Kriegspiel 1

This is my first post of a "Kriegspiel Style" Replay. I was sitting at The Source, MFLGS, and the two players were miles away, in Stillwater I think. The Colonial player was using IMing on FB, and the British player was using gmail. After receiving his first turn orders, neither he nor I received any gmail messages until they all appeared the next morning! Next time I do a remote game it is going to be all on FB IMing. Otherwise, we could all meet at a local public house, sit apart, and I could pick up orders and deliver reports. That would actually be preferable because it would be more structured. This way left the C in C's barraging me with orders all night long, and it really doesn't work this way.

The way it did work is like this:

They send me their orders for their subordinate commanders.

I read the orders and try to interpret their intention just like the real commanders would have had to do.

I move and fight a turn.

I compose their commander's reports and return them to the players. In the reports I tell them what they see and hear, in addition to what they glean from their reports. If they move adjacent to a sub-commander, they will see what he sees and can give orders directly.


Since the first couple of turns were messed up because of my lost contact with the British player, I'm beginning this on turn 3.

 Around 6:30 in the evening Greene finds the Hessians across Jones' ford ready to attack. Mad Anthony Wayne sweeps them from the river's edge. Meanwhile, at Chadd's ford Fraser's broadsword wielding Highlanders destroy the Pennsylvania militia, but are themselves spent by the effort and retreat.

 By eight 0'clock Wayne's somewhat spent Division crosses back over Jone's ford to help with the colonial left and the rest of Greene's troops form a rearguard. There is heavy skirmishing above Chadds ford, but the British don't risk any units in a serious assault.

And so combat ends and the Battle of the Brandywine is over. The British gain a moderate victory having sustained no serious losses while costing the rebels two units. Bland's dragoons swing around the British right flank and contest Nottingham Road denying the British a major victory. Historically, had the battle ended like this, Washington would have been happy that his army contested the British and managed to live to fight another day.

In the future, I hope to have the pictures preceded by the commanders orders and followed by the sub-commander's reports. But I wanted to get this battle up so the players could get their first glimpse of how the battle actually looked, versus what they thought it looked like. This is where Pub Battles: Brandywine played Kriegspiel style is so different. It is less a contest of tactical skill, and more a study of command and control.