CapnJim's War of 1812 Stuff - Fort Meigs Afternoon Battle - Page 6 (09 Nov 24)

[Pattus Magnus]

I definitely enjoyed that! I can imagine the ‘play-by-play’ announced over an outdoor loudspeaker, mixing with the crackle of the musketry and booming of the cannons!

It’s very cool that the game was a close one in terms of meeting the victory conditions, and that the results paralleled the overall historical outcome, if not the specific details. I think one of the take home messages is that in the early 1800s it was tactically unsound to stand in front of British regulars- they were too well practiced with musket and bayonet at that point to make it a winning proposition, even with a home field advantage and plucky attitude.

[CapnJim]

Thanks.  Ted is a former reenactor too, and between us, we could envision how things played out, particularly with the crowd.  We moved the crowd figures to and fro as the battle ebbed and flowed, and moved the 2 photographers here and there, as they tried to follow the action while keeping out of the way.

And yes, Those red-coatee'd chaps were something to be reckoned with.  I will give the Americans credit though - they stood pretty firm for quite a while, and even gave some of the British units bloody noses.  Just as in the real battle.  But, when the wheels came off the American bus, that was that... 

[vtsaogames]

Excellent report! Moe Degrasse, indeed.

[CapnJim]

Excellent report! Moe Degrasse, indeed.

Thanks!  His name is all his parents' fault... 

[vodkafan]

That was great CapnJim !

[CapnJim]

That was great CapnJim !

Thanks.  Appreciate that...

[CapnJim]

Well, we're gonna do it again.  I am going to run my North Point Reenactment scenario twice at The World at War convention on 02 November, at Fort Meigs.  Fort Meigs is a reconstructed wood palisade fort near Toledo, OH, USA that played an important role in the War of 1812.

Again, 28mm using Black Powder rules.  BUT, after consulting with Ted (a member of our regular gaming group and fellow former reenactor), I've developed a different Blunders Chart, incorporating reenactment-related unusual events.  To see how it works, we're gonna playtest it next Friday (04 October).

Here are the 2 OOB's:





And here's the revised Blunders Chart:



We'll use the same initial set-up as the last game.  As a reminder, here it is, looking from the north...



Of course, a full report will follow...stay tuned, as they say...

[Cat]

Great blunder chart!

[CapnJim]

Thanks, Cat.  We'll see how it works Friday.  We almost always roll at least one Blunder when playing Black Powder, sometimes more...

[CapnJim]

Ok - all set up for tomorrow's game.  But first, a few administrative announcements...

1.  The British objectives are: 1. To get at least one un-Shaken infantry unit west of the 2-story house buy the end of Turn 10, and 2: To break the US Brigade.  The US objective is to prevent that.  As a note, North is the board edge opposite where the spectators are located.

2.  General Ross and Admiral Cockburn move together.  Should a casualty be inflicted upon them as a pair, roll a d6.  1-3, and its Gen. Ross.  4-6, and its Adm. Cockburn.  If it's Adm. Cockburn, Gen. Ross may go on as Army General normally.  If it's Gen. Ross, the British no longer have an Army General!

3.  As Brigade Commander, General Stricker may try to issue orders to any US unit.  If he does not try to issue orders to any units in a turn, he may act as Army General.  Lt. Col. Sterrett may only try to issue orders, as a Brigade Commander, to US units in the starting front line.   

4.  The Maryland Rifles should have the Sharpshooters special rule (allowing a re-roll on one failed To Hit roll each time it shoots).

5.  The US force only breaks when 3 infantry units are destroyed or Shaken.  Continue to play the game, using the rules for Broken Brigades.  At that point, it's a long shot, but the US force may still be able to prevent the British from achieving their objective.  The British force breaks, per normal rules.  If the British force breaks, the US wins by default...

By the way, one can play this scenario without the re-enactor angle, and using the rule book's Blunder Chart...

That should do it.  I hope to post an AAR this weekend...

[CapnJim]

Well, we've played it again this Friday past.  Ted (who played the US force in the first game), wanted to play them again to see if he could fare better this time.  So I played the British.

My plan was simple.  Fix the US at the fence-line with my Regulars and Marines, and flank him on his left with my Lights.  It was a good plan.  But you know what happens to plans at first contact with the enemy...and the crowd would get a right good show, and this would be a quick and dirty affair...

Per the scenario set-up, I led with a battalion of Regulars and one of Marines on my left, and the lights on my right.  The US had the Maryland Rifles on their right, their flank anchored on the crowd.  Then, going left, was a battalion of Militia, a gun, and another battalion of Militia.  Keep in mind, as this is a reenactment, battalions are portrayed by units of 10 or 11 men.  Here is a pic of the start of the battle, er, tactical demonstration...

 

I had another battalion of Regulars marching up the path, with a 2nd battalion of Marines close behind.  My gun was set up near the cabin in my rear.  And I had one more battalion of Regulars just off-board, marching up on the path.

Here's a wider-angle shot of the beginning...



Ted had a 2nd line of 2 battalions of Militia (one of which was of unknown quality) back by the stone house, and a third line of one battalion of Militia.  Ted's plan was to bring these 3 battalions up on line with his first line, and defend forward, falling back if/when needed.   Again, so much for plans...



