To start with, the rule book is nicely presented with a number of illustrations and well laid out with page references indicated on the reference sheets. As we have played General de Brigade a number of times we understood the basic system so were able to play the game mainly from the reference sheets.
Although the rules are not specifically for the AWI they did seem to work and gave a game that flowed and played fairly quickly.
The game began with the American militia supported by poor regular troops ensconced behind walls and fences protecting a village. The British advanced on the defences in two wings with a brigade on each of the flanks. A small game but we wanted to see how the rules worked.
The British right flank advancing
After a couple of turns it seemed that the Americans were more resilient than we at first thought, especially as they were protected by walls. As the game progressed we got into the realms of morale and actually a melee (which the British gallantly retreated from having crossed a wall and were then charged by militia which were obviously led by Mel Gibson.
The movement sequence of the rules worked well as did the firing with the American skirmishers on the left flank inflicting almost no casualties. Artillery fire is also well covered but we did come to the conclusion that canister range seemed a bit long, although the British artillery did manage to shred an American battalion advancing up the centre road.
Melee was perhaps a mistake as once the British had crossed the wall they were disordered and pushed back by the charging militia having inflicted no casualties from firing as they charged.
The British right flank advancing on the AMerican left
American skirmishers evading the British attack on the left
The basic mechanisms will be familiar to anyone used to the GdB mechanism and we had a couple of occasions to test the Double 6 table and the Threat to General. Our major failing stemmed from a misunderstanding of the implications of certain orders, you do not want to get to within canister range with no ability to charge! Canister range is longer than the charge distance and due to the restricted table size we had little opportunity to engage not in canister range, and when the dice rules are high with canister it is deadly!The major difference from GdB is restriction on the charge distance and on certain manoeuvres, but like the parent the game is easy to learn, realistic enough, but still fun. We did not get on with British Grenadier due to the disruption points, they may be realistic but if you only have 3 ½ hours to get a result they make the game feel too slow.
Die Kriegkunst is quite bloody, get your tactics wrong and have a bad roll of the dice and you will suffer. But as we found when faced with American rabble steely Brits even when reduced to a single company can still hold their morale and fall back behind a formed unit having done their bit!
The best bits of the GdB system are the neat mechanisms for charging and morale which create a realistic basis for the game with enough tailoring to individual situations but without endless tables to consult or such reliance on the luck of the dice roll as to leave you feeling completely without control of the situation.
We played with two brigades per side and reached the stage after three and a half hours that it was apparent that the American rabble had beaten off the gallant Brits, but we shall return with light infantry to screen us and restore the pride of King George next time.
