Mark Miklos for GMT Games GMT will always be associated, I suppose, in the public's mind with GboH but they are not just a series reprint house for the detail-obsessed. Saratoga is good fast game full of historical atmosphere with a good map and counters. If it has a negative to it the subject might not be the hottest of properties outside America but I am sure you will see more of this game system. A game on Brandywine is already in testing. It is very much a battalion-based game and I doubt that it could easily be played with a large battle. I would very much like to see Maida done at this level. Let's start with the topic. The game covers the battle of Freeman's Farm (we won that one) and not the attempt to storm Bemis Heights (we lost that one), although you can go on to try to do just that. The first few turns of the game consist of an approach march by the British where fog and the Initiative can lead to strong replay value. The battlefield runs alongside the Hudson with the Brits having (in principle) two main avenues of attack. The Riparian Route is blocked by Gates' men with breastworks before and on Bemis Heights. The Inland Route (on the British right) runs through Freeman's Farm and the area defending by that meddlesome fellow Benedict Arnold. The map is covered in Joe Youst forest (which will give some hex definition problems) and uses nice big hexes. The counters are simple and uncluttered (how unlike GBoH) by Rodger McGowan using a number of jolly little sprites that really get the atmosphere going. There are German Jäeger, Indians, Provincials, Hessians and the Continental Line is straight off the old Continental Insurance logo. Each unit has a strength and movement factor and a morale modifier. The last of these is very important, as in the clash of infantry lines these minor differences will make all the difference. The Indians have a –2 modifier that fits with their belief in not closing for combat (although they get no "skulking" advantages either) whereas British Grenadiers have (ta-rah-rah) a +2. The use of so many different sprites helps (for example) one to immediately spot the light infantry or the militia. Without going mad this game seeks to emphasise the situation at this battle without getting too generic. Victory is earned by holding key terrain and killing, shattering or capturing units. I cannot comment on balance but my reading of many reports on the Internet leads me to believe that this is not only a balanced game, but also one to which gamers return to test different approaches. The game sequence is simple but effective. Initiative can swap each turn with the Initiative player taking his turn first, so room for the old double-move here. Initiative is morale based and changes as events occur on the field. The Player moves, rallies, suffers defensive artillery fire, has a mutual rifle-fire phase and finally does close combat. Mike Siggins made the point in our game that Saratoga has many figure rules elements and these help to give a firm game. One thing that does happen in Saratoga is that there are quite a few exceptions, and you may miss a number of these in your early playings. For example, fire is not an important element of the game. Much of its effects are subsumed in Close Combat but there are two exceptions: artillery and rifle fire. The latter has the dramatic effect of preventing the former firing in its ZOC as the naughty riflemen pick off the gunners. It is worth halting here to stress that Miklos is no Yankee Doodle Dandy. His units are proficient lime formations and although there are two rifle units Morgan's Rifles can face the fire of the excellent German Jäeger. Movement through the woods is less expensive than it might be thought BUT remember 8.2.2 which doubles movement on roads or tracks. ZOCs are locking and in the case of rifle ZOCs cost extra to enter. There are limitations to American movement depending on the commander. Fire consists of referencing SPs firing against range to hit the target. Dicing on separate tables for rifle and artillery fire then inflicts the damage. Artillery causes retreats, disruption and step losses (some units are double-steppers). Rifles also have the ability to cause an Army Morale Loss if they start winging enough of the officers. If the British can employ their cannons skilfully they can batter an American line into either retreating or attacking. The American guns are immobile in their Bemis Heights entrenchments. Close Combat is a multi-step activity (very miniatures and too complex for a bigger game). You work out the odds, pick your lead unit and play a tactics chit. This all gives you a DRM and you calculate the result. If you do particularly well you earn Momentum chits which can be used for dice re-rolls. The Tactics chits use the old matrix but have some neat extra concepts. Important tactics (like turn flank) require a leader or Morgan's Rifles to be present or adjacent. In addition they may require that there is a flank to turn. The effect of all this detail is a very believable story of close combat. The units charge, retire, skirmish, envelope flanks and behave exactly like the originals. It is all, however, very time consuming. Units that retreat may require further morale die-rolls and of course you get to rally them. Rather neatly the Close Combat rules penalise you for defending or attacking with rifle armed units. The classic advantages and disadvantages being dispensed evenly. The broken nature of the terrain led to units operating in a less than linear fashion that the game models well. I wonder if its wide range of results would work with a big linear battle in the open? However, this may be more a matter of our ignorance of what such a battle was like. The game still strongly advocates the main lesson of linear warfare – avoid presenting flanks. Pretty much everything you do affects Army Morale, which in turn impinges on rallies. The game is excellent in teaching you that getting into combat is a whole lot easier that getting into it. Once you start losing your army can suffer badly as morale saps away. This is not a Richard Berg Bouncy Troops game where they yo-yo back and forth. Once you start losing your Morale reduces and makes it harder to rally the units that might improve Morale. That is pretty much the game. It is computer looping at its best but its size and atmosphere ameliorate the worst effects of that most appalling of conditions. As I have noted it works best with a few units, the bigger battles even of the AWI may prove too taxing, Leuthen would be a horrible experience. It strikes me as the sort of game that is going to appeal to tournament players (possibly without the Fog). Back to Perfidious Albion #98 Table of Contents Back to Perfidious Albion List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Charles and Teresa Vasey. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com