1.0 Campaign Game Sequence:
Yearly turns (start 1812 and go to 1816 or victory)
Winter Season only
Allocate new commanders to the theater.(6.1)
Roll for attrition of out of supply British units and all American
units.(5.3)
Remove all Indian units
Spring and Summer seasons only
Allocate new units to the theater (2.1 and 9.0.)
Roll up American regiments and place them (2.3 and 9.0)
Roll for Indians (2.2)
Fall season and all other seasons
Place British reinforcements (2.1 )
Designate ship building operations(2.4)
Place completed ships in ports (2.4)
Naval war of commerce computed (7.0)
Compute victory conditions (3.0)
Conduct monthly moves (4.0)
Monthly Moves
Determine supply status of all units and attrition (5.0)
Side a makes initiative checks and moves units (6.2 and 4.1) Fight any battles A desires (4.2)
Side A makes initiative checks and moves units Side B makes initiative checks and moves units Fight any battles either desires
Side A makes initiative checks and moves units Side B makes initiative checks and moves units Fight any battles B desires
Side B makes initiative checks and moves units Side A makes initiative checks and moves units Fight any battles either desires
Side B makes initiative checks and moves units Go to next monthly move
On third month go to next season's move
2.0 Troops and Unit Creation
2.1 The British can use a variable reinforcement rate for regulars or the historic rate. See paragraph 9.0 below for historic reinforcement.
2.2 Both sides should have access to the Indian tribes on the frontier. The British should have an advantage. The strength the tribe should also vary. even the largest tribes fielded less than 500 men. You can also include restrictions and modifications of the die roll such as if tribe A rolls for the British then add three to the U.S. roll for tribe B (see the Indian activation tables V and VI and Indian territory map 11). You can also use a table to determine the participation level of the tribe in any battles by rating the tribes and assigning a table for each rating that is rolled just before each battle to determine the percentage of the tribe that actually fights (see the table III below)
2.3 You could use a similar table for militia units if you want to create problems for the Americans which historically did occur. American militia and regulars should also have a variable quality and quantity production system. Each area or state should have an intrinsic militia value that gives it a range of call out strengths. Militia units and Regulars can be rolled up on Table I and Table I I at the start of the Spring and Summer Quarters. Raising regular and volunteer American regiments is also done by region and the strengths of these also vary. All US regular, volunteer and militia units will vary in quality and training,. use Table 11 to determine the quality for each regiment raised.
2.4 Ship building and fitting can also be determined by table. The British can deploy ships to the western Atlantic but they should lose victory points for any land and sea units brought into North America (Use Table IV below).
3.0 Victory points
I suggest that a victory point system be used for the British in a campaign. Give the British player the troops on hand at the start of the war and 100 victory points. The British player may then bring non-historic units into the fray and pay for them with victory points. Or he may elect to bring in historic units a season earlier a season earlier and pay one half the cost below for each season the unit arrives early.
Take away three points for every regiment and one for every battery and ten points for every naval squadron (20 ships, for example, 10 ships of the line four frigates and six sloops or fourteen ships of the line with two frigates and two sloops and two brigs) used to reinforce North America. Victory points can also be assigned to various geographic locations such as Detroit (10) or Plattsburg (5). Take or give these as need be, remember that American capture of British locations should cost the British points. You can also give points for successful raids, say half the points rounded down. Losses in battle should cost the British player victory points. Likewise a win should give him points. If the British Victory points drop below zero then Britain sues for peace or if they go to 200 the Americans lose. Otherwise, its a draw.
4.0 Movement
4.1 Movement of units depends on the scale of the maps used. For a number of reasons operations were very slow in the war. The assembly of armies and forces for campaigns took months and once operations started the forces moved along lines that allowed them to be supplied. Ten miles a day along these routes is historic, through the wilderness areas 5 miles a day for a full army, ten miles a day for light units. See Map III for a rough idea of the terrain conditions in North America in the period.
Open and Developed areas permit supply and forage as well as easy movement. Movement in developed areas is along roads only. All other areas should be treated as wilderness. River and coastal movement is permitted in all areas. Allow one month to gather boats and then move the force at 20 miles a day in coastal areas, 25 miles a day down stream and 15 miles a day up stream.
4.2 Battles are generated when two opposing forces are in the same area within 5 miles of each other with no intervening terrain and one or both commanders who have the option wish to attack.
4.3 The battle will be a meeting engagement if both wish to fight. The baffle will be a defensive action if only one commander chooses to attack. Either side can attempt an ambush if the tactical rules played allow it.
5.0 Supply
5.1 Supply was another problem, to avoid bookkeeping I recommend that units be treated as being in supply if they can trace a line of supply to a major city or port. This line of supply should be no more than 50 miles overland, unlimited on water ways, and 20 miles in wilderness. The supply line should be designated and marked.
If the line is interdicted by enemy units or by the loss of control of a Lake or water-way then the player must reestablish the line by regaining control or establish a new line at the rate of five miles a day over land and 25 miles a day over water. If a unit or army is out of supply for one week it looses 5% of its strength, on the second and every successive week out of supply it will lose 10%. The owning player decides from where the losses will come.
