MT02 Southern campaign

Round Three King's Mountain

Jim, British, 3 Banners, 18 Blocks Lost

JR, Continentals, 6 Banners,  17 Blocks Lost

Wow, what a weird and interesing scenario!  This looks like it has a huge Continental advantage at the outset, with the numerical disparity and the small British opening hand,  but a Militia-based attack has a way of evening things up nicely.

I opened with a Bayonet Charge by Cleveland and company against the British right, near their camp.  This didn't achieve too much but it started the process of steadily chipping away at Jim's defenders.  I really missed the ability to hit on sabers, which Jim's Provincials enjoyed.  Over the first couple turns I got about four units adjacent to the hill, right where Jim wanted them.  He proceeded to send them all packing, killing two units in the process.  One intrepid Loyalist Provincial scampered down from the hill, inflicted three saber hits on a full-strength Militia unit, took a flag in return, and deftly retreated to camp and pass its Rally roll with literal flying colors.  

This sort of back and forth continued as it developed into a race between Militia running off the map and Jim's troops running out of bodies.  Cleveland fought his way into the camp itself before being ejected.  He then abandoned his now-depleted Militia unit and proceeded to lead Provincials in repeated assautls against the right flank hill while De Peyster commanded a spirited defense.  I used Line Command and Leader Initiative* to stitch together the best-led brigade in North America, two Militia and a Provincial all with leaders attached, all full strength.  Jim immediately sent one Militia unit reeling in retreat, but Cleveland held and inflicted havoc on Jim's own Provincials.  

Cleveland clawed his way onto the hill for a precarious 4-3 Continental lead.  Ferguson arrived from the opposite flank to lead a unit of Lights in a counterattack - they whiffed completely.  This proved fatal, as Cleveland then turned on a two-step Loyalist Provinicial, inflicting a loss and a retreat.  They fell back to De Peyster in camp, but failled their Rally roll,  De Peyster then failed his own, and fell for the sixth and decisive banner.

This was a very fast game - we wrapped up in an hour.  It could have gone either way, as Ferguson's counterattack could well have broken the back of the Continental attack. I found it very interesting with the unusual retreat rules and the 'surrounding' Continentals, and despite my frustration I really like the situations where shaky troops dominate the action.  I was mildly confused most of the game, however, thinking my right flank was my left (since there are Continentals at the bottom of the map) but it had no game impact as I never saw a command card for either flank.

We had two questions - one was related to Leader Initiative asterisked above - I used it to peel Cleveland off a damaged unit.  Normally you need an extra order to separate an attached leader but in this case the card just says 'leader' as well as 'unit with an attached leader' so we assumed this was legal.

Second question proved moot give Jim's dice, but could De Peyster have retreated 'off the map' (not counting for a banner) from the British camp?  I am guessing the answer is 'no' but it's not entirely clear.

Anyway, fun, fast, and furious scenario, and as always an enjoyable game with Jim.

JR
 
 

Round Two, Camden

Greg, British, 8 Banners, 28 blocks lost

JR, Continentals, 6 Banners, 31 blocks lost

This was a knock-down, drag-out fight that was decided by Greg's aggressive end-game play.  The British established an early two-banner lead but action on either flank went the way of Liberty and I tied it up.  Feeling pressure on left, Greg abandoned that flank and concentrated his force in the center through deft use of Steal A March.  Some nice At the Quick Step cards allowed him to make contact in the center and British right against inferior forces, and Continental losses piled up.  However, Porterfield poured a steady fire into the British center from the Contintental left, and Gist did the same from the right.  

With four banners in hand, Cornwallis pressed forward with the benefit of Regular Battle Bonus.  The attack carried away two Continental Milita units along with Caswell.  Cornwallis paid the ulitmate price, however, as I killed three units myself thanks to the extra dice provided by Liberty or Death.  I stood at six banners to Greg's seven, but with a one-block artillery unit in range of a full strength leader-led British light unit, the outcome was not in doubt.  Sure enough, Greg put me away on the following turn.

Great, fun scenario - had a blast!

JR
 

Round 3 King's Mountain
Gonzo (British) 1 banner 21 blocks lost
gotigerssc (Continentals) 6 banners 5 blocks lost

This may have been one of the fastest Tricorne games I have ever played. The British were hemmed in on the hill with no cards and I had a hand full of really good cards - both command and combat. I advanced cautiously and took ranged shots where possible. On my first turn the British lost a full strength provincial to the rally check. I then pushed on my right and took out a unit and their leader and claimed a medal for the center section. Two more full strength British units eventually failed rally checks to end the match. Really not much Joe could do with my hand of cards and the dice not cooperating for him in either direction. His medal was from time pressure with scout card. 

Quick rules question for the future. If a 1 figure provincial w/leader does a rally check, will it get 1 or 2 dice for the check?
 

1 die. The floor of 1 die is applied after all modifiers, including the one for a leader. So, 1 Block -1 for Provincial +1 for Leader, leaves you at 1 die.

