Carolinas 1776

The scenario covers the aborted attempt by the British to capture Charleston and the Carolinas in the late spring of 1776. The British believed they could muster more easily Loyalist support in the Carolinas if they could take out the key American position at Charleston, thereby isolating the Northern rebellious colonies.

This is a four turn scenario and I will be playing as the British. They win the scenario (regardless of Victory Points) if they control two Strategic Towns and the following Objectives: Charleston and Wilmington. Each turn takes a month and some of the longer forays are not completed until a subsequent turn. Of the Objectives, Charleston is by far the most difficult to take and hold.

The opening turn starts with each side already controlling two Strategic Towns, thus temporarily satisfying that requirement to win outright. For the British, this has forces sitting North and South of each other and on opposite sides of the Savannah River at Ninety-Six and Augusta. Although this scenario is largely based on the limited tutorial, attacking the zones indicated in that presentation will not yield a victory for the British.






Scenario Opening

North Carolina Loyalists (Volunteers) (X4 Militia) 26 power are located in Ramsey's Mill
South Carolina Loyalists (Volunteers) (X1 Provincial/X2 Militia) 22 power are located in Salisbury
Ninety-Six Garrison (Thomas Brown 5/3/2/38, Georgia Tories X1 Provincial/X1 Militia and the Georgia Volunteers X3 Militia/X1 Dragoons) 56 power are located in Ninety-Six
Augusta Garrison (Inne's South Carolina Volunteers) (X1 Provincial/X3 Militia) 28 power are located in Augusta


Orders – Turn One

The North Carolina Volunteers and the South Carolina Volunteers are ordered to move to the swamps of Clarendon just outside of the Wilmington Objective using a route that avoids direct contact with the American fortress at Cross Creek.


The Inne's South Carolina Volunteers are ordered to vacate the Strategic Town of Augusta and move to Ninety-Six (a primary objective of the American AI). The port city of Charleston is not only an Objective of the British and Americans, it is also counted as a Strategic Town thereby eliminating the need to protect Augusta (there are no supply lines per se in BoA).

Thomas Brown, the Georgia Tories and the Georgia Volunteers are ordered to move to the swamps of Orange in the same zone as the Secondary Town of Orangeburg, which is currently an American fortress. These forces are going there to serve as the clamp to the British Navy (and the forces it brings during the next turn) when the assault on the Charleston Objective commences.

On subsequent replays of this strategy I lost Ninety-Six to the Americans but still won the game by satisfying my Objective and Strategic Town requirements. So the SC Volunteers I sent there were actually somewhat of a waste of manpower: Keeping Ninety-Six from the United States is moot if I do not meet my Objective and Strategic Town requirements because they will always win this mission on Victory Points alone (even when I win by completing my tasks they still have more VP).


The North Carolina Loyalists (Volunteers) have arrived in the swamps of Clarendon and await the arrival of the South Carolina Loyalists (Volunteers) following their tracks, several days behind. The Southern Expedition Fleet arrives off the coast of Green Swamp at Cape Fear and is comprised of 13 units for a total power rating of 203.

I disembark Sir Peter Parker and the 37th Foot (Line) Infantry (2 companies, 25 power) and place them at the NE edge of Green Swamp, across the river from the Wilmington Objective. They will attack from the south while the Carolina Volunteers will attack from the NE on the next turn.


The Inne's South Carolina Volunteers are inside the fortress at the Ninety-Six Strategic Town (for me, an Objective for the Americans) while Thomas Brown, the Georgia Tories and the Georgia Volunteers have arrived in Orangeburg revealing one enemy unit in Charleston (Moultrie’s Army at 5 Units).


April 1776

I order Thomas Brown, the Georgia Tories and the Georgia Volunteers to occupy the fortress in Orangeburg while awaiting fleet reinforcements from the north. At the Wilmington Objective I order a three pronged assault on the port city consisting of Sir Peter Parker and the 37th Foot (Line) Infantry coming from the South and the North and South Carolina Loyalists (Volunteers) coming from the Northwest. All units are ordered to move with Assault Posture and to enter the structure as soon as possible. The remaining fleet units are ordered to move to the port of Charleston in preparation for the assault there.


May 1776

A series of scathing battles took place during the assault on Wilmington. On Day Eight, the British lost against the Americans when they had unit quality and numerical superiority. Day Nine featured more units for the British yet the same result, a defeat. After a minor respite, on Day 12 the battle ended in a stalemate even though the matchup was closer (initial forces 5-4 in favor of the Brits). Victory finally came on the next day when the British outnumbered the Americans 5-2 and won Wilmington.






At Charleston I order an assault with Thomas Brown, the Georgia Tories and the Georgia Volunteers coming from Orangeburg and the remaining fleet assets (Sir Henry Clinton, Valentine Jones, and Sir John Vaughan, the 15th, 33rd and 57th Foot units (regular full strength line infantry with some light infantry components)) to disembark and directly assault the fortress. As with the assault in Wilmington, all units are ordered to move with Assault Posture and to enter the structure as soon as possible.


June 1776

The battle reports come for the action in Charleston: on Day Five (of the month of May) a massive battle ensued consisting of a British force advantage of 22-16 resulting in a victory. However on Day 29, the British suffered a stunning defeat although vastly outnumbering the Americans 29-4 (a bit hard for me to chew considering they had three Generals against one).



I order Thomas Brown, the Georgia Tories and the Georgia Volunteers to occupy the fortress in Charleston and at Ninety-Six I order Inne's South Carolina Volunteers to prepare a sortie outside of the fort using the Assault Posture as a way to knock the American unit out of the Region.



Checkpoint

I am in control of two Objectives (Charleston and Wilmington) and three Strategic Towns (Ninety-Six, Charleston and Augusta).


July 1776

Victory is achieved on the next turn, even though the Americans lead in Victory Points by 10 (this only factors in victory or defeat if the human player does not satisfy all of the requirements of the scenario). There was an additional battle in Wilmington on Day 14 (of the month of June) in which the Brits were outnumbered 6-10 and leaderless against an army with a general but pulled out a victory nonetheless.







The Region of Queensborough (the Wilmington Objective) was an interesting accomplishment as I did not retain outright control. The statistics window indicated that the area was in “Disputed Ownership” with the United States of America controlling 48% (the same amount as the British). However there were no American sprites visible on the game map and there were no indications of adverse conditions (looting, etc.).


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