This article concludes my work on recreating the Battle for Fort George for solo play. In the historical battle, The American forces captured Fort George at the mouth ofthe Niagara River in May, 1813 after landing an overwhelming number of troops on the shores of Lake Ontario. The British and Canadians, after a stout defense, managed to extract the bulk of their soldiers and militiamen who lived to fight another day. In my last article I set out the historical description of the fighting, an order of battle, and some considerations for solo play. This article begins where the last left off.
Initial Analysis
I wanted to command the British side while automating the Americans. In doing so, I wanted a method by which I would learn of the American plan as it unfolded, and not beforehand. I did not want to be able to re-position forces before the historic commander would have known to.
From the American point of view, Major General Henry Dearborn had several courses of action open to him. He had the ability to attack either from Lake Ontario or across the Niagara River. He could make a main attack from the Lake with a supporting attack across the Niagara. Conversely, he could make his main effort across the river with a supporting effort landed on the lake shores.
Either of these would pin down virtually all the defenders so that the British commander, Brigadier General John Vincent, could not shuttle troops from one side to the other. Of course, he could attack with all his forces against either the lake shore or the river. The problem I had to solve from a solo wargamer's viewpoint is that I (acting as Vincent) wanted to learn of Dearborn's plan as it came about.
As I pondered this problem, it came to me that wherever Vincent was located on the battle field, he could decipher at least part of the American plan by the noise he heard. If the Americans tried assaulting across the Niagara, the several British batteries lining the river would open fire immediately, thus signaling an attack from that quarter even if the size of the American effort was not learned until Vincent witnessed it himself or if he was notified by messenger from Lieutenant Colonel John Harvey, commanding the defenders along the Niagara.
Likewise, an attacking force which appeared from the fleet in Lake Ontario would be viewed as a multitude of bateaux filled with infantry. This would draw British fire from the shore and would most likely also be accompanied by American naval gunfire softening up the defenses. Thus, once an American force came into British view, it would prompt gunfire which in turn would notify Vincent where an assault was coming from.
Identify Attacks
With this understanding, I was ready to devise some way to identify American main and supporting attacks. Then I could generate forces for each attack, main and supporting, and finally differentiate among possible landing areas. I referred to my map of the area.
I tried unsuccessfully to devise a way of identifying main and supporting attacks. The problem was that if all the American forces appeared on the wargame table at one time, the suspense was gone and Vincent could make a single decision which would govern the rest of the game. For example, if the main attack was by the lake with a supporting attack well south of Fort George (the historical solution), then Vincent could mass against the main attack and allocate minimal forces against the supporting effort. I wanted more of a challenge.
American Effort
I looked at the American effort in a different light. Instead of defining the American attack as a combination of main and supporting attacks, I looked at it as arriving in two phases. A part of the American force would enter the playing area at some place (phase 1) and at some later time, the remainder would enter at the same or a different point (phase 2). 1 would randomly generate the amount of force and the arrival point for phase I and at some later time, randomly generate the arrival point of the remaining American force. Thus there are four American courses of action (COA):
| COA | Phase 1 | Phase 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Land on Lake Shore | Land on Lake Shore |
| 2 | Land on Lake Shore | Cross Niagara River |
| 3 | Cross Niagara River | Cross Niagara River |
| 4 | Cross Niagara River | Land on Lake Shore |
Of course, the British commander would not know precisely which COA the American had chosen until phase 2 revealed itself. For example, if the Americans used COA 1, the British would see some portion of Americans in landing boats approaching the shores of Lake Ontario and sometime later (phase 2), the rest of the Americans doing the same. The British commander would still have to allocate forces to guard the river because he would not know if the American had chosen COA 1 or 2 until the American second wave was seen on the lake.
Now, in addition to identifying a COA for the Americans, I also wanted some randomness in the numbers of attacking Americans and some variety of where they would land. Thus, I devised th following flow chart.
Game Start
The game starts with the solo player positioning all of his forces. Then go to Step 1.
STEP 1 - IDENTIFY PHASE 1. In this step, the solo player rolls a I D6. On a roll of 1,2, or 3, the Americans attack from their fleet in Lake Ontario. Otherwise, they attack across the Niagara
STEP 2 - GENERATE PHASE 1 FORCES. Now the solo player rolls to determine how much of the American force will be loaded into landing boats.
