1. Introduction. The system I am presenting to you is based upon FIRST TEAM VIETNAM The Air Cavalry in Action (The Wargamer No 56). Those familiar with this game will find it easier to comprehend the following rules system. The British are played by the solo player while the American operations are covered by a complete solo system. American armies (counters) can be either in a Location box on the Off-Board Movement Chart (OB) where they are safe from British attack or in a hex on the actual game board (GB) where they are vulnerable to being engaged. They rotate from one to the other depending on British Scouting, American Contact and American Evading .
2. The Off-Board (OB) Movement Chart. "1776" is played on a 16" X 44", four section, full colour mapboard depicting colonial America from Quebec to Georgia. For game purposes, the thirteen colony-states are divided into five sections called Strategic Areas (Canada, New England, Middle States, South Central & Deep South). Canada is not a true strategic area in the game rules but functions as one in the solo rules.
For solo play purposes, I have further divided each Strategic Area into Locations (0,5,10 & 15). Location 0 is an area of wilderness where American armies cannot attack or be scouted. Locations 5, 10 and 15 designate the minimum number of American strength points required to operate in that location. Adjacent locations are connected to other locations by a D6 Randomiser for American army movement. Each location is further divided into a number of towns (2,3 or 4).
Each town has an American attack Priority rating, either Ist Priority (1), 2nd Priority (2), 3rd Priority or No Priority (-) for armies in that location. A priority town is a strategic town either held by a British garrison or with a British force within one move of that town. A randomiser is also allotted to each town for British Scouting purposes.
| The OB Movement Chart Table (Refer to the map) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strategic Area | Location | Town | Priority | Scout |
| Canada | 10 | Montreal Oswego Trois Rivieres |
1 - - | 1-2 3-6* 3-6* |
| 15 | Quebec | 1 | 1-6 | |
| New England | 0 | Maine | - | - |
| 5 | Norwich Fort Western | 1 - | 1-4 5-6 | |
| 10 | Hartford Springfield | 1 2 | 1-2 3-6 | |
| 15 | Boston Newport | 1 2 | 1-4 5-6 | |
| Middle States | 0 | Adirondack Mountains | - | - |
| 5 | Staniwax Wyoming Owega | 1 2 - | 1-3 4-5 6 | |
| 10 | Albany Ticonderoga Unadilla | 1 2 - | 1-2 3-5 6 | |
| 15 | New York Philadelphia Easton Constitution | 1 2 - - | 1 2-3 4 5-6 | |
| South Central | 0 | Allegheny Mountains | - | - | /TR>
| 5 | Charlottsville Lynchburg | 1 - | 1-4 5-6 | |
| 10 | Alexandria York | 1 - | 1-4 5-6 | |
| 15 | Norfolk Petersburg Richmond | 1 2 3 | 1 2-3 4-6 | |
| Deep South | 0 | Blue Ridge Mountains | - | - |
| 5 | Ninety-Six Salisbury | 1 - | 1-4 5-6 | |
| 10 | Camden Augusta Hillsboro | 1 2 3 | 1-2 3-4 5-6 | |
| 15 | Charleston Savannah Cross Creek | 1 2 - | 1-3 4-5 6 | |
| * Oswego if entered from Middle States Trois Rivieres if entered from New England | ||||
3. Solo Set-Up at Start. April 1776
* Replaces Campaign Simulation Game January 1776 Set-Up. At Start, April 1776
| British | American |
|---|---|
| Canada Quebec: 1/BR,3/TM,1/S,1/A,1/F,3/B | Canada Montreal: 1/CA, 4/RM, 1/M, 1/F |
| New England Boston: 18/BR,1/TM,1/M, 1/A,(E),1/BF,1/TR | New England LOC 15: 17/CA, 5/RM, 1/RMd, 1/S, 1/A Norwich: 5/CA, 1/S, 1/F |
| Middle States New York: 7/BR, 2/S, 1/A, 1/BF, 1/TR Fort Staniwax: 1/TM, 1/TMd, 3/I, 1/F | Middle States Ticonderoga: 3/CA, 2/RM, 1/M, 1/A, 1/F |
| South Central Norfolk: 1/TM, 2/TMd, (E) | South Central LOC 5: 3/CA, 1/RM, 1/RMd, 1/S |
| Deep South Ninety-Six: 3/TM, 2/TMd, 1/F | Deep South Charlseton: 2/CA,4/RM, 1/M, 1/A, 1/F |
| At Sea None | At Sea The Continental Navy (CN) |
| * See rules for meaning of abbreviations. | |
4. Battle/Raid/Evade (BRE) Checks. An American Army will Battle (B), Raid (R) or Evade (E) depending on a randomizer. A BRE number from 2 to 5 (the higher the number, the more aggressive the Americans) is generated dependant on the ratio of American SP to British SP as follows:
| Ratio (American:British) | BRE Number |
|---|---|
| 6:1 | Auto Elimination |
| 5:1/4:1/3:1 | 5 |
| 2:1/3:2 | 4 |
| 1:1/1:2 | 3 |
| 1:3 | 2 |
| 1:4 | Evade Check |
| Modifiers to the BRE Number | |
|---|---|
| +3 | In December 1780 |
| +1 | Per friendly Artillery vs Fort or Entrenchment |
| +1 | Regulars vs Militia |
| +1 | In Entrenchment |
| -1 | Per enemy Artillery in Fort or Entrenchment |
| -1 | Militia vs Regulars |
| -1 | vs Entrenchment |
| -1 | Only 1 Supply |
| -2 | In Winter |
Battle/Evade (BE) Checks:
An American Army will Battle (combat) if it rolls the BRE number or less on a D6. Otherwise check for evasion.
