Battle of Camden 16th August 1780

Battle of Camden 1780

Following our two games of the Battle of Harlem Heights, we concluded the afternoon with the Battle of Camden scenario.

The map from British Battles.com clearly shows the historical outcome with the collapse of the American militia in the face of Tarleton's regulars leading to the rout of the American main force under Gates.



Map of the battle - British Battles.com

The forces set up as per Hold the Line with the only notable terrain being the swampy ground on each flank.

Hold the Line Scenario Map

The table set up based on the map above.

The British advance on the militia

This scenario is a straight forward clash of force with both sides looking to destroy enemy units and achieve 6 victory points for the win.



General de Kalb and the first Continental line

I think it is very satisfying when a game gives a very similar result to the historical events. As per the actual battle, the British forces took the initiative, and pressed the American militia on the American left flank. General "Granny" Gates struggled to control more than three of his units each move, reflecting his poor command attributes and found his militia soon in a state of collapse.

General Cornwallis with the British left flank

The American left flank collapse surrendered the 6VP required for a British victory and the game was concluded with a move to spare.

Tarleton commands the British right

This is a very difficult scenario for the American player, when following the historical set up, but then so it should be!

Jon

Battle of Harlem Heights, 16th September 1776

Continental Infantry at Harlem Heights

 This months club games featured an AWI clash using the "Hold the Line" rules from Worthington Games. The board game has a number of scenarios and with the availability of the new Holtz Mats Command Mat which follows the hex map in the game, the rules give a fast playable 15mm figure game.

Contemporary Map of the Battle

 The scenario we chose this month was a follow up to game we played in January, the Battle of Long Island. The Battle of Harlem Heights has the British advance guard under General Leslie ambushed by General Washington's main force. The Americans have the opportunity to seriously damage this force before General Howe can come to their support with the British main force. The map below shows the initial positions of the two sides. The three objective hexes behind the British advance guard give victory points to the Americans only and are shown on the game table as wagons and limbers of the baggage train. These together with destroyed units give the victory points for the scenario and both sides were looking to achieve 6 victory points in 20 moves.

We have adopted a few house rules to the basic game.

• To make the end of the game slightly variable, we multiply the number of turns by three to give a score that is reduced each turn by the roll of a d6. On average the game will last 20 moves but this may vary slightly either way.
• Casualties in the game would usually result in a base being removed (the number of bases in a unit indicate its morale). In our game the first casualty is indicated with a body marker and subsequent casualties by the little red dice next to the unit.
• The road in the game is purely for aesthetics and has no function in the game.

The figures are 15mm Poly Oliver, and baggage vehicles by Hallmark.

Hold the Line Scenario Map showing set-up

 The forces are moved and fought using action points a base number for the scenario plus a d3. The Americans start with a base of 3 whilst the British only have 2. This reflected General Howe's rather "laid back" performance in the battle and made things difficult when attempting to bring forward the British main force.

The Americans realised that time was of the essence and that they had to press their advantage early. We played the scenario twice and with different results. The second game was probably more of an illustrative game as both sides took stock of the situation In our second game the British Light infantry counterattacked the Continental line as it emerged from the woods and forced them back causing and taking heavy casualties.

The Americans ambush is sprung

The British advance guard under General Leslie

However General Washington in the center pressed General Leslie's flank, destroying the Guards battalion and forcing the British back onto their main force. In the first game Washington was killed in this attack on the Guards.

The British are forced back

General Howe and the British main force

The American's advance in line

 As the opposing lines faced off in the open fields, the firefight started to decide the eventual outcome. In the first game the Americans managed to just miss out on a clear win ending up with 5VP vs 1VP (General Washington killed).

 The second game was a more close run affair with the Americans coming out on top 3VP vs 2VP

Generals Howe and Leslie form the line to protect the baggage

General Howe attempts to bring forward the reserve

General Howe in the thick of the action

The final positions

Hold the Line is a great game with an excellent set of rules that always give an enjoyable wargame.

Thanks to Nathan, Ian and Steve H for a fun game

Jon

Long Island August 27th 1776

The first club game of 2011 featured an AWI clash using the "Hold the Line" board game rules and fighting the Long Island scenario.


On August 22nd 1776 General Howe landed a British army of 15,000 men at Gravesend Bay on Long Island. On the 26th he marched with 10,0000 men of his force towards the key geographical feature on Long Island, the long narrow ridge known as the Heights of Guan. It was pierced by four passes. Howe feinted against three of the passes and General Putnam the US commander accordingly positioned most of his available troops to cover them. Then on the night of the 26th Howe's main body marched through the one unguarded pass to turn the American flank. Our game started at that point and the first picture shows the British line on the left facing the Americans on the ridge, with the British Light troops ready to enter the nearest pass (Jamaica Pass).


The British force had to destroy seven American units before the games end (22 turns) whilst the Americans were trying to evacuate seven units after the half way point, or eliminate six British units.


Initially the British quickly moved their light infantry and dragoons around the American flank, taking out a unit of militia on the way. This forced the American to fall back off the ridge on that flank and attempt to refuse it. Meanwhile the remaining British units attempted to close as quickly as possible, some using force march to pin the remaining US troop on the ridge. The Guards on the British left flank assaulted the militia and destroyed them.


The early success achieved by the British was cancelled out by their inability to keep their army together. Their eagerness to close with the enemy and shoot and assault left them with to few command points to bring up their remaining troops thus causing the half the British infantry to be left on the base line.



At the halfway point in the game it was 2 victory points to nil in favour of the British, and following a quick half time beer much talk about getting stuck in and finishing the Yanks off. Things didn't quite go to plan. Suddenly the Americans started to get the better command die rolls enabling them to move more troops in as reinforcements, and just as importantly cause weaker units to be evacuated. In addition the variable time control dictated by rolling a d6 and reducing the time left by the score started to move in favour of the Americans. Before the British knew what was happening the Americans had a 4 to 2 victory point lead and the games end loomed.
In a last desperate attempt to close the gap the British launched an all out attack on the defences of the Brooklyn camp, with a Grenadier unit breaking into the fort and destroying a continental battalion and capturing General Washington. The American army had however escaped to fight another day, winning the game 8 to 5.
The rules played very well and everyone had them mastered very quickly which enabled us to get through the moves and finish the game in good time. Thanks to all involved for another fun time.
Jon