Monday 21 February 2011

John Bull - Battle of Queenston Heights 1812

The Battle of Queenston Heights - General Brock is mortally wounded.
STOP U.S. Aggression!!! 
Canada for the Canadians (& the British...)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Queenston_Heights

Here we go then, our first attempt using the 'John Bull' Rules.  Each element is classed as a platoon about 20-50 men.  A group of these make up a  Company, led by a Captain.  A number of Companies make up the force, which in turn is led by an overall leader.  Each element in a Company must be the same & each Captain is represented by a counter.  Turn wise, a die is rolled to see who goes first, moving/firing one Company of choice, then the other player goes.  Continue till all Companies have moved.

Each Captain has a morale value & may have a special characteristic, which has it's effect on the play.  Each Company has all it's stats. printed on a game card, Move/Fire Value/Melee/Morale, so game play is speeded up. Simples!!

Using the Queenston Heights Scenario from Scenarios for The War of 1812, we had a basic game.  It went very well, the game played much quicker than I expected.  For the US forces we went with 4 equal sized Companies.  For the Brits, we had 3 Companies & a Light Field Gun.  All officers were drawn by random.



The US Army - along with Company Cards & Officers



The British & Canadians



The Battle
The British won the initial die roll & opted to move the Light Infantry forward, opening them out into 'Loose' order.  An initial pot shot at the enemy was poor.

The US forces have a go with equally pathetic results.  However the Canadian Troops step forward & 'Wayhey' BLAST away the Yanks.  This results in the loss of a Platoon, and a Morale roll.  This is failed & the Yanks leg it. 

The US Militia moves forward & takes a shot at the Brits, who respond in kind, no result.

That cancels the British units move & the other US Militia moves forward

A new round, the US wins initiative.  The British Company looses the firefight, forcing them to retire one move.  The Canadian Unit changes facing & 'WayHey' another mega die roll sends another US Company packing.

Another failed Morale roll & there off!

Oh dear, the US forces are in trouble....

RUN, FORREST RUN!!!!

One unit off table & another two in full retreat, the Brits take the day...


A nice enjoyable game, the first round was spent leafing through the rulebook, but we soon got the hang of it. We'll need a bigger game board for the next one, in an effort to get some movement before contact.  

Amy enjoyed playing with the 28mm figures as well.  Next time we'll have a go at The Battle of the Raisen River!

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