Description
Monmouth is desperate rearguard action from the American Revolution at the end of the Philadelphia Campaign.
Brandywine Expansion
You must have our Brandywine game to play this.
Includes: Map & Scenario.
Monmouth is the last battle in the Philadelphia campaign. This is a fun, short little battle. Both sides get to attack and defend in the sea-saw action. Very few pieces, very small map. Games usually run about 30 min.
Historical Background
After the hard winter at Valley Forge, things were starting to look up for the Colonials. Lafayette and von Steuben whipped the army into shape and the French joined the war! The British scrambled to evacuate Philadelphia and withdrawal to New York before the French Navy could arrive.
The Colonials poisoned wells, burned bridges and block roads to delay the 100 mile British march through New Jersey while Washington’s army pursued. Lee’s column struck the British at Monmouth in an attempt to bring them to a decisive battle but he bungled the attack. Cornwallis seized the initiative with a sharp counter attack.
Washington arrived on the field in 100 degree heat to find Lee’s column in rout. His white horse died of heat exhaustion but he still personally rallied the troops on the field and restored order on a chestnut mare.
Cornwallis’ strike was halted but his successful rearguard action allowed the British to slip away during the night unscathed. This battle in part, inspired the stories of Molly Pitcher.
Tom Dempsey (verified owner) –
Monmouth Pub Battles
This is the latest Pub Battles offering, intended as an introduction to the game system. It includes the latest version (2.0) of the Pub Battles rules, and is worth the (relatively inexpensive) cost of the game for that feature alone.
The game itself plays very quickly on a small map, suitable for any surface. The map is an excellent rendering of the Monmouth battlefield, with the touch and feel of period canvas maps. There are only a few units, five Continental against six British, with the British having a significant advantage in troop quality. The limited playing surface and small number of units make this an excellent introductory game for the Pub Battles series.
For experienced Pub Battles gamers, don’t be deceived by the quick play and small forces: you will be surprised at the variations that develop, depending on the different tactics adopted by the Americans to overcome the British advantage in numbers and troop quality. Chance (the luck of the die role) plays a key role in game outcomes, more so than in other Pub Battles games simply because the number of actual engagements is much lower, making it less likely for runs of “bad luck” to balance out across the two sides. On the other hand, this makes for much more careful and nuanced play, on both sides, as commanders confront the reality that a single assault can turn the tide of the entire engagement.
The game only addresses the opening phase of the battle, the meeting engagement between the British rear guard under General Cornwallis and the Continental Army advanced guard, under General Charles Lee. Victory conditions balance George Washington’s pressure on Lee to maintain a vigorous pursuit of the withdrawing British, against Cornwallis’s desire to give pursuing Continentals a bloody nose. To achieve a major victory, the British forces must sweep the Continentals from the field, occupying one of the westernmost farms. The Americans can achieve a major victory by successfully holding the farm at the center of the map against the advancing British forces. The heavily wooded battlefield makes for stubborn defensive actions and greatly limits the effectiveness of artillery.
The entire game lasts only seven turns, which go very quickly. Game play sees Lee and the Americans arriving on turn one from the western map edge, with only one British Dragoon unit on field, near the eastern map edge. The British cannot move on the first two turns. The remaining British forces arrive from the east on turn three, leaving only four turns (after turn of arrival) to defeat the Americans and seize one of the westernmost farms. Given the woods and streams that partition the field and slow movement, getting to grips quickly with the Americans is critical for the British commander.
Pub Battles allows formation headquarters (in this case, Lee and Cornwallis) to alter the order of movement based on a die roll. This is problematic for the Americans, as Lee must roll two or less to do so, while Cornwallis is successful on rolls of four or less. In practical terms, this usually allows the British to determine who moves first, and to arrange two consecutive British turns in some cases. The American player must defend in depth with limited forces, a real challenge. Best advice for the Americans: run when you can, only fight when you must, and when you do, make it count. Washington replaces Lee on turn five. The mechanics of this are not clear from the scenario; I recommend you simply replace the Lee Headquarters with Washington at the beginning of turn five, and use Washington’s rating of four to modify the turn order for that turn.
