Hobkirk's Hillish...part 2

I finished off the playtest game this morning. This only took 30 minutes or so and the result hinged on three specific actions:

The first event was an advance by the 4th Virginia just at the same time as the 2nd Maryland's confidence slipped and they pulled back. This left the continental artillery exposed in the hole created in the line which you can see in the picture above. As a result they needed to pause their shooting at the loyalist King's Americans, affording them some respite.

The advance of the Virginians and their close-range musketry threatened to overwhelm the South Carolina Loyalists, prompting the second significant action. This was a desperate charge by the NY dragoons into the flank of the continentals:

This really was an instance of putting faith in the dice-gods. Despite their fairly low quality the dragoons' confidence was boosted by the disruption they could see inflicted on their target. They rolled just enough movement to make contact and their closing roll saw them get two bonus points to add to their flanking advantage. This really had to work for the horsemen or they would be left horribly exposed...

...The melee dice rolled and came up in the loyalists' favour. The cavalry taking one disruption and the already disrupted continentals taking two stamina losses. Having lost the melee the 4th Virginia tested its morale and came up short, being compelled to rout back towards their baseline. The horsemen took the ground and moving them out of potential enfilade by the 5th Virginia.

The photo below demonstrates how Greene's army was beginning to be cut in half:

In their following turn the 4th Virginia did manage to rally and the continental artillery fell back to form on their flank before they could be ridden down by the loyalist cavalry. Things were beginning to stabilise, however the third point of significance now arose over on Greene's left.

Earlier in today's activity Washington's dragoons had failed an activation test and the consequent morale test saw them leave the table. Rawdon was encouraged by this to push his British and loyalist infantry forward against the Maryland brigade, supported by his section of 6-pound guns.

As we noted in the last blog entry, the two Maryland continental units started the battle with just three stamina points rather than the usual three. Close range musketry from the Volunteers of Ireland soon saw the stamina of the 2nd Maryland eroded however their morale held...just. 

In a final gamble, Rawdon ordered his artillery to fire cannister into the 1st Maryland before again launching the much battered 63rd into a bayonet charge. This was a far from certain outcome, however the disruption inflicted by the 6-pounders, coupled with the elan of the redcoats saw them charge home with enough impetus to precipitate a rout by the now shattered 1st Maryland.

All Greene could now do was attempt to extricate his remaining troops. The 5th Virginia rapidly moved to secure the exit road, while the Virginian skirmish line slowed any loyalist advance in the centre and Kirkwood's Delawares secured the extreme left flank with the dubious support of the militia battalion.

Greene would survive to rise and fight another day.

As with the real war in the South, the Crown forces took the ground but also paid a price to do so. Greene's army lost 11 of its 48 stamina points (23%) while Rawdon's victory cost him 16 out of 54 (30%). 

This felt like a good work out for the revised Bloodybacks rules and seemed to play out in a historically plausible manner. The more recent tweaks mean than disrupted units don't become totally becalmed. The switch to the stamina point mechanism means that fighting effectiveness in maintained up to the point where the unit can't continue, but generals can't be reckless as units whose stamina is exhausted are extremely brittle. In this scenario, reducing the stamina of the Maryland units rather than lessening their quality gave the effect I wanted; the units fought as the experienced veterans they were but in the end could not take attrition as long as their opponents despite having an edge in quality over the loyalists. As it was, the 63rd and the Volunteers of Ireland took similar losses to the 1st and 2nd Maryland but just had a little more left in the tank.

I do need to now refine my ideas around commanders' risk from shooting and in melee so as time allows I'l set up another game. This will probably see at least one British elite unit so I can check quality 5 units have the right degree of impact on the game. This might not be for a week or so (or it might at least be slow progress) as I think life and work might be keeping me busy in the coming days.