Battle of Telegraph Hill October 1776 - Rise & Fight Again

 

This weekend at club, myself Jack and Steve M, pooled forces and rulesets to organise a 28mm AWI scenario using the rules Rise & Fight Again (R&FA) from Stand to Games, link below.

I've recently restarted my AWI project to build a Mohawk Valley collection of figures, mainly using the Perry range of miniatures, for the small actions along the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, which has seen the plan broadened to enable the collection to facilitate field forces for the bigger battles that were a feature of the war in its early years, particularly in the northern theatre.

At Jack's prompting and with Steve M up to speed with the rules I hastily pulled together a scenario loosely based on the Battle of Chatterton Hill from the larger Battle of White Plains, using the scenario from the British Grenadier scenario book as a guide to my setup and replacing the Hessians with a British brigade instead, renaming this fictitious action after a very familiar local landmark and coming up with a selection of commanders to replace their historical counterparts.

A map of the Battle of White Plains, the inspiration for this particular scenario

Steve and I last played a game using R&FA back in September 2018, using Steve's 15mm collection, soon after their publication, and on the back of our playtesting a series of Peninsular War scenarios for the sister rule set Over The Hills for Napoleonics, with a lot of similarities between the two sets, but including a few significant changes to capture some of the unique aspects of the AWI theme.

Steve M's 15mm collection in action during our first game using R&FA back in 2018.
JJ's Wargames - Rise & Fight Again

If the rules are unfamiliar to you then you can follow the link above to my personal blog where I covered our first game getting our collective heads around them and highlighting some of the key changes from the Napoleonic set but equally importantly retaining the original concept of Fatigue as a way of representing the strength and quality of individual units and using the Fatigue Score (FS) as a way to measure the morale of units during a battle, with FS lost through combat and stressful or difficult manoeuvring, which could be rallied off when the opportunity presented, and if enough command capability was available to do so.

https://standtogames.co.uk/shop/ols/products/rise-and-fight-again-rules

With my new additions adding to a growing collection of figures, bolstered by extra units provided by Jack, I arranged the table for our game as seen below, based on the scenario map above, seen here at the start of play with the Rebels set up on the position as indicated on the map and the first British brigade entering from top right of picture.

The British command table with brigade cards arranged together with reinforcement units yet to arrive on table.

I was keen to reacquaint myself with the orders and brigade morale system which I facilitate with my own command cards, illustrated below, using dice to record the FS points for each brigade that are reduced as combat FS, not movement penalty FS is inflicted during the game, which as mentioned can be rallied off by units on the table, but is simultaneously deducted from the brigade and army total which cannot be remedied by rallying. 

Thus once the dice are removed from the card the brigade is considered broken, and when more than half the army FS has similarly been affected by broken brigades, the army as a whole is forced to break off.

Each brigade commander is numbered as per the card number, bottom right on the national flag, and centre bottom a six-sided 'orders' dice is placed to show what orders the brigade is operating under at any given time, with a similar orders dice placed next to a tabletop commander to indicate new orders having been dispatched and reminding the owning player to test for receipt in the subsequent turn or turns, with successful communication resulting in a new order indicated on the brigade card.

Orders are very specific about what units in a brigade must do, can do and cannot do and how many units have to comply with those orders at any time, and the system is one of the best paper based ones I have come across for modelling orders without the tiresome need to write specifics on a separate note.

The British order of battle together with mission, deployment and brigade orders details. The artillery under Erskin is off table on the edge nearest to camera in the picture below, and was able to fire along the forward edge of the hill including the emplaced militia under Scott, whilst the summit and rear slopes were masked by the wooded rocky slopes nearest that table edge. 

With the players briefed about the respective positions of the two sides, with the British looking to clear the hill of Rebels to turn a more stronger nearby Rebel line, but keen to avoid a heavy casualty bill whilst doing so, and with the Rebel command likewise acting as the proverbial speed bump, whilst hoping to crack the British sump with accurate cannon fire and massed musketry against assaulting redcoats, before being forced to surrender the ground.