The British commander will win tactical engagements fairly easily, because he has more troops and two elite units. It is easy for the British to be seduced by tactical victories, losing sight of the positional battle for the westernmost farms. It is not at all unusual for the British to wipe out the American advanced guard, only to be denied a major victory because they find themselves too far from their objectives to seize them before time runs out (and the rest of the Continental Army arrives).
Pub Battles 2.0
This version of Pub Battles rules includes several changes that have a major impact on game play. The principle changes address revised “road movement” rates, “fields of fire,” and “disengaging.” Be careful of using 2.0 with earlier games – the rules are not a substitute for earlier series rules, but rather supplement them, primarily with the three changes identified.
“Road movement rates” have been reduced to twice regular movement, rather than three times. This is a generally accurate rendering for administrative road movement. Given the game scale of 1:18,000, this works out just over two miles per hour, a pretty accurate rate for foot movement in column on a road.
“Fields of fire” extend for one third of foot movement from the front of each infantry and artillery unit, and at angles of 45% to the left and right of the unit block’s front. Units cannot move into this area unless they move into actual contact. If they do not have sufficient movement to do so, they must halt beyond the enemy field of fire. Fields of fire are limited by line of sight; they do not extend through areas (woods, buildings, hills) that the unit cannot see through, and also do not extend through enemy units. As a final note, if a unit begins its turn in an enemy field of fire, it must either move into contact and attack, or withdraw out of the field of fire.
“Disengaging” addresses units that begin their move in contact with the enemy units that have advanced to attack. This rule addresses an annoying (and not very realistic) game tactic where attacked units simply reverse front, move a few millimeters, and then reverse front again to face the attacking enemy, but no longer in contact. With the new rule, units in contact must either accept combat (as the defender), or move in a way that they are no longer within the attacking unit’s field of fire. In addition, units cannot move into an enemy field of fire unless they advance to contact, initiating combat. If a unit lacks sufficient movement remaining to reach the enemy unit, it must halt its move outside the unit field of fire. Of all the updates, this is the most difficult to apply, especially where close terrain (woods and streams, for example) reduces movement by two thirds or more.
An additional feature of disengagement allows units to remain in contact and accept combat, but change their facing to do so. Tactically, this can be critically important, as flanked units can now turn to face their attacker. To effectively flank an enemy, a commander must either manipulate the turn order to move after the attacked formation, or conduct converging attacks, so that if the enemy turns to face a flanking unit, it exposes its flank to the other attacker.
Fields of fire and disengagement, especially, influence play in important ways. Commanders will need to think in depth, and echelon defenses, lest they find themselves forced to vacate key defensive positions or advance from those positions to assault an enemy. The new rules also add an important dimension to decisions altering turn order.
Tom Dempsey (verified owner) –
This is the latest Pub Battles offering, intended as an introduction to the game system. It includes the latest version (2.0) of the Pub Battles rules, and is worth the (relatively inexpensive) cost of the game for that feature alone.
The game itself plays very quickly on a small map, suitable for any surface. The map is an excellent rendering of the Monmouth battlefield, with the touch and feel of period canvas maps. There are only a few units, five Continental against six British, with the British having a significant advantage in troop quality. The limited playing surface and small number of units make this an excellent introductory game for the Pub Battles series.
For experienced Pub Battles gamers, don’t be deceived by the quick play and small forces: you will be surprised at the variations that develop, depending on the different tactics adopted by the Americans to overcome the British advantage in numbers and troop quality. Chance (the luck of the die role) plays a key role in game outcomes, more so than in other Pub Battles games simply because the number of actual engagements is much lower, making it less likely for runs of “bad luck” to balance out across the two sides. On the other hand, this makes for much more careful and nuanced play, on both sides, as commanders confront the reality that a single assault can turn the tide of the entire engagement.
The game only addresses the opening phase of the battle, the meeting engagement between the British rear guard under General Cornwallis and the Continental Army advanced guard, under General Charles Lee. Victory conditions balance George Washington’s pressure on Lee to maintain a vigorous pursuit of the withdrawing British, against Cornwallis’s desire to give pursuing Continentals a bloody nose. To achieve a major victory, the British forces must sweep the Continentals from the field, occupying one of the westernmost farms. The Americans can achieve a major victory by successfully holding the farm at the center of the map against the advancing British forces. The heavily wooded battlefield makes for stubborn defensive actions and greatly limits the effectiveness of artillery.
