Two Electronic Brigadier Games at Historicon 2022

I ran two sessions of my Battle of Monmouth scenario at Historicon 2022 last Saturday in Lancaster, PA. It was a marathon day but well worth it! The players seemed to have a great time and I got to show my rules to a bunch of new players. The experience has me re-energized to push forward with finishing up Napoleonics and to work more on getting the game master portion more public ready so I can start letting others use the rules.

More photographs can be seen in this gallery. 

This YouTube video shows the table between games. 

Also, if you're on Facebook, I've started up a group there for Electronic Brigadier. Announcements on when and how to become a play tester will likely be broadcast to that group first. It's an open public group. Feel free to join!

'Approach to Monmouth' Scenario with The Electronic Brigadier

Two weeks ago I hosted a my 'Approach to Monmouth' scenario at our club's June game night. This was a 'do over' for my game that didn't go off at the April game night. This is one of my favorite scenarios. It's a twist on the historical battle under the presumption that General Lee convinced Washington's council of war in conducting a full assault on the British column as it approached Monmouth rather than the 'only volunteers' debacle that actually happened. There is no Washing marching to Lee's rescue as Lee has the force he needs to do the job. If you want more insight on my justification for this scenario, I highly recommend you read The Making of a Scapegoat by Thayer. 

This is a scaled-down version of the game that I will be running at Historicon in July (sessions S16:115 & S16:133). I was one player short, so Rob and Ed (shown left) having experience play testing the rules, offered to play short handed. The British were two beginners, Warren and John anchored by Electronic Brigadier veteran play tester Byron. 

The British plan was simple - overwhelm the New Jersey brigade that included the local militias. The Americans, to delay with the New Jersey brigade and attack with their other two higher-quality brigades. This was a case of the unstoppable force vs. the moveable object.....

 

The British assault went in on the New Jersey brigades. Initially they sent the Hunterdon militia running but the New Jersey state troops and the Monmouth militia held the line. The Monmouth militia finally broke, but not before the Hunterdon militia recovered just in time to cover the American's left flank. 

Meanwhile on the American right flank the Americans were doing a good job of getting some advantageous two-on-one firefights running. Towards the end of the battle, both the British First Guards and First Grenadiers had shaken and fallen back from the withering American musketry. 

Overall this was a solid American victory. Casualties received by the British were approximately 8.7% of their total force while the American casualties were under 6.5%. Considering the disparity in quality of troops this was a very nice win for Lee.

AWI Units Re-Based Courtesy of My Brave Fusiliers! Blog

My good friend Mark from the My Brave Fusiliers! blog offered me the opportunity to purchase two of his superbly painted AWI American units. Mark wanted to fund a new project and offered me some of his figures. I still have a few units in my American force that I bought pre-painted that aren't quite up to the standards of the units I've painted myself. Mark's figures definitely are much better than those and will replace some of those units in my army. Mark paints at least as well as I do, and better in terms of style and historical accuracy. 

Mark had these labeled as Pennsylvanians, which I'm sure is accurate. Mark's units each had 30 figures in them. This matches up perfectly with my preferred basing of two six-figure stands and a three-figure skirmish stand. Each of Mark's units will create two separate units in my basing system, but can also be used en masse as a single larger unit as shown in the first photo above. To the left here is the typical way I'll use them when in open order. In line formation the center stand is removed to close up ranks. 

This unit in hunting shirts is very flexible in how I can use it. The flags give away the units identity to the extremely knowledgeable, but the popularity of the hunting shirt means I'm happy to substitute this unit for many others. 

A look at the back of the figures showing off Marks' excellent brushwork.  I'll be counting these units as twelve stands re-based in my annual painting totals. Thanks for the figures Mark!

Electronic Brigadier Monouth Game in Albany, NY

Last weekend I made the four-hour trip from eastern New Hampshire to Albany, New York to run an Electronic Brigadier game at my friend Dave's house for him and some of our mutual friends and local New York Gamers. The group included several people with extensive experience playing computer-moderated wargames. I jumped at the chance to get more constructive feedback on my rules from people with such experience. Friday evening I arrived and Dave and I set up the table in his lovely gaming room.

Here is a video of the initial positions of the troops early in the battle.

With nine players scheduled to play, I decided to forgo the historical Monmouth battle proper, and create a hypothetical battle a few days earlier deeper in New Jersey. This gave me creative license to modify the scenario's order of battle to accommodate the nine players as well as to get my covered bridge onto the tabletop as a scenario focus piece. The scenario starts with an assault of the New Jersey state troops and militia on the end of the British baggage train, followed by a general attack on the column by the rest of the rebel (aka future 'American') forces. The goal for the British would be to secure the bridge and area between the bridge and the dense woods. The Americans would need to hold this area and cut off the British to win. Although the Americans are outnumbered in the scenario, their starting position gives them numerical superiority where it counts, at the bridge. The British would have to attack there and drive them out to win.