British Light Infantry supported by Jagers and Light Dragoons of Mathew's brigade enter the table to commence our game

The Rebel order of battle similarly arranged as the British one above. For my standard games using R&FA I assume an average battalion of 16 figures equating to 320-men with a Fatigue Score (FS) of 7 for Confident Regulars, and with the FS increased or decreased by 1 for every 60 men over or under that strength. Thus I have rated the Delawares FS 8 to reflect their quality over other similarly sized units of Continental infantry.

The British attack developed on the Rebel left as the light-bobs, jagers and 17th LD closed on the flank of the hill with the Jager skirmish line clearing the rocky slopes of militia skirmishers making full use of the range advantage of their rifles and their 'Good Shots' firing capability inflicting the first Rebel FS losses in the game as their skirmish screen fell back.

Combined British Light Infantry, Jagers and Light Dragoons were the spearhead of the British attack to clear the hill of rebels.

As the British entered the table they were supported by overwatch artillery preparation which also inflicted the occasional FS hit from the three 6-pdr and three 12-pdr guns deployed to support the attack.

Scott's Brigade of Massachusetts Militia supported by the 6-pdr guns from Woodfords Continental brigade defend the forward slope of Telegraph Hill. The emplacement and artillery support provided much needed bolstering for these very nervous militiamen.

The British artillery support was limited though, simply by the fact that once the redcoats got level with the militia emplacement their fire would cease in that direction and similarly once follow up brigades moved onto the forward slopes their fire would likely cease entirely.

The 3rd New Yorkers deploy in open order to avoid overshoots from Erskine's British guns on overwatch on the front slopes of Telegraph Hill

However round shot bowling along the forward approaches to the hill caused a level of discretion from the 3rd New York Continentals as they opted to become a more difficult target by deploying in open order and later falling back into dead ground to await any redcoats heading their way.

Graham's New York Militia skirmish from the woods on the front slopes

The main British assault for their two brigades of 'hatmen' would commence from turn two to turn four dependent on a D3 die roll and the British roll determined their march would delay their on-table arrival to turn four, leaving the light infantry to tackle the defences alone until that time.

Woodford's personal command and his force reserve of Continentals on the rear slopes, ready to repel any British breakthrough onto the summit of the hill

The British attack starts as British light bobs look to flank the militia emplacement as the rebels pull their guns back to meet the threat with Jagers now skirmishing from the rocks, extreme right and with the 17th LD on overwatch as the combat develops

The attack by the light infantry was pressed with typical elan one would have expected from an elite unit as they crested the forward slope only to have their subsequent charge met by blasts of cannister from the Rebel 6-pdrs turned to face their approach.

After a long cross country march, the British line brigades make their appearance as the light bobs press their attack.

Close range combat is referred to as combat contact in the rules and combines the effects of close-range fire-fights as well as the occasional crossing of bayonets, with charging infantry having to pass a morale check to press their attack, simulated by rolling less than or equal to their current FS on a D10.

The militia and supporting skirmishers open fire on the redcoats as they press their attack on the hill

Similarly defenders have a range of options facing a close combat, ranging from standing to deliver close-range fire to evasion and similarly requiring a test of nerve to manoeuvre accordingly.

The 3rd New York Continentals are held on the Rebel right flank to slow down any British march attempting to turn the position from this direction. The marker indicates some loss of FS likely inflicted by the occasional hit from the support British artillery and recommending their new position in dead ground

The first charge by the light-bobs was met by resolute gunners standing to their guns and letting fly with their cannister rounds inflicting two Fatigue Hits (FH) stopping the charge in its tracks but not sufficient to cause them to fall back, needing 3FH for such a response.

