Wednesday 31 October 2018

Sharp Practice: The Battle of St. Paul AWI Americans v British

This game was the result of a fantastic campaign run by Gary for Dave and myself.

My Patriots were attempting to capture the British base at Fort St. Paul. I had two forces making up the attacking army, one commanded by General Wilcox available immediately and one commanded by Captain Reagan which would turn up later in the day.

I had little idea of what Dave's force was other than it consisted of at least five groups and three ships which would be able to give fire support to the Fort. I also knew that the British had a blockhouse and had constructed some defences around the blockhouse.

It looked like a difficult task so my plan was to use General Wilcox's force to fire at long range into the Fort hoping to inflict some losses on the British and draw them towards Wilcox's army then attack with Captain Reagan's force when he arrived on the opposite flank.

The table set up for the game with the Rebel force ready to rumble!
As can be seen there was not much cover available for the Rebels, the Fort being well sited and the ships (off-table) having a good field of fire. First to arrive for the Rebels were a gun and two State Line groups commanded by General Wilcox himself:
The British deployed some of their troops in the Fort:
There was a gap in the fortifications on the left so General Wilcox deployed his militia under Captain Adams and Captain James to attempt to exploit this gap and engage the fort at long range:
While Captain James' men opened fire om the fort through the gap in the buildings Captain Adams led his men forward towards the gap in the fortifications. This drew fire from the British 11 gun ship offshore which immediately starting inflicting losses and shock on Captain Adam's force:
Next to arrive was Sergeant Bones and his militia skirmishers who deployed to the right of General Wilcox's force:
The British deployed more men in the fort including some skirmishers firing from the upper level of the blockhouse. They also opened fire with another ship:
The Rebel fire was doing some damage to the British but not as much as I had hoped. It had forced them to deploy most of their troops though and the arrival of Captain Reagan was imminent.
First to arrive of his force was some more militia skirmishers who deployed in support of Sergeant Bones to engage the British on the right hand side of the Fort at long range and soften them up aided by the fire of the cannon:
On the left Captain Adam's force could make no progress under fire from the ship but his Militia bravely held their ground and attempted to rally. Captain James' force was also taking losses from the Fort's defenders and the brave Captain himself was wounded in the firefight:

Captain Reagan led his frontiersmen together with Fear-God Barry's Militia (a character who had been recruited from the nearby town of Johnson's Landing and had been inspired by Revolutionary fervour!):
The fire from the gun and the skirmishers was now having an effect on the right hand side of the Fort and one group of British was forced to withdraw. Seizing the opportunity Captain Reagan led his men forwards at a run towards the Fort:
The British responded by moving the unit next to the one that had retired across to cover the gap, however this left the part of the Fort they had just left undefended! Captain Reagan urged his men on and they dashed to the loopholes on the unoccupied part of the Fort:
The British then attempted to drive Captain Reagan's men back with the bayonet:
Captain Reagan and his men fought back, downing all but one of the attacking force but losing two men themselves and having the heroic Captain himself knocked out! As the battle raged around the Fort's right side General Wilcox tried to send more troops into the attack. The Rebel force moral was beginning to waver though due to the losses incurred so far.
Captain Reagan's force was wiped out by fire from one of the ships leaving the Captain wounded and unconscious outside the fort. Sergeant O'Rourke valiantly tried to rush the Fort with his men:
Just as the attack on the right of the Fort was making progress the Rebel force moral broke due to losses to Captain Adam's force which had been under bombardment from the large British ship offshore. The Rebels had fought bravely and managed to get up to the Fort but in the end it was not quite enough. Captain Reagan was captured by the British but somewhat surprisingly the overall losses were not that different with the Rebels losing 22 men and the British 17. The final situation:

All in all a great game which we both really enjoyed. The campaign had got both Dave and myself immersed in it and certainly for me given the units and officers in my army a lot of character. 

On reflection I don't think the Rebels stood much chance of capturing the fort, the offshore fire from the ships equated to a potential 90 dice two out of three turns which, even hitting on 6's, should do a lot of damage to troops in the open. They certainly had an effect despite Dave throwing poorly for his hits and me throwing well for my effects. The Fort was also well designed with no real cover available for the Rebels to attack through while attempting to hit units in hard cover is never easy. 

Concentrating on one corner of the Fort worked well for me and certainly had Dave worried for a little while. The Rebels will now retire to lick their wounds and consider if another attempt is viable or not. We also hope that Captain Reagan will be treated honourably by the British as a brave Patriot and potential Revolutionary Hero!

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