ye Questions of ye Newcomere

[jkk]

Just bought BOA and have patched it current. I have a significant background in board and computer wargaming, including the old AH 1776, so I at least understand what I ought to be trying to do. Most of my questions are mechanical in nature. I have read the documentation, the FAQ and browsed the forum without locating my answers; might have missed them, but I did try. Anyway:

1) At the start of the 1775-1783 campaign, Ward's Colonial forces include a sort of hybrid leader/regiment called the Marblehead Regiment. In the bottom display, the unit is displayed with the leaders' portraits, but the numbers make it evident this is not merely the leader Glover, but an actual regiment. I don't understand. I understand leaders, and regiments, but I don't see anything in the PDF about leaders permanently married to a regiment. Can they be coupled and decoupled at will, or is this just a feature of certain units that are package deals of leader and regiment?

2) Is there a comprehensive reference to all the little indicators on each portrait in the bottom display? I didn't find such a thing in the PDF.

3) Are destroyed regiments gone for good, or will they one day reconstitute?

4) (Operational/strategic question) Let us suppose that in the 1775-1783 campaign, as Colonials, I find that at start it's not snowing in Boston. I know the British are stuck there for a couple of turns (I probably shouldn't, but I do). So I have a novel idea: gather all available nearby forces and launch a full dress assault to crush the primary British army. Lacking Washington yet, I will surely take heavy losses, but this is an opportunity to annihilate the enemy's most potent starting force including its leaders. What do you think of the move?

Thanks in advance.

[lightsfantastic]

Just bought BOA and have patched it current. I have a significant background in board and computer wargaming, including the old AH 1776, so I at least understand what I ought to be trying to do. Most of my questions are mechanical in nature. I have read the documentation, the FAQ and browsed the forum without locating my answers; might have missed them, but I did try. Anyway:

1) At the start of the 1775-1783 campaign, Ward's Colonial forces include a sort of hybrid leader/regiment called the Marblehead Regiment. In the bottom display, the unit is displayed with the leaders' portraits, but the numbers make it evident this is not merely the leader Glover, but an actual regiment. I don't understand. I understand leaders, and regiments, but I don't see anything in the PDF about leaders permanently married to a regiment. Can they be coupled and decoupled at will, or is this just a feature of certain units that are package deals of leader and regiment?

2) Is there a comprehensive reference to all the little indicators on each portrait in the bottom display? I didn't find such a thing in the PDF.

3) Are destroyed regiments gone for good, or will they one day reconstitute?

4) (Operational/strategic question) Let us suppose that in the 1775-1783 campaign, as Colonials, I find that at start it's not snowing in Boston. I know the British are stuck there for a couple of turns (I probably shouldn't, but I do). So I have a novel idea: gather all available nearby forces and launch a full dress assault to crush the primary British army. Lacking Washington yet, I will surely take heavy losses, but this is an opportunity to annihilate the enemy's most potent starting force including its leaders. What do you think of the move?

Thanks in advance.

1.) Glover's Marblehead regiment can become one of the American Army's finest regiments. It is a leader model integrated with the regiment. At the start it is useless so get him to a large city and have him wait inside in Passive mode until you receive American regular replacements, not militia replacements. Once filled out get it to the largest American Army quickly.

2.) There is a reference for the modifiers floating around on this forum. It is a link to another website.

3.) As far as I know destroyed regulars will not reconstitute. Untrained Continentals and Militia will just have another regiment with the same name.

4.) I think you wll get killed and destroy your army. Ward has a command Malus (Negative Modifier) that should result in heavy losses, plus with his low Strategic rating you would get lucky to be active. Better to retreat to the Catskills/Hudson river line and never fight the main Redcoat Army in clear terrain if you can help it.

[jkk]

1.) Glover's Marblehead regiment can become one of the American Armiy's finest regiments. It is a leader model integrated with the regiment. At the start it is useless so get him to a large city and have him wait inside in Passive mode until you receive American regular replacements, not militia replacements. Once filled out get it to the largest American Army quickly.

Very interesting. Is it the only one of its type, or should I expect more in this campaign?

2.) There is a reference for the modifiers floating around on this forum. It is a link to another website.