With the battle reaching a climax, Woodfords Continental brigade deploy forward onto the summit ready to repel any British breakthrough

However as if to emphasise their determination to stay put the Rebel guns were supported by their nearby skirmish line which added another FH to the total that went with one more FH gained by the British light infantry for charging through disruptive terrain to get at the gun line.

The British have broken the militia and driven off the Rebel gun crews as redcoats press forward on the front slope with another brigade on the march to get around the hill on the British left flank. The attack has taken its toll though with the British light infantry pulled back to rally after having suffered multiple casualties from skirmish and cannister fire whilst pressing the attack that drove off the gunners.

The British lights were barely holding their ground on 5FS remaining from their starting total of 9, and to rub salt in the wounds their commander Brigadier-General Mathew was one of the casualties in the first attack.

The militia are broken and redcoats threaten to push forward onto the summit as Woodford's Continentals prepare to resist their advance.

The fight for the forward slope was in the balance as the support brigades of 'hat-men' under Brigadier-General Frost pressed forward in their support towards the emplaced militia, causing 2FH on the unit with fire from supporting Tory militia, and as the Continentals of Colonel Woodford's reserve moved up to meet the impending attack, the next round of fighting commenced around the guns.

The Continentals move forward as the militia on the right of picture rout back to the rear.

The British light infantry successfully passed their FS test to charge in again, now requiring the Rebel gunners to successfully stand by rolling 7 or less on a D10 but managing to roll an 8 seeing the gunners nerve fail at the worst possible moment and causing them to run back a full move deserting the guns.

The British have cleared the Rebels from the emplacements and driven off the gun crews as Continentals move forward to oppose them

On the emplacements the redcoats seemingly recognising nervous militia to their front stormed forward after firing a volley at the rebel defenders using their British 'Three Cheers' special attribute and seeing the resulting casualties break the militia who fled back in rout before contact could be made.

The only bonus for this collapse of frontline units was the open ground created for the first of the supporting Continental battalions who poured in a volley against the light-bobs and closed to combat contact, but with their FS3 total leaving the British unit wavering very close to rout, they wisely opted to evade the charge and streamed back down the slope to reorganise and rally in the wake of the other British line units.

It was at this stage of play we decided to conclude the playing of our game and our discussions about the rules down the pub, but I thought it would be interesting to see how the battle was progressing with regard to opposing objectives at the end of play seeing where the respective FS scores were and with one Rebel brigade (Scott's Militia) already broken.

The starting Army Fatigue Score Totals at start of play were 83 for the British and 53 for the Rebels, that saw combat losses in FS for each force equal 18 (22%) for the British and 13 (24%) for the Rebels, a result indicating successful progress by the British and leaving an uphill (no pun intended) challenge for the Continentals to bleed the main British assault sufficiently before retreating rather than being forced to break which would also meet the British objective.

Stand out units in the game were the Light Infantry and Jagers who took the fight to the enemy and paved the way for Frost's brigade of hatmen now coming up the forward slopes in the picture above as the Militia rout back, begging the question as to would Woodford's Continental brigade be able to blunt their attack?

Thanks to Jack, Steve M, Paul, Lawrence, Mark and Owen for all the fun.

JJ

Guilford Courthouse - Rise and Fight Again

One of four games held at this month's meeting of the DWG featured Steve M's AWI collection being played using Stand to Games, 'Rise and Fight Again' (RAFA) in a Guilford Courthouse style scenario that sees General Cornwallis try and batter his way through serried lines of American militia before having to tackle the American Continental battalions awaiting them on a hill at the back of the battle lines.

Last month Steve and I ran a play test of our newly acquired rule sets to acquaint ourselves with the differences this set offers versus the Napoleonic 'Over the Hills' set (OTH) and as you will see from the post covering our test game, both came away enthused with the changes.

JJ Wargames - Rise & Fight Again

So with a first run through under our belts it was time to take the new set of rules to the Devon Wargames Group and 'road test' them properly under club conditions, managing a full afternoon club game with two players aside all very unfamiliar with OTH or RAFA.

