Introduction

Designed by: unattributed
Published by: Tredyffrin Corp., 1976

“What if General Howe’s British forces had attacked General Washington’s Army at Valley Forge? Who could have won the most important battle never fought? Find out as you study the encampment map, scout the defenses, plan the strategy and order your brigades into action.”

Players two to four Age 10 to adult
Playing time 60-90 minutes; also options for abbreviated play
Era: American Revolutionary War (hypothetical battle)
Scale: Tactical
Map scale: No scale given, but the distance from Washington HQ to Ft. Muhlenberg is 10 hexes and artillery has a range of 4 hexes.
Time scale: Play until the opponent's forces are destroyed or surrender.
Unit scale: Units represent brigades with 14 Continental Army brigades representing an effective fighting strength of 11,500 men and 20 British army brigades which represent over 19,000 troops.

Components

Box: Folded cardstock box with a game map designed to fit into the box very tightly, forming a small open area on end of map for playing pieces. The production values are excellent, with wood grain exterior with picture and information inset adjacent to title. Three charts are printed in the inside of the box top: Battle Factor Calculation (terrain by unit type and by distance); Battle Result (CRT ... 53% hold, 19% retreat and 28% destroyed results); and a Brigade Movement chart (a reminder, not a variable).

Map: A map of 14 by 8 hexes in light blue, dark blue, brown and black on white heavy paper cardstock. Map is mounted into box.
Rulebook: One 8 1/2" x 11" sheet folded to make a four page booklet with history, contents list, rules, chrome, play options and glossary.
Counters: 34 plastic playing pieces, 20 of which (red, green, black, yellow and gray) represent the British and 14 (blue, beige and white) represent the Continental Army.
Dice: One six sided white die

Counter Manifest

20 British Army Brigades
11 (red) British infantry, Grenadiers, Fusiliers, and Queen's Rangers
6 (green) Hessian Infantry, Grenadiers and Yagers
1 (black) British Artillery
1 (yellow) British Light Dragoons
1 (gray) German Chasseurs

14 Continental Army Brigades
12 (blue) Armstrong's Pennsylvania Militia Picket Brigade, and 11 infantry brigades from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Virginia
1 (white) Knox Artillery
1 (beige) Light Dragoons

Battle Factors are determined by unit type and distance from attacker, which logically results in 33% to 50% chance of destruction for infantry and dragoons in the open but only 17% to 33% in trenches to no chance of destruction in the redoubt, with retreat or hold being the other, more likely, results.

What the Designer/Publisher says

From the top of the game Box: “Take Alongames ... Educational and fun games to play everywhere! Take Along Games are the big games in the nice to play with size ... compact boxes of fun, education and excitement. Great games to take along wherever you go, to play wherever you are ... home, car, train, plane, hotel, motel, boat, camper, tent, vacation, beach, picnic, park or party. Get all the exciting historic battles, sports and entertainment games in the Take Along Games series.”

Regarding the Historical premise: “THE SCENE: Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Winter 1778. The American Continental Army is encamped here, having arrived December 19, 1777. The combat units of the army consist of fourteen infantry brigades, a picket brigade, an artillery brigade, and a light dragoon brigade. The complement is 28,000 soldiers. However, three infantry brigades of Maryland and New Jersey troops are ‘on command’ in Delaware and New Jersey, and half of the soldiers at Valley Forge are not available for duty. Thousands of men are ill, away on furlough, or too poorly equipped and clothed for combat. The fighting strength of the Continental Army is only 11,500 soldiers.

Britain is in Trouble! The ‘War of the Rebellion’ in America is costing huge sums of money. France has just become an American ally. King George III is tired of General Howe’s inactivity in Philadelphia, but does not order him into action. What if he had? What if King George had ordered General Howe to attack and defeat the American Continental Army? This game of strategy lets you replay history.

The British Army consists of British, Hessian, and Provincial (American Loyalist) soldiers. The army numbers over 19,000 troops. When the British Army attacks Valley Forge, two Hessian infantry brigades remain in the city to prevent Washington brigades in Delaware and New Jersey from recapturing Philadelphia. The British force attacking Valley Forge consists of twenty brigades, numbering 16,500 well fed, well clothed, and well equipped soldiers.

OBJECT OF GAME: To see what might have happened if King George III had ordered an attack. The British must attempt to overrun Valley Forge and destroy the army. The Continentals must defend, destroy, or turn them back.”

What the reviewer says

I have never found a review on this game, and have found only two other persons who have a copy of this game, using internet links and ConsimWorld. However, the final comment on the rules folder is: “This is one of several historic battles, sports and ‘just fun’ games developed by Take Along Games.”

The nifty little box (roughly the same size as the small Avalon Hill book case boxes for Naval War, Little Round Top, etc.) presents well, and seems well designed physically.

Play Value

This little game calls itself a “Revolutionary War Battle Simulation” on the box face, but refers to the hexes as blocks, and uses generic plastic pieces as counters. I have not played this game, but the mechanics of movement and combat look very simple, with road doubling effect on movement as an option instead of a basic rule.

There are no zones of control, and movement can be before or after attacks, while some units can move before and after attacks. Though the box notes that games last 60 to 90 minutes, it has additional options to shorten game play even further. Obviously, this game’s values run toward the game aspect rather than to the simulation. I would anticipate this game playing reasonably well within the realm of its maturity as a game. I value shorter and simpler games as I have aged, and I am intrigued by this little gem. I keep it handy in case I find the right opponent who is willing to have a go.

Collector’s Value

I have been wargaming and collecting for almost 40 years, with the last 15 years as a very serious collector. I have seen only two references to this game in that time, both on eBay. I have been unable to find anyone who can tell me more about this game company or the fate of the other “several historical battles” presented in this format [the only other title listed in the Simulacrum database is Yorktown, and the data are suspect -ed].

I lost the data on the original seller of my game by the time I realized its uniqueness, and the second seller had no information. Not surprisingly, Boone’s (3rd edition) contains no data on this game.

Errata

None known.

Post Script

I would appreciate any information that anyone would have about this game, or any other games that were produced by this company. I think this is a valuable addition to the wargame library of games, and hope there are some others produced as well.

Epilogue

After submitting this article, a review of Valley Forge 1778 was found in Paper Wars 26 (September 1996) by Rich Erwin. Rich goes into some detail about the game itself, and has many good things to say about it, such as: “For such a simple game, it plays much better than you might think. For portability, it beats Favourite Travel Game Operation Konrad, simply because it is much easier to carry around -- a mistake pretty much stays in the box”.

Unfortunately, Rich had no new information about the game, the designer, the publisher, or any other (if in fact there were any other) games in the series. But to give him the last word: “I’d like to believe Tredyffrin was able to produce other small gems.”