I figured that a supporting attack would have at least 25% of the American force thus the main attack could have up to 75%. Rolling 1d6 we have the following percentage of forces in the phase 1 attack. How one identifies specifically which units are in which boats is up to the game
-
1: 25%
2: 35%
3: 45%
4: 55%
5: 65%
6: 75%
STEP 3 - GENERATE LANDING BEACH. In this step we identify the specific site at which the American forces are attempting to land. Since there are only two choices for both the lake or river, this is an uncomplicated roll of a 1d6.
- 1-3: site A
4-6: site B
So now I place paper outlines of bateaux in the appropriate places. I figure each bateaux holds 50 soldiers so a 300 man regiment requires 6 bateaux. If the attack comes from the lake, I put out six large outlines of brigs about 1000 yards off shore to represent the American fleet. For simplicity sake, I gave each brig four 12 lb. guns that could be brought to bear on the landing beaches at any given time. The Americans had a lot of carronades but these didn't have the range to support the landings. I placed the bateaux on line with the brigs and ready to start their assault landing. Each turn, the bateaux would move 100 yards closer to shore and therefore it would take 10 turns to reach shore. (My turns represent two minutes of real time so this represents 20 minutes of real time to reach the shore).
If the attack comes across the Niagara River, I place the bateaux along the American shore across from the landing site and 200 yards up river from it (this takes into account the effect of the current in moving the craft down river while crossing). The American need two turns to load into the bateaux and once loaded, can cross the river in four turns. That is a long time when the Royal Artillery is blasting away at you! Each turn, the bateaux move laterally 50 yards down river as well as toward the opposite shore.
STEP 4 - IDENTIFY PHASE 2.
I wrestled with the length of time between phases 1 and 2 and came up with a minimum of 10 turns (20 minutes real time) after the first wave hit the shore. The Americans would want to wait long enough for the British to react to the first wave by sending troops toward the landing but of course, that would be very hard to verify or to coordinate. So I decided to wait until 10 turns after the first wave hit the beach and roll a 1d6 each subsequent turn. On a roll of 1, I started Phase 4.
This step is identical to step 1. The solo player rolls a 1d6. On a roll of 1,2, or 3, the American second wave attacks from Lake Ontario. Otherwise, they attack across the Niagara. Of course, we do not have to generate the phase 2 force because it is everyone who was not in phase 1.
STEP 5 - GENERATE LANDING BEACH. This step is identical to step 3. Since there are only two choices for both the lake or river, this is a roll of a I D6: 1-3 site A; 4-6 site B. Thus, there is a 25% chance that the second wave will follow directly behind the first, but most likely this will not happen.
The Refight
I played this game twice and in both cases it was a real challenge for the British player. This is a summarization of the second go round. I beefed up the British forces somewhat by adding more infantry (several more companies each of green-coated Lincoln militia and Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles). I also gave myself three 12 lb. field guns and limbers so I could move artillery about the battlefield. I simulated the initial bombardment with a simple table using a single decimal die.
| Roll | Results to Americans | Results to British/Canadians |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 gun in battery 1 destroyed. | 1 gun in battery 1 destroyed. |
| 2 | 1 gun in battery 2 destroyed. | 1 gun in battery 2 destroyed. |
| 3 | 1 gun in battery 3 destroyed. | 1 gun in battery 3 destroyed. |
| 4 | 1 gun in battery 4 destroyed. | 1 gun each in batteries 1 and 3 destroyed. One blockhouse in Fort George burned to ground. |
| 5 | 1 gun in battery 5 destroyed. | Breach in east wall of Fort George. 1 gun in battery 2 destroyed. |
| 6 | 1 gun each in batteries 1 and 3 | Breach in east wall of Fort George and destroyed. One blockhouse burned to ground. 1 gun in battery 2 destroyed. |
| 7 | 1 gun each in batteries 2 and 5 | Breach in east wall of Fort George and destroyed. Both blockhouses burned to ground. |
| 8 | 2 guns in battery 1 destroyed. | Both blockhouses in Fort George burned to ground. |
| 9 | 2 guns in battery 3 destroyed. | Breach in east wall of Fort George. 2 guns in battery 2 destroyed. One blockhouse burned to ground. |
| 10 | 2 guns in battery 5 destroyed. | Breach in east wall of Fort George. 1 gun in battery 3 destroyed. One blockhouse burned to ground. |
I rolled a 7 which yielded interesting results. If the Americans landed along the river, they could enter Fort George without too much difficulty. I arrayed the British and Canadian forces evenly on my two wings with a small reserve (including the three field guns) outside Fort George ready to react in either direction. I kept three companies of militia in Fort George, two along the east wall and one in the blockhouse.
