An Army of Professionals

AWI Scenario Book

Reviewed by Alan M. Coughlin

American War of Independence Scenarios for Busy People

Every so often, something out of the ordinary comes along in the hobby press. This 68-page gem of scenarios for the American War of Independence, created by Robert L. Haworth, is one of them.

Preparing a good scenario for a club or group game is very much a hit or miss proposition. If your club is like mine, you are going to have a wide range of interests and tastes, which are often hard to satisfy so that all have an enjoyable evening of gaming. While much of the satisfaction of any game is dependent on the rules themselves, bad or over ambitious scenarios will do more to ruin a game than any set of rules ever could.

This volume of scenarios admirably takes care of that part of the equation. As for rules, if we stopped arguing about them, the hobby would stagnate.

According to the author, "variety" was a major goal and this has been accomplished. Battles cover both the early and late war years and provide a wide range of tactical situations including raids, river crossings, assaults, as well as stand up conventional battles. Operations in both the Northern and Southern theaters are included. Most of the battles assume units with a 1:10 or 1:20 figure ratio. As such, these scenarios can be used with almost all of the rule sets currently available or hidden deep in our archives of rules collected over the years.

Each scenario is complete. Along with the general situation, it provides an adequate (for wargames) map and terrain notes. Troop rosters and unit evaluations are generally realistic and historical. Any special rules or notes pertaining to the actual battle are provided. The victory conditions for both sides are straightforward and well thought out.

Perhaps even more important, each battle can be fought on a 4 x 6 table with 1-2 people per side, although a larger table may be in order for when using the newer 25mm figures. Since all are designed to come to a definite conclusion in seven or eight game turns they are perfect for a single evening of gaming.

In summary, this is a useful and reasonably priced addition to the library of any gamer. Although it won't win any awards for graphics, it is a well designed and laid out. The author has done a professional job of writing and producing a work that anyone would be proud to call his own. He is to be congratulated. I would recommend this work to any musket period gamer without hesitation. I look forward to his next work.Available from: Stenhouse Game Productions,P. O. Box 92. McLean, VA 22101-0092. E-Mailto: Stenhousegames@hotmail.com! $13.95, postpaid.

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