Monday 25 January 2016

The Battle of New Brunswick 1781 - An AWI Batrep





Last Sunday the Rejects got together for a most excellent AWI game.


Me and Ian were the Americans, while John and Surj were the Brits.
The Battle was a meeting engagement just south of Yorktown.
The above pic shows our right flank, our setup was quite difficult, we had too many areas to protect and defend and not quite enough troops.


Ian's French brigade protects our left flank.
Ian wanted to setup to the left of the wood in the field, but as CnC I decided to set up to the right of the woods as it would have left us far too strung out


Our game plan was simple, let them come to us......but after we'd set up we had to throw for our leaders command and control stats. For our leader Major-General Lincoln, I threw 
average, but John threw very well for his leader Sir Henry Clinton.Which gave them 
a plus 2 on all first move and first fire moves.Which as you can imagine put
 us on the back foot!!



The British centre, with Surj's Hessian's on the right of the pic.


My Rhode Island boys sit comfortably behind the defence of the wall, along with a 
light Artillery piece.


Rather predictably the Brits won first move and we quite quickly realised that if we didn't change our plan we'd just be wiped out by the superior British firing.
So I had to move forward and engage Surg's Jagers who had moved up to the fence line. This also stopped Surj from placing his light gun behind the fence, which would have been disastrous!


The Brits got in a bit of a mess in the woods, which delayed their attack.


And Ian had to redeploy his infantry, but we knew it would take John an age to try and flank us.


First shots went to the Jagers. I replied but with a few minuses. Because they'd fired first I 
had to shoot through smoke and I'd list casualties, who couldn't fire back.


Then disaster! 
John had a lucky shot with his heavy gun on the 2nd Bourbonnois, Ian then threw bloody snake eyes, so they routed. We only had one chance left to save them. Ian had to throw over 6 with two D6
He only went and threw snake eyes again!!!
The unit dissolved....


Surj doing his usual, inventive artillery movement!!!


Postie took a few shots for me from the ither side. John's artillery in a commanding position.


And so was his other piece.


As my Militia moved around towards the Hessian flank, Surj detached his Jagers from
 the fence, leaving me looking very vulnerable. Which is why we didn't want to advance.


My Combined Light battalion took a lot of fire and were forced to take a morale check.


Which they failed, fleeing the field.


John moved the 22nd Foot forward and gave fire.


The 2nd New York take fire from the combined Hessian Grenadiers.


My Militia still push forward around the flank.


The 22nd foot


The 57th and 37th Foot


The game wasn't going our way at all, so we threw all caution to the wind and charged the 22nd. 
We had to stop at close range for the Brits to fire, which they did causing several
 casualties on both my and Ian' s units. Luckily we both passed the check, so we 
moved on for the kill.


Quite why John isolated this unit, I don't know?


Ian moved the Royal Deux-Ponts up into the woods as the Brits were getting mighty close.


I moved up to the fence line and unlimbered my artillery.


Meanwhile on the left, our luck continued. What was left of the 22nd routed back through the units behind. We followed up and smashed into the yellow flagged 38th foot, who also routed, but they routed through the 22nd, who promptly dispersed!



Trouble was now, we were left in a very precarious position. The 42nd Highlanders
 would surley charge???



Back to the right flank....I continued to take a pounding, losing more men to the Hessian muskets.


Surj turned his artillery to fire on the flank of my 2nd New Jersey regt,so I moved the 
Rhode Island regt from the safety of the walled area to give fire.



 Luckily for us, John failed to seize the initiative and charge. Instead he chose to stand and fire.


And that's where me and Ian called it a day. We retreated off table unopposed as the British were exhausted and failed to follow up.


Conclusion

The combination of the British ability to move and fire first crippled us and forced us to attack rather than defend. Which we could only do piecemeal as we'd set up purely defensive.....Doh!

We had a long chat after the game about the tactics used by both sides and we've decided to play a second day to the battle. So loses will be added up, some casualties will return and hopefully some American reinforcements and even a better leader to stem the British advance could be on the cards!!!
Fingers crossed!


68 comments:

  1. Very nice AAR of a greate looking game !

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  2. A wonderful looking game - great report

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  3. Good to see Surjit up to his usual tricks, good game for the Brits, they should have been more aggressive!

