Monday 5 July 2021

4th July : Battle for Pine Ridge AWI

 It felt an appropriate day to play an AWI game, this wasn’t a specific historical battle but a simple scenario from the R&P rule book so that we could mark the day. The two forces have been dispatched to capture Pine Ridge which has been cleared as a potential artillery location overlooking a strategic rod junction. There would be victory points each turn for the force holding the objective and then extra at the end.

The British would be hampered by having a newly painted and untested Hessian force ! As we all know it is likely they will run away in their first battle.

American forces include Minutemen from nearby Pine County they are classed as ‘green’ so fragile
They also have regular militia and some skirmish units who are better shots than the average
The British forces include the 9th Regiment of Foot two units of jägers who are armed with rifles with longer range and are more accurate
They also have two units of Hessian Grenadiers  to add some punch to their attack
The British officer with the 9th Foot
The American get moving first and their skirmishers dash for the objective, Pine Ridge just beyond the small woodsman Hut
Overview of the American lines, the objective is marked by the tree stumps
German jägers have advanced to the southern section of Pine ridge this isn’t the objective but gives them a good position to fire from
The American skirmishers have captured the ridge but the first Grenadier unit is ominously  fixing bayonets and marching towards them !
The American militia open fire down the road
This isn’t going to end well the Hessians charge up hill and crash into the skirmishes who attempt to evade but are caught unawares 
The jägers exchange fire with the Americans at long range
The American skirmishers are driven back but the hessians are exposed on the ridge
Fierce exchange of fire on the road
American milita open fire at troops on the ridge but a second Hessian unit has made it onto the ridge 😢
And then a series of very poor dice rolls sees the American officer who has foolishly joined a Minutemen unit fails a morale check and starts to flee !
Despite this the battle for the ridge continues
The hessians on the ridge are taking casualties but are passing any tests easily
At the moment the Militia on the road are holding their own
Adding insult to injury the second hessian unit decides to charge down the hill to clear the Militia away….OUCH !
Not surprisingly they are forced back
And then the militia on the road fail a test and flee as well…
The Americans now without their officer are being forced back
and the inevitable happens the rest turn and run. The Hessians stand and cheer their victory on the ridge

A resounding victory for the British forces. Perhaps independence will have to wait another year ? Well done to Phil for commanding the victorious forces, it would be fair to say the dice gods were with the British. The Americans rolled several double 1’s and failed numerous tests. The British at one point rolled six six’s with 12 dice.

Fun as always to play and we broke the rule that newly painted forces run away the Hessians and Jägers were magnificent !

Thanks for looking 🙂


32 comments:

  1. nice to see the brits win for a change

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    1. Perhaps Matt's heart was not in commanding the colonials?

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    2. They won but not under my leadership ! There is a continuing theme here !

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  2. The Hessian jagers look good. The Hessians should be tough opponents when not caught sleeping off Christmas.

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    1. Many thanks the Grenadiers were certainly tough in combat👍

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  3. Excellent, Matt! Newly painted troops succeed! Maybe you knocked some of the polish off the Hessians so that they will perform less heroically in their next battle? Enjoyable storytelling.

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    1. Yes indeed they performed well, I might have ruined their chances at Long Island !

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  4. Hey, you could have at least let the Yanks win for the holiday! ;)

    Matt, I'm green with envy, your troops and table are absolutely beautiful, and you're not only inspiring me to play but reminding me I need to get some Rebels and Patriots on the table.

    Thanks for sharing!

    V/R,
    Jack

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    1. Thanks Jack, the AWI collection has developed nicely over the last year, so it is nice to get some battles in with them. If I have encouraged in some small way then that is great.

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  5. A splendid victory for the British there, well done Phil! As ever a fine looking game Matt.

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    1. Thanks David….the dice gods were with him this battle !

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    1. Thanks Michal the American did their best but once the Grenadiers had the ridge they were too tough to chase off

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  7. A very nice looking game Matt and as others have said, great to see the forces of the Crown successful for a change! The Hessians performed very well , which is also quite an infrequent occurrence for AWI in my experience

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    1. Thanks Keith, in these rules the grenadiers have a clear advantage in combat and that is what they were used for performing really well as you say 🤔

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  8. Wow, splendid figures (love the Hessians !) and terrain here, great looking British victory!

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  9. Thank you for hosting another splendid game, it was a pleasure to command and lead to victory your latest additions on on an equally fine table.

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    1. A pleasure Phil looking forward to next time 🙂

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  10. A win for the Crown forces, well I never! As you say, Independence delayed for a while;). As always a lovely looking game Matt and for once the curse of newly painted figures didn't strike the Hessians down, in fact quite the reverse. I love the tree stumps which I've not seen on a table before but they add a nice touch to things. I'll see what I can do in 10mm:)

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    1. Thanks Steve, the stumps are resin picked up at a show ages ago, they are a little large even for 28mm but as you say give a sense of woods without actually having the trees. I am sure you could make with a little Milliput or similar👍

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  11. Stunning images, Matt! Beautifully painted AWI troops and terrain. Very inspiring!

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    1. Thanks Dean, very kind and encouraging words. Good luck with your AWI troops

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  12. Thanks Matt, nice table and game. Six sixes! Phil, you must do the lottery this week :-)

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    1. Thank you Norm for popping by, the 6x6 wasn’t the only good dice rolling by the British. To be fair last time Phil played R&P he rolled about five double 1’s so he was due better this time🙂

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  13. A fun AAR to read and a lovely looking table as usual Matt.

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  14. Great figures- great AAR. Thanks for sharing! Enjoyed it thoroughly!

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  15. Phil winning another game… the world has indeed gone topsy turvy…

    A splendid looking affair… as always.

    All the best. Aly

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  16. Great job and very suitable fir July 4. 😀

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  17. Splendid looking game! Wonderful terrain and troops! Phil winning? The world's turned upside down!
    Best Iain

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  18. Good game, terrain stands out in this one, the tree stumps are cool (and useful) and seeing your church reminds me I must build mine! Thanks for posting.

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