American Revolution Tri-pack - Guilford, Saratoga & Brandywine

In order to get several of the popular AmRev series games back in print, GMT has produced the American Revolution Tri-Pack. This all-in-one boxed package is composed of new editions of the flagship game in the series - Saratoga, the long-out-of-print Brandywine, and Guilford/Eutaw Springs. Below is more detail on exactly what you’ll find in the package. As you’ll note, there are considerable additions and changes from the original games, as designer Mark Miklos has endeavored to create and update the finest version of these games that we’ve produced to date. Plus, the package includes double-sided mounted maps for all four battles!

Here are the specific updates for each battle:

Saratoga:

In all the spectacle of war there has seldom been a sight the equal of British General Burgoyne's campaign of 1777. The float and march south from Canada had almost a surreal quality juxtaposed against the Adirondack wilderness. Hundreds of vessels making up an immense inland navy on Lake Champlain transported nearly 9,000 combatants together with 138 cannon. Burgoyne's objective was Fort Ticonderoga and from there, Albany, and a rendezvous with British forces coming from New York City. The strategic purpose of the campaign was nothing short of an end to the American Rebellion.

The intrigue on the American side lay in the cult of personality. Saratoga was to be Benedict Arnold's greatest victory in a string of successes which rank him among the finest field commanders of the era. Known to all Americans as the great traitor, it is ironic to discover that twice he salvaged the Revolution from certain collapse. It was Arnold's conspicuous gallantry and bold leadership which assured America victory at Saratoga and, by extension, its independence.

The fighting at Freeman's Farm would be savage. Here no farmer's militia, but rather Continental Regulars (anxious to redeem a recent reputation for retreat), stood toe to toe with Europe's finest. The sanguinary nature of the fighting was summed up best by American Brigadier General John Glover who said, "Both sides seemed determined to conquer or die."

It's the 19th of September, 1777. Do you, as the British, attempt to storm the prepared American positions on the high ground at Bemis Heights in order to open up the River Road and the most direct route to Albany? Or do you attempt to turn the American left where intelligence reports the American defenses are incomplete and the ground favors your approach? How will you employ the large number of Hessian mercenaries in your army? Will their performance match their reputation?

As the Americans do you wait on Bemis Heights for the approach of the enemy as General Gates preferred, or do you sortie and meet the approach of the British in the forests where their artillery will be of little value? Will Generals Gates