Can you suggest search terms that would probably turn it up? I was thinking you might remember a good keyword combo I can feed in to avoid a lot of blind-alley searching.

3.) As far as I know destroyed regulars will not reconstitute. Untrained Continentals and Militia will just have another regiment with the same name.

Regulars. That term has a specific meaning in historic (and seemingly game) context. In the ARW campaign, I am assuming that would mean British Regulars and French Regulars for sure. Would it also include Continental units? I'm not sure if they can acquire Regular status through training

4.) I think you wll get killed and destroy your army. Ward has a command Malus (Negative Modifier) that should result in heavy losses, plus with his low Strategic rating you would get lucky to be active. Better to retreat to the Catskills/Hudson river line and never fight the main Redcoat Army in clear terrain if you can help it.

I tried it once. I assaulted, won the fight and I think I wiped out the British, but my Colonials got butchered out pretty well in the process. It didn't square with my basic understanding of long-term winning tactics for the Colonials, but it squared with a specific one: Be Opportunistic when you might have a great chance to waste a big pile of British regulars. (I assume that had it been snowing, I'd not only have taken hideous losses, but would probably have lost the fight into the bargain.)

Unfortunately, on the turn afterward I saw that it was hardly a knockout blow. Another British force of the same size landed (in Connecticut, I think) and cooped up my survivors in Boston. One thing that seems a sure loser for the Colonials in this game is getting bottled up in a fixed position where retreat is impossible--that plays right into British hands, meets a primary strategic goal of shattering a major Colonial force. Is my thinking here making sense?

[lightsfantastic]

1.) Units with integrated leaders represent units that were STRONGLY identified with a particular leader. You will mostly see Hessian Units of this type.

2.)http://www.leqg.org/doc/boa/

3.) Yes Trained Continentals, British Regulars, Hessians, French Regulars, and Light-Infantry Regiments. Continentals or Militias that do not get trained before disbanding or destroyed will usually end up with another regiment of the same name popping up; ie 1st Continental, 1st Pennsylvania. There are exceptions - Usually units with specific names like Dunmore's Ethiopians, 1st Rhode Island (ex-Slaves), Queens Own, etc. Partisan Units usually get replaced by another Partisan unit with a different name soon after their destruction.

4.) That's why I retreat towards the Catskills/Hudson River line and make my first stand there. If that's broken do not run and try to hold New York City. Washington himself thought it was impossible to hold it, but national pride demanded a stand there in 1776, with nearly disastrous results. Your next line should be Philadelphia - Morristown, NJ - West Point - Albany. Defend behind rivers and in rough terrain. Never let yourself put large numbers of troops into cities before winter sets in. If the British want to siege you close to winter that's alright as the weather will cause mass attrition when the snows start. Should that occur try to gather a strike force nearby with proper supply wagons and hit the sieging force when they are weakest. Otherwise let the British spread out and then hammer at their smaller forces. Try to concentrate against either Burgoyne around Albany (at the end of a very long supply train), or the tail of a British advance on Philadelphia. When the French arrive off of Newport that 's the time to liberate New England. Remember the British get extra replacements for each of these cities they hold (every three or six turns?); Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston.

[jkk]

1.) Units with integrated leaders represent units that were STRONGLY identified with a particular leader. You will mostly see Hessian Units of this type.

2.)http://www.leqg.org/doc/boa/

3.) Yes Trained Continentals, British Regulars, Hessians, French Regulars, and Light-Infantry Regiments. Continentals or Militias that do not get trained before disbanding or destroyed will usually end up with another regiment of the same name popping up; ie 1st Continental, 1st Pennsylvania. There are exceptions - Usually units with specific names like Dunmore's Ethiopians, 1st Rhode Island (ex-Slaves), Queens Own, etc. Partisan Units usually get replaced by another Partisan unit with a different name soon after their destruction.

