Battle of South Woods: a War of 1812 Wargame

       For this wargame, I used my own army selection chart that I made up. On it there are 10 different possible unit combinations, with 7 different unit classifications. The units are based on Command & Colors, Tricorne units. I also used the terrain selection cards mentioned last posting. I used ideas from 3 different rule sets, and did change some of the rules mid game. If I continue to work on this project, I will have to start writing down the rules as played.

The four terrain cards are selected.

The battlefield layout. After the terrain is put down, I roll for who gets which side, based on what the best  use of terrain would be for the winner. The British won the roll, and chose to enter the field from the bottom of the picture.

The board layout, with the US army on the bottom of the picture. The US army is made up of (from the left) 2 Regular infantry units, artillery, light infantry unit, 1 regular infantry, and 1 uniformed militia unit.
The British at the top, are made up of (from the left) 1 militia unit, 1 regular infantry, 2 uniformed militia, artillery, and 1 regular unit. Uniformed militia are equal to Provincial infantry in C&C,T. I see them as better trained militiamen.

After the first move.

The American light infantry moves ahead of the army and enters the woods. The British uniformed militia also enter the woods.

The militia in the woods get on the flank of the US light infantry and kills one; one of the regular infantry units comes under the British artillery and loses one man.

The US light infantry drives back one militia unit.

Closeup of the above picture. At this point I made a mistake. using C&CT unit rules, this unit should have retreated two spaces. Of course, being a game to feel out rules, it was to be expected.

The British kill another light infantryman, and  drives the artillery and one infantry unit back.

The British lose two more uniformed militiamen from the fire of the light infantry. The British also lose two more infantrymen and a gunner. A US regular unit moves up to support the light infantry.

The uniformed militia in the woods moves behind the light infantry. The light infantry is eliminated in the crossfire. Meanwhile the regulars come under British artillery fire and loses a man.

On the US left, the British militia turns and runs (using the C&CT rules, militia retreats three spaces for each flag rolled.) The regulars enter the woods.

The Americans now attack the uniform militia unit. The British general was with this unit. I rolled one flag and one crossed swords. The militia retreated off the field. I decided to roll another dice; if crossed swords came up the general was killed. I rolled crossed swords! The British militia on the American left was forced to retreat again. In most C&C games if a unit reaches it's back line and still have to retreat, they lose one man for each space it can't retreat. For me it seems the militia would just keep on retreating, so that's what they did.

The British now concentrated their units towards the woods, and caught the infantry in the woods  between three fires.

The Americans were driven from the woods.

The British now form a line in the woods.

The Americans attack the woods. The uniform militia pushes their way into the British center. Meanwhile, the British militia loses two more men. 

The British catch the militia in a crossfire, and pushes them out of the woods and also off the field! The British rolled two flags; uniformed militia retreats two spaces per flag. 

One British unit moves forward, and catches one regular unit on the flank. The unit is wiped out.

The Americans attack the woods and kill another militiaman.

The Americans drive the militia out of the woods.

The British counterattack and kills two infantrymen.

At this point the British holds the woods. The next initiative goes to the British. The Americans break off their attack and retreats.                                                                                                                                                              

This game was played in the bedroom near the window for natural light.  If I continue with this project, I am going to try to narrow down the number of units. On my chart now there are 7 different units. I am thinking of consolidating Light Infantry(and Indians) and rifles; and uniformed militia and militia. If light infantry or militia is chosen, perhaps dice rolls would decide what kind of units they are. I am looking to make a smaller chart. My current chart has 10 different unit combinations. These combinations were just thrown together with little thought of balance.
I also ran into the problem that I didn't have figures for some of the chosen units. I ended up using some of my 1st generation AWI Minifigs. Once again, if this project goes on I will need to paint up more units.