5.2 Communications follow the lines of supply. Messages travel the line at the rate of 40 miles a day. Instantaneous communications should be prohibited and units will move according to the last instructions received towards that objective. (see map 111).
5.3 Attrition occurs to American units during the winter season. At the start of the season roll one D6 for each unit and multiply the result by ten. The product is the percentage of loss suffered by that unit. If the unit is in a town subtract one from the die roll. If the unit is in the wilderness add two to the die roll. If the unit is militia add three to the roll. If the unit is out of supply add two to the die roll. Militia dropping to twenty percent or less are de-activated. In the spring turn the American player can add troops raised to flesh out regular units and can re-roll the militia units.
6.0 Leaders
6.1 Leaders and commanders are created each year. The British can have up to six army commanders and one Indian commander and one Indian commander in the North American Theater. The British get three commanders and one Indian commander free and must pay one victory point for each additional army commander sent to North America. Army commanders must be present to initiate offensive actions. Garrisons do not require commanders. Commanders lost in action can be replaced by creating new commanders from the army or sending from England.
6.2 Each commander has an assigned initiative rating that is used to move his army. The commander rolls a D6 and if the roll is less than his initiative roll the army may start to move. Once the army is moving it will only need to re-roll initiative when any of the following takes place:
It meets an obstacle, a river or lake.
It moves out of supply
It is blocked by enemy forces.
6.2.1 Commanders can influence battles with their initiative value as well The opposing commanders add a D6 roll to their initiative value if the result is two times the opposing commander's result, the winner may attempt an ambush or surprise attack. If an ambush is attempted then the ambusher rolls one D6 if the roll is higher than the opposing commander's initiative value the ambusher may place his units within musket range of his opponent's units after his opponent has placed 90% of his units on the table. After the attacker/ambusher has deployed his units the defender may place his last 10% outside musket range in a reserve location. The battle begins with the attacker's fire phase. If a surprise attack is attempted the procedure is the same with the exception that the defender places 80% of his units and the attacker places all of his before the last 20% of the defender's units are placed as above. The presence of Indians on the defender's side adds one to his initiative value. If more than two commanders are present with a force the senior of the two uses his value for the force.
6.2.2 The British commanders start with an initiative of four and the British CIC assigns each a rank and designates their commands. At that point the British player can attempt to up-grade the commanders. The commanders can remain rated four initiative or the British player can roll for each in an attempt to improve his initiative. A D6 roll of 4 or or 5 increases the initiative to five, a roll of six increases it to six. However, a roll of one will reduce the initiative to two. Any other result will leave it at four.
6.2.3 The American player also gets commanders. They are ranked and assigned commands as above. The American commanders start with an initiative of three. The American commanders can be up-graded as we the British except that the Americans subtract two from the D6 roll in 1812 and add two to the D6 roll in 1813 and 1814. The Americans start with re commanders in 1812. The Americans can add three commanders each year but can not replace lost commanders.
6.2.4 Sea commanders work the same way as land commanders except that the British officers start at an initiative of three and the Americans start with an initiative of four. The British start with one commander and may add up to five a year free. The Americans start with three commanders and may add two a year. Initiative changes are rolled for as above . The British must pay one victory point for each naval commander allocated to the great lakes or inland water ways.
6.3 Players may elect to use historical commanders but this makes the game too structured for my taste. I recommend rolling up the commander's quality after he is in the field. This makes it a lot more interesting.
7.0 War at Sea
7.1.1 Each season of the war the British must under go the American Guerre du Course. The American player may allocate warships to this war on commerce. Each month, for each 60 points of gun value he allocates to the war on commerce, the British lose five victory points, if all American ports have not been blockaded and two points if they have been. The American also rolls for variable British losses from organized American piracy and multiplies the D6 roll by five. This is the number of victory points lost by the British during that season. If the British have blockaded American ports subtract half the number. For every squadron of naval units assigned to convoy duty subtract five points. The British must pay in victory points for forces allocated to convoy duty. Once assigned to convoy duty the squadron remains on that duty for the remainder of the war and the British must repay the cost for the squadron each winter season until the war ends.
7.1.2 The British blockade the American ports by assigning naval squadrons to each section of the coast. There are ten coastal areas. Each coastal area requires one half squadron to blockade it.. The coastal areas from north to south are: Maritime Canada, Northern New England, Southern New England, New York, New Jersey Coast, Delaware Bay, Chesapeake Bay, The Capes, Charleston Coast, and the Gulf of Mexico. The American Navy can attempt to break the blockade by forcing an action with the British units on blockade duty. If the Americans win the battle then the blockade is lifted and the Americans get all the points for the War on Commerce for that month.
You can use naval rules and fight it out in miniature, use a game like Wooden ships and Iron Men, Or you can abstract it by assigning one point per ten guns on the side. Add the commander's initiative rating and a D6 result, highest total is the winner. Remember that the British may only have half a squadron in the area and have a 50% chance that the commander will be in the area if that is the case. The Americans need only open one area to end the blockade.
More War 0f 1812 Campaign Game
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