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James D Burns
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February 1777

Thu Oct 12, 2006 5:36 pm

Levies arrive at various towns totaling 22 units raised to the Continental cause. Not a huge amount but better than I had expected. Fort Stanwix received 1 militia to bring its garrison up to 2 units.

Albany received 2 regulars. I’ll try and get these two units with Washington’s army sometime this coming game year.

John Glover was caught outside Skenesboro by Prescott (Glover was trying to move to Norwich and Intel had failed to spot Prescott) and soundly smashed. Prescott led 11 regular companies (4 were grenadiers) and 2 artillery companies. Glover had 4 regular companies and 3 marine companies.

The battle shows Glover took 6 hits and lost 5 companies, the British suffered 3 hits and lost no companies. The curious part is that the regular unit in Glover’s army only lost 3 of its 4 companies, but it has disappeared from the map.

There is no text in the message area telling what happened to the unit and the unit is not in any Continental controlled cities. The message text does say the Continentals successfully retreated from the battle, so I’m at a loss as to where the unit went. Glover himself went to Albany to recover from wounds.

Norwich saw a total of 5 units. 2 militias and 3 regulars. This brings Washington’s army up to 11 regulars, 1 light, 3 militia, 2 under-strength Dragoons (total of 5 companies between them), 2 artillery units and 7 supply wagons.

If I can get 2 regulars trained up by spring, I’ll leave them behind as a garrison and take the rest of the army on campaign to retake Ticonderoga. I’ll possibly head towards Canada afterwards unless British moves require some attention.

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Hartford finally falls to direct assault by Leslie’s army causing 4 hits to the attacking army. I’m very pleased with the performance of the Hartford militia unit. These guys held up the British for almost 6 months. Granted it was probably due to British strategic roll failures, but better to have Leslie’s army kill 1 militia unit whenever he makes a roll than to have him attack my big army.

1 militia unit pops up at Trenton this turn and finds itself isolated behind British lines. I’ve ordered it to capture Princeton and it will sit there as a blocking force until an opportunity to escape to friendly lines pops up or it is attacked.

1 militia appeared at Fredrick and it has orders to march to Alexandria to join Greene’s militia army there.

Wayne’s army at Baltimore now has 3 regulars and 1 light and I’ve ordered the 1 regular that appeared at Alexandria to march to Baltimore to join with Wayne. Hopefully Wayne will train these guys fast so I can feel more comfortable using them and not worry about them disbanding with my militias.

Greene’s army is now comprised of 4 militias (soon to be 5) and 2 supply wagons. Once he has all 5 militias he’ll head south to join up with a militia unit at Petersburg giving him a total of 6 militias to face the 4 or so British units believed to be operating in the Norfolk-Hillsboro region.

Hopefully things will go well this spring and I can drive the British out of this area for good as it is their weakest region right now. Everywhere else British strength is steadily growing and I’ve been losing ground.

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In the Deep South, 1 militia arrived at Hillsboro bringing Marion’s garrison up to 2 units. I’ll leave both units with him since Partisans disband just like militia, so this will give him 2 chances to have some units stay in garrison during disbandments.

Sumter has met up with his militia unit and has orders to enter Charlotte as garrison (8 days march).

I received 1 militia at Camden bringing Lee’s total to 5 militias. 1 will remain behind as garrison and Lee will march to the area of Colleton along the road southwest to meet up with the 2 regulars that appeared at Charleston that will be marching up from the south.

The 1 militia that appeared at Charleston will remain behind to augment Charleston’s garrison units.

Luckily the British did not move on Savannah as no units arrived there as levies. I’d like to get at least 1 unit down there to augment the garrison, but the British are in Lee’s way.

Several new Tory units appear to have popped up in Augusta and Ninety Six though, so Lee will probably have some hard fighting to retake those two locations and open a path to Savannah.

When combined Lee’s army will only have 2 regulars, 4 militias and 2 supply wagons (command of 8/8), so I’m not sure if he’ll be able to pull much off this year. Hopefully some new leaders will appear and I’ll be able to get a stronger army put together.

AARGH! I just realized Moultrie is missing from Lee's army. He must have been killed back in November’s battle at Colleton and I simply missed the text about it. That or he withdrew or something.

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James D Burns
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Location: Salida, CA

March 1777

Thu Oct 12, 2006 5:39 pm

Not much going on around Lake Toronto as the weather is pretty harsh in that region. However Cornwallis as put together a large army at Fort Niagara consisting of 7 regulars and one leader regular whom I assume is handled similar to how Glover is handled, in that the leader has regular troops companies as part of his units make up, so basically 8 regular units make up the army.