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    1. After the game John said he could have played better. He did make a few mistakes. Not charging with the Highlanders was criminal! When you coming back over to blighty for a game then??

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  4. Happy to look at such splendid uniforms, this period is so beautiful to play...Great report, pictures and terrain, a fantastic looking game, despite one or two "disasters"!

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    1. Thanks Phil, it was a great game to play, all be it a little frustrating.

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  5. Great looking game, Ray! Looks like good use of terrain by both sides.

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  6. Double snake eyes - what are the odds?
    Hope the second game goes better.
    And yes, that's a really good setup.

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    1. I know!! What are the odds??? Couldn't believe it, at the time.

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  7. Great AAR and those are excellent figures

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    1. Postie has got a great collection of AWI figures, this was just a few of his units!!

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  8. Corker, although I am always concerned that the battle was almost decided at the start. I like my officers to be colonels not generals and influence little things. I am the general and my incompetence should be enough

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    1. Yeh, I know what you mean, trouble is we've all played each other so many times, we know how everyone plays. Adding the random character of the Generals adds a little spice to the game. Sometimes, like this game , it can throw the balance off completely, but it does make for an interesting but frustrating game.

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  9. Enjoyed your BatRep, Ray. With your mid-game dice hot streak, I thought you and Ian might pull out a victory. Not to be, I guess. Great photos!

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    1. Once we realised the difference in our leader qualities we knew we were doomed, IF they played it right, which unfortunately they did!

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  10. Really nice AAR. Sounds like it was a good game.

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    1. We all enjoyed the game Rodney, especially the winners!!1

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  11. You guys always have the greatest-looking games. Nicely done!

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    1. Thanks Chris, Postie is a clever chap...........sometimes!

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  12. Seems like you guys had a nice tumble in the Teddy-fur there Ray. I quite enjoyed reading this Batrep, thanks for sharing!

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  13. Lovely looking game Ray, are those figures all Posties?

    Hope to meet a few Rejects at Cavalier next month, it's my 'local' show too :)

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    1. And yes all the figures are Posties, this is just a small part of his massive AWI collection!

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  14. Postie Knows how to host a game! It all looks good to me mate.

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  15. Great report Ray. Looks fantastic too!

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  16. Great game Ray and nicely poised for day 2.

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    1. I do hope so, let's hope Washington turns up or we could be in trouble.......again!

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  17. Another great post, Ray!
    Roll on the completion of my Cowboy board and I hope to be posting AARs, too (though of solo games to start with)

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  18. You aar read like a typical AWI battle, with the rebels leaving the field, licking their wounds whilst the Brits were unable to follow up their "victory" because of losses they can ill afford.

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    1. We like to add that bit of historical realism in our games Joe, sometimes its hard to do, but it worked well in this game.

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  19. Well done you lot! Had the feel of the AWI, each side trying to do a lot with little.

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    1. It certainly made us all think about the game, there were no easy turns at all, trouble was each new turn brought us more problems than the last!

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  20. Great period, pictures and report. Thanks for sharing Ray.

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  21. Great AAR! The game looks fantastic.

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  22. What a great period to play and your table looks great! I really enjoyed the AAR as well.

    Christopher

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  23. Looks great! Must have missed it: what rules?

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  24. Grand AAR, and a lovely-looking battle!

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  25. Nice looking game. I have just started with the period, got a lot of figures to paint my way through before being able to play a game.

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    1. Its a great period to play and paint up. I look forward to seeing sone of your figures.

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  26. Great pictures and battle report Ray! For me the pictures are the most important part as I'm not a wargamer. Thanks for sharing!

    Greetings
    Peter

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    1. Hi Peter, long time no see. Glad you liked the photos!

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  27. Hi Ray.Not enough troops. Gosh!You need to enlist some more metal guys to your ranks.
    Yes more painting true,but brilliantly done as you usually do.
    i enjoyed reading your battle report,and the pictures are clean crisp and clear. Great Post! BB

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    1. Oh Posties got stacks of these beauties Paul, Far too many to have them all on the table top at once in fact!
      Glad you enjoyed the report!

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