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Monday, May 10, 2021

BatRep Long Island: Grant Attacks!

Gowanus Road
photo courtesy wargamesinthedungeon.blogspot.com/

Before the armies arrive, the road from the Red Lion Inn to Brooklyn is quiet.  General Alexander will be deploying his force on the heights expecting a British attack from the south.  The British will be attacking to the north (from right to left in the photo above).  Outnumbering the Americans and with artillery in support, General Grant figures he has a chance to turn the American right before General Howe fully engages and outflanks the American left.  Will this day see a long awaited British victory?  We will see.

Initial deployments
The Americans await
Alexander arrays his command of five regiments facing south as shown in the photos above.  The sharpshooting Penn. riflemen are deployed in the woods anchoring the American left.  The two militia regiments are deployed upon the crest of the hill with the two Continental regiments forming a second line.

The Continentals move up in support
as the British prepare to attack the heights
Alexander's plan for defense does not survive contact with the enemy.  With Grant seemingly putting more weight to attacking the American right along Gowanus Bay, Alexander begins shifting his second line to the right.

Smallwood shifts to the right
The British assault the American right
The artillery has been ineffective thus far in softening up the American positions before the attack goes in.  As the lead regular regiment reaches the crest with grenadiers in close support, the lead regiment is stopped by a volley from the militia.  Falling back, the regulars allow the grenadiers to carry on with their work.  Unfortunately, the orderly retreat turns to rout and a regiment of regulars is done for the day.

On the American left, the riflemen stationed in the woods maintain a steady, harassing fire upon the British advance.  Little progress is made in advancing upon the American positions from the British right. 
Grenadiers charge!
The grenadiers, upon reaching the crest of the hill, charge into the militia defending the crest.  The initial attack leaves the grenadiers short of their objective.  Stunned by the attack, the militia remain motionless, unable to respond.  Matt, in great relief lets out a cheer.  The grenadiers charge home in a second effort.
Militia recoils
The grenadiers are stopped
In hand-to-hand fighting, the militia falters and is pushed back.  The grenadiers follow-up and attack the militia second time.  In this clash, the militia is defeated and seeks succour as it retreats through the ranks of its support.
Smallwood gives the grenadiers a volley
A close range volley into the face of the grenadiers
The grenadiers break and run!
With momentum exhausted, the grenadiers stare down a solid line of Continentals.  The Americans loose a volley into the face of the grenadiers and they break and run toward the rear.  Their day is done.
Artillery finally finds a target
driving off the militia
American resolve is weakening
After spending much of the battle either failing to activate or missing its target, the British artillery finally finds its mark.  One militia regiment is sent packing to the rear in disorder.  This success is short lived as the determined riflemen send a second British regiment routing to the rear.  
Another American regiment breaks
Americans bent but not broken
Grant calls off the attack
A volley from the British regiment stationed adjacent to Gowanus Bay hits the American regiment nearest the crest.  Another well-placed volley drives off another American defender.  

While much of the American right is in retreat, two American regiments remain virtually unscathed while much of the British force is in tatters.  With no British reserves and the Game Clock striking 15 turns, the battle comes to a close with an American victory.

As seen before, attacking in Rebels and Patriots is a difficult proposition against a formed defense.  If not for the poor start by the British artillery and the British right, the outcome could have been much different.  The Rebel riflemen proved to be a huge thorn in the side of the British throughout the battle by controlling almost half of the entire battlefield.  While the Americans were badly battered in the fight, the British simply ran out of fresh troops with which to push the assault to victory.  The final Honor count was 7-4 to the Americans.

Does the British player have a path to victory in this scenario?  I think so but perhaps General Grant could have an option of bringing on one more regiment at a cost to an Honor Point or two?  I would enjoy a replay of this scenario to see.

Thanks to Matt for presenting another terrific looking game and for absorbing another British defeat in good spirit. 

Look out for Matt's account of the battle at:

44 comments:

  1. Well done again Jon, I don't think you have lost an AWI engagement yet! I am wondering if your choice of rules is over generous to the Americans, it seems odd that grenadiers would struggle to overcome militia in hand to hand combat, unless it was just flukey dice rolling?

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    1. Thank you, Keith! I lost at least one that I recall and that was the action at Barrett Farm near Concord.

      The grenadiers has suffered some casualties before going in but the grenadiers hit the militia drove them back and then hit them a second time in a follow-up. That exertion left the grenadiers facing a fresh Continental regiment that gave them a good volley at close range. The grenadiers then failed a morale check and off they went. Yes, the failed morale check was a low probability event.

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  2. "They came on in the same old way...". A lovely-looking game again, and at least the result was much closer this time. I'm not sure what Matt could have done differently, other than rolling some better dice for the artillery. A rematch would be interesting.

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    1. Matt sets a handsome table, for sure. The result was much closer and the American right was back peddling when the game ended. The British artillery let Matt down, no doubt.

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  3. Another great battle report and lovely layout. Hopefully better luck for tge Brits next time

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  4. An excellent battle report and pictures.

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  5. Great way to play! Nicely done.