The entire game lasts only seven turns, which go very quickly. Game play sees Lee and the Americans arriving on turn one from the western map edge, with only one British Dragoon unit on field, near the eastern map edge. The British cannot move on the first two turns. The remaining British forces arrive from the east on turn three, leaving only four turns (after turn of arrival) to defeat the Americans and seize one of the westernmost farms. Given the woods and streams that partition the field and slow movement, getting to grips quickly with the Americans is critical for the British commander.
Pub Battles allows formation headquarters (in this case, Lee and Cornwallis) to alter the order of movement based on a die roll. This is problematic for the Americans, as Lee must roll two or less to do so, while Cornwallis is successful on rolls of four or less. In practical terms, this usually allows the British to determine who moves first, and to arrange two consecutive British turns in some cases. The American player must defend in depth with limited forces, a real challenge. Best advice for the Americans: run when you can, only fight when you must, and when you do, make it count. Washington replaces Lee on turn five. The mechanics of this are not clear from the scenario; I recommend you simply replace the Lee Headquarters with Washington at the beginning of turn five, and use Washington’s rating of four to modify the turn order for that turn.
The British commander will win tactical engagements fairly easily, because he has more troops and two elite units. It is easy for the British to be seduced by tactical victories, losing sight of the positional battle for the westernmost farms. It is not at all unusual for the British to wipe out the American advanced guard, only to be denied a major victory because they find themselves too far from their objectives to seize them before time runs out (and the rest of the Continental Army arrives).
Pub Battles 2.0
This version of Pub Battles rules includes several changes that have a major impact on game play. The principle changesaddress revised “road movement” rates, “fields of fire,” and “disengaging.” Be careful of using 2.0 with earlier games – the rules are not a substitute for earlier series rules, but rather supplement them, primarily with the three changes identified.For players of Marengo especially, there is one important addition to the terrain categories: swamps. Swamps are no-go terrain for artillery (other than on roads) and deduct an additional 1/3 movement. Since swamps invariably occur in conjunction with streams, the 2/3 reduction significantly slows movement.
“Road movement rates” have been reduced to twice regular movement, rather than three times. This is a generally accurate rendering for administrative road movement. Given the game scale of 1:18,000, this works out just over two miles per hour, a pretty accurate rate for foot movement in column on a road.
“Fields of fire” extend for one third of foot movement from the front of each infantry and artillery unit, and at angles of 45% to the left and right of the unit block’s front. Units cannot move into this area unless they move into actual contact. If they do not have sufficient movement to do so, they must halt beyond the enemy field of fire. Fields of fire are limited by line of sight; they do not extend through areas (woods, buildings, hills) that the unit cannot see through, and also do not extend through enemy units. As a final note, if a unit begins its turn in an enemy field of fire, it must either move into contact and attack, or withdraw out of the field of fire.
“Disengaging” addresses units that begin their move in contact with the enemy units that have advanced to attack. This rule addresses an annoying (and not very realistic) game tactic where attacked units simply reverse front, move a few millimeters, and then reverse front again to face the attacking enemy, but no longer in contact. With the new rule, units in contact must either accept combat (as the defender), or move in a way that they are no longer within the attacking unit’s field of fire. In addition, units cannot move into an enemy field of fire unless they advance to contact, initiating combat. If a unit lacks sufficient movement remaining to reach the enemy unit, it must halt its move outside the unit field of fire. Of all the updates, this is the most difficult to apply, especially where close terrain (woods and streams, for example) reduces movement by two thirds or more.
An additional feature of disengagement allows units to remain in contact and accept combat, but change their facing to do so. Tactically, this can be critically important, as flanked units can now turn to face their attacker. To effectively flank an enemy, a commander must either manipulate the turn order to move after the attacked formation, or conduct converging attacks, so that if the enemy turns to face a flanking unit, it exposes its flank to the other attacker.
Fields of fire and disengagement, especially, influence play in important ways. Commanders will need to think in depth, and echelon defenses, lest they find themselves forced to vacate key defensive positions or advance from those positions to assault an enemy. The new rules also add an important dimension to decisions altering turn order.