4.) That's why I retreat towards the Catskills/Hudson River line and make my first stand there. If that's broken do not run and try to hold New York City. Washington himself thought it was impossible to hold it, but national pride demanded a stand there in 1776, with nearly disastrous results. Your next line should be Philadelphia - Morristown, NJ - West Point - Albany. Defend behind rivers and in rough terrain. Never let yourself put large numbers of troops into cities before winter sets in. If the British want to siege you close to winter that's alright as the weather will cause mass attrition when the snows start. Should that occur try to gather a strike force nearby with proper supply wagons and hit the sieging force when they are weakest. Otherwise let the British spread out and then hammer at their smaller forces. Try to concentrate against either Burgoyne around Albany (at the end of a very long supply train), or the tail of a British advance on Philadelphia. When the French arrive off of Newport that 's the time to liberate New England. Remember the British get extra replacements for each of these cities they hold (every three or six turns?); Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston.

Quite interesting. I'll keep these Marblehead guys somewhere safe. I'll even spare them the jokes, as I suspect they have heard them all many times.

Dunmore's Ethiopians, eh? This is going to be interesting indeed just learning of all the unique forces that were fielded.

My thinking was to find another job for the invasion of Canada force, having the historic hindsight not to actually attempt the intrusion. Perhaps base from Ticonderoga and make that area as big a thorn as possible, interlinking with a defense of incursions from the Ohio Valley and Iroquois raids. I get the impression that one could really irritate the British by breaking up into small raiding groups hiding out in the jungle, then sneaking in to cause trouble once they go in pursuit of large Continental forces (or what they hope will be such).

One thing I noticed was that a lot of portraits, and I think even units, had one or two stars on their right sides after my Pyrrhic victory at Boston. That's the kind of thing I was seeking a guide to mostly, though the one you dug up for me is a vast help which I really appreciate. I think those in particular signify wounded leaders or units damaged beyond ability to fight; it would certainly make sense for me to suddenly have those. Am I correct?

[arsan]

It's a looong time i had not played BoA (AACW don't let me time for it ) but i still remember some things...
Stars: they denote experienced units. By fighting and destroying enemy units your units have gained experience and now have better stats and power. The more stars, the better.

Regards!

[jkk]

It's a looong time i had not played BoA (AACW don't let me time for it ) but i still remember some things...
Stars: they denote experienced units. By fighting and destroying enemy units your units have gained experience and now have better stats and power. The more stars, the better.

Regards!

Thanks, arsan. Your English writing, by the way, is very good--far superior to my Spanish, that's for sure. (Of course, my spoken Spanish might sound very colonial to you, given its Mexican accent. I learned some Spanish growing up but wasn't exposed to Castilian until college.)

So, if I may, let me see if I'm getting this right. Much as in real life, the hard part for the Colonials comes in the winter (at least in the north and west). On one hand, one would like to hole up in a well-supplied town to train and avoid terrible attrition losses. On the other, it would be a shame to let the British do as they please during this time, so if one has a force that isn't badly depleted, that might be a good time to run around in British-dominated areas and cause trouble--yet avoid being bottled up and destroyed in a siege. If one has a depleted force, however, that force should probably try and find a well-supplied town in a relatively safe area. Make sense?

I've been trying to rotate badly damaged regiments out to garrison posts where possible so they can recover, swapping them for full-strength and well-rested units here and there. Do you think this is worth the effort?

It does seem to make good sense for the Colonials to keep moving. If they stay in a location, it gives the British a chance to converge and probably win a big fight. Whereas if they are converging, one might move directly to engage one of the converging forces one thinks one has a good chance to whip. Do you agree?

[orca]

Going after Gage early is a pretty good approach. he has some eight regiments, and if you kill all of them you're well on the way to making the Brit's job really tough. If Washington shows up before Howe attacking Boston is definitely a winner. Even without Washington it can be worth a shot - if you lose you'll hurt Gage's army a lot and only lose units that can be reasonably easily replaced.

So, if I may, let me see if I'm getting this right. Much as in real life, the hard part for the Colonials comes in the winter (at least in the north and west). On one hand, one would like to hole up in a well-supplied town to train and avoid terrible attrition losses. On the other, it would be a shame to let the British do as they please during this time, so if one has a force that isn't badly depleted, that might be a good time to run around in British-dominated areas and cause trouble--yet avoid being bottled up and destroyed in a siege. If one has a depleted force, however, that force should probably try and find a well-supplied town in a relatively safe area. Make sense?

