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| Heroic Stand of the Continental Artillery |
Without further adieu, let's pick up the action in the battle pictorial.
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| Rebels opt to defend Shoemaker's Farm in force covering the bridge with the rifles only. |
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| Defenders of Shoemaker's Farm |
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| British arrive in two columns. One on the road and the other to the right. |
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| Lead British elements form up at the stream while militia moves off the hill to contest the crossing. |
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| Redcoats stream onto the battlefield. |
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| Rifles are driven back on the left as the British advance but American reinforcements reach the battlefield to lend support. |
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| As pressure mounts against the battery on the hill, American infantry quickly forms up into line. |
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| Americans veer off to their right to contest the rapid advance through the fields on the flank. |
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| British are seemingly attacking EVERYWHERE! |
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| Americans are driven back from the field on the right while reinforcements snake their way to the left. A second militia moves up to contest the stream crossing. |
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| The high ground in front of Shoemaker Farm is taken. |
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| Americans attack on the right a second time to drive the redcoats away from their LOC. The defenders of Shoemaker's Farm erupt in volleys, crippling the lead Redcoat on the hill. The Rebel column on the left deploys into line and advances. |
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| Are the rebels planning a counterattack? |
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| It appears that is a possibility. |
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| Continentals move up to support the guns. |
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| Perhaps no counterattack yet. The Rebels lose the contest for the field on their right and Heard's Brigade is being shredded. Rebel losses show five militia regiments in the Dead Pile. |
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| Redcoats hold the end of the heights for now but casualties climb. |
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| The British fall back from the heights! On the hill by the road, the guns fend off repeated attacks. |
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| Is the Rebel defense stiffening? |
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| The Continentals retake lost ground! |
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| The Rebel guns are lost as the Redcoats carry the heights. |
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| After the guns fall, the Shoemaker Farm defense is breached. |
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| The Redcoats renew their attack on the hill. |
At battle's end, the state of the armies are:
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| Butcher's Bill |
Game 2 saw even heavier casualties than in Game 1. The British lost six regiments to the American's nine regiments. Very bloody engagement but the British are once again victorious. Even in defeat, the Rebel artillery performed astounding service by repelling multiple British attacks throughout the day. Outnumbered, they hung in there until the last. How did the victory points count up?
For Victory Points, The British tallied 25 points against 20. A tactical victory for the British. Congratulations to Darren for the win! As the VP total shows, this was a close match and could have gone the other way with a bit more luck and recalling that exiting units earns points.
The game took about three hours to fight to conclusion and the time passed quickly. Very quickly. Play was smooth without incident. It was hard to believe that I had been standing on my feet for three hours pushing lead across the table without a break. I remembered to take a few more photos than last time too. Great fun!
Both Steve and Darren were exemplary players in all regards. They picked up the rules quickly and seemed to enjoy themselves as their blog posts suggest. I enjoyed myself greatly getting to know two more gamers from around the world. There is talk of a rematch...
With two Shoemaker Bridge games in the books, one battle account remains to be told. Perhaps, next time. Please visit Steve and Darren's blogs to read their impressions of the game.
An excellent read, as you say the battle could easily have swung the other way. In the heat of battle one tends to forget other options other than giving the British an hard time and making them pay for every yard of ground. Great stuff and utmost respect for running these scenarios and in such close succession.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Phil! The battle could have gone either way, no doubt. Fate played a hand in this outcome. Darren's dice were at times hot. Steve's dice not.
DeleteIf replayed, we might see a different game from Darren an Steve.
Great write up, Jonathan! This covered the grit and suspense from the game well. Next time I'll have to be more conscious of the victory conditions. This was a very fun and challenging scenario!
ReplyDeleteGlad you approve, Steve! It was great fun having you and Darren participate in the game.
DeleteThis read as I am sure it was, see-saw from turn to turn. Hat's off to the players...and to you, Jonathan, for showing the usefullness of the remote game. Even the eons long problem of table clutter has been banished!
ReplyDeleteJoe, the battle was back and forth throughout. THe turn sequence of FoH aids in developing that ebb and flow feel.
DeleteI appreciate your kind comments. Thank you!
Great looking game and another hard fought encounter!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thank you and indeed it was a hard match for both players.
DeleteSeems like the two results were quite similar, a tactical British win but at heavy cost...it seems quite a reasonable and historically accurate outcome....that's basically what happened in a lot of the British victories in the AWI....Guildford Courthouse is a good example, as is Bunker Hill.
ReplyDeleteKeith, the two results were similar, for sure. The British game on in similar fashion but the American initial defense was different. In Game 1, the American focus was on covering the bridge and the road exit offmap to the east. In Game 2, the American focus was on holding the high-value hill upon which Shoemaker's Farm sat.