Early assaults by the New Jersey militias were wildly successful, driving multiple British line units back in retreat and rout. British commanders held the large and resilient 42nd Highlanders in reserve in the bridge area. This would prove critical later in the battle.

New Jersey militia also occupied the woods west of the bridge, further imperiling the British escape route. 

On the western end of the battle, a general engagement ensued with the large wooded area and hilly area being contested by both sides. While the New Jersey loyalists hesitated to engage, The Queens American rangers got stuck in early and to good effect.

In the center, the British pressed forward into the American advance attempting to stop the American shift towards the Bridge. This was hotly contested with both sides having units driven from the line with a lot of give-and-take across the line. Early the British suffered from their aggressive attacks receiving more casualties than they inflicted.

Here is a video taken about two-thirds of the way through the battle.

As the battle raged on, the American troops started to wear from the pressure, the British army's higher quality and numbers started to swing the tide of the battle. This photo shows the high water mark of the American effort with the Bridge route fully threatened, battle looking very much going the American's way....

Regretfully, as the day went on fatigue set in and I neglected to take good photos of the last hour of gaming. The British committed their reserves, the 42nd Highlanders holding firm at the bridge, with more British clearing the woods west of the bridge. In the center, the British established a good cohesive battle line where the Americans were much more in disarray. The woods on the far left of the battlefield were cleared by elements of the Guards brigade, the 4th New York finally being driven out by a charge in their rear by the 2nd guards.

I include photos here of most of the players. What a fun group to game with. Everyone had fun and I received some good constructive feedback about the rules and scenario. I look forward to gaming in Albany again in the future. Thanks again to Dave for being an awesome welcoming host.

Woodman Museum 12# Napoleon Restoration Unveiling

This past Saturday, four members of our wargaming club went to Dover NH's Woodman Museum to attend their unveiling of their recently restored original Civil War 12# Napoleon cannon.  The Woodman Museum has a complete colonial-era garrison house in its collection which was relocated from nearby Dover point in the 1850s, a nice collection of historical artifacts from it and the surrounding area from both the colonial and 1850s era when the house ceased to be occupied. The museum also hosts several other collections including John Wilkes Booth artifacts.

The 12# Napoleon cannon was recently restored and according to the Museum's website, "was forged in 1863 by Henry N. Hooper & Co. of Boston, MA and was one of four acquired by the New Hampshire National Guard after the conclusion of the Civil War. The original limber and carriage were manufactured by the Woodman Brothers of New York.  The limber itself includes rare and original sabots (cupped wooden projectile holders)."

There are a lot of original Civil War cannons remaining, but precious few retain their original carriages, caissons and hardware. Although this restoration had to replace many pieces of the original wood, the original hardware, including the copper caisson cover remains. The restoration looks beautiful. The cannon will be housed in a sealed garage at the museum which will be opened up for public viewing and the cannon pulled out for special events. This should protect it from further damage from the weather. For those interested in helping the Woodman Museum recoup the cost of this restoration, they have a gofundme page for you to support the effort.

The reveal included an initial salute by NH reenactors firing a 10# Parrot cannon in salute, followed later by two full firing demonstrations. All three can be viewed below, videoed by me at the event.

Electronic Brigadier - Freeman's Farm Game at Huzzah! 2019

This past weekend I ran a Freeman's Farm game using my Electronic Brigadier computer-moderated rules. This scenario has been tweaked over the years and after tuning is now great as an attack and defend scenario.

The British in this game used their reserves well, punching a hole in the middle of the American lines driving Morgan's rifles and several other units off the table. On the flanks the British suffered due to allowing the American militia units too much respect which allowed the minute men the ability to pour volley after volley of fire into the British. Flank attacks in the dense woods on both flanks while successful, were too slow to impact the battle's outcome.

In the end the British won the battle decisively, but at a cost similar to the historic battle - opening the door for a later successful American attack from Bemis heights.

I had the luxury of having all great players, many with Electronic Brigadier experience from previous conventions. Game play was at a very high level for a convention game. Hats off to all who played!

End of game statistics (28 turns played):
 
British Forces

Army cohesion: 68.6%
Total Casualties: 479 / 4427 (10.8%)
4 units dispersed
2 shaken units

Honors to: 112 - 20th Foot

American Forces

Army cohesion: 68.3%
Total Casualties: 442 / 4205 (10.5%)
4 units dispersed
1 routed units
2 shaken units

Honors to: 211 - 1st New Hampshire

Videos of the Game

Electronic Brigadier - Freeman's Farm Play Test for Huzzah! Game

Friday I had some friends over to play test my game for the upcoming Huzzah! convention. This is a variant of my Freeman's Farm game. I've split the America command up into smaller brigades to make it more convention friendly and to speed play. I had an all veteran crew so we got right to playing. Ralph, Ed and Bob as the Americans, George, Rob and myself as the British. As I was running the game and playing, photos and this write up will be somewhat sparse. Please see Ed's amazing write up of the game over on his blog, Ed M's Wargame Meanderings.

