A simple plan for a 3 Act AWI campaign

Oddly enough, I keep vacillating between modern combined arms at the company level and the American War of Independence.  Variety is the spice of life they say, so here goes!

With the Thanksgiving holiday coming up, I would like to get my 6mm AWI forces back on the table for some action.  Initially I thought about a map campaign in the colony of South Carolina using this amazing period map from the Library of Congress.  While I may still pursue that as the basis for my next Matrix game I run online, I want something to give me a few fast, fun interrelated games.

So here is the plan… utilizing the ever popular 3 act structure, inspired by Lloydian Aspects, one of my favorite wargaming websites for the last 20 years, when I started playing Crossfire. 

Each General starts with the following forces, each equals one unit in my One Hour Wargames AWI variant.  It is not 100% historically accurate, but assume that some Crown forces are tied up by partisans.

Crown Forces

•          33^rd Regiment of Foot (Aggressive, Elite)
•          23^rd Regiment of Foot (Aggressive, Elite)
•          71^st Highlanders (Aggressive, Elite)
•          7^th Foot
•          Battalion Guards (Aggressive, Elite)
•          Von Bose Regiment (Aggressive, Elite)
•          Combined Grenadiers (Aggressive, Elite)
•          British Legion Infantry
•          2 x Combined Light Infantry (Aggressive Elite, Skirmishers)
•          Jaegers (Elite, Skirmishers, Rifles)
•          2 x British Legion Dragoons
•          17th Dragoons
•          2 x Artillery
•          8 Leaders

Patriot Forces

•          1^st MD Continentals (Aggressive)
•          2^nd MD Continentals
•          1^st VA Continentals
•          2^nd VA Continental’s
•          Continental Light Infantry (Skirmishers)
•          3^rd Continental Dragoons
•          Lee’s Legion Dragoons
•          Lee’s Legion light Infantry (Skirmishers)
•          2 x Artillery
•      6 x Leaders

Militia are special and how many show up for a particular battle is variable

•      Militia (Poor Discipline): Roll Average Die + 2 for how many show up
•      Backwoodsmen (Elite, Skirmishers, Rifles, Roll d6: 1-2 = 1, 3-4 = 2, 5-6 = 3

Battle results

I am going to use good old fashioned, Kriegspiel style military judgement to determine when a battle is over and who holds the field at the end of the engagement.

Sequence of Battles

Each side will divide their forces into 2 as Greene sends a detachment under Morgan off to the west towards the Spartan district.  For campaign purposes, I will assume that while this is going on, Cornwallis is able to force Greene into a battle…

The terrain or each battle will be set up based on a randomly generated One Hour Wargames scenario, enhanced with extra woods, etc until it is pleasing to the eye.

Fight #1:

This will notionally be between the detachments in the upcountry.

• The Patriots will be led by Daniel Morgan and get a +1 for each militia roll and 1 free leader in addition to Morgan
• The Crown forces will be led by Tarleton and must include at least 1 unit of British Legion dragoons and the British legion infantry

Fight #2:

The Main armies, assuming that Cornwallis sees and opportunity to force Greene into battle

Recovery before the final battle

This is where the weakness of the British forces is really showcased.  Cornwallis had significant issues maintaining his troop numbers in the field as they were constantly being whittled away by battle casualties, sickness, and the need to maintain garrisons across the colony such as Ninety-Six, Camden, and Georgetown.   Losses were very difficult to replace.  So for the British after each battle:

·         British Recovery

o   Units that are broken are recovered on a d6 roll of 1

o   For unaffected units, roll 1d6, on a 1-2 they start the final battle with 1 casualty marker (due to sickness and troops falling out on the brutal march)

o   Fallen leaders are recovered on a roll of 1-2 and are available for the next battle

The Patriot forces on the other hand had several advantages in this area, as Von Steuben was Greene’s quartermaster in VA feeding supplies and replacements to the army.  Plus, Militia performance on the battlefields was variable at best, but it was raised from across SC, NC, and VA for the campaign and new militia could be called up.

·         Patriot Recovery

o   Units that are broken are recovered on a d6 roll of 1-3

o   Militia units do not need to recover, but are randomly generated at the start of the battle.

o   Fallen leaders are recovered on a roll of 1-2 and are available for the next battle

The Final Battle

Utilizing all remaining forces, Cornwallis finally tracks down Greene for a final struggle for control of the Carolina's.  A British victory here can still mean defeat, as historically Cornwallis held the field at Guilford Courthouse, at the cost of veteran troops he could not afford to lose. 

The terrain will be generated as above and the campaign will close with a nice climax.

Now let's see how well I can execute!