As mentioned in Rick’s previous post, we played a game of Washington’s War via ACTS and VASSAL from August to September. What follows is my perspective during the first turn.
I’ve played the Americans far more than the British (6 v.s. 3), so I decide to play against type and choose the forces of the grand 18th century empire. Rule Britannia, down with the rebels!
British Initial Marker Placement (For the King!):
Wake, NC
Fort Niagra, NY
My strategy here was to open up the backcountry a bit up north, and to force Rick to keep spending points in North Carolina to keep up with me.
Year: 1775
British Hand: 2 ops, 2 ops, 2 ops, 1 ops, Pennsylvania and New Jersey Line Mutinies, Nathan Hale: American Martyr, Benjamin Franklin Appointed Minister to France
Ick, ick, ick! Already I have no good way to move generals Carleton (Quebec) and Howe (Boston). This means Clinton will likely stay in the leader box too. Also, I’ve got to deal with two American event cards. The Mutiny card is a godsend, however. I’ll wait until near the end of the turn to ditch Nathan Hale and hope Rick doesn’t have an ops card to snatch it up.
I’m a little surprised that Rick’s first play is to raise an army in VA; this is usually the time to start plunking down political control (PC) markers right away. I adopt the southern strategy and bring General Burgoyne and 3 combat units (CUs) into St. Mary’s, GA. My plan is to lock up the larger southern states first, then strike north from a position of strength. I spend the next few card plays locking up all of Georgia and linking up to the Loyalist backwater towns in South Carolina. (In hindsight, it would have been better for me to cause Rick’s lines to Mutiny first…this was a misstep on my part.)
By the end of the first turn, I’ve got a pretty strong position, holding GA, SC, NC, and Canada. While it isn’t enough to win the game at the end of 1775, it’s about what I hoped for. And Washington’s failure to move into winter quarters just makes me smile a bit. The only downside is that the French Alliance track is moving in the wrong direction…
The end of turn one...
[...] This report will cover the next two years of the Washington’s War game between John and I. The first two parts can be found here and here. [...]
[...] War game between John and I. See the links below for the other parts: American 1775 British 1775 American 1776-1777 British 1776-1777 Now on to the next two [...]