Rebels and Patriots x 2

A first outing this week for my AWI troops.  I've been working on these for a little while now and had a mix of regulars and militia ready but, thanks to a last minute eBay bargain and some very last minute painting, I was able add some Natives to the British forces and equip the rebels with a  cannon.

My plan for these was to use Rebels and Patriots as a ruleset.  These are another of the generally excellent Osprey blue books and follow the Lion Rampant model.  They are designed for games in the North American theatre from the French Indian Wars through to the ACW but could easily be used in other settings...they'd certainly be very suitable for Napoleonic games.

The game uses an IGOUGO model.   Each turn units need to pass an activation roll to complete an Action (move, fire, charge, rally, skirmish etc) but unlike Lion Rampant failing the roll doesn't mean your turn is over, and all units get a chance to try and do something each turn.

Units generally need to roll a 6 on 2d6 to succeed with an action.  The odds can be improved by having your leader within 12" or by being in Close Order.  I really ought to have remembered that...

We decided to play out the 1st scenario in the book which is a straightforward tussle to take command of a hill in the centre of the table.

My commander lead from the front, heading towards the hill with the leading company of the 2nd New York regiment. Andrew sensibly kept his commander in a supporting unit which meant he wasn't exposed to fire.  The 2nd NY came under fire from the Indians in the woods and a unit of skirmishers who kept popping out from behind the hill to take very effective pot shots.

Having taken casualties I had to pass a morale test, which I failed.  And in the next turn I had to take another one...which I failed badly.  As I now had too many disorder markers as a result of the failed tests, the company decided to rout, taking the commander with it!

This set a pattern for the rest of the game with poor activation rolls on both sides and some really bad morale rolls on my part.  Had I thought to get my units into close order (or at least passed the activation rolls to get them there) and not lost my commander I might have had a chance but as it was Andrew's more aggressive approach meant he had seized the hill and my units were rapidly melting away, giving him the victory.

This unit is a little bit outgunned...

I was lucky enough to have a second chance to try out the game a week or so later against another regular opponent Anthony.  I decided to stick to the same scenario and forces and see if I could improve on my shoddy performance.

Again my troops bravely marched towards the hill in the centre of the table...

...and so did the British.

We looked set for a major tussle in the centre of the field but then Anthony was able to combine fire from a couple of units on one of the Continentals which was pretty devastating.  This is something I should have learned from the 1st game: as the casualties begin to mount and units also acquire disorder markers it can quickly become very tricky to stop them routing

Neither of us was keen to commit to taking the hill...we both realised that whoever was brave or foolish enough to get to the top first would be blown away by the waiting units on the other side so the fight developed on either flank

On my right flank I managed to shoot up the Natives with my skirmishers and drive them back and out of the game (or so I thought...).  My own skirmishers were driven back in response but I was hopeful of holding off the enenmy on this side of the army.

On my left the artillery was doing a sterling job of holding back the approaching Light Infantry who had cunningly advanced through the woods but casualties were beginning to mount on my infantry on this flank. The British had a unit of Loyalist Militia who had been upgraded to 'Good Shots' giving them a +1 to hit.  As units normally hit on a 5 or 6 this makes quite a difference and my Green Militia that were opposing them weren't impressed!

Back on the left the Natives had somehow reformed and regained their nerve and, having sneaked through the woods, suddenly charged my Skirmishers, wiping them out completely in a single round of combat and then swung onto the flank of one of my Line Infantry units routing it in turn (Natives are allowed to do that sort of thing!).

At this point discretion seemed the better part of valour and the Americans decided that the British could keep the hill after all.


So, despite managing to learn nothing from my first defeat and crashing out twice in a row, how were the rules?  Like most of the Osprey rules these are excellent value and a really simple but effective ruleset for the period (or periods in this case as they cover such a broad timespan).  It would be easy enough to adapt them for other settings or to add in house rules to suit your own local gaming groups preferences without unbalancing things and they are very quick and easy to pick up.

Now I just need to work out how to win...