Steps 1 through 3 determined that the initial American assault would be across the river at site A with 45% of their force. Each of my three batteries along the river had 1 gun and 1 mortar. The guns would plug away at the bateaux but the mortars would have no chance of hitting a bateaux once it was in the river and moving.
However, they would be useful while the boats were loading along shore. Each gun and mortar fired once each turn. If a boat was destroyed in the river, the entire company of troops would be eliminated with it. The Americans could fire counterbattery or at any troops in the open. I used a decimal die for each British gun or mortar firing. In my scale, each stand (5 figures) represented one company of fifty troops.
| gun vs. boat on shore | gun vs. boat in river | mortar vs. boat on shore | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 -7 | miss | miss | miss |
| 8 | Boat destroyed, troops unhurt | miss | miss |
| 9 | Boat destroyed, troops unhurt | Boat and troops sunk | miss |
| 10 | Boat and troops destroyed | Boat and troops sunk | Boat destroyed, troops unhurt |
The Americans lost two boats (crews unhurt) while loading up on shore but once in the river, the British managed to sink 3 more. These results were probably unrealistic but I was the British so I didn't particularly care. Coming ashore with about six regiments (33 companies), the Americans were met by a blast of musket fire. It took the Americans a full turn to unload and form up on the bank (in three lines of companies no less) so the British enjoyed two full volleys before any return fire. While one regiment failed morale, the other five proceeded inland to join the defenders in hand-to-hand combat. This was bad because the British shore batteries no longer had targets but this didn't matter because two of them were over-run.
After a die roll, I determined that two American regiments shifted direction to assault Fort George while the remainder pushed against my thin line. Finally I got two of the field guns into play so I had a fighting chance outside of the fort. I eventually moved my defenders into the woods south of the Fort and into the stream bed west of it. With this cover, I was keeping the American infantry at bay, however, the assault on Fort George was successful and all the gallant defenders were lost.
Meanwhile, the clock kept ticking and 14 turns after the landing on the river shore, I rolled a 1, requiring me to generate a location for the phase 2 attack. I hoped that the Americans would cross the river at site A, placing them at the foot of the fort which had already fallen. This would leave me an excellent chance of inflicting additional harm on the invaders and still have an unrestricted avenue of escape from the battlefield. Such, however, was not to be and the Americans appeared on the lake, opposite site B. Horrors! If the British left wing failed to hold, their escape was risky.
The good thing about being a solo wargamer is that you can take all the time you want to solve a tactical problem. I decided to use my left wing to contest the second wave of Americans on the beach while I slowly delayed my right wing and reserve westward into the next set of woods and stream bed. Sounded good to me but one of the trickiest maneuvers is delay. Even before the second wave hit the shore, my right wing took heavy casualties and I had to withdraw westward or lose them to the relentless and formidable American attack.
I decided that I could no longer risk my left wing by meeting the second wave of invaders along the beach. Reluctantly I pulled them southward and united both wings by forming a new line (an angle actually) with a wooded area at the apex. Had I been the real General Vincent I would have called it a day and withdrawn, but this solo gamer was determined to fight to the end in a battle that could have only one outcome - total defeat. (We solo gamers can afford to live on the edge.)
The American first wave reformed just out of musket range of my right wing while the second wave of attackers leisurely landed and formed a long, supported line to my north. The assault came like a thunderbolt! Thinned out by horrendous musket fire, the British and Canadians hardly had a chance but were overwhelmed by crushing numbers. It was a glorious defeat I kept telling myself.
Of course, in the historical record, we know that Vincent made good his escape and that his force handed the Americans two resounding defeats in the weeks ahead at Stoney Creek and Beaver Dams. Commodore Chauncey took the American fleet back to his base at Sackett's Harbor when he learned that the British had very nearly captured it in a raid. After that, he was very reluctant to assist the Army which affected operations for the remainder of the war. Eventually Dearborn's invasion army was kept under siege in Fort George until December when they made a hurried and unglorious withdrawal back to New York.
This game kept my interest as the solo mechanism can generate a variety of American attacks and thus force the British/Canadian player to think through his response. The game is clearly weighted against the solo player but that kind of desperate situation can be fun too. At some point, however, the British/Canadian player will come up with a "best solution" and when that occurs, I'll move on to another project. I want to dabble in skirmish gaming with my War of 1812 figures. Anyway, I think that the basic scenario can be adapted to most any amphibious situation in which there is a choice of landing area. So, until next time, good soloing!
Map 1
Map 2
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© Copyright 1999 Hal Thinglum
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