An American Army will Evade from the GB it it then rolls a D6 and scores over the BRE number. Deduct one for each Light Infantry (see (6)), Dragoon or Indian SP in the British Force. If the American Army evades, place the counters in the appropriate location box on the OB Movement Chart.
Battle/Raid (BR) Checks: An American Army will battle if it rolls a D6 and scores less than the BRE number. If the roll is equal to the BRE number the American Army will carry out a raid.
Battle (B) Checks: An American Army will battle it it rolls the BRE number or less on a D6.
* Refer to this section when the (BE), (BR) and (B) checks are requested in the solo rules.
5. Solo Turn Sequence * Replaces Campaign Simulation Game Turn Sequence.
-
A Scouting Phase
B Movement Phase
C Combat Phase
D Contact Phase
E Off-Board Movement Phase
F Movement Phase
G Combat Phase
6. British Scouting
To determine if the British player manages to scout a location and thus find out in which Town hex, or adjacent hex if British occupied, the American army actually is, use the following procedure for each location where British forces are available and a scouting attempt is required.
Work out the scouting strength of all British forces who occupy any of the town hexes which constitute the location.
For scouting purposes, One British regular strength point (SP) in Ten (round down) is presumed to be 1 SP of British Light Infantry (L).
Add up the number of British Light Infantry SP, Dragoon SP and Indian SP present in each town hex in the location. Add one for each American Raid carried out last turn in the location. This total is the British scouting strength in the location.
To determine if scouting is successful, The British player must roll the scouting strength number or less on a D6. Then roll another D6 and refer to the Scouting column on the OB Movement Chart Table and cross reference to the town specified.
Remove the American army scouted from the OB and place the stack on the GB in, or within one hex, of the town rolled, using the following priorities.
1) Inside a friendly fort in the town hex, if British forces not present.
2) In the town hex, if British forces not present.
3) Within one hex of the town hex if British forces present.
Thus the American army's actual hex location has been determined and this force may now be engaged in combat.......Unless it evades that is!
7. British Movement
If a British force enters an American occupied hex on the GB during movement, the American army must carry out a (BE) check.
A British force which contains less than 5/SP, does not move by Bateau, or end its move in a Town hex, can be raided by the Americans. Each eligible force will be raided on a (D6) 1-2 at the end of the movement phase. Refer to (11) Roll on the Raid Table without any modifiers. This raid is carried out irrelevant to whether there are any American SP in the vicinity (location) or not.
8. British Combat
For Defender-lnitiated Combat and Multiple Combat purposes an American army must carry out a (B) check to initiate or continue combat. Re-loll (B) after any combat if the BRE number changes to a lower number.
9. American Tactical Combat. For Tactical Combat purposes, the British player chooses a tactical card for his force and then rolls a D6, modifies the score, and refers to the following chart to find out what tactical card his American opponent will use against him.
| American Tactical Combat Chart | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ratio | Frontal | Recon | Enfilade* | Refuse* | Stand | Withdraw |
| 6:1 | Automatic Elimination | |||||
| 5/4/3:1 | 3- | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8+ |
| 2:1/3:2 | 2- | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7+ |
| 1:1/1:2 | 1- | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6+ |
| 1:3 | 0- | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5+ |
| 1:4 | Evade Check | |||||
| *D6: 1-3 Left , 4-6 Right | ||||||
If an American Army manages to withdraw, it Evades to the OB.
Modifiers to the American Tactical Combat D6
-
-3 In December 1780
-1 Per friendly Artillery vs. Fort or Entrenchment
-1 Regulars vs. Militia
-1 In Entrenchment
+1 Per enemy Artillery in Fort or Entrenchment
+1 Militia vs. Regulars
+1 vs. Entrenchment
+1 Only 1 Supply
+2 In Winter
10. American Contact. Carry out a (BR) check for each American Army in a location on the OB. Refer to the OB Movement Chart Table. Check each town in the following order until the (BR) succeeds on a priority or all rolls fail.
-
1 Priority with a fort*
2 1st Priority
3 2nd Priority
4 3rd Priority
* Use town priority if more than 1 fort present in the location.
If a battle ensues from the (BR) check place the American Army on the GB in the town hex. Battle is automatic against the first priority checked (no die roll necessary) in the December 1780 turn. If a raid is to be attempted leave the American Army on the OB and carry out the raid.
11. American Raiding
| D6 | British Losses |
|---|---|
| 2 or less | None |
| 3-4 | 1/SP -LOSSES |
| 5 | Z/S (if present) |
| 6 or over | 1/SP and 1S (if present) |
Modifiers
-
+1 for each American Dragoon SP in army
-1 British in Entrenchments
-2 British in a Fort
Any British magazines which suffer a I/S loss are reduced to supply unit status.
Any unescorted British Artillery, Bateaux, Supply Units or Magazines left in a hex after a raid are automatically captured by the Americans.
12. American Off-Board Movement
The Americans will always maintain one army per area and one garrison for each fort in the area.
If an American army does not move on the OB, it is presumed to be entrenched if scouted by the British.
American armies either move UP one location on the OB (O to 5, 5 to 10 or 10 to 15) or Down one location (15 to 10, 10 to 5 or 5 to O).
Detachments automatically move one location towards the American Army in the area.
If an American army does not have any priority targets above its present position then it will not go Up 1 unless a French Battle Fleet has been deployed in a higher location.
An American army will destroy a Fort it occupies if in location 15 before moving Down 1.
An American army will build a Fort if SP and material available before moving Down 1 from location 10 or 5.
The requirements for an American army to build a fort are having one extra SP (CA or FR), one extra Artillery and one extra Supply in the army to build the fort plus a minimum of 5 SP available as a garrison, together with a further one extra Artillery and one extra Supply if available.
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