Electronic Brigadier - 6th Play Test

Tonight we got together for the sixth play test of my computer moderated rules, The Electronic Brigadier. This was the last play test before my public unveiling at the upcoming Carnage Convention, and hopefully the last time my friends will all have to play the Freeman's Farm scenario for a while.

The British plan was to delay with their right wing while their center command pulled into position forming a solid line. The American plan was to shift Morgan's light infantry and the Connecticut militia to the American far left to hopefully flank the British while Learned's brigade filled the void in the center and Poor held defensively on the right.

Left the British, appropriately dressed in red and green, Ralph, Bob and Charlie.

Right the Americans, Ed, George and Rob.



As the battle developed Bob pressed the British center brigade hard up the middle, capitalizing on Learned's slow arrival and the weight of the Hessian artillery on Poor's New York battalions. To guard his flank Ralph pushed the British elites into action against Learned and Morgan in a series of successive charges. The Americans mostly held against these charges wearing out the British eventually turning the British grenadiers from the field. In the center Bob's British brigade pushed a large bulge deep into the American lines while Poor fought Hessians to a stand still.

In the end the loss of the British Grenadiers, and the wavering British and Hessian light battalions were enough for us to call this an American Victory. Final statistics from the fight were:

British Forces Army cohesion: 60.0% Total Casualties: 417 / 3709 (11.2%) 1 unit dispersed 1 routed unit 1 shaken unit

American Forces Army cohesion: 67.1% Total Casualties: 279 / 3740 (7.5%) 1 unit dispersed 1 shaken unit

This was a fun game to run, with lots of action. We had some post game discussion about the weight of the effect of quality on melee and morale outcomes. This is something I think we'll continue to adjust as we get more games played and more data points. For now I don't think there are any major hiccups that have to be addressed before the unveiling at the convention. Looking at all the smiles from the photos, I think everyone was having a lot of fun.

More photos from the game:

And from the game, a video of the British moving their units while the Americans track their orders in the tablets: