1777 - Year of Decision

The American War of Independence (or is it the American Revolution?) has always been a bit of an interest although lately it has definitely caught my imagination...I've recently bought some figures to get started on (although they are still languishing in their box, unassembled) and I've been reading Christopher Hibbert's history of the war.  So when my friend Andrew proposed trying a game of 1777-Year of Decision I was very keen.  This was a game released via Strategy & Tactics magazine, something I've never really looked at although I've seen copies in wargames shops like Orcs Nest.

The game is set in, erm.., 1777 and sets the British forces the task of capturing key objectives within a 10 turn time limit.  The American objective is simply to prevent this happening.  I was impressed with the quality of the components: the map is really lovely and illustrates the northern theatre of the war, ranging from Montreal and Lake Champlain in the north down to Philadelphia.  The map is surrounded by a host of tables and charts used in the game and these are also found in the 16 page rulebook.  The counters are nicely done and show Senior and Subordinate commanders and then various troops types... Regulars, Hessians, Artillery, Torys and Indians for the British and Continentals, Artillery and Militia for the Patriots (as the game insists on calling them...I'll stick to 'Rebels')

Units can only move when a commander activates them but the senior generals (like Howe and Washington) can activate subordinates to help with this.  Armies also have to make sure they maintain supply lines by bringing along supply trains and setting up depots.

Movement is done by moving from point to point and the routes are slow and convoluted, which reflects the dense terrain of the time.

The action in our game seemed to follow the historical version...troops from the north marched slowly ( or sailed slowly down Lake Champlain in Burgoyne's case).  Meanwhile Howe, starting down in New York marched around a lot with the Rebels falling back and avoiding a fight.  He did manage to get to Philadelphia and then slowly gathered his subordinate commanders into a larger field army and headed after Washington who had been falling back towards Albany and his own reinforcements.

The rebels had managed to slow down my 2 pronged northern advance: I had seized another objective in Fort Ticonderoga but the 10th and final turn was approaching and I didn't think there was much chance of capturing my final objectives of Fort Montgomery and Albany.  Somehow (I'd like to claim this was tactical genius but it was actually luck!) I managed to reach my targets on the final turn and the game was poised to end on 2 make or break battles.  Howe overwhelmed Washington at the Battle of Albany, sending the renegade fleeing north but enough Rebels survived to fall into Albany and hold it for a game winning turn.  North at Ft Montgomery most of the Rebel Generals had assembled and they forced back my 2 pronged attack, preventing me taking the 2nd objective and giving the rebels the victory.

Am excellent little game...lots of things to think about; supply, movement, sea travel (which we didn't use) and a number of advanced rules (which we also left out) but easy to pick up and very intuitive after a couple of turns.  I'm always impressed when a time-limited game builds to a climax on the last turn and this worked really well.  Must have a look at more issues of Strategy and Tactics...