I commanded the British center brigade - solid line troops. Opposite of me Ed sent out his militia hoping to get some volleys in. Beside them the American 3 lb. battery pulled up. I jumped out and sent the militia to the rear with the 9th Foot, who ultimately paid the price for that aggression, eventually failing to out-trade musket volleys with Ed's New York troops. My other unit likewise ended up not well deployed and on the poor side of some two-fer-one shooting.

On my left, George's German brigade did well, sending one New York unit back with a flank charge, then setting up a firing line with a good reserve. Eventually his first line began to falter, but he had a second line to follow up had we had enough time. Unfortunately my command would falter before his second line would see action.

On my Right, Rob and I coordinated attacks in the center well, but the Americans held there. On the right flank Dearborn's Lights danced around to the British rear before Rob deployed his end line brigade into skirmsh formation allowing him to match Dearborn's moves. From there a series of charges by each eventually saw Dearborn's lights withdrawing to the American woods, albeit in good order.


End result of the battle: Major American victory. The American players played well and in the end that bore fruit. Well done.

Northern Conspiracy August 2018 Game Night

Last night I ran a new AWI scenario at the Northern Conspiracy's August game night using my Electronic Brigadier rules. This was a hypothetical AWI scenario prior to the Battle of Monmouth. The scenario pits Charles Lee's American Advanced guard against a portion of  the British column of march commanded by Sir Henry Clinton. The premise is completed by assuming that elsewhere to the west Lord Cornwallis and General Washington will square off in a separate battle and Clinton is to destroy Lee's force which is blocking the British route to Philadelphia. It's a seven player scenario, but with three veteran Electronic brigadiers and plus one additional player who was familiar with the rules we gave it a go.

The Americans, were led by Dick and Bob (below left) and the British were commanded by Charlie and Ralph (below right).

The Americans had two brigades comprised of mostly continentals and veteran state troops. Their final command was a New Jersey brigade of state troops and local militia. The British had an advanced guard comprised of cavalry, light infantry and Hessian grenadiers, the guards brigade and two full brigades of British line regiments. The guards brigade was bolstered by four twelve pound field guns.

 Bob's New Jersey brigade got partially over the stream that blocked their approach while Charlie deployed. One unit of militia guarded the stream bank to attempt to discourage a crossing by the British. Charlie's line unit there engaged across the stream in a firefight that eventually drove off the militia. Closer towards the center the British first light regiment and the Queens Rangers slugged it out with Bob's continentals in a bloody exchange where neither side wanted to leave. Eventually two of Bob's units including his militia and one of Charlie's started to waver towards the end of the evening.

On the west flank (British left flank) the British twelve pound battery sent out a devastating initial barrage which stuck home on a section of American three pound guns with a force that sent the gunners running. They eventually quit the field without the courage to return to their guns. On the far left flank the British engaged in long range musketry while Dick's Americans held their fire, waiting for a 'whites of their eyes' moment. Ralph's third brigade eventually advanced into close range and Dick got his shot which was effective, but the British morale wasn't put into question.

The climax of the fight was a series of charges in the center by the guard's brigade against Bob's Virginians. The initial charge was stopped by a stinging volley by the Virginians forcing the British to halt and conduct a firefight. In the next two turns Ralph brought up two fresh Guards regiments and charged the Virginians with a two vs. one attack that caused the Virginians to flee to the rear due to shaken morale. Bob's 4th New York continentals were in reserve and the only thing between the guards and the shaken Virginians.

With time running out we concluded the battle after 24 turns with the battle still in question, but with the British having the upper hand in terms of army morale state and units lost. Having a full seven players would have let us get a couple more turns in, but even considering that the conclusion was that casualties need to be more impactful in morale. Charlie and Bob each had units whose casualties should have caused them morale problems. An adjustment in this portion of the morale procedure will be made based on this. There were also some other procedural changes that were recommended that will be added.

Below is a short video of the game table during the game:

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Mark put on a huge Crimean war battle using Charge of the Light Brigade rules. The battle pitted a huge array of British and Russian figure and also included his European farm complete with various and sundry farm animals. I believe in this one the British put the lead to the Russians and good. Russians shown below were George and Art (left). British were Dave and GM Mark.

Below is a short video of the game table during the game:

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Greg ran a 1940 WWII game using Chain of Command of the Battle of Narvik. Chain of command is one of two WWII skirmish rule sets that are currently very popular with the Club. This year each game night has a featured game that is supposed to be 'not your ordinary game'. Greg offered this seldom gamed theater of WWII to fill August's extraordinary game slot.

Below is a short video of the game table during the game: