Battle Report: Freeman's Farm, 1777

The gang got together for our first "full group" game since the start of the pandemic.  With my new rivers in hand I was able to get Freeman's Farm on the table.  Below is a picture of "the night before" the game.  All setup and ready to go.  I've been looking forward to running this game for a while.

Roy, John and Adrian commanded the crown forces, which comprised a goodly portion of Hessians.  Dan and Matt took the American forces.

The American forces immediately push most of their reserve units forward in an attempt to hold both the farms.  While this left little/nothing to plug holes, it did make the fight for the farms very epic.  Fraser and Hamilton really had their hands full trying to break into the farms.  Roy and John kept their Grenadiers (both British and Hessian) in reserve and used them to drop a hammer late in the game in order to get a firm foothold on each of the farms.

Reidesel was held up ... unsure as to commit forward to the heights or if units needed to break off to support the attack on the farm.  Decisions made too late meant that the much needed support for the attack on the farm never materialized before the end of the game.

Still, even with a valiant defence, the Americans could hold back the more experienced troops.  While it would have been unlikely the crown forces could take the heights, with most of the American forces pushed forward it was a real possibility by games end.  So the game went firmly to the crown forces with a victory.

A good chunk of pictures below ... I was fairly distracted 2/3rds of the way through the game due to us all just being together and getting into long conversations so I neglected my picture taking responsibilities late in the game.  Still, some decent shots below from both my phone camera and my SLR camera ...

There you go.  I promised the guys I would re-run both Guilford Courthouse and Breed's Hill at some point in the near'ish future.  But first I'd like to get the Fords of Isen on the table and we also decided to all collectively take May the 4th off to play Star Wars (Hoth).

AWI Scenario: Battle of Freeman's Farm, 1777

I've been busy with work, but more importantly with working on gaming projects.  The LOTR basing continues, printing Helm's Deep (starting to look really cool now), and other projects.

I'm planning to host a game at my place on March 27th - with my rivers shipping from Germany last week I'd like to think (hope) they arrive before the game.  Time will tell.  My plan is to run this scenario below - the battle of Freeman's Farm, 1777.

While there is lots of information out there about the Saratoga campaign and the battle itself - my research shows order of battles are all over the place.  I believe this is partly because at various points in the day reserves are still in reserve or have been committed.  Either way, I've eliminated what I call the "Breymann" option, which is to have a reserve force feeding into Fraser or Hamilton.  Instead of split up the units between the two formations for balance.  Minor liberties have been taken for game balance.

I'll see how this all pans out when we play ... should be an interesting game.

Map and Objectives

Map and starting dispositions are shown below.  

Fraser and Hamilton's brigades march on the table on turn 1.  British player has initiative and takes the first turn.  Riedesel's brigade marches on the table on turn 1 from the road in the upper right corner of the map - all units from Riedesel's brigade are in march column when they enter the table.

Units from Paterson and Nixon's brigades are considered to be in hasty defensive works (cover).

The game lasts 6 turns.

The British objective is to take Coulter Farm (on the left of the map) and Freeman's Farm (central farm), then to secure the heights where Glover's brigade is located.  The American's must attempt to hold Freeman's Farm and the heights.

Each farm is worth 5 Victory Points (VPs) for the British.  Each farm is worth 10 VPs for the Americans at the end of the game if they are either fully in control or even if contested.  Riflemen and artillery units cannot contest these objectives (requires a formed infantry unit).  The Heights are worth 5 VPs for the Americans and 10 VPs for the British.  All standard VPs apply (e.g. units broken, shaken, etc.).

British Order of Battle

C-in-C (Burgoyne)

FRASER

• Grenadier (Large)
• 24th Foot (Grenadier detached)
• 53rd Foot (Grenadier detached)
• Light Infantry (Large)
• Hessian Jagers
• Native Allies
• Native Allies

(Native allies are representing both the native and Canadian allies)

HAMILTON

• 20th Foot (Grenadier detached)
• 21st Foot (Grenadier detached)
• 62nd Foot (Grenadier detached)
• Hessian Grenadiers (Large)
• Hessian Fusiliers (Large)
• Foot Artillery (2 x 6pdrs)

RIEDESEL

• Hessian Regiment (Large)
• Hessian Regiment (Large)
• Hessian Regiment (Large)
• Hessian Regiment (Large)
• Hessian Regiment (Large)
• Foot Artillery (3 x 6pdrs)

American Order of Battle

C-in-C Left Wing (Arnold)

POOR

• Continental Regiment
• Continental Regiment
• Continental Regiment
• Militia Regiment
• Riflemen

LEARNED

• Continental Regiment
• Continental Regiment
• Militia Regiment
• Riflemen

C-in-C Right Wing (Lincoln)

GLOVER

• Continental Regiment
• Continental Regiment
• Militia Regiment (Large)

NIXON

• Continental Regiment
• Continental Regiment
• Foot Artillery (2 x 6pdrs)

PATERSON

• Continental Regiment
• Continental Regiment
• Foot Artillery (2 x 4pdrs)

General Update: 3D Printing, Helm's Deep, LOTR Basing, SW Air Support and Napoleonic Books

I finally got around to **completely** rebuilding the extruder assembly from my first Prusa 3D printer.  A little over a year ago I had a major failure that caused all the extruded PLA to wrap up around the entire assembly.  Took many hours with a blow dryer to get it all off, cutting wires, etc.  It was in bad shape.  I opted at the time to order the parts I needed and a new printer.  I'm happy to report that I now have a small print farm working away on several models.

I'm working through printing off Helm's Deep and making good progress, especially with the second printer now online.  I also have some buildings to print for the excellent Steve Dake - so these printers will be busy for a while.

Here is a quick picture of progress.  Nearly complete the interior wall of the Hornburg.  And good progress on the tower.  A lot still to do ... easily 3ish weeks left of printing with both printers going 24/7.

I just finished assembling and cleaning all the Russian forces I need for Austerlitz.  I got a good start on LOTR basing - got a little side tracked, but getting back to this now.  

I was able to get 2 units of Rohan bowmen done and the dismounted Rohan Royal Guard with command stands for Théodred and Théoden.

Some air support for my Star Wars (Bolt Action) games has been acquired.  Dan Kerrick had more SW aircraft than he needed so I was able to get these extras from him which gives me one for each side.

Napoleonic Books by F. G. Hourtoulle.  These are outstanding if you can get your hands on them.  I constantly use these and the various Osprey Campaign books that are available when designing scenarios or looking for uniform plates (although I have far to many ... or maybe just the right amount, of books on Napoleonic uniforms).

The combination of maps from Osprey books and these books provide excellent detail on how the battles developed.

The single most valuable part of these books is the uniform plates.  There are detailed orders of battle for the armies present as well - but the books cover every unit that was present.  Exceptionally great value for wargamers.

I have all of the books in this series that I'm aware of (for Napoleonic's - other periods have books), covering Eylau/Friedland, Wagram, Borodino, Jena/Auerstaedt, Austerlitz, 1814 and Crossing the Berezina.

That's it for now --- back to the grind!