DeleteThe outcome in both battles seemed reasonable and plausible. That result is a big plus in my book.
When that sea of red swept onto the table and came into camera view, I am imagining the American player's morale dropping .... closely followed by the morale of his troops :-)
ReplyDeleteA nice action packed game.
Pleased you enjoyed the battle report, Norm. It would be interesting to see the view of British approach from the American side of the table. There is a sea of red, for sure. Perhaps the American players in the three games will command on their morale when the Red Hordes streamed onto the table?
DeleteCan't say my morale dropped I was encouraged by the big juicy red targets🙂 Perhaps that was my downfall, way to cocky after my initial successes🙄
DeletePhil, your first round of artillery fire in Game 3 was something to behold. I bet Matt's morale dropped after that devastating blow.
DeleteA bit disheartening I can assure you! Only my steadfast devotion to liberty kept me from running off that day.
DeleteYou show true grit, Steve!
Delete'This bickering is pointless. Now Lord Vader will provide us with the location of the hidden Rebel fortress. We will then crush the Rebellion with one swift stroke.'
DeleteWait ...wrong genre entirely, doh! :)
Excellent looking game sir!
ReplyDeletePleasure to read :) best regards
Thank you, Michal!
DeleteThat's a lovely looking game and once again one that could have gone either way. Another bloody victory for the British who are in danger of victoring themselves to death! Well done to all involved for such a great game:)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Steve! Glad you enjoyed this battle report. Still one more game to chronicle in this Shoemaker trilogy. The British will not be able to withstand many more costly victories like this.
DeleteGreat to see this narrative and story of the game from your perspective Jon.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I had no idea how hefty the butcher's bill was in the end - that's a lot of troops not making it to the next battle. Epic stuff.
You can tell, that despite Steve and I being more than polite on the day, we were inevitably trying to spill as much blood as possible in taking that hill HA!
This battle was a very bloody fight. You both took very heavy losses especially in the fight over the Shoemaker Hill. I enjoyed watching the action from my seat!
DeleteAs for perspective, I can move the roving cam around the table to provide similar perspectives any time during the game.
DeleteAll true! "Make them pay for every hex" were my orders from Washington!
DeleteYou did exactly that!
DeleteCertainly did ...I can see two battered guards battalions, and very little else, making it to the main battle.
DeleteI agree, Darren. Another victory like this and the British army will be destroyed.
DeleteExcellent game and report, Jonathan! It seems like the rebels were close to defeat redcoats, at least they were more closer tha in previous game, didn‘t they?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dmitry! Measuring degree of victory is difficult. Casualties were much higher in Game 2 and the difference between Victory Point Totals was not significant. I say the Rebels lost by about the same margin but took out a lot from Redcoats in the loss.
DeletePerhaps more aggressive style with counter attaks looks like that.
DeleteAggressive counter attacks might be key to victory. We should try it.
DeleteAnother exciting encounter. Something I have only just thought about is how are you handling the dice in live remote games like this Jonathan - are you doing the rolling?
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it. The players roll the dice themselves and tell me what they roll. I then adjudicate the result.
DeleteVery enjoyable report. Look forward to the 3rd battle
ReplyDeleteThank you, Neil! If you want to see a teaser from Matt's British perspective on Game 3, visit,
Deletehttps://wargamesinthedungeon.blogspot.com/2021/08/shoemakers-farm-battle-of-long-island.html.
Time to move on and crush the Rebel Alliance and then The Empire's victory will be complete! (Hey, wouldn't that be a great line in a movie?)
ReplyDeleteExcellent looking game and agree that with that kind of butcher's bill the British can ill afford many more victories.
That is a good line!
DeleteIt's very exciting to read how close your games are and I love it, when the battles can go differently. The British had their chance to break the enemy. The nice number of photos are helping to follow the events perfectly. Thank you for your nice report.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, Andre! I am glad you enjoyed the photo journal of the second battle. One more game in this series to report.
DeleteGreat looking battle, looks like everybody had a good time, especially whoever commanded the rebel guns!
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated, Paul! The rebel guns hung in there much longer than expected. They fought like lions repelling several direct assaults upon their position. I think the players enjoyed themselves.
DeleteWow, those guns certainly took a toll on the British.
ReplyDeleteAnother great report to read and interesting to see a different battle fought even though the scenario was the same.
The Rebels guns definitely gave more than they got. They paid dearly for their heroics, though.
DeleteGlad you enjoyed the report! Two down and one to go.
How interesting. The same result of a Rebel withdrawal arrived at quite differently. It looked like a British right-hook, but in the end it was their left that did the most damage. Great stuff.
ReplyDeleteRegards, James
Yes. Same battle, same result but different means of reaching that point. This is scenario I find having lots of possibilities.
DeleteThank you!