Below is the second in a 3-part AAR series from Mark Miklos covering the Battles of the American Revolution tournament at WBC 2019. Part 1 can be found here. Enjoy!
The competition began before the match even started. ? After some preliminary conversation and probing it was revealed that each player wanted to play the British, so a bid was required. Mark Miklos won the bid 1:0 and took the British while surrendering one point of at-start Army Morale. It was 9:00am.
As the Spanish fleet rounded the headland to enter Pensacola Bay the guns at Red Cliffs Fort fired salvo after salvo but to no avail. Not a single hit was achieved and one could hear a thousand throats chanting Viva! Viva! Increase Spanish Army Morale by 1.
The Spanish army waded ashore but not before they disembarked Spanish Grenadiers and the Principe Regt under the command of Brigadier Ezpaleta to reduce the British garrison at Red Cliffs.
On game turn 2 the Luisianna Dragoons demonstrated toward Fort George. In response the British launched their first raid which emanated from the fort. It closed some distance with the dragoons and fired a howitzer shot that missed.
The first weather check occurred on turn 3 and the weather continued clear. Clear weather is a friend to the Spanish who must race against time to build Corduroy road in order to get siege artillery within range of the British works. As the Spanish dithered the British raid fell upon the trail head of the Corduroy road emanating from Stockade #2; the southern -most of the two and one of the Spanish sources of supply. The New Orleans militia which had been building the road was overrun and eliminated.
Game turn 4 saw a lot of Spanish action. He played the “Allied Naval Victory” random events card. This allowed him to bring all three units from Santa Rosa Island onto the main map; The Spanish Sappers, the naval infantry and some heavy naval artillery. Getting the Sappers into the game early is very beneficial to the Spanish player since they can double the construction rate for Corduroy Rd and move 2-hexes before building a redoubt. Infantry that wishes to build redoubts must begin in the build-hex and not move. The British player cast a wary eye on this development. The Spanish also attacked the raiding party which resulted in two Indian units electing to withdraw before combat. Finally, Ezpaleta’s expeditionary force attacked the Red Cliff’s Fort and disrupted its garrison in-place. It would later rally.
By turn 5 the primary Corduroy road the Spanish were building had advanced to heights of the ridge that overlooks the British fortified positions. This is not optimum range but it is still suitable range for Spanish siege artillery. At the Red Cliffs, the British garrison was compelled to attack out of its fort as a result of a “pin” and that attack, going in at 1:3 with -4 modifiers was a forlorn hope at best. The garrison was eliminated and Spanish Army Morale now stood at 19:16. Card play on turn 5 saw the French Frigate L’Andromaque run aground, the effect of which was the removal of French marines from the counter mix. Another card revealed that both sides had troops indiscriminately scalped by roaming war parties which caused a -1 drop in Army Morale for both payers.
On Turn 6 the Spanish began construction of their first redoubt. Generalissimo De Galvez exposed himself to fire but the British howitzer missed on two attempts.
Turn 7 is a turning point of sorts in this game because it’s here that the second Spanish fleet arrives with copious reinforcements including several crack units, Irish mercenaries (if you’re an enemy of the British you’re a friend to the Irish) and the French contingent; three regiments with artillery. Until turn 7 there is a rough parity of forces. After turn 7 the British inevitably pull their forward units back toward their fixed position. The redoubt that was begun on the previous turn was also completed.
On turn 8 the British player had an Intelligence Coup as directed on a newly-drawn random event card. Mark took the top three cards off the deck, selected one to put in his hand, and reshuffled the deck. He elected to hold the card he drew. The Spanish commenced their siege bombardment but missed causing any breaches. A second British raid was launched again originating from the British fieldworks and this time directed at the newly constructed Spanish redoubt. The Sappers became exposed but British howitzer fire missed again.
The first wet weather of the game occurred on turn 9 when a storm blew up. The is a one-time event which slows the game way down and mandates that the next turn’s weather will be rain. Among its impacts, the storm forced termination of the British raid and prevented a turn of bombardment.
Working in the rain on turn 10 the Sappers began construction of a second redoubt and siege bombardment missed again. By this point in the game most British troops were either back inside their works or nearly so.
The wet weather didn’t last long because it was once again clear on turn 11. Construction of the second redoubt was completed. Spanish siege artillery finally achieved a breach of hexside 2523-2524 on the Prince of Wales redoubt. The defending garrison artillery also took a step loss. In general, the entire Spanish army was inching closer and positioning for Coup d’ Main. Random event cards were drawn but none were played.
On turns 11-12 there was skirmishing behind Spanish lines with the former raiders that were still on the map. In this affair the unsupported Spanish 2nd Brigade artillery was captured but at a high price. Mark lost the Creeks, chief Franchimastabe and (say it ain’t so) the King’s Florida Rangers; a devastating blow. Army Morale 21:14 in favor of the Spanish.
On turn 12 the Spanish mortar achieved a hit but caused no damage. Somewhere along in here the players decided to take a 30-minute break for lunch. It was 2:00 PM, (elapsed time 5-hours.)
Rain returned on turn 13. An assessment of the situation revealed the Spanish with superior morale and holding momentum while the British had failed to receive the POW unit which is a potential reinforcement. Together with the loss of his Red Cliff Fort garrison and several raiders, Mark’s only hope now rested with a sound deployment of his remaining units within the works and in accurate defensive artillery fire whenever the Spanish decided to launch Coup d’ Main.
The wait wasn’t a long one as Father Todd declared his assault on Turn 14.
(Part III to follow next week.)
Articles in this Series: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Author: Mark Miklos
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.