I expect this army will be heading towards Oswego this spring, so things look tough for the Continentals in the Mohawk Valley this year. All they have in the region are garrison units, so there is basically nothing I can do but sit back and watch as the British move in to take it all.

I saw lots of activity in the areas between Ticonderoga and Springfield during the turn’s execution. Not a lot of British units remain detected, but I know for a fact there is a lot of British strength in those areas.

Washington is going to head south one area to attack a solitary Hessian unit seen there. He then has orders to countermarch north again and should end his move back in the area around Norwich. I’m hoping he’ll catch a few more moving British units during the execution phase to help train his units up a bit as the regular unit training by Washington’s training trait doesn’t seem to be working.

With all the activity seen near Ticonderoga this past turn, I’ve decided to hold off on a move towards Ticonderoga until British intentions (and strength) are more reliably known.

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In what appears to be pure luck and bad AI, Intel shows nothing more than a Bateaux and a siege artillery unit defending Philadelphia. I’ve ordered the lone militia unit at Princeton to attack the place hoping it can easily overcome the opposition and retake the guns.

If I’m successful I’ll probably have Wayne and his 4 regulars and 1 light march north from Baltimore to take up garrison duties. I may leave the light behind to garrison Baltimore though as there are a few British units around the area.

Greene’s militia army at Alexandria has orders to head south to Richmond. Weather is horrible so it may take two turns to arrive. I’ve ordered the regular unit at Fredericksburg to stop heading north and enter Richmond as garrison until Greene’s forces arrive in the area.

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In the Deep South Lee’s army has formed up at Colleton and has orders to march on Augusta. Intel isn’t showing any defenders, but after what happened to Glover last turn, I’m not counting on that being accurate.

All other strategic locations under my control now have garrisons in the Deep South, so I’ll be very methodical and slow with Lee. He’ll leave a garrison in every location he manages to take, so his strength will be sapped over time.

If I manage to retake both Augusta and Ninety Six, I’ll revert to defensive and not bother retaking non-strategic towns until a much larger Continental army can be raised in the Deep South.

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Pocus
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Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:19 pm

The battle shows Glover took 6 hits and lost 5 companies, the British suffered 3 hits and lost no companies. The curious part is that the regular unit in Glover’s army only lost 3 of its 4 companies, but it has disappeared from the map.

There is no text in the message area telling what happened to the unit and the unit is not in any Continental controlled cities. The message text does say the Continentals successfully retreated from the battle, so I’m at a loss as to where the unit went. Glover himself went to Albany to recover from wounds.


the 4th company is Glover and Glover is the 4th company ;) So when Glover were sent recovering to a town, he will gain back his company too. Rather handy!
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Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."

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James D Burns
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Location: Salida, CA

Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:41 pm

[quote="Pocus"]the 4th company is Glover and Glover is the 4th company ]

Prior to battle Glover's personal unit had 3 marine companies and the Continental Regular unit had 4 regular companies. The battle dialog showed 5 of the 7 starting companies were destroyed. 2 marine companies (Glover’s unit) and 3 regular companies. Being wounded Glover went to Albany, but what happened to the regular unit? It should still be on map with 1 company left.

Jim

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Pocus
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Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:43 pm

You can send me the turn if you want, there must be a logical explaination.
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Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."

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James D Burns
Posts: 561
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Location: Salida, CA

Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:54 pm

Pocus wrote:You can send me the turn if you want, there must be a logical explaination.


I’ve already played another turn, so I don’t have a saved turn to send. Besides I’m not that worried about it, I simply assumed something happened in the retreat route routines or something causing it to surrender, but that no text message was generated for me to read.

Jim

P.S. wish list addition: Make commander casualties bold text or something.

I can’t believe I missed Moultrie’s loss, but I must have. I’m usually very vigilant when reading the text messages though, so perhaps it’s just the result of my aging eyes and the small font. A bolded text message about a casualty would be a great help.

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James D Burns
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Joined: Mon Sep 25, 2006 12:28 am
Location: Salida, CA

April 1777

Fri Oct 13, 2006 9:03 am

Winter stays late this year, but finally clears enough that I can put my few levies in the western border area of the middle states to some use. I’ve ordered the militia unit at Fort Venango to march to Presqu’ile to take that apparently empty town.

The 1st Light infantry at Pittsburgh has boarded the Ohio Bateaux and has orders to sail to Fort Henry and join Clark and his rangers. Clark will launch a campaign to take Vincennes on the Great Plains this year now that he has decent combat power available to him. If successful there, he’ll move on Fort Detroit next, the American objective town on the western tip of Lake Erie.

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With winter gone around Lake Ontario, I expect Cornwallis will begin to move away from Fort Niagara this turn.

