Introduction to my replay format: There are essentially two threads in my replays. In
Italics I will have all my in-game narration and in regular font
I
will have my meta-game commentary
.
...the continental army would have been lost if it had not been for a skillful delaying action fought by Nathaniel Greene.
So begins the ending of many a description of the battles fought in the American War of Independence. Brandywine is no different. Although I did not plan it this way, this is certainly the way this game was turning out, and thus makes a fitting opening replay for this blog.
When I set up this game, I decided to assume that Howe would follow his historical precedent and flank by crossing upstream of the Rebel army. To that end I placed Greene's troops on the Northwestern side of the map. To further test how that might have worked, I had Howe follow his historical plan.
The setup looked like this:
One thing you will notice right away is the limited information the game gives to your opponent. Neither side knows where the artillery is, nor the cavalry. For explanatory purposes I will tell you that Howe is on the British left and Washington is over on the British right. Although Washington's placement made sense tactically, it came to haunt me as the battle opened and he was out of range to help Greene alter the turn order.
A word on turn order, as it is a critical mechanic in this game. The main reason for this is that units can leave contact with an enemy when they move. Because of this, the command that moves after the enemy commands can decide which battles it wants to fight and which it wants to escape from. This may seem a tad unrealistic until you realize that the commands aren't necessarily figuratively moving in that order, but rather they are maneuvering such that after they have moved they are arrayed as shown on the battlefield. When, say, the British are advancing a short distance to contact a colonial, and then because of turn order, the colonial backs up just a smidgen out of contact, it doesn't mean that some gamey mechanic has yielded an unrealistic result. Rather, it is simulating effective skirmisher action, and possible command indecision. Why exactly is left to your imagination. What the game is simulating might be an outwitted and outfought British General, or a General trying to conserve his unit's integrity and not be shot to pieces. Remember, it was very hard and expensive for the British to replace their losses, whereas the colonials were recruiting in their own back yard.
Unfortunately, I boloxed up the first photo for the end of turn one, so the first picture will be of the end of turn two. Washington could have barraged the British right flank, but he wasn't interested in attacking across the Brandywine and he'd rather not give away the artillery's position. As long as the British don't know which block is the lone colonial artillery unit every block (especially those behind the lines) must be assumed to be the artillery block. In Brandywine an artillery barrage can't actually destroy a unit, but it can cause them to be flipped to spent and/or retreat) which means it is really useful in its traditional role of softening up the enemies line prior to attack.
Turn one saw Knypshausen demonstrating along the Brandywine. The only concern for the colonials is the two upstream fords that have supported blocks (2 deep) which could assault with a reasonable chance of success across the fords. Since the colonials have no such designs they are spread out only one deep with a few reserve pieces to fill in any wholes that might occur in the line.
I play with the optional road march rules which allows units on roads to move up to 3 times faster, but more important for coming in along the historical route, is the fact that units in road march don't have to pay terrain costs along the road. This means rather than just moving one third of a movement stick they can move enough to reach near the rebel lines before shaking out into line. Since the British are forming up into line Greene need only hold his position.
General Greene is seen riding up and down his lines exhorting the men to hold their position and give the redcoats their due when they draw within range. He is a calm generally placid man, but his demeanor betrays the gravity of his intent. This line must hang together!
Greene's left flank covering Jones' ford is probed by the British under Prescott, but true to Greene's orders the colonials make them pay a heavy toll for crossing the Bridge and they fall back. Their retreat is covered by the Dragons and the Rebels are spent, so they hold their position and combat ends.
Some time after the fighting starts at the Ford General Wayne notices plumes of dust trailing to the right around their flank and he alerts General Washington who sends Bland to Dilworth to reconnoiter the American right flank.
Artillery Barrages Sulivan's Marylanders across Brinton's ford and they retreat in disorder to Roundelay Hill as the British come flooding across. Grant's Brigade under Prescott rallies. Dragoons charge the Virginians who fall back. It seems the center cannot hold. This time Greene attempts to hold the line and Cornwallis pushes with enthusiasm. Green falls back and gives up much more terrain than he anticipated.
Sometime late afternoon the battlefield looks like this:
Fraser's Highlanders seem to be an unstoppable force as they top Roundelay Hill. Stirling abandons Chadd's ford as they head towards the rest of Sullivan's troops on Roundelay Hill. Washington's North Carolinians shift over to Chadd's ford and the militia bolstered by Henry Knox's artillery caver Pyle's ford. Washington is determined not to turn this into a double envelopment like Cannae!
Even though Cornwallis has attacked all along the line, Greenes skirmishers keep up a steady fusillade and prevent them from really landing a decisive blow.
It is getting late in the day and it looks like the troops will get no dinner this eve. Battlefield lay out at the dinner hour:
Although the British elites are spent, Greene's line is in disarray and Sullivan's troops have a fingertip grip on Roundelay Hill.
So here we are at the beginning of turn four of this five turn game and it looks like the British are about to start defeating the rebel army under Washington in Detail. But Lo! The British luck on maneuver is about to change. For the last two turns Greene and Sullivan are able to make their Alter Turn Order (ATO) rolls. This means the British have to move before these two critical commands. So rather than being forced to retreat (1/3 movement) they only have to slide just out of contact after the British attack. Cornwallis does attack Weedon's stubborn Virginians and Grey's brigade is eliminated for his trouble, though Weedon is spent.
Comparing the picture above with the one below, you can see what a skillful delaying action by General Greene looks like:
At least one of Greene's Brigades on the line have to hold their position or the British will control Street Road. So far the only casualty is Greys' Brigade (British) which will yield a marginal victory to the Americans if they can hold Street Road. If the British capture the road and their are no further casualties, the British will win a moderate victory.
Although there is heated skirmishing as the sun sets completely, the British are not able to engage with the Americans and so Washington Wins a Marginal victory. This particular game was very close. Washington won with one point! The British could never quite close for a decisive battle and when they were able to make contact the Rebels got the better of the exchange. All in all a vary near run thing!
If you look closely you can see the opposing forces are separated by a razor thin margin. This allows the colonials to deny control of the major road without having to fight a full battle. While that may seem a minor technicality, the bigger factor to note is that at one point on turn three it looked like "the continental army would have been lost if it had not been for a skillful delaying action fought by Nathaniel Greene."
