American War of Independence - using Regimental Fire & Fury with amendments

Today, Steve Nutt & Rob Baxter from Colchester came to put on a Guildford Courthouse game at Writtle using 28mm figures & their own adaptation of Regimental Fire & Fury for this earlier period.

Here are the American forces

and here the British

Here's the battlefield being set up - this is the view from the American end

and here's the British end

the ground is mostly dense woodland apart from one or two cleared pieces of land adjacent to settlements, so visibility greatly reduced

The British start point, Hessians on the right

American militia facing them directly

British Legion cavalry are off table to start with and under the direct command of Cornwallis

Americans - loads of 'em !

British and American guns face each other down the road

This is the Continentals in the third line of defence

This is the advanced line of American militia, right of the line facing my Guards and Hessian Jagers

Colonel Washington's cavalry are over here too !

British fire immediately clears a gap in the Militia lines and the American gun limbers up to go !

My command advances, Hessians to the fore

Wes (overall British commander today) brings on the British Legion to take advantage of the gap in the American front line

A very relaxed bunch of gamers !

Here you can see the steady advance of the British troops as the Americans fall back

Effectively, the American first line has crumbled and the second line retreats too

The Continentals wait behind fences, the third and most effective of the American forces

Its painfully slow going through the dense woodland

The Americans retreat in front of my command and have nearly reached the Continentals at the back

This is the view from the British right of line as Hessian infantry support a redcoat advance

Lee's men fall back, both infantry and cavalry

The Militia are no match for the British redcoats and offer no resistance

The Guards march to catch up with their light infantry

Now we have reached the Continentals who stand firm

Wes launches attacks across the fields

These Continentals face my troops

Elements of the rules are being discussed at this point !

Birds eye view of the climax of the battle

Rafael's Scots have charged across a field on the right and defeated Militiamen

But their fellow brigade unit is faced with American cavalry

Trying to launch an attack, Raf's men get disordered and then hit front and back by Lee's Legion

Wes gets a unit over the fencing to attack the Continentals in the centre

Raf's men have been destroyed by Lee's Legion, their cavalry pour towards the Hessian infantry

My men exchange fire with the Continentals and we get the better of that

The Hessians halt Lee's cavalry in their tracks with a controlled volley

But with a big gap and the Scots out on their own, the right doesn't look too good.

Wes's attack has faltered and the men retreat whilst the American Militia in the field put up a better fight than their colleagues

Our strength is waining and with my troops taking too long to overcome the Americans in front of me, Rob (who has been umpiring all this time) declares an American win.

Interesting rules adaptation which seems to capture the feel for the period - must give this another go soon !

Steve, Rob and Colchester friends must have enjoyed the day as they decide to join Essex Warriors on the spot and paid up for a year's membership - a better result than our British army achieved in this battle !