At Albany James Clinton appeared this turn and is a pretty bad leader overall. With ratings of 5-1-2 he isn’t good for much more than adding to command abilities, but unfortunately he outranks everyone at Albany. Therefore I’ve given him passive orders to march through British lines to try and go into garrison at Norwich in command of the small detachment Washington is leaving there.

John Glover and John Stark have been detached from Albany leading the two Continental Regular units with orders to march to Fort Stanwix. The purpose is two-fold. First I want to defeat Mathew’s small army of 1 regular and 1 grenadier at Dayton and second I need to get at least one of the militias at Fort Stanwix back to Albany for rebuilding.

Additionally I have a feeling Albany is about to get hit hard by Grey’s large army (27 units reported) at Springfield and I’d prefer not to lose regular units to siege combats if possible.

Washington has been given orders to cross east through the White Mountains to relieve Portsmouth which is again under siege by land. The British navy (Parker’s Fleet) has also shown up again to begin another bombardment and it suffered 26 hits by our guns this turn.

Once the siege is lifted (will take 2 turns to get there) Washington will march south in a bid to take Boston this year. With all the British strength moving into the Mohawk Valley and region around Ticonderoga, I’m hoping Washington’s move goes undetected and he manages to surprise the British around Boston.

Hopefully he can cause some serious damage in Eastern New England and force the British to pull back from campaigning in northern New York this year. If the British manage to take both Albany and Fort Stanwix they’ll cause a delay in French intervention, so I feel the need to make some aggressive moves right now even though Washington’s army is pretty small.

Washington is leaving 1 militia and 1 supply wagon behind as garrison at Norwich. I’d like to leave more but if he hopes to win any moderately sized battles against the British he really can’t afford to leave the 1 unit, but I don’t want to give the British a freebee.

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Near Philadelphia my militia unit was met at Princeton by a single British regular and retreated to Trenton with no loss. So much for a cheap victory at Philadelphia.

I’ve ordered Anthony Wayne and Robert Howe with 4 Continental Regulars to march north to retake Philadelphia. Winter is still pretty bad in the area and it’ll take two turns to arrive, so they have orders to retake as many other towns as they can on the way.

Cortland Skinner and 2 British units pulled back to Philadelphia from the area just north of Baltimore, so it appears Wayne will face no opposition until he reaches Philadelphia.

Nathaniel Greene and his militia force should reach Petersburg this turn, so I’ve ordered the Continental regular at Richmond to start heading north to eventually join Wayne’s forces.

At Hillsboro Prevost and 1 British regular have set siege to the town. Marion has been given offensive posture with orders to sortie out of town with his 2 units (1 Partisan and 1 militia) to try and cause some damage and lift the siege.

In the Deep South, Lee captured Augusta without a fight. He’s detached 1 militia as garrison and has offensive posture set with orders to march on Ninety Six.

Lord Dunmore attacked Thickety Fort with 1 militia and 1 Dragoon and took the fort by storm. The defending colonist unit managed to inflict only 1 hit on Dunmore’s force.

It appears Dunmore then moved south after leaving the Dragoon unit behind (how on earth he managed to do that in the middle of a turn execution I’ll never know) as garrison. Dunmore is now in the area of Saluda with a large combined British army.

The army appears to consist of 5 Tories, 2 regulars, 1 artillery and just Lord Dunmore. My guess is that the leader penalty is very high, so I’m confident Lee should do well if he meets Dunmore’s army during the turn.

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Finally I was startled to read in the text field that Privateer Bonhomme Richard and Merchantman Independence were sunk and replaced by the Insurgent and Liberty. I immediately assumed this meant Alexandria had been captured and the ships scuttled in port, but upon inspection they were still there and the town was still mine.

Now given the fact that the Bonhomme Richard didn’t historically join the Continental navy until 1779 (http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/br.htm) and then was sunk later in that same year, I can’t imagine this is an historical event. So perhaps something is amiss with the code intended to replace these ships if they are ever sunk?

The Liberty and Insurgent appeared at Annapolis and have been given orders to sail to Alexandria and join John Paul Jones’s fleet there.

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Pocus
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Fri Oct 13, 2006 9:30 am

There is a typo in the Bon Homme Richard replacement (testing Bonhomme Richard), so we will fix that. For the second ship everything seems normal, so I would like your saved game (there is 12 backups in the save game directory, so I will be able to get back to your turn). Zip me the whole folder of your current game please: support@ageod.com

About Dunmore and the dragoons. Are you sure they were part of the same army? They can be listed as attacking together, but staying in 2 separates forces. This would not surprise me as dragoons have sometime their own agenda (of raids and recon) compared to foot forces.
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Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."

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Pocus
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Fri Oct 13, 2006 11:12 am

script corrected for the second ship too, thanks for the saved game. The script was missing a test to be complete. This is fixed for 1.10.
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Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."

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James D Burns
Posts: 561
Joined: Mon Sep 25, 2006 12:28 am
Location: Salida, CA

May 1777

Fri Oct 13, 2006 7:50 pm

As expected, Cornwallis and his army headed east towards Oswego and are now in the wilderness between the two towns. Ethan Allen and his 2 militias will have to do their best to hold out once he arrives. Hopefully Cornwallis will roll poorly on his strategic rolls and the siege will be a long one.

Glover’s force from Albany arrived at Fort Stanwix after winning a victory against Edward Mathew and his 2 units at Dayton. It was a pyrrhic victory and Glover sustained 3 hits while Edward only sustained 2.

Glover has merged with the under strength militia unit and has orders to march back to Albany so that unit can flesh out its companies (level 2 city required for this to occur). The other units that came with Glover, John Stark and the 2 regulars have joined Morgan’s garrison at Fort Stanwix. Glover and the militia will remain at Albany as part of that cities garrison once they arrive.

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In what appears to be another psychic move, Grey and his large army moved into the area around Norwich as soon as Washington had moved out. I’ve cancelled Washington’s planned move towards Portsmouth and ordered him back across the river in defensive stance.

Washington’s defense rating is a 4 vs. an attack rating of 2, so I decided it’s better to go across in defensive mode to help offset any river penalty he will suffer with his higher command rating.

Hopefully Grey will fail his strategic roll and not be able to storm Norwich this turn. If he does take it, it is the last strategic town in New England so the French intervention will be delayed.

Grey’s army consists of 7 regulars, 4 artillery and 1 supply wagon. Washington’s army consists of 11 regulars, 1 light, 2 militia, 2 under strength Dragoons (5 companies total), 2 artillery units and 7 supply wagons.

Had Washington remained at Norwich he probably would have had a good chance at winning a battle with Grey. But now that he has to cross a river to get back I’m not so sure things will go his way.

Hopefully Grey fails his strategic roll and Washington can get back across before Norwich falls to siege hits. Next turn I will set him to offensive posture and hopefully win the large battle.

All that defends Norwich right now is James Clinton, 1 militia unit and 1 supply wagon.

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Around Philadelphia Cortland Skinner left 1 unit garrisoning Philadelphia and has moved south with 1 unit and set siege to Baltimore. Wayne’s move through York and Lancaster to retake those two cities is what allowed Skinner to move to the south unopposed.

I’m not too concerned about Baltimore, but Skinner is now just 2 areas north of Alexandria (a strategic town), so I’ve loaded the supply wagon there onto John Paul Jones’s fleet and ordered it to sail across the bay to Cambridge.

The continental regular from Richmond is 2 areas south of Alexandria and has forced march orders to enter the city. Hopefully it will arrive first and take up garrison should Skinner head south.

I debated having Wayne head south again to try and catch Skinner, but Philadelphia is wide open right now with its lone defender, so Wayne will push on and try to retake the city.

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Nathaniel Greene’s army met a force of 1 British regular and 1 Tory outside Petersburg and defeated them. Greene suffered 2 hits and the British suffered 3.

I’ve ordered Greene to continue on to Norfolk in offensive mode to finish off those units and set siege to the city. Intel shows 2 units inside Norfolk, I’m not sure if 1 of those is a leader or not.

At Hillsboro Prevost managed to retreat before battle and no action was fought. I’ve left Marion in the area surrounding the city in offensive posture to force an action should Prevost return.

At Ninety Six Lee took the city without a fight. Lord Dunmore’s army moved northeast and is now in the area of Broad, just southeast of Thickety Fort. The Tory Dragoon unit has moved to Ninety Six and set a siege.

I’ve left 1 militia unit as garrison at Ninety Six and ordered Lee and his remaining army to march to Camden in offensive posture.

Now that I control all strategic towns in the Deep South I’ll have Lee’s small army sit at Camden to be in a good position to react to any British moves to retake any of the cities.

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James D Burns
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June 1777

Wed Oct 25, 2006 5:20 pm

In a tactical sense this was a good turn for the Continentals, many battles were fought and all were either victories or stalemates. In strategic terms it was an ominous turn as major British forces have moved against us and it’s only a matter of time before those forces have an effect.

At Oswego, Burgoyne has set siege to the place with 5 regular units and an artillery unit. Ethan Allen only has 2 militia units defending, so there is a good chance the British will be able to storm the place.