View from the American rear with four battalions of Continentals on the hill

The table above and below shows both forces arrayed for battle with Cornwallis' Redcoats arrayed in a single line either side of the road facing off three lines of militia and continentals, that is until the British decided to shift their attack focus to the British left rather unbalancing the American set up, however the Americans seemed content so off we went.

As in our test game we were using the Napoleonic brigade and army moral cards with dice to overall record fatigue loss and micro dice on the table to capture unit fatigue loss.

The British line set up and ready to go

As per most games of Guilford Courthouse I have played both sides contented themselves plying each others forward units with roundshot as the two lines closed and seeing the occasional gun run short of ammunition and much fun had testing penetration as ball shot found its way into rear ranks.

Just give me two good volleys

Feeling the discomfort of the British refusing their right flank the American militia and left flank riflemen attempted to reposition their lines amid the field fence rails to try and flank the British approach only to discover the joys of attempting to manoeuvre militia which only got more complicated as the enemy got closer.

To bolster the militia move a few mounted dragoons joined the turning attempt only to find the British gunners supported by some Guard Grenadiers reposition and greet the American advance with some well laid roundshot

The lines close as the gunners cause early losses

All the messing about on the British right flank was only a warm up for the start of our battle as the British left closed in on the first line of militia and received the first of about three volleys to greet their arrival; with most of the militiamen resting their muskets on the fence rails to try and make as many of their shots count, as possible.

Highland infantry taking American roundshot and an early FS loss signified by the red micro-dice

However with morale ratings of a Fatigue Score (FS) of 4 it didn't take long for one militia unit to go 'wavering' on FS 2 and one to rout on FS 1.

The British line seemed to savour the prospect of an easy win with the 71st Highlanders ignoring the FS 3 lost on their approach as they charged in against the militia to their front on the fence railings.

British redcoats advancing in open order supported by Tarleton's cavalry

To their credit the militia stood the charge and managed to get off one more loose volley before being hit by the vengeful Scots who were forced to fight two rounds of melee having only won the first round by one extra casualty.

The militia lacking bayonets were beaten soundly on the second round of combat and their casualty count took their brigade over the FS total causing all their remaining units to be removed from the table.

In go the Highlanders

The British line surged forward through the trees as the second American line started to step back with snarling highlanders crashing forward to their front and Tarleton's Legionary cavalry feeling out the right flank of the American line.

The charge proved to much for the militia and the ground was taken 

As the middle line started to grapple with the British we stopped our game. We ended up playing later than normal, as the day included our Annual General Meeting but we must have played about ten or twelve moves in the game with all the players clearly getting the play sequence and methods for resolving firing, combat and morale tests with less input from either Steve or myself.

In addition the rules only reinforced our first impression seemingly to really capture the feel of an AWI game which was very encouraging.

It would have been nice to have seen the Guards going up against the four battalions of continentals but that little contest will have to await future games, but the interesting aspect was that both sides army morale states were closely tracking the other with a slight advantage resting with the Americans by about five FS in their favour but with both armies fatigued down from scores of about FS 45 to about FS 25 at the close of play.

This close score suggests a really tight outcome with the result still favouring the American force but still causing them to vacate the field of battle, with history repeated.

For a couple of our players this was the first run through of the Stand to Games, game engine of Fatigue that is common to their three rule sets covering Napoleonics, AWI and ACW and with ACW in mind they were keen to see how FS was used to moderate the game.

By common consent all the players had a good time playing RAFA and as game moderators running the rules for the first time we both found them pretty straight forward giving lots of flavour with little complication all be it we had to keep ourselves occasionally from interpreting a situation with OTH in mind.

Thank you to Steve M for pulling the scenario together and bringing the toys along and to Steve L, Mr Steve, John and Si for providing a very entertaining days gaming.