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Battle of White Plains

2022-12-27T10:38:59-05:00

Vendor: GMT Games
Type: Board Games
Price: 52.46

Designer	Mark Miklos
Publisher	GMT Games
Players	1-2
Playtime	60 mins
Suggested Age	14 and up
Additional Info	340428/battle-white-plains http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/340428/battle-white-plains/forums/63

Most authors relegate the Battle of White Plains to a short paragraph when recounting the New York Campaign of 1776. As the last field battle of that campaign, however, it deserves closer study. Volume 10 in GMT’s award-winning Battles of the American Revolution series by designer Mark Miklos provides such a much-needed analysis.

The game includes three scenarios: the historical fight for Chatterton Hill, an October 31 scenario that explores what might have occurred if Howe had pressed his grand assault that day as planned, and a full four-day campaign game spanning 42 game turns beginning with the arrival of the British army on the field on the morning of October 28 and culminating at 5:00 pm on October 31.

Each player has 26 Opportunity Cards subdivided into three decks to enhance play and add elements of variability and historical flavor. As with previous games in the series, some special rules represent the unique circumstances of this battle. Among these are rules governing American sortie restrictions and tactical doctrine, rain game turns, restoring army morale, scorched earth, and additional handicaps for American militia, American fieldwork construction, and an off-board movement mechanism for Tarrytown on the Hudson River, seven miles away where British ships lay at anchor. Even Washington’s own combat prowess at this early stage of the war is randomized.

In Volume 10 of the Battles of the American Revolution series, players command two titanic armies: Washington, desperate to salvage something from the otherwise disastrous defense of New York, and Howe seeking a coup de grâce against the “Old Fox.” You will have to manage your forces over the span of four days with lots of inclement weather to contend with. Can you, as General Howe, break through the American line to deliver a decisive blow and end the rebellion? Can you, as General Washington, hold your own on superior ground, hampered as you will be with some 6,700 militia of dubious quality—fully 46% of the total American force?

The Battle of Rhode Island

2020-04-22T22:29:23-04:00

Vendor: GMT Games
Type: Board Games
Price: 59.95

Designer	Mark Miklos
Publisher	GMT Games
Players	2
Suggested Age	16 and up
Additional Info	240906/battle-rhode-island http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/240906/battle-rhode-island/forums/63

The Battle of Rhode Island is volume 9 in GMT’s Battles of the American Revolution series by designer Mark S. Miklos. The map board depicts the northern half of the island including the fortified American positions around Butt's Hill. There are 64 America, British and Hessian combat units and leaders giving the game a counter density comparable to Saratoga in the series. Although the tactical situation is somewhat straightforward; Americans retreating and British pursuing primarily up two main roads, the nuanced play and game texture is like that found in all the games of the BoAR series.

To ensure replay-ability, each player has a unique deck of 26 Opportunity Cards that either enhance his side or diminish the enemy. Cards are drawn at-start and occasionally throughout play as governed by the turn track. There are also mechanisms for card draw tied to accumulated casualties or the possession of terrain objectives. Players may also spend Momentum to purchase additional cards.

The cards themselves may provide DRMs, adjustments to Army Morale, leader replacements, tactics advantages, step losses or step recovery, and additional units introduced into play among other outcomes. There is also the possibility of the game being extended one game turn into "night" wherein the British launch a surprise night attack. There are only a handful of Exclusive Rules to provide chrome including a squadron of British warships which may conduct off-shore bombardment. Players familiar with the core game system will be off and running in no time.

As a bonus, volume 9 will include a second scenario; The Battle of Newport. This hypothetical scenario features a second map board depicting the southern half of the island, the city of Newport and the British defensive works that surrounded it as well as the American siege lines. The French army is presumed to have stayed on the island to cooperate in a direct assault upon the town. It will make for a fascinating "what-if" study of the first attempt at cooperation in the war by Franco-American forces.