That's the idea. In general you should stay put in the winter, but not at the cost of fighting a big enemy stack or not having somewhere to run to if the British do show up. Ideally the British will run themselves ragged, but mostly you want to lay low and gather your levies (those arrive in January and need to join armies).

I've been trying to rotate badly damaged regiments out to garrison posts where possible so they can recover, swapping them for full-strength and well-rested units here and there. Do you think this is worth the effort?

When you can do it it is well worth while. Often it's hard to get them away from the action. But definitely do it when you can.

It does seem to make good sense for the Colonials to keep moving. If they stay in a location, it gives the British a chance to converge and probably win a big fight. Whereas if they are converging, one might move directly to engage one of the converging forces one thinks one has a good chance to whip. Do you agree?

That's pretty much the plan for the Continental side. Force the British to split up into multiple armies, and try to isolate and destroy one of them. Otherwise stay on the run and only fight when you absolutely have to (or when you can wipe out a small garrison). Fight in rough terrain when you have to to minimize the enemies advantages.

Another key point in managing your armies. Basically this comes down to two points

Disbands Ensure that at the end of December you can put a lot of militia units into garrison in strategic towns in their home states. That stops them from disbanding. Everyone else should be stacked with a charismatic unit in December to stop them from disbanding. Know who your charismatic leaders are and give them big armies to LEAD in December (they are Morgan, Arnold, Allen and Washington). Otherwise November and December are good times for suicide attacks or desperate stands. You'll be losing half your militia in December anyway.

Levies In January and June keep a charismatic leader in each region where you can get levies (anywhere you have at least one strategic city). Levies depend on control of strategic cities. If there is a British regular in every city in a region you get nothing. That is very bad, so try to hold at least one city in each of the four regions in January and June. You get he most continentals when you control all cities in a region (which means you need to garrison disloyal cities like Augusta and Norfolk with a continental) so it's good to drive the British completely out of one region. Usually you can get the South Central. You get the most militia when the Brits have a few strategic cities, so it isn't quite as critical to capture the second from last or third from last strategic city right before the levies. But January and June are very good times to launch surprise attacks so as to gain the benefit of the levy. The French are, of course, very useful for this - they can free a couple of ciites right before the levy and then go somewhere else.

[arsan]

Thanks, arsan. Your English writing, by the way, is very good--far superior to my Spanish, that's for sure. (Of course, my spoken Spanish might sound very colonial to you, given its Mexican accent. I learned some Spanish growing up but wasn't exposed to Castilian until college.)

Hi jkk!
Sorry but i hadn’t noticed your answer before...
Don't be misguided... the spell checkers can do miracles with somebody’s written English
My spoken English surely is worst that your spoken Spanish.
If you want to practice Spanish, visit us on the Spanish forums. They are not as active as the English ones (by far) but people are nice!
About the game advice, better listen to orca as I had not played the game in a long time and when I did it, I played mostly the French and Indian war (Indians are cool! )

Regards!

[jkk]

Okay. I've been digesting all this plus reading the rulebook (everything but playing, boo hiss). It sounds like a lot of the key Colonial tactics have less to do with combat and more to do with creative ways to keep the whole army from just sticking its bayonets in the ground and going back home to the farm. Which is pretty true to reality

What does a little envelope next to a unit mean? I can't seem to click on it and there's no popup, but it's very common and not explained in the rules.

Say there are one or two stars to the right of a leader or regiment in the bottom display. I understand that those signify experience. Does that mean that when they reach 10 experience there will be ten stars over there, or is there a limit to what will be displayed?

Is there a sort of progress track for Colonial units? Does a unit begin as militia (the worst), then become trained (better), then become Continental Regulars (as good as they are going to get)?

I notice state labels next to the NATO symbols for a lot of units, surely denoting state militias. It was mentioned above that these are less likely to disband if they're in strategic cities in their home states in December. Does their state label have any other impact?

The rules say that the little balls (typically green) at the base of a stand represent the army's numeric strength. It doesn't say what it means if they're orange rather than green. Does that mean the same number of units, but depleted/unsupplied/etc?