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  6. I think that the British had some bad luck as they didn't had much of an option except advancing and attacking. Naturally normally the grenadiers would not be defeated so fast but with time running and sometimes individual units refusing to move or attack, you are running into such desasters. Thank you for sharing your experiences and encounters. Great work by you and your gaming companion.

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    1. I agree with you, Andrè. The British had some hard luck in not getting its gun into action to soften up the American defenses.

      Very pleased that you are enjoying this series of battles!

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  7. As usual for Matt a fine looking game! A shame about the result though...😁

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    1. Indeed! Matt's tables are first rate. There seems to be a strong bias against the Americans. We did win the war, you know...

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  8. A successful game all around I think and balanced enough to be worth a replay. That is a nice table, the high ground has been nicely replicated and has photographed surprisingly well - as hills created under cloth usually blow out and are hard to see.

    Top job to scenario design and for Matt’s translation to the table.

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    1. Norm, Matt does an extraordinary job on his table presentations. Each is a real joy to game on.

      Glad you approve of scenario and its translation to the table top!

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  9. Great stuff, the Brits are certainly struggling for that elusive victory.

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    1. Thanks! The Brits continue to struggle but are getting close.

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  10. Thank you Jonathan and congrats on a hard fought defence. Not good news for mad King George. Matt’s table is excellent and has me thinking about Teddy bear fur matts. Thanks also for the link to Matt’s blog - followed!

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    1. You are welcome and thanks, Michael!

      Matt will be pleased to see a new Follower!

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  11. fun stuff! I live a block away from Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn where a lot of the action happened...they do a small re-enactment every summer there!

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    1. Thanks! Being so close, you have likely walked this ground many times. I must do so as well on my next visit to NYC.

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  12. Nice gaming again by you and Matt, Jonathan. Not only the great looking figures, but I like the terrain a lot too. I need to try and replicate the rolling hills for future games as they should block LOS.

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    1. I like Matt's presentations a lot too. He always goes that extra mile. Makes my set ups look quite anemic.

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  13. I'm not familiar with the rules--and the game experience may certainly provide more context--but it would appear that the "failure to activate" bugaboo of this (and most current) rules systems seems to have had a significant impact on the outcome.

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    1. Failures to activate seem to plague players at the most inopportune time. Matt's failures seemed to cluster early on; mine seemed to cluster midgame. It does add randomness into the play sequence. Sometimes, I bit too much randomness in my mind.

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    2. I confess that I've gone from being an early advocate of some sort of activation/control check last century to a complete dislike of them since in practice, they generally seem to turn rare historical events of the less than 1% sort into several times per game even in small battles but then its a game and some enjoy it and why shouldn't they?

      Anyway, looks great!

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    3. Thanks, Ross! Different rules produce different types of games. I don’t always want the same type of game so variety is good.

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  14. Yet another fab table. Matt has a dab hand at making a believable field for sure.

    Once again the Brits are kicked back. I blame the lack of grog. More rations needed I'm thinking to help with courage levels.

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  15. A great looking table as always and scenario from both of you. I love these rules but do think that these sort of actions don't work quite as well as maybe other rules might.

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    1. Steve, I think you are correct regarding these rules. There are parts of the rules that I may not completely agree with but they do provide a fast paced game. For social, "beer and pretzels" games especially played remotely, they work well.

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  16. Thanks Jon for the scenario development. It felt balanced but hard for the British I keep pondering the questions over the rules but, some is luck and some poor rolls. I don’t believe the rules are inherently wrong, they favour skirmish games that is true. I might question whether on the charge the Grenadiers shouldn’t get an extra plus 1 in combat as I do tend to agree with others that once the British Grenadiers got into combat especially at this point in the war I don’t believe many Militia regiments would have held.

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    1. I do agree that they work better for skirmish actions rather than say set piece attacks such as this. I remember reading in Mark Urban's book, Fusiliers, that early on the Militia fled the minute the British fixed bayonets to charge. So maybe you could have them have to pass a Morale Test on say a -1 to the die roll when charged by Grenadiers?

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    2. Your poor artillery performance was likely the key early on. As in our other games with artillery present, an artillery section can take control of an area.

      As for the grenadiers, they did win two sequential melees before finding themselves exhausted and facing an American close range volley. Fighting on 5+ vs 6 for the Americans is already a 2:1 advantage in possible hits. I like Steve's suggestion of a pre-melee Morale Check when facing grenadiers.

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    3. Steve, I like your idea. Perhaps we should give it a try?

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  17. Lovely looking game, unfortunate result, are the rules a bit over generous to the riflemen? Sounds like great fun all round!
    Best Iain

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    1. The game was great fun, for sure. At range, the riflemen are deadly. Perhaps if threatened quickly at the point of bayonet, they would have turned tail and run?

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  18. Your scenario transferred to the table nicely with Matt’s great terrain. Great battle all around. 😀

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  19. Excellent report, Jonathan. Are the Brits out of luck again?

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    1. Thank you, Dmitry! Yes, the Brits are out of luck again...

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