—description from the publisher

Newtown

2018-03-28T19:28:17-04:00

Vendor: GMT Games
Type: Board Games
Price: 34.95

Designer	Don Hanle Mark Miklos
Publisher	GMT Games
Players	2
Playtime	150 mins
Suggested Age	12 and up
Additional Info	114530/newtown http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/114530/newtown/forums/63

Volume VIII introduces several new features to the core series rules in order to portray the unique aspects of Indian combat in the 18th century.

Newtown includes a three-tiered movement system that simulates the individual nature of Indian warfare. Small war parties often acted according to their own will rather then following orders from “commanding officers.”

The game includes two decks of opportunity cards. Each player starts the game with one card and, while the Indian player can “earn” one more by actions taken in the game, the American player may use momentum to “purchase” additional cards throughout the game.

Pre-game Indian Enhancement and limited American intelligence help provide play balance to an outnumbered Indian army. Optional Indian reinforcements are also available.

Newtown also includes rules for Indian honor, resolve under artillery fire, ferocity and evasion.

In Oriskany, the Indian player’s secret pre-game selection of the ambush hex and the American player’s turn-by-turn choice for Herkimer’s rate of march will have profound effect on the course of play. Proximity to Ft. Stanwix is not the only thing that must be taken into account. If the column is ambushed while moving at an accelerated rate the ambushing Indians receive advantages. On the other hand, if Herkimer approaches cautiously he can better defend against an ambush but risks losing army morale for progressing too slowly with the rescue effort.

Herkimer’s Tryon County Militia is made up of special 2-step, 1-strength point units permitting each unit to take a step loss and continue to fight. This expedient is used to reflect the intensity of the fighting that occurred between the two forces. Militia at Oriskany fought like veteran line units, giving and asking no quarter, for nearly six straight hours.

Oriskany also includes pre and post-ambush Sequences of Play and rules for laagering and limbering the American supply wagons, looting, detaching American garrison artillery and the possibility of storms.

2 errata counters are included in C3i #27 (2013)

American Revolution Tri Pack

2017-12-01T15:51:50-05:00

Vendor: GMT Games
Type: Board Games
Price: 69.95

Designer	Mark Miklos
Publisher	GMT Games
Players	2
Playtime	180 mins
Suggested Age	12 and up
Additional Info	236239/american-revolution-tri-pack http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/236239/american-revolution-tri-pack/forums/63

This all-in-one boxed package is composed of new editions of the flagship game in the series -Saratoga, the long-out-of-print Brandywine, and Guilford/Eutaw Springs. Below is more detail on exactly what you’ll find in the package. As you’ll note, there are considerable additions and changes from the original games, as designer Mark Miklos has endeavored to create and update the finest version of these games that we’ve produced to date. Plus, the package includes double-sided mounted maps for all four battles!

Saratoga:

Includes all the replacement counters that have been provided over the years, plus new Momentum counters and “Rally on Me” (see description under “Brandywine,” below) counters for the series.
This battle includes a new historical scenario featuring the fighting around Freeman’s Farm.

Brandywine:

An updated countersheet includes all the counters updated over the years, plus a new marker to the series, “Rally on Me!” As you know, one of the combat results is Disruption. When this occurs, a Disruption Marker is placed on top of the Disrupted unit. If the Disrupted unit is alone in a hex or if it stacks with other units that are also Disrupted, there is no issue because the Disruption Marker remains on top of the stack, in plain sight signifying that every unit under it is Disrupted. It serves as reminder to the player to roll for Rally in the Rally Phase. When, however, Disrupted units stack with Parade Order units, those Parade Order units are placed above the Disruption Marker. This typically obscures the Disruption Marker within the stack. Particularly in larger games with high counter density and multiple fronts, where lots of action is occurring, players often forget to make their Rally rolls because they can’t readily see the Disruption Markers. The “Rally on Me!” Marker is primarily intended to be placed on top of any stack that contains a combination of Disrupted and Parade Order units in the same hex. This will be a visual cue for the player to remember his Rally die roll.
There is a new amusettes counter among the Hessian forces in Brandywine
Includes an updated Brandywine mounted map with redone Charlie Kibler artwork.
The Brandywine rules have been split into a Series Rule Book and an Exclusive Rule Book. A couple of key updates here:
Updated unit deployment protocol for the Knyphausen’s Feint scenario in the Exclusive Rule Book.
Also in the Exclusive Rules, new optional intelligence rules called, “Muddying the Waters of Brandywine Creek” are introduced. While the original game attempts to model the lack of good intelligence that plagued Washington by restricting American movement within the American Army Bivouac Area until a certain point in the game, this and the other devices used like optional British Brigade entry zones have become “set-piece” after all these years. Players familiar with this game can “game” those intel rules enough to mitigate their impact and as a result, the flow of action across the board is becoming a little too predictable. The new “Muddy” rules introduce a random element into both players’ decision making. There are four possible permutations: 1) neither do a recon, 2) both do a recon, 3) only the Brits do a recon, and 4) only the Americans do a recon. This is further complicated by five different possible states of the upper ford on the Brandywine (off-map): 1) Blocked, 2) Partially Blocked, 3) Hindered, 4) Open and 5) Dry. The interplay of these factors will influence how each side can maneuver so that it can never become predictable.

Guilford/Eutaw Springs:

Mounted Mapboards for each game
Updated Victory Conditions for each game
An Updated Looting Table for Eutaw Springs
Replacement counters for each game.

—description from the publisher

Germantown

2017-03-15T16:47:00-04:00

Vendor: GMT Games
Type: Board Games
Price: 33.95

Designer	Bill Madison Mark Miklos
Publisher	GMT Games
Players	2
Playtime	180 mins
Suggested Age	14 and up
Additional Info	43526/germantown http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/43526/germantown/forums/63

The Battle of Germantown took place on October 4, 1777, outside the city of Philadelphia and less than a month after the British victory at the Battle of the Brandywine Creek (September 11.)

GMT is pleased to offer the latest in Mark Miklos' popular and critically acclaimed Battles of the American Revolution Series: Volume VII, Germantown, 1777.

Pensacola

2017-03-15T16:45:00-04:00

Vendor: GMT Games
Type: Board Games
Price: 56.95

Designer	Don Hanle Mark Miklos
Publisher	GMT Games
Players	2
Playtime	360 mins
Suggested Age	14 and up
Additional Info	38870/pensacola http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/38870/pensacola/forums/63

Battles of the American Revolution Series:

The Siege of Pensacola pits a numerically large but fragile Spanish army, supported by a small corps of French allies against a smaller, feistier British army enjoying strong fortifications and highly mobile Indian allies. As the Spanish player you will need to determine where you will build your siege gun redoubts and will then have to protect your soldiers from raiding British units to finish the works in time to mount an effective bombardment. As the British player, you have far fewer forces, but armed with special raiding rules, your Regulars, Tories and Indian allies must harass and erode Spanish morale, while delaying the construction of Spanish siege works for as long as possible in the hope of keeping your three forts intact to face the coming coup de main.

The game begins with Don Bernardo de Galvez’s army of 5,000 having just landed on the mainland. How many forces actually are present is decided in a special phase during the initial set-up wherein that portion of the Spanish army that sailed from Havana must run the gauntlet of the Red Cliffs Fort guns. Hence, the starting forces for Spain are likely to be different for each game played as units and leaders are eliminated or delayed in their arrival. Once these forces are ashore, the Spanish player faces some hard choices. Does he send forces to take out the Red Cliffs Fort, to protect his turn 7 Spanish and French reinforcements from having to run the same gauntlet, or does the Spanish player immediately begin construction of the siege works, to achieve the longest possible bombardment before the coup de main?

The British player is outnumbered, but must employ his small forces in aggressive and often risky raids to slow down siege construction, wear down Spanish morale and worry the Spanish lines of supply. Getting a small force into one of two Spanish stockades can be devastating for the Spanish. Thus, though numerically superior, the Spanish player has much to do and protect, and will often be spread thin by a well-conceived series of raids. Giving the Spanish too many siege turns to bombard your three forts and/or permitting the Spanish to launch the coup de main with high army morale is likely to spell disaster for the British player.