Sunday, 20 March 2022

Hubbardton - Take 2

For the second game I made one significant adjustment and one minor one. The bigger change was to dice for initiative each turn. The smaller one: I started with the British in line. Here’s how it panned out.

The Lights and the 24th went straight into the attack. This time the Americans all remained on the front side of the fence line. First into Combat were the Lights who struck the NH Continentals. With a +2 for a British bayonet charge and + 3 for class advantage, and a good five roll the Lights swept away the opposition. The NH boys fled in the direction of the fence line. Down two bases and 2 DP versus the Brits’ 1DP.

This put the Lights however at the mercy of the Massachusetts line. A good dice roll enabled them, led by the general to swing into the Lights’ flank! “We got the Limies by the Crown Jewels boys! Squeeze’em! Squeeze ‘em hard.” Fraser was on hand to keep his lads’ dander up. The adjusted, opppsed dice roll resulted in ….a draw! Stand off.

Round two of the combat saw the Lights slight edge in quality tell, and a stray ball hit Colonel Francis in the face and seeing him fall, the New Englanders reeled away. 

Under the Risk to Generals rule, both sides had to roll. Both scored 1 - re-roll! On the re-roll Fraser got a 4 - safe! Francis, on a 2, was seriously injured. Immediate removal from the game with the loss of his Command Points.

In the other action, the 24th narrowly came out on top, pushing the Green Mountain Boys back. So far bayonet tactics had worked for the British. The risk is if it doesn’t the opposition get a volley off at point blank range before the next phase. 

Meanwhile, on the American right the Jäger actually take first blood. Over on the other flank, the grenadiers arrive on turn 7.


American right at the bottom. Skirmishes down to 2 bases. NH line to their flank, rallying off Disorder Points.

Initiative had been changing throughout the game. In the turn after the Lights saw off the Massachusetts line, the Brits hit the initiative again and caught the fleeing Americans. A further two bases were lost. In the picture above they come to rest behind the Green Mountain Boys. Off picture to the right, the 24th have rallied off their sole DP and are ready to advance again.

But the clock has wound down. Another victory for the Crown. This time with a more pronounced casualty toll on the enemy.


The Reckoning. 8 American bases lost, plus one commander, to just 2 British bases.

8 comments:

  1. I must be a bit sick, this made me laugh! " a stray ball hit Colonel Francis in the face" - a very evocative description of the actual wound suffered - love it! Another nice report - I must suggest this battle for a refight - I prefer my AWI scenarios with a British victory!

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    1. Ha ha! If you are, you’re not the only one. I just re-read the previous paragraph and your reaction makes sense. 😆

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  2. Casualties were much larger for the colonists in this game. Was that predicated upon rolling for initiative each turn and a chance for getting a double turn?

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    1. Annoyingly I wrote quite a lengthy reply but Google swallowed it up. So here goes….

      I think the higher casualties arose from something more basic Jon. Instead of trying to escape over the fence, the Continentals stood to face the Lobsterback onslaught. The Brits also went more directly into action, with no finesse but with Fortuna’s blessing.

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    2. I hate it when Google eats a brilliant reply!

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  3. looking good, sir! This game has turned out with fairly historical results each time we played it and it was always a nail biter. I started with the 24th in line but the lights in column and it was a race to get up the hill quickly.

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    1. Yes, the turn limit certainly makes you press on with the Brits. If I was given unlimited time, I’d be zigzagging around all day to gain an advantage. Most unrealistic!

      Looking at Hubbardton, and I never would without your posts, has (re)awakened my interest in the Saratoga campaign. It would be good to run a series of linked games. Even if it does lead to a British disaster! Don’t be surprised to see Gentleman Johnny gracing these pages.

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