Can well-led irregulars operating alone with a good leader essentially ignore supply and weather considerations? It's obvious that a small band of hardy frontiersman will take less harm from being caught in an Ohio blizzard than will an army of eight full-strength militia. But is there any terrain/weather combination where it's simply foolishness to deploy any unit of any type? I am wondering just how much mischief I can get by with using some of these guys in coonskin caps.

[stejones82]

Excellent questions and I too, eagerly await the veteran response!

[arsan]

Hi

I only know/remember the easy ones but as no real veteran comes around

- Envelopes: that's easy. This symbol tells you that the stack is activated this turn (if its white) or unactivated (if its yellowish)

- Stars: don't worry, your colonials will be killed by the redcoats before they can reach 10 stars Just joking, but it's hard to see more than three star units. I think for each star the necessary experience points increase exponentially.

- Units progress: yes there is but i don't remember much nore, sorry Its more or less like jkk says.

- State labels: i think its just for that.

- Balls: each ball represent 3 units. The colors tells you how depleted they are. Full health is green, damaged yellow, very damaged red ... What jkk said.

- Weather: i think it affects everybody the same. But am not 100% sure.
With snow and up: don't leave your town. Its deadly. If you have to move, take a wagon along, as his supplies "shield" the units from weather damage for some time (until all the supply is used up shielding cold hits).

Regards!

[jkk]

Llega el tercio de caballeria! Thanks, arsan. That's a definite help. At this point the best way to develop further questions is to take what I know and go make some mistakes in actual gameplay.

It does seem to me that the vast pile of Colonial leaders you have in New England in 1775 needs to spread out a bit. Some need to go to the Middle States and South Central, where they can't do too much harm (Artemas Ward, for example). Others need to work in teams leading raiding forces, ideally keeping militia in their proper states (good occupation for guys with a regional quality, such as Westerner or Northerner). Still others are special with regard to force retention and recruiting. It does seem therefore that a large portion of the game involves personnel management: have the right chieftain doing the right job.

[jkk]

Another key point in managing your armies. Basically this comes down to two points

Disbands Ensure that at the end of December you can put a lot of militia units into garrison in strategic towns in their home states. That stops them from disbanding. Everyone else should be stacked with a charismatic unit in December to stop them from disbanding. Know who your charismatic leaders are and give them big armies to LEAD in December (they are Morgan, Arnold, Allen and Washington). Otherwise November and December are good times for suicide attacks or desperate stands. You'll be losing half your militia in December anyway.

Levies In January and June keep a charismatic leader in each region where you can get levies (anywhere you have at least one strategic city). Levies depend on control of strategic cities. If there is a British regular in every city in a region you get nothing. That is very bad, so try to hold at least one city in each of the four regions in January and June. You get he most continentals when you control all cities in a region (which means you need to garrison disloyal cities like Augusta and Norfolk with a continental) so it's good to drive the British completely out of one region. Usually you can get the South Central. You get the most militia when the Brits have a few strategic cities, so it isn't quite as critical to capture the second from last or third from last strategic city right before the levies. But January and June are very good times to launch surprise attacks so as to gain the benefit of the levy. The French are, of course, very useful for this - they can free a couple of ciites right before the levy and then go somewhere else.

Okay. Actually I count five charismatic leaders, including Warren. I also have four regions, at least until they drive me out of New England. Which they can probably do, but it seems shortsighted to me to let myself be driven out of any state without at least using that state's militia to contest at least one strategic town, perhaps forcing a long siege which would keep some British occupied or require them to make a costly assault. If I lose all strategic towns in a state it will hurt that militia anyway before long, whereas if we hang on the British will at least not get a freebie. Right? I am thinking it's nearly always a bad idea for the Colonials to leave any strategic town ungarrisoned, especially along the coast, where British naval mobility means fairly easy captures.

But back to charismatic leaders. Twice a year they will impact levies, so with five leaders and four regions it would seem I need to have one leader in each. Warren needs to stay in the north; I think Allen is a Northerner as well. With Washington committed to the main front (as it seems he should be, given that he allows fairly automatic retreat before combat which must surely be a vast pain in the British rear), this suggests that Arnold and Morgan must go southward: probably Morgan to the Deep South and Arnold to the South Central. Warren could make for the Middle States. Plus, if that were done, it would be possible to gather as many local militia as possible under them and prevent some of them from going home.

