicity, e.g. Shaken units [which are always Disordered as well] Fire at half effect, while Disordered units have no Fire penalty. Doesn't match what I read about in history, where good order is considered key to good Fire.

Have really enjoyed getting these rules onto the table. The interaction of morale, maneuver and fire makes for a fascinating game. It is not easy to correctly use all the tools at your disposal without making a mistake OR having something unexpected happen with your opponent's choices. This optimizes the impact of player skill and decisions instead of relying on lucky die rolling to bail you out of trouble.

There's no doubt that an orderly, supported advance is the way to go, and any defense should have or build up a support line as soon as possible.

Cavalry?  I don't think I'm ready for that yet!