Doane Wins Third Title!

Twenty combatants met on the cardboard fields of WBC this year to re-fight the American Revolution. Seven preliminary rounds were played over five days followed by single elimination play beginning with the Quarterfinal and working down to the championship match.

Round one Sunday evening was the Guilford Courthouse campaign. Eleven players showed up, with Dave Stiffler getting the Bye. Of the five matches there were three American and two British Marginal victories by B. Sinigaglio, Cota, Miller, Morse and Musella.

The Demo Monday afternoon garnered several attendees, all of whom were familiar with the series but had not had the opportunity to play against live opponents. One of them showed up on Tuesday to play in the tournament and the hope is we’ll see the others on Consimworld or the FB page in the coming weeks and months.

Seven players showed up Monday morning for the seldom played (at WBC) Brandywine Short Campaign Scenario. The scenario is challenging because if the Americans hold both Proctor’s Battery and the Birmingham Meeting House they win decisively. This year the British players were up to the task, scoring two Marginal and one Substantial victory. Bruce Cota got the bye with wins going to Stiffler, B. Sinigaglio, and Morse.

Monday evening’s game was the Eutaw Springs Historical scenario. Thirteen players arrived at the kiosk, giving Tim Miller the bye. Of the six games contested there were Three American wins (1 Marginal and 2 Substantial), two British wins (both Marginal), and one draw. Getting the better of their opponents were Morse, Doane, Stiffler, Musella, and B. Sinigaglio with the Cota-Mlynarczyk match being the drawn game.

Tuesday’s two rounds were both in the “Match Play” format, with players playing both sides and the best cumulative Tournament Point total winning the match. In the first match of the day fourteen combatants fought the Saratoga Freeman’s Farm Scenario. The fourteen games contested resulted in five American (2 Marginal, 1 Substantial and 2 Decisive) and nine British (8 Marginal and 1 Substantial) wins. When the dust settled the seven winners of their respective matches were Stiffler, E. O’Connor, M. O’Connor, Vasilakos, Doane, Carter and F. Sinigaglio. This round saw the father-son duo of Ed and Matt O’Connor join the tournament for one round and they promptly dispatched their opponents (Morse and Miller respectively). If they ever have the ability to dedicate more time to the tournament they will definitely be in contention for the title!

Seven players would appear to fight the next match, Monmouth’s Holding Action scenario, in which Bruno Sinigaglio got the bye. The six played games were all British victories (1 Marginal, 2 Substantial, and 3 Decisive (two of those coming in the Stiffler-Mlynarczyk match!)). Match winners were Miller, Stiffler and Carter. Tim Miller provided a highlight in his match with Rob Doane. Tim won the first game of the match decisively, killing Washington! In this game Rob’s ending Army Morale was 7, and since Army Morale was the first tie breaker if Tournament Points are tied in the match, this would be significant in the second game of the match. In that game Rob’s British were on the verge of also scoring a Decisive win by occupying both sides of the bridge over the Western Morass. As Tim assessed the situation, he saw that his Army Morale was at six in Fatigued status and one away from becoming Wavering, which would give Rob a Substantial victory. If Rob got the Decisive victory, he would win the match based on his better cumulative Army Morale, but a Substantial win by Rob would give Tim the overall match win. And then, Tim attacked! He used a militia unit whose morale was now -2 as his lead, and with other modifiers was -5 and the attack was 1:2. And then a stroke of genius; Tim intentionally played an illegal tactics chit, giving him a net -6 combat modifier and ensuring that any roll (even a 9, which he rolled!) would result in at least a Disrupt and push his Morale to 5 and Wavering, giving Rob the Substantial victory but Tim the match win!

Next up was Rhode Island, with seven players answering the bell and Father Todd getting the bye. The three matches played resulted in two American and one British Marginal win, with Doane, Cota and Miller getting the victories.

The last round before the Quarterfinal was the full Monmouth Campaign, a game that has not seen much action at WBC in the past. Three games were contested yielding one British Marginal, one British Substantial and one draw (Miller-Morse). The winners were Doane and Stiffler. The Stiffler (British) vs Dauphinais (American) was a bloody affair. Somewhere around Turn seven General Lee was killed, and that was just the beginning. On Turn 9 the British can get conditional reinforcements; Dave rolled a 9 and got two Hessians automatically but had to roll for Grant and the other five units – and he proceeded to fail every roll (all rolls of 0, 1, or 2!), leaving those units out of the game! On the top of Turn 10 the British killed Wayne and Lord Sterling back-to-back on a 2:1 and 3:2, respectively. With modifiers the British managed net rolls of 10 on each attack and also gained momentum. Also, on Turn 10 the Americans would get Morgan’s Detachment on the board, coming onto the battlefield behind the British, who were hotly engaged with the American line. On the top half of Turn 12 the Americans killed General Grey, but it was not enough; on the bottom half of the turn the British captured Morgan and the last remaining unit from his detachment. A great game that ended in a Marginal victory for Dave.

The Quarterfinal Thursday evening was the Series Flagship, Saratoga. That evening the British carried the field earning one Substantial and three Marginal victories. Advancing to the Semifinal were B. Sinigaglio, Miller, Stiffler, and Doane. When Bruno Sinigaglio had to pull out of the tournament to attend to other GM duties the best loser in the Quarterfinal would move up. Three players were tied with zero Tournament Points in the Quarterfinal (Musella, Morse and Carter), so we went to the first tie breaker, which was Army Morale, with Musella edging Morse 12-11 and thus moving on to the Semifinal!

The Semifinal were match-play of the Eutaw Springs campaign and would pair Tim Miller vs Marty Musella and Dave Stiffler vs Rob Doane. In the first match both players managed to achieve a Marginal victory, both when playing the British. Tim’s cumulative Army Morale was 28 to Marty’s 22, so Tim advanced as the first finalist. In the second match Dave Stiffler managed a Marginal win as the British in game two of the match, but in reality, Rob had already closed the door on Dave with a Decisive British victory in the first game, and he easily cruised into the Final.

And so, the final was set; Tim Miller vs Rob Doane would fight the White Plains Howe’s Grand Assault scenario. After a considerable break, the combatants decided to set up and start the match Friday evening. To kick the match off Rob won the British by bidding 3 Army Morale to Tim’s bid of 2, putting starting Army Morale at American 17 and British 16.

In pre-game activities Tim checked to see which Washington counter would be in play (the “1” leadership or “0” leadership) and with a roll of 4 it was the “0” leadership Washington Counter. Next, Tim made a secret roll to see how many “Ruse De Guerre” hexes there would be; A roll of 7 meant he would have to designate 2 hexes in the 1st line (2320 and 2420) and 1 hex in the 2nd line (3112). Last was a roll on the Patriot Militia Attrition Table, and a roll of 9 resulted in three militia units (Worcester County, Broks’ Regt and Berkshire County) leaving the battle. Cards were also drawn, and the Americans began with Card #6 (Stone Walls ) and #13 (The Old Fox) while the British held #12 (Double Cannister) and #24 (Bridging the Bronx).

With the preliminaries out of the way the game began with the British move on the bottom half of Turn 32, which resulted in movement only and no defensive artillery fire. At that point, and after a long day, the combatants agreed to a truce until Saturday morning at 0900.

As the combatants got under way the Americans won the initiative on the Top of Turn 33 (8-3). Tim moved the troops and took defensive artillery fire resulting in a militia unit in 2916 retreating. The bottom of Turn 33 was also uneventful as the British maneuvered and the American powder was wet in the rain, scoring no hits.

The British won the initiative on Turn 34 (5-4) and after movement the American artillery again threw shells down range but scored no hits. On the bottom half of the turn the British fire was more effective, eliminating the Knox-Morton artillery (Army Morale US 16, BR 17).

Initiative swung to the Patriots on Turn 35 (8-3), who continued to maneuver on the right flank and moved units to the front. British artillery again proved effective as militia in 3016 failed their morale check and retreated to 3015 with Sullivan and the Knox-Popkin artillery was disrupted (Army Morale US 15, BR 17). On the bottom of the turn American artillery finally hit, forcing the Light Artillery in 3116 to retreat. Now came the first British attacks on the American line:

• Vs 3016 at 1:1 +1. The roll was a net 8, disrupting the American lead unit which was captured as the only retreat hex contained too many SPs to retreat through, but they held the hex. The disrupt caused the militia in 3116 to make a morale check and one unit retreated as a result
• Vs 3116 at 2:1 +2. The roll was a net 4 resulting in a R/R, and the Americans again managed to hold the hex
• Vs 2916 (and diverting against 2817) at net 2:1 +1. A net roll of 5 yielded a DR result, again holding the hex.

At the end of the turn Army Morale stood at US 13, BR 18 and SPs lost at US 4, BR 3.

The Americans win initiative on the top of Turn 36 (3-1) and both players drew an additional card, the US drawing #18 (A Most Furious Fire) and the British #25 (Philip de Heister). During the American Rally phase one unit rallies, but the unit stacked with Washington fails their morale check!

In the Defensive Fire Phase, the British play card #12, Double Cannister, on the 16th Continental in 2916. The card play was timely as the roll of 7 was modified to a 9, causing a step loss and killing Putnam. Arty also hit hex 2817 causing a -1 AM adjustment. In the Rifle Fire Phase Tim played Card #18, A Most Furious Fire, to gain a +2 DRM on the to-hit table on hex 3116, but the fire missed.

Going into the American attacks their Army Morale was at 11. The attacks were:

• Vs 3116, diverting 3216 at net 2:1, -2. A roll of 2 meant a modified roll of -2, an AC result (capture Humphrey’s Regt), and three additional units Disrupt (US Morale now 7)
• Vs 2917 at 1:1, -4. A net roll of two disrupted the attacking lead unit (Morale 6)
• Vs 3017 at 1:1, -3. A net 0 kills the Van Wyck Rangers (Morale 5)
• Vs 3116 at 3:2, -1 with a net roll of 1 resulting in a Disrupt

This last combat result pushed American Morale to 4, and Wavering status, which in this scenario was enough to give the British a Substantial victory and make Rob Doane the 2024 Battles of the American Revolution Champion!

I want to take time to thank everyone who dedicated time in their personal schedule to play in the tournament and hope to see all of you back here next year!