This is a difficult report to write. In 1781 I cracked and considered conceding the New World to the filthy ingrates. But the war continues and we must soldier on.
So Dean and I continued our Washington’s War game on Sunday night. We fought the middle years, 1778-1781. I’m a little hazy on the exact details as it has been a few days and we played fairly late, but I took a few notes and this is what I recall.
For the bulk of those years, I forgot how to lose a battle. My armies pushed the Colonials around with ease, and I had all five of my generals in the field, each with some sort of substantial force.
Dean seemed to have three goals during the middle years.
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Protect the Congress with George Washington. I managed to disperse the Congress once, but for the most part he was successful at this.
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Send Benedict Arnold to Canada. He succeeded at this for a year, but then Arnold turned traitor and I retook Canada with a small force.
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Win some battles and get the French into the war. In 1780 he successfully accomplished this goal.
My goals, as I recall them, were as follows.
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Take undefended Georgia and threaten South Carolina. This I accomplished with a small army.
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Establish New England as a fortress of Tory might. This I more or less accomplished. Dean seemed to draw the line at New York and while we fought for control there, he has established dominance.
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Harass the Congress and attempt to kill George Washington. GW is his best general, and killing him sets the Americans way back in their efforts to bring the French into the war. In 1780 (maybe 1779) my cards aligned and I spent most of my resources in dispersing the Congress and attempting to hang Washington in Baltimore. I was successful in all my battles, but George slipped away each time.
The war was set to end in 1781 and I was well positioned to pull it off. I had control of 8 colonies, including Canada, and I only needed 6 to win. As long as a card did not come up that extended the war, all I had to do was fight to a draw this turn and I would win. When the cards were dealt out I didn’t have the card, although I suspected Dean might.
Two things had happened in the previous turn that began my downfall. I had left Howe, my best general, in freezing cold Springfield, Massachusetts and he had lost half of his force to winter attrition. And Dean had won enough battles to bring in the French.
I may have the exact order of things wrong, but the following events occurred.
-Dean butchered Howe in Springfield.
-Dean butchered Cornwallis in Norfolk.
-I wasted my cards trying to hold onto the political control of colonies that Dean didn’t want because he had the card that extended the game by 2 more fricking turns.
-I realized that I had exactly one decent army left with no reinforcements left to speak of, and they were led by my worst general, Burgoyne.
At that point I was close to giving up, as it seemed hopeless due to the lack of troops and the endless supply of troops available to Dean. But after some moping I decided to buck up and continue the fight. I’ve never seen the true endgame of Washington’s War, so maybe this is just what you have to expect as the British player.
Below is our current game state, going into 1782. I still own New England. It will take some effort to turn them back to blue. I have Burgoyne,but I can replace him with a better general and try to use him as a counter to Dean’s efforts at retaking the North. I still own Georgia weakly, but it will cost him some small effort to take it back. All is not lost. We plan to finish the war tomorrow night.
God save the King.