Hobkirk's Hill
JimDauphinais (British) 3 banner 29 blocks lost
gotigerssc (Continentals) 7 banners 17 blocks lost

We started out by dancing around ranged attacks with little results. The action really started when the British played Quick Step and advanced into my lines. On my following turn I played a Line Command and Leader Initiative to claim 5 medals on the turn (3 regs, 1 light, 1 leader), which ultimately determined the outcome of the battle. The British quickly regrouped into a defensive formation in their center and the Americans then advanced to claim the final medal needed. 

 

Round 3 King's Mountain
rfdoane (British) 6 banner, 6 blocks lost
mirkobruner (Continentals) 2 banners, 27 blocks lost

Things got hot pretty quickly in this fight. The Continentals began by advancing from the north and traded ranged fire with the British provincials. After inflicting a couple losses on the militia, the British switched over to an active defence and played a bayonet charge which eliminated one militia and Williams. The Continentals then switched their attack and advanced with the militia in the south, briefly taking one of the hill hexes near the British camp. They were chased off on the next card play, and the combination of poor Continental dice and another British bayonet charge brought the game to an end.

Dear Mark,
I think the second round result of jrtracy is put as Round4 result into the results table. Just a friendly reminder )

d'oh.. will fix

Round 4 Cowpens
rfdoane (British) 7 banners, 31 blocks lost
jrtracy (Continentals) 6 banners, 32 blocks lost

This was a classic C&C game that saw one side jump out to an early lead, only to have the other side catch up and send the game to a nail-biting conclusion.

The Americans began by sending the militia back to the main line while keeping the rifles within 4 hexes of the British line to keep up long range fire. They knocked out one British regular, but lost a rifle as well as a Continental regular that had moved forward to help. With one rifle hiding in the trees on the left, the rest of the Americans formed up on the hill/tree line at the top of the board and awaited the British advance. I played a few cards to form up a solid British line before advancing. Just as I did, JR launched a cavalry charge against my right that knocked out one of my light infantry, but ultimately cost him one of his two cav units. At this point banners stood at 4-2 in favor of the Brits.

Led by Newmarsh, the British left next advanced to take on the lone American rifle unit hiding in the woods. Good British dice knocked the rifle down to 1 block even as it retired and rallied. Newmarsh and his full strength regular were now way out in front of friendly lines and chased the rifle all the way to the American baseline. With no room left to retreat, the rifle succumbed to the next attack.

While I was distracted with that action, JR moved a group of regulars, provincials, and a rifle stacked with Washington out to engage my main body which had been severely disrupted by the cavalry charge and subsequent pursuit. The Washington/rifle combo would hound me the rest of the game and almost won it for the Americans. Their first order of business was to kill a Highlander and a regular with ranged fire. Banners now stood at 5-5.

The endgame saw the Americans using a group of regulars and militia on the left to fire away at Newmarsh's regular and extract some revenge for the eliminated rifle unit. In the center and right, the main bodies stood 3 hexes apart with the British line looking especially weak. JR played light infantry skirmish to move the Washington/rifle combo (still at full strength) out for a close range shot at an understrength cav. It worked, the cav died, and the Americans were 1 banner away from the win. The surviving British replied with a line volley that knocked out one of the Provincials, tying the game at 6. The next American card play after that was For King or Country which gave JR a great chance to end the game, but he couldn't get any hits or non-ignorable flags on the 2-block regular in the middle of my line. With that piece of luck, I now thought I had a great chance to win when I sent Newmarsh's regulars into melee against some exposed militia. But they escaped with a timely retire and reform card. The Americans returned to pinging away at that 2-block regular in the center, and this time they scored two flags to force a retreat and a rally check. That unit continued its charmed existence and got a flag rollling just two dice, extending the game yet another card play. Feeling like a cat burning through its nine lives, I used a bombardment card to target a provincial and landed 2 hits plus a flag. JR had amassed quite a collection of combat cards by this point, and he played rally check bonus to give himself three dice to stay in the game. And stay in the game he did with a flag coming up on the third die.

We both played cards to readjust our lines before the final sequence. On his last card, JR shot at my 2-strength light unit and scored 1 hit, but fortunately no retreats. Knowing that his next card would almost certainly end the game, I played one final line volley targeting the lone surviving provincial. The barely-alive light infantry made the most of their opportunity and scored a hit and a flag. The provincials had only 1 die for their rally check and failed, giving the Brits a razor thin 7-6 victory.

Thanks to JR for one of the most exciting games I've played in a while!

Round 6 Hobkirk's Hill
rfdoane (British) 7 banners, 8 blocks lost
EZPickins (Continentals) 1 banners, 29 blocks lost

The British set the tone for this game right off the bat when they forced a Continental regular to rout off the board in the opening cannonade. The Americans established a nice line on the front edge of the hill, but the dice and cards seemed to combine to limit the damage they did. The Brits on the other hand were blessed with multiple line commands and line volleys that allowed them to pick off units one at a time. They advanced mostly on the right, and for a while both sides traded ineffective shots in that section. Finally they made use of a bayonet charge to take a couple hill hexes. The ensuing melee against the American militia resulted in both of them routing and ending the game.