I started off with my Marines pressing forward against the Maryland Rifles, where the 2 units exchanged volleys right in front of the crowd.  My 2nd battalion of Marines moved forward, in front of my 1st battalion, who now had men down.  Those damned Maryland Rifles would prove to be quite pesky...

One of my battalions of Regulars pressed froward up the road, while my other 2 battalions of regulars formed line a bit further back.  My Lights pressed on the American left, and exchanged musket volleys with them.



Ted's rear battalions moved up, with varying degrees of deliberateness.



Both sides moved forward.  Muskets fired, and bayonets crossed (well, no actual fixed bayonets here, it is a reenactment after all...).



We pressed forward.  British Regulars stormed the gun position, driving off the gunners.  But the Maryland Rifles stood their ground against the Marines, right in front of the crowd - the reviewing stand, to be precise.  The crowd cheered for the home team, of course.   



The Maryland Rifles saw the British Marines off.  Units began bugging out.  First, a battalion of British Regulars, then some Maryland Militia.  The British Regular Brigade broke, and that Brigade's other battalion began its retreat to the rear.  Unfortunately, the British Lights at the far end of the field stayed put, and traded musket volleys with the Maryland Militia at the fence.  Their commander may have misunderstood his units' part in the reenactment - we're not really sure...



The Lights did drive off one of the Militia units at the fence, and the British Regulars who took the gun pressed forward, obliquing to their right.



The climax of this, um, tactical demonstration came right in front of the crowd.  The Marines pressed forward.  In turn they (finally) saw off the Maryland Rifles and another Militia unit.  Another Militia unit was Shaken, and that broke the American Brigade.  BUT, in so doing, the Marine Brigade themselves broke (with 2 of 3 units Shaken), which broke the British force.  Both forces would be required to fall back to their respective rears.  And the reenactment's narrator could issue the command that signals the end to pretty much every reenactment I've ever been in or watched - "The dead may now rise!".



And that was that.  Uncharacteristically, neither one of us rolled any Blunders, so we didn't gat a chance to use my new reenactment-specific Blunder Chart.  In fact, Ted didn't fail any of his Order Tests, Blunder or otherwise.  I, however, did fail some Orders Tests, resulting in my Light units parking in place and trading shots with the Marylanders at that fence-line.  So much for my fancy flanking plans...

While the US force broke, so did the British, resulting in a US win by default.  As it did historically, the British Maryland campaign would fail... 

So, we've now played this scenario twice.  And each side has won once.  The first time saw us play 9 turns in 2.5 hours, and this time saw only 4 turns in a little over an hour.  So, I think it's ready for the convention at Fort Meigs this November 2nd.  Good to go!

For next May's convention at Fort Meigs, I'm thinking of doing another reenactment scenario, recreating an open area between the reconstructed fort and the parking lot (where they host War of 1812 reenactments from time to time).  Who knows, maybe I'll get a few more units painted up by then... 

[CapnJim]

I ran my "North Point Reenactment" scenario twice at the World at War convention last Saturday (02 Nov) at Fort Meigs (Perrysburg, Ohio, US).  2 very different games.

Game 1 (The Morning Battle)

I had 2 players for the morning session's battle.  So, one took the British, and the other the Americans.  I GM'ed.

The British advanced straightaway, and fired some very effective volley when they got in range.  The British kept their Marines and Regulars on their left, with the Lights on their right.  Except for the 4th.  They (slowly) moved to try to take a position on the British far right, and from their, they and the Lights were to flank the American left.  The British gun prolonged forward, trying to get into a good firing position.

The Americans had their own plans.  They fixed the British with their first line at the fence, and moved their 2nd line to their left.  The Americans planned to try to flank the British right.

Musketry and cannon fire was taking its toll up and down the line.  But the Americans were (varely) winning the musket fight.  More importantly, they won the flanking race.  They got over the fence, and in on the British right.  The Lights refused the flank, and the 4th Foot and the British gun tried to stabilize things.  But, in the end, the gig was up.  The British Army was broken at the end of Turn 5.

Here is a pictorial depiction of Game 1's action:

























That's 3 games using this scenario now.  The US has won 2, and the British 1.  But as I mentioned, The afternoon game was quite different.  I'll post a report on that game later within the next few days...

[CapnJim]

And now for the afternoon battle at the World at War convention at Fort Meigs.

I only had one player, and he said he very much wanted to play.  He decided to play the Americans.  So, I played the British.

My plan was simple, and was not dissimilar to the plan the British used at the actual Battle of North point.  Flank the American left.  As you'll see, I used the Lights to do that, where as the British used the 4th Foot to do that in the real battle.  My plan worked, and the Lights were indeed able to flank the US left.

But it would not all go the British way.  The US first line, after several traded musket volleys, sent the Brigade brigade with the 2 units of British Marines packing.  The other British regular brigade, however, was able to stabilize things by the cabin, and a Maryland Militia unit found itself stuck out there all alone.   

In the end, the Americans broke, and had to retreat off the field with some British hot on their heels.

So, that's 4 times running this scenario, and the record is 2 US wins and 2 British wins.  And, as I've mentioned, if you ever fancy playing this scenario, you can lose the reenactor schtick, and play it straight.....

Here are photos of the action in the afternoon game.