The Battle of Bunker Hill - Part Two

 A very brief overview of the battle, courtesy of the American Battlefields Trust:

On the sultry afternoon of June 17, 1775, Gage and his commanders ordered British regulars and grenadiers to be transported across Boston Harbor and disembarked in lower Charlestown. Howe led King George’s troops in the assault, but the situation had changed since the officer advocated his plan. The American left was not open and flanking column of eleven companies of light infantry were stopped cold as the made their way along the narrow beach. A second attempt was made to dislodge the fence defenders in concert with a frontal assault on the main redoubt atop the hill. This attack, too, failed. A third attack against the American fortifications atop Breed’s Hill finally carried the day for the British. Once again marching head on into musket fire, British tenacity and a lack of ammunition on American side finally carried the day for Gage and Howe.  Henry Clinton declared it was “A dear bought victory; another such would have ruined us.” British losses amounted to roughly one-third of the men engaged. Within weeks Washington arrived to assume command of his army and undertake siege operations. For now, Patriot forces held the advantage in New England. 

My game tonight was part two of the battle, the first attempted assault on the defensive positions on Breeds Hill. In my first game, I managed to get a historic result, with the column of light infantry companies being driven back by Starks men behind the stone wall/rail fence at the beach. How will the British fare in part two - read on to find out!

The battlefield from the British starting point (above) and from the American vantage point below

A view from the top!

The Brits - 21st Regiment of Foot (Royal North British Fusiliers) deputizing for the converged grenadier battalion

The 3rd Regiment of Foot or "Buffs" representing the 38th Foot

26th Regiment of Foot filling in for the 43rd.

Once again, I used our home brew AS9 rules, a deck of 22 standard playing cards to decide activation, 12 red for the Brits and 10 black for the Americans. The Brits automatically had the very first and last cards, and I shuffled the other 20 - a run of three red or black would automatically lead to the other side getting the next turn. A basic score of 9 to hit (with a few modifiers) and any unit reaching 4 hits was forced to retire immediately and continue doing so until they could rally off one hit marker. Movement is 2 x D6, minimum of 4cm, artillery fires 36 cm and small arms 18cm. I gave the American riflemen a +1 on firing but -1 for melee, as they generally had no bayonets. The grenadiers got +1 for quality.

Turn 1 British - they simply advanced - the centre unit was a bit lacking in aggression - a situation that would continue!

Move 2 was again the British, they simply advanced once more - the Americans were still out of range and holding their fire at this stage.

The grenadiers reach the second rail fence.

Brigadier General Pigot attempts to encourage the centre battalion to hurry up a bit!

Turn 3 was the first American initiative - the small American battery was now in range and opened fire - but to no effect!

One Turn 4, the British advanced yet again

Turn 5, another British initiative. Despite orders to the contrary, just like the real thing, the grenadiers opened fire on the militia behind their stout defensive palisade - no hits were scored but in the return fire, the grenadiers took a hit from the American riflemen!

Turn 6 was simply an attempt to rally the grenadiers ie remove the hit, which failed, then a steady plod forwards. In turn 7, the Americans had the initiative and fired with some effect, the artillery getting a hit with grape shot and the militia on the other flank putting a second hit on the grenadiers - inaccurate return fire from the crown forces caused no damage to the rebels/patriots.

In turn 8, initiative returned to the British. They managed to rally one hit of the grenadiers then made a general advance, with the left flank battalion being in range to put in an assault on the gun battery. The Brits were fighting at -1 because the gun was behind cover, the Americans with +1 because they had infantry in support. The Brits rolled 11 - 1 = 10 the Americans rolled 9 +1 = 10 - a draw!

Turn 9 was an American initiative, they fired and put another hit on the grenadiers; once again, British return fire was ineffectual, and the melee against the gun position carried on into a third round

Turn 10 went again to the Americans, but they were unable to capitalise; indeed, on this occasion the British grenadiers managed to put a hit on the riflemen opposite them. The melee was once again inconclusive.

This looks like a win for the Brits but as they were minus one and the Americans were +1, it was actually a draw, with both sides taking a hit!

On turn 11, the British rallied another hit off the grenadiers, then made a general assault on the American position

Despite being at a disadvantage, the previously dilatory centre unit, cheered on by General Pigot, won the fight 

Then, the grenadiers made it 2/3 for the redcoats.

The centre of the American position was driven back by the ferocity of the British bayonet work.

But in the next round of combat, the British left flank battalion was driven back from the gun position.

In the next American turn, the gun puts a round of grape shot into the Brits, taking them to a total of 4 hits and forcing an immediate retiral of 2 D6 cm.

Meanwhile, on the British right flank, the grenadiers are forcing the last American infantry unit back from the palisade, a double six causes 2 hits rather than 1.

As the British left flank battalion fails to rally and continues its flight down Breeds Hill, the other two units exchange fire with the Patriot forces.

The Americans had a couple of initiatives in a row and fired with no effect before closing in to melee range again. The grenadiers immediately sent the militia reeling back once more, however.

In the centre, though, the combined militia and regular infantry overcame the British, who fell back.

By turn 16, the American line looked as though it had stabilized again.

But the grenadiers were still winning their fight on the right flank

Whilst the left flank battalion continued to fail to rally and were almost back at their starting point!

Encouraged by General Pigot (they rallied off a hit point) the British centre advanced once more, and soon, the Americans were on the back foot again.

In an exchange of fire between the American regulars and the grenadiers, the British put a double hit on the enemy, taking the unit to a total of 4, forcing a 2D6 cm retirement, which took the American unit off the table and out of the fight!

The Americans were not done yet, however, and they had a run of initiatives that allowed them to fire and prevented the British from attempting any rallies.

The grenadiers, however, forced the opposing militia unit up to 4 hits and they too rolled high and left the table permanently

But the British were only slightly better off than their opponents, with now both the line battalions sitting on 4 hits and being forced to fall back down Breeds Hill.

The last two initiatives fell to the British, and their officers finally managed to get the left flank unit back under control (the unit rallied off one hit marker so ceased the automatic withdrawal each turn)

The grenadier battalion, at full strength and full of vim and vigour (ie having rallied off any hit markers) faced off against a single weakened militia unit, whilst the American artillerymen kept a wary eye on the two British line battalions they had helped drive off.

The final situation as the last of the 22 cards was turned.

I decided NOT to add a few more turns to see what happened, I was happy with the game and the result I reached and if I am just going to add extra turns in, there is no point in having a limited number of activation cards in the first place!

Once again, the easy and fast play rules Andrew has created gave me an enjoyable game. 22 turns in 90 minutes and a semi historical outcome - 2 out of 3 units driven back to their starting line was a fairly satisfying result for me. Now, I will have to read up on Major Pitcairn and his marines and how the British third attack finally succeeded - if you believe the Americans, they only did so because they (the Americans) ran out of ammunition!

Thanks for stopping by and double thanks to those of you kind enough to leave a comment!