Whites of Their Eyes

AWI Guide

Reviewed by Scott Holder


Written by Bruce McFarland and published by the Canadian Wargamers Group, this guide provides virtually "one stop shopping" for players interested in the American Revolution. It contains history, useful unit information, a description of tactics, a plethora of battles in a wide range of playing styles, a campaign game, AND a stand alone board game.

First, one gets a concise overview of the situadon leading up to the Revolution and a quick account of the strategy that guided both sides through the conflict. The uniform information includes nice detail on the fabrics and quartermaster practices. The guide has the standard chart of British regimental colors and also lists some of the better known Loyalist regiments before they switched to red coats in 1778. All of the German and French regiments are listed.

The American regiments are understandably "generalized" and the guide replicates info found in Mollo. British regimental flags are explained and a number of American flags are drawn. Unfortunately, none of the German or French flags are provided. As mentioned, the strength of the guide are the battle scenarios. All include a regimental listing, it's size for the game, it's morale rating (as a percentage and keyed to CWG's Habitants and Highlanders Rules but this is easily translated into other sets), a map, and any special rules for the specific battle.

Lexington/Concord is depicted as a solo game and was the one I used to playtest. A card deck determined when militia units arrived and how victory points were awarded. It meshed nicely with my attempts as the British commander to move from Lexington to Concord while securing the appropriate buildings. The victory conditions are for the active (British) player to get to Concord and back off the board in 24 turns and have a positive point total. It took me 40 turns to do this. But now I can try to improve on that performance.

But, for a beginner, this would be an ideal way to get started in the period since there are never more than 30 militia or 40 British figures on the table at any one time. Plus, one can fight a traditionally "skirmish" scenario at the company level.

Special rule examples, in this case for Bunker Hill, include limited American militia ammunition and reinforcements, British reactions to getting shot, etc. I've run Bunker Hill a number of times and helped put it on at a Cold Wars and really like the author's treatment of the battle. He has added an element of skill and uncertainty to a battle perceived by many as a mindless bloodbath.

Furthermore, all the battles have special rules that capture the essence of a specific engagement. The other strong element of the scenarios are the treatments of the larger battles: Long Island, Brandywine, Germantown, Saratoga, and Monmouth. I'm very impressed at the author's ability to setup and simulate some of the harder battles, for instance Long Island or Brandywine, and make them playable, albeit on tables around 8x15.

Another plus is that players usually need no more than 200 figures per side for these battles. Brandywine is particularly intriguing in that the scenario is setup on three 8x5 tables and the players engage in a paper map exercise to first see where the battle will occur. Nonetheless, you can still fight Brandywine on a single 8x5 table depending on how the map exercise concludes. Unfortunately, Saratoga is also done this way and I don't think players unfamiliar with the campaign's specific two battles, Freemans Farm and Bemis Heights, will quite know what to do.

The special rules help but most players might have to make up some of the specifics should they want to fight the actual battle and not the last stages of the campaign. Germantown is another intriguing battle and three different types of fog rules can be used, ranging from simply limiting line of sight to an umpiremoderated map exercise where players place units on the table when they are "visible".

Another minor quibble is that the setup for Trenton is provided and the author even admits this battle is hard to make competitive. I would have chosen Princeton instead which was a nice meeting engagement whose outcome was in doubt until Washington harangued the troops from the front line.

The Southern Campaign consists of just two battles, Guilford Courthouse and Cowpens. Their treatment is much simpler than the northern battles but that's because the number of troops were smaller and the battles themselves were "simpler". Hobkirk's Hill and Eutaw Springs were not included and purists might have wanted Camden but these are very minor points. Yorktown, another hard battle to recreate in this period, is included and very well done. The author provides a quick and dirty set of siege rules which work quite well. The game is another map and pencil exercise and when someone decides to assault someplace, then the figures are used. These "mini campaign" tactical exercises really shine.

On top of the battle scenarios, the guide also includes an entire campaign game, at least for the north. The campaign game has a full color map, lists typical information like reinforcements, militia fluctuations, winter quarters, French reinforcements, etc., plus it has a few more neat ideas like Arnold's defection. A guide for using the Avalon Hill game 1776 is also provided. Finally, an entire board game comes with the guide, Citadel of Quebec. A full color map with cutout counters provide a large scale skirmish game (or maybe a company level game) of Arnold's vain assault of Quebec. For the ambitious, you could always duplicate this on the tabletop and use figures. But, again, a difficult battle to play on the table (because it falls between skirmish, company, and regimental size units and scale) is effectively laid out for the player.

At $20, this is one of the best playing aids any AWI player, new or experienced, will ever purchase. The only thing it doesn't have is the miniature rules but if you're experienced, you probably already have a pet set of rules. And if you're new, you can order Habitants & Highlanders for $16 from the same people. To order, add $3 for P&H and send to Canadian Wargamers Group, Box 1725, Station "M", Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2P2L7.

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