Comments on this line of thought?

[orca]

Generally that's right. But don't put too much weight on these things - usually your militia are better off running around with the army than getting creamed by the British army. Just keep the militia roughly near their home state, and see if you can't slip them in to a strategic town in December. Isolated militia garrisons are good for slowing down the British, but they won't hurt the enemy army unless you put a lot of units in a town. Rarely worth it.

It's usually not worth fighting until you've isolated a British force you can beat. Your big advantage is mobility and intelligence - use both.

Greene is also charismatic (I forgot him) and there is a difference between charismatic leaders (who prevent units from going home in December) and patriotic leaders (who increase your levies in January and June).

It's fine to abandon new England without a serious fight. But you have to always maintain the threat to return - force the Brits to garrison all five strategic towns and keep thinking of ways of slipping small forces past them to take one or to back.

And Ward isn't useless. His militiaman ability is the second best for an American (next to skirmisher). I keep him stacked with Washington so Washington's militia will fight better. At least until I've built up a decent number of continentals.

[jkk]

Generally that's right. But don't put too much weight on these things - usually your militia are better off running around with the army than getting creamed by the British army. Just keep the militia roughly near their home state, and see if you can't slip them in to a strategic town in December. Isolated militia garrisons are good for slowing down the British, but they won't hurt the enemy army unless you put a lot of units in a town. Rarely worth it.

I guess my thinking is this. If there's at least a garrison, they can't just snap up control and keep going. They'll have to either bring a real force and make an issue of it, or leave it alone. And since strategic towns affect levies, 'leave it alone' is not the happiest option for the British. Moreover, if they besiege it, they must either concentrate a reasonably sized force on it, thus creating opportunities elsewhere, or put a small enough force for a relief and sortie to combine in harming them.

It's usually not worth fighting until you've isolated a British force you can beat. Your big advantage is mobility and intelligence - use both.

Yeah, I'm trying to stay out of fights I can't win (most of them).

Greene is also charismatic (I forgot him) and there is a difference between charismatic leaders (who prevent units from going home in December) and patriotic leaders (who increase your levies in January and June).

Oh. Well, that would definitely change the utilization, then. Do you recall how many patriotic leaders there are?

It's fine to abandon new England without a serious fight. But you have to always maintain the threat to return - force the Brits to garrison all five strategic towns and keep thinking of ways of slipping small forces past them to take one or to back.

Thus far, I like the idea of hovering at Norwich and gradually falling back toward the Catskills. In my current game it's October 1775 and the British haven't yet taken either Springfield or the strategic town adjacent to it, and each contains a small force with Washington on the loose slightly north. I'm starting to see crushable little British columns here and there.

And Ward isn't useless. His militiaman ability is the second best for an American (next to skirmisher). I keep him stacked with Washington so Washington's militia will fight better. At least until I've built up a decent number of continentals.

That's a good idea. This is like ice hockey, where it's a never-ending struggle to have the right people in the right situations at the right times (and where one doesn't always have that luxury).

[orca]

I can't remember the patriotic leaders off the top of my head. There is Sumner who appears in South Carolina, and who I always keep in the Deep South, and Greene is both Charismatic and Patriotic. I'm pretty sure there are two more. The flag symbol is what you need to look for.

Norwich is a good place to retreat to. And don't overlook crossing the White Mountains from there to reach Concord. From Concord you can threaten Boston quite easily. And if threatened in Concord you can retreat to Falmouth, further spreading out his forces.

You're right bout garrisons in specific cases, use them to force the Brits to send a smallish column to take the town. But in the path of a big army they won't slow him down too much.

[jkk]

Has anyone written a good strategy guide for the game? I don't mean something from Prima, that obviously wouldn't happen; I mean rather something online written by an avid player.

[Duckman]

Dunmore's Ethiopians, eh? This is going to be interesting indeed just learning of all the unique forces that were fielded.

im currently reading this book called Washington and Caesar where the Loyal Ethiopians play a prominent role. I have to say Im really enjoying it at the moment je recommend