Glover’s attempted move into Albany is intercepted by Baron Wilhelm von Knyphausen leading 3 British regular units, 1 Light unit and 3 intrinsic German units for a total of 12 British companies, 4 light companies and 9 German companies. Glover’s force is joined by the Albany garrison and consists of 11 militia companies and 3 marine companies.

The battle is a stalemate and Glover takes 5 hits and loses 3 militia companies and 3 marine companies. Glover is wounded and enters Albany to recover from his wounds. The British suffer 6 hits but lose no companies and remain in place to besiege Albany.

Albany has 2 full strength militia left as garrison after the battle. With 5 British regiments (slightly depleted) besieging Albany, things do not look good for this strategic town.

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Washington’s move back across the Connecticut River is successful and he is on hand to defend Norwich when Grey launches an attack. Washington wins the battle taking 11 hits and losing no companies. Grey loses taking 9 hits and also losing no companies.

Apparently Grey is not forced to retreat as the turn begins with Sir William Howe in command of a very large British force outside Norwich which includes Grey and all his subordinate officers that fought the battle against Washington. I find this a bit odd as the text report states that Great Britain succeeded in retreating from that battle which they lost.

Shouldn’t Grey have been forced into another province? How is it he remained in place and joined Howe after losing the battle?

With the much more competent Howe in command, I expect things will be very dicey for Washington now. I’ve ordered him on defense and plotted him to move outside the city so as not to suffer siege hits from all those British artillery regiments.

My only real hope is Howe fails his strategic roll every turn until winter. Not very likely I know, but that’s really the only thing I can hope for as there are no more Continental forces anywhere near New England to be sent as reinforcements.

Perhaps the July levies will be exceptionally good and give Washington a chance by doubling his force. ;)

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Leslie’s huge army is spotted in the area of Norwich (I know same name as the city Washington is defending) just east of Hartford. I hope he doesn’t move to join Howe, as that would give the British overwhelming strength and perhaps pave the way for them to totally eliminate Washington’s army.

Anthony Wayne’s force stormed Philadelphia and destroyed the defending German unit while suffering 2 hits. But Wayne was killed which is a hard blow to the Continental cause as he was a training officer. Besides Washington he was my only other training officer and I suspect his loss will cost me far more in the end than what I gained by re-taking Philadelphia.

With 4 regulars now defending Philadelphia, the British will have to bring a large force south from New England if they want to take it back. Perhaps Leslie will march south this turn?

For some reason we failed to capture the siege gun unit in Philadelphia and it is now besieging the city. I’ve ordered Robert Howe and 2 regulars to take an offensive posture in hopes of capturing the guns. Also there are 3 British units very close by and I don’t want them converging on the city to take up siege positions. Hopefully Howe will drive them out one at a time if they try and converge on Philadelphia.

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Greene’s militia army caught the 2 British units it had defeated earlier at Portsmouth Virginia (I know same name as Portsmouth New Hampshire) and destroyed both units while taking no hits.

Greene has orders to continue on to Norfolk. Intel still shows 2 units at Norfolk.

In the Deep South Charles Lee left Ninety Six and destroyed the Tory Dragoon unit that was outside that city taking 1 hit in return.

Lee then continued on to Camden where he met 1 British regular unit outside that city. The ensuing battle saw the British unit suffer 4 hits while losing no companies and Lee suffered 1 hit.

Lee ended his turn inside the city so I’ve ordered him outside the city with offensive posture to finish off the British unit.

Lord Dunmore’s large British force is only two areas away from Camden, so Lee will remain there until he sees where Lord Dunmore decides to go.

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Pocus
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Wed Oct 25, 2006 6:44 pm

Note: if you pass the mouse over the tiny hearts, you will see the real number of hits (1 heart = 10 hits)

Apparently Grey is not forced to retreat as the turn begins with Sir William Howe in command of a very large British force outside Norwich which includes Grey and all his subordinate officers that fought the battle against Washington. I find this a bit odd as the text report states that Great Britain succeeded in retreating from that battle which they lost.

Shouldn’t Grey have been forced into another province? How is it he remained in place and joined Howe after losing the battle?


When a force retreats, it is not magically expelled to an adjacent region, it only gains a 10 days bonus and head toward it (yes this bonus is a gameplay trick to help the retreating army survive his enemy).

So as the battle happened on day 12, I would say that Grey started to move toward a nearby region. In the meantime How arrived later in the month, possibly in defensive posture (and as Washy was in defensive, they faced each others...).

End of month, the retreat flag is reset... AI think a bit and decide to halt Grey's retreat and merge both armies. Makes sense for me.
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Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."

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