Tuesday 3 August 2021

Maryland 400 : Battle of Long Island : AWI

The third and last of our Long Island scenario’s covers the desperate rear guard fighting and escape of American forces around the Vechte-Cortelyou House, now known as the Old Stone House. There is lots of interesting history around this part of the battle so again I would encourage you to search it out on Wiki. The map below shows the area roughly covered by this part of the battle. Having realised that Howe was in their rear and pushed from the front by Grant, Lord Stirling attempts to escape. With the road to Brooklyn cut he must attempt to cross the Gowanus Creek to get back to the Brooklyn Heights. To facilitate this the 1st Maryland Regiment were ordered to mount a rearguard assault ont he British who were formed up with cannon around the Stone House. Led by the wonderfully named Gen Mordecai Gist the unit later know as the Maryland 400 made several assaults on a much larger British force.

Green square is the location for this third battle.
The house still exists as a museum I believe and I thought is would be interesting to see it in location Ha ha things have change since 1776 ! But there is a monument to the 400 in Prospect Park.
The stone house some years later, sadly I don’t have a suitable stone house 😢
And a famous painting of the combat showing the troops crossing the Gowanus Creek by the Mill whilst in the background the Maryland Regiment buys them time to escape.
Our scenario started with the British in position at the VC house.
The Maryland 400 have been sent forward they will be resilient as veterans and with the support of Gen Gist. Their role is to distract and hold the British whilst the rest escape and they are not allowed to escape off the battlefield.
Other American forces enter from the north and East and must exit over the Gowanus beyond the Mill building , we assumed that down stream of the mill the creek is too deep or muddy to cross. (From this shot the exit direction is to the right)
The 400 open fire at the British defenders
In the distance the British return fire and more Americans come onto the table
The British cannon also opens up
Within a couple of turn the 400 have been whittle down to 300 !
But by now the bulk of the American force is on the table and heading towards the creek
Fierce fighting by the house but the 300 are holding on
A slightly wider shot where you can see the creek off to the right. The British have rolled a double 6 and have gained another regiment of reinforcements to attempt to block the escape
These Americans are led by Lord Stirling and a regiment from Delaware
The Maryland 100 are clinging on
Realising that they must fight their way to safety the Americans open fire to clear a path
Their objective is just in sight beyond the mill
Fighting is continuing close to the house as well
But the British have formed into line preparing to volley fire before the Americans escape
The lead units make a run for it
Only to be turn back by a vicious volley 
RELOAD !
“good god what brave fellows I must this day lose” this is what Washington watching from the Brooklyn heights utter when he saw the Last of the Maryland 400 fall. I am not sure what happened to General Gist, it appears in this game he has been badly wounded.
But the battle is not over the American also receive an additional unit who immediate advance into the battle around the Stone House
Some of the American Minutemen attempt to escape while Lord Stirling rallies the other troops
More volleys  ring out
But the first patriots escape across the creek
The battle for the house where the British are temporarily outnumbered
And the British marines are forced to retreat
A second unit of Minutemen manage to Wade to safety
Both sides are now thinning out
And continuing to fire long range volleys
Eventually Lord Stirling is wounded and his regiment flees, historically he escaped to be captured by a hessian regiment.
A finally volley fro the British but their numbers have been decimated.

When we totalled up the VP awe declared it a draw, two units had escaped but a similar number of Americans had been eliminated. Both sides had lost more than 50% of their force and troops remaining of the battlefield were severely battered.

A really fun game very tough and hard fought, both sides were battered by the end. So the battle for Long Island is over, the Americans are back behind their defences on Brooklyn Heights and rather than face another Bunker Hill Gen Howe decides to pause his advance. Hope you have enjoyed watching as much as we have playing these three battles. We’ll be back with more AWI not too far away.

KBO



32 comments:

  1. The series of battles are interesting, presenting different problems in each game. Neat to see the actual ground...I remember a trip to Manhattan and finding the Kip's Bay Landing marker.

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    1. Thanks for taking the time to look, the three games certainly fitted nicely together. I’ve been to New York , although I can’t remember going to Brooklyn. I would of course be visiting the stone house if I returned.

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  2. Very enjoyable battle recap, Matt! That was a real nail-biter throughout. Midway through the battle, I figured the Americans might not get ANYONE across the river. My green militia were having great difficulty getting going.

    As we discussed post-battle, perhaps a viable American option is to simply take the British head-on in an attempt to destroy them before making a move to escape?

    Very bloody affair but great fun. Thank you!

    What is next?

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    1. Thank you Jon for the encouragement, it was certainly close and a particularly bloody engagement. What next I am just having a look at Harlem Heights which seems to have lots of opportunities. Although it is a larger battle than I had thought. I hope I don’t need more troops !

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  3. Really interesting part of history!
    Thank you very much for a report!

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    1. Thank Michal one of the benefits of these games is it is encouraging me to learn lots of new history

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  4. A great looking battle and an enjoyable series

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  5. A splendid action full of heroics! Just what is needed to stir the spirits. No landscape picture though...☹️

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    1. Thanks David I think I forgot to add the landscape will do better next time 😀

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  6. A first rate blog post there Matt both informative and picturesque in equal measure. A grand finale to the trio of tussles in the colonies.

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    1. Many thanks phil I am certainly learning loads of stuff setting up these battles and playing them 👍 very enjoyable

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  7. Really nice battle, close run thing

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    1. Thanks…it was a very bloody affair indeed !

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  8. Great game and thoroughly enjoyed the BATREP. I enjoyed the series of refights for Long Island immensely. It's inspired me to give it a try with my collection - in three parts.

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    1. Thank you John and if our dabbling has encouraged you then all to the better 👍

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  9. Great scenario and write up. I enjoyed it. 😀

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  10. Great stuff Matt, and I'd love to see your rendition of Harlem Heights having walked the area a couple of years ago.

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    1. That seems to be the next on the timeline although again it is quite a large battle ?

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  11. A "sair fecht" indeed Matt...pretty hard on the Brits once again! To answer your final point, yes I have enjoyed all your AWI games so far and look forward to the next instalments!

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    1. Thanks Keith glad you are enjoying them, they are certainly providing both interesting battles but a chance to learn some new stuff.

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  12. That's a brilliant looking game Matt and a rather bloody one at that! A fair result I think and good to see a win apiece, so honours even. Looking forward to more of the same in the future.

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    1. Thanks Steve it proved tough for both sides and a bit of a ‘slaughter pen’ in the area around the river 😢

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  13. Inspiring as always, Matt! Reminds me I still have those Perry AWI figs to work on - something I will take my time on and savor.

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    1. Thanks Dean, they are nice figures to paint, the Perry plastics are particularly good to paint. Their metal figures slightly more tiring 🤔

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  14. I enjoyed this series greatly. I had never considered the Battle of Long Island as a game. Too big and too one sided. But you have out done yourself. a series of enjoyable games and a final conclusion game. You did the entire battle but made each phase interesting and exciting.

    Outstanding terrain and great looking figures. My hat is off to you and now I have to try out something like it myself.

    Well done!

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    1. You’re very kind thank you Mark glad you enjoyed them. The battle does seem to lend itself to the three phases bunt that was really limited by the figures I have. Depending on the size of your collection and scale of figures I’m sure you have options👍

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  15. Splendid stuff Matt… as always.
    It looked and sounded like a fun game…

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thanks Aly…a ‘bloody affair’ you might say. Thanks for popping by😀

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