Now I will admit its a somewhat dull AAR, but one can always learn from other's mistakes and there are not enough SPv2 AAR's out there. So with that in mind, I hope you find something entertaining in the following.
Roster(Order of Battle)
First up is the Roster. I went with 76 points per side, not counting any extra Deployment Points. The Americans(Rebels) were actually one point less. The points were verified by using the Sharpulator, so my Militia in Civilian Clothes with No Bayonets came out at 2 points per Group. This seems too low to me and their performance certainly didn't reflect such a low point value. (more on that later)
So the British had two groups of eight British Regulars, two groups of eight British Light Infantry and one group of six British Light Infantry Skirmishers. They were also supposed to have a unit of eight Loyalist Cavalry, but I forgot to bring them, so they ended up with a group of six Loyalist Skirmishers. (They probably would have dismounted anyway).
The Rebels had one good unit of Delaware Continentals in three groups of eight that could stand toe to toe with the British Regulars. There were two units on Militia each two groups of ten, one without bayonets. Finally the Rebels had one light Artillery piece. (Personally, I think the Sharpulator is a bit flawed but would like to hear your comments on it.)
Roster with Unit characteristics is shown below:
Setup
For this Scenario, the objective is to hold the crossroads. Rebels start out with half their forces on the table. The rest of the Rebels and the British come on at their Deployment points. The Rebels have a Primary and a Secondary while the Crown Forces have a Primary and a Movable DP. The map and initial deployment positions are shown below.
Rebels are on the Left, Crown Forces enter on the Right. There is a hill on each side of the field and various woods that provide cover and block fields of fire. A Mill is located in the center near a stream at the top of the table. A log cabin sits near the cross roads. Field in lower left quadrant is enclosed by a low stone wall. Upper right quadrant is enclosed with rail fences. Wheat fields don't provide any cover or obstruction to movement.
House Rules:
Previous games have seemed slow to me. Always took too long to get into action. So for this game we made the 1st Movement Die always a "Six". This worked very well and sped up the game. The only other Mod we used was having two Tiffin cards. End of Chapter would occur if either one came up first although this did not happen int his game.
Deployment:
The Rebel Artillery and Militia(with bayonets) under Captain Oliver Loser start out deployed on the hill facing toward the Mill. The Delaware Continentals arrive in Line near the Primary Deployment point and behind a copse of woods. The other Militia(without bayonets) under Lieutenant Moe Lester arrive at the Rebel Secondary Deployment point just short of the wheat field.
The British Regulars use the Primary DP and deploy on the road in column, The British Light Infantry deploy in the field in line. The Loyalist Skirmishers use the Movable DP and deploy behind the hill. The British LI Skirmishers arrive a turn later and deploy next to the stream headed for the Mill.
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| Starting Positions for the Rebels, Militia & Gun on hill, Delaware Continentals near road and Lt. Moe Lester's Militia(without bayonets) about to cross wheat field (near side). |
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| Staring positions for British, Regulars in column on the road, LI in line along side. The Skirmishers, both British and Loyalist are not on the table yet. They arrive a turn later. |
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| View from the Rebel side, Staring Positions.IN background, British Regulars advancing down road with Light Infantry deployed in Line along side. |
Movements:
As I said before,this wasn't a very exciting game and map below shows most of the movement that occurred.
1. The British Regulars moved into the Mill and deployed at all the windows to trade fire with the Militia.
2. British LI Skirmishers moved up behind the Mill and eventually deployed into some woods alongside the road where they suffered some casualties from the Rebel Artillery.
3. The Loyalist Skirmishers advanced past the log cabin to engage the other Militia Unit behind the stone wall. The Militia gave them a thrashing and they had to withdraw.
4. British Light Infantry advanced to support the Loyalist Skirmishers and eventually broke formation to pass around the cabin. They were engaged by the Delaware Continentals and driven back.
On the Rebel side, Capt, Loser's Militia eventually advanced to the rail fence where they traded shots with the British Regulars in the Mill. The Delawares advanced towards the cross roads and stopped to give the British LI a crashing volley. Lt Lester's Militia advanced to the stone wall where they engaged the Loyalist in a fire fight and eventually drove them back. They then engaged one of the British LI Groups, then charged and drove them back as well..
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| LT. Lester's Militia trade shots with the Loyalist Skirmishers inflicting enough Shock to dive them back. They then moved up to the wall to engage one of the British LI Groups. Rebel Artillery put some shots into the British LI and Capt Loser's Militia move up to the rail fence. |
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| Another view of action showing position of British LI who are about to be engaged by the Delaware Continental and Lester's Militia. British Regulars are still deploying into the Mill and British Skirmishers are still moving up. |
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| Lester's Militia have driven off the Loyalist Skirmishers and have engaged the British LI. They are about to charge over the wall and melee the LI.The Rebel Artillery and the Delawares with a crashing volley, put some Shock onto one of the unfortunate British LI Groups. IN background, British LI Skirmishers have now made it into the woods. |
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| Another view as above. Note: the Delawares got a Random Firing Event that left a large cloud of smoke in front of them that obscured vision and gave a minus one to chance of hitting. |
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| A view from the British Side. Skirmishers soon came under fire from Rebel Artillery. |
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| Here you can see the British Light Infantry Group after the melee with the Militia. They have lost about half their number and gained considerable Shock. The other Group will soon join them. |
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| Here the other Group of Light Infantry has been driven back due to Shock. Also, the British Regulars and Skirmishers have taken a few casualties from Artillery and Miltia fire. |
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| With the Loyalist and the Light Infantry being severely hindered by casualties and shock, the Crown Forces decide to call it a day and give up the cross road to the Rebels. Both the Delaware Continentals and Lt. Lester's Militia are barely touched and the British would have a hard time to prevent them from advancing and taking the British Deployment Points. |
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| Delawares and Lester's Militia have only about two casualties each so are in good shape. Capt Loser's Militia has about five casualties. Brits decided they would have a hard time holding their left flank so conceded the field. |
I'm not sure the rules adequately reflect the disadvantages of Militia in this game. Perhaps they should automatically be encumbered with negative characteristics such as "Weedy Coves" and "Poor Shots" to better reflect their historical performance. As it is, a twenty figure Militia unit with "First Fire" and a "Controlled Volley(First fire only)" can do significant damage to a six figure Skirmish Unit or even Formation of Line troops. There is no mechanism in the rules to reflect the historical proclivity for Militia units to run away at the first shot. What do you think? Constructive comments always welcome. Hope you found something here to help your understanding and enjoyment of SPv2.
