I recently ran the Princeton scenario from the P&L rule book and posted the following report on the Patriots and Loyalists e-group. Incidentally, this e-group was founded by our own Great Lakes member Bob French. The URL is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Patriot-Loyalist. We are fortunate that the author of the rules, Scott Holder, is a member of the e-group. Mr. Holder posted some comments in response to my report, and he has graciously permitted them to be appended to my report for publication in The Herald.

On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I ran the Princeton scenario from the Patriots and Loyalists rule book. John Haverstock commanded the Americans; John Montgomery ran the British troops. Neither had played P&L before.

Both armies entered the table in column, per the scenario rules. The first three American brigades (Mercer's, Cadwalader's and Hitchcock's) turned left down the River Road and deployed in the woods to face the British advance from Princeton. St. Clair's brigade did not turn left to follow the rest of the army, but instead continued straight down the road to the east of the orchard. When deployed, the American army resembled a large "L," which threatened the British from two directions.

The British deployed the bulk of their troops facing the American militia in the woods, but were forced to divert one battalion to their left to face St.Clair's brigade. The British line formed a salient to conform generally to the American line, with the angle of their line in the orchard.

The initial volleys favored the British, with Cadwalader's and Mercer's brigades, who were deployed in the woods along the river road, each taking a couple of quick hits. The Americans were able to pull their damaged units out of the front line and replace them with fresh troops. The outnumbered British didn't have the luxury of a reserve, with the exception of the small dismounted cavalry unit, which eventually took position in the orchard. Meanwhile, St. Clair's brigade pushed toward the orchard and the nearby hill. The hardest fighting took place in and around the orchard. It was here that the British line angled, and consequently the Americans were often able to deliver flanking fire against the Redcoats.

After their initial success against the Yankees in the woods, the British fire quickly became less effective. The American morale rolls were very good, with the 10% cover bonus from the woods helping their cause immensely. St. Clair's brigade, conversely, was deployed in the open and soon took a few hits. The British started having problems with their NCO die rolls, and soon the hits began piling up on their units as well. Hand's Pennsylvania Rifles fought a close range battle with the dismounted 16th Dragoons for possession of the orchard. Although the dragoons were pushed out of the orchard, the riflemen eventually accumulated 3 hits and were removed.

After a couple of British units failed morale, the American militia advanced north from the woods to keep the pressure on, while St. Clair's brigade continued their push from the east. Mawhood's brigade finally reached their morale level, and failed their first brigade morale check, thus ending the game with an American victory. None of the American brigades had reached their morale level, although Cadwalader's and Mercer's brigades came close.

Although I lost track of exactly how many turns were played, I think it was around 18 turns. Overall, both players enjoyed the game. They both complained that there were too many die rolls, however. Both players routinely utilized the maximum NCO modifier (20%), and so felt that there should be some way to incorporate the NCO risk without the need for a separate die roll. I'm not sure I agree with their assessment. I really enjoyed running the game. I thought that the rules did a good job of recreating the linear warfare of the period, and it was fun watching the battle unfold, with the slowly marching lines of infantry moving ponderously forward under fire. My impression of the Princeton scenario is that it's a tough one for the British, as they are outnumbered two-to-one. In this particular case, the American deployment took good advantage of their superior numbers, and enabled the entire American army to engage the British from two directions at once. Keeping the militia in the woods helped the Patriot cause as well.

Mr. Scott Holder's responses follow:
by Scott Holder, Patriots and Loyalists author

Regarding the comment about too many die rolls:

A complaint that comes up from time to time and was actually considered at length during the final playtesting phases. One reason the rolls are needed is that not all units, all the time, actually "need" the 20%. Play battles with some of the British elite troops, like the Guards or Fusileers or converged Grenadiers, etc., (units with base 90% or 100%) and you'll find that often you only add 4% of the NCO. So it can make a difference. In abattle like Princeton where most everybody is average, it can seem like endless NCO throws.

Having said that, one way to get around lots of die rolls is to simply assume the 20% NCO addition and first make the unit roll (without bothering to add up all the factors). If it looks close to what you expected, then add up the factors. If it's not, assume it passed and then just re-roll again real quick for the NCO. Experienced P&L players (what few of us there are) do this all the time. That way you're still rolling twice but it's in quick succession.

I tried and tried and tried to find a way to squish the sequence so as to avoid just what some of your players disliked. I just couldn't come up with a mechanism that worked. All suggestions are welcome :)

Regarding play balance of the Princeton scenario:

I've probably run Princeton maybe a dozen times now and it's evenly split in terms of who wins. The British are outnumbered and actually they're order of march can often times dictate how well they do. Generally, I see them lose when the artillery isn't in the front of the column. Also, the British generally lose if they continue to move forward to engage the Americans. Yeah, the scenario dictates a certain amount of that but if the British simply deploy after spotting the Americans, and then wait for the battle to come to them, they generally win. One time the British side simply turned tail and ran back into town and setup a defensive perimeter from there. Poor Americans never had a chance!