First game of Warfare in the Age of Reason

Gee, it's been a long time since I've updated this blog. Sorry about that.  I've creating videos and posting them on Youtube and I've neglected this site for a little too long.

Well to bring this back I thought I would share a recent game we played on 7/28.  Our group got together and had a run at Warfare in the Age of Reason written by Tod Kershner and Dale Wood.  The rules are not new. They have been around for 35 years according to the authors acknowledgements.  The rules are currently in their 3rd edition and were published in 2016.  For those of you who are interested, the rules are supported online with a Facebook group and on Yahoo Groups.

My focus for this game was to test the rules for my War of Spanish Succession project.  I will say that the group after the first run through liked them enough to expand that to the 7YW battles we play from time to time.  Not bad for a first game.

For our first battle I put together some AWI forces using my 10mm figures.  The British were supported by Hessians and a Loyalist militia unit.  The Rebels had two groups of Continentals and a militia group.  A small battle seemed appropriate for a first run through.

I made mistakes with the rules mostly the charge rules, as I was unclear at what point frontal charges took over from the non-frontal charges. My confusion has been cleared up on this procedure.

Now the photos!

The table before the troops were set up.

The British and the Rebels are ready for battle.  I assigned victory points to the cross roads and farm house and the field.

Looking down the British left wing towards the center

The British advancing to the crossroads.

The American militia starts to push towards the stream in the hopes of turning the flank of the British.

Grab the small low hill in front of the militia

the militia continue to advance

The Continentals push up the center to grab the crossroads.

The British center closes in on the crossroads.  The British right pushes through the light woods.

The militia begins its attempt to flank the British left.

The British take the cross road and shake to defend it.

The flanking militia pin the British on the hill preventing them from pushing into the center.

The British right waits for the Continentals to cross the field.

One of the militia units demonstrates in front of the British by pushing towards the center. The pinning action of the British left is complete. 

The fur ball in the center.  Causalities in the center start to mount.

The Continental right pushes through the field and charges the British. A swirling melee begins.

Over head shot of the center fire fight.

The militia continue their flanking movement and start to close in on the British

The militia holds and continues to add casualties to the British 

The last melee on turn 9 of 12. 

We called the game due to time. The Continentals were close to pushing the British away from the cross roads and winning.  The militia was starting to wear down the British right and the British left had started to crumble.  Two or three more turns might have seen the Continentals with a win. 

The big loss in this battle was the capture of George Washington to the British. I am happy to report that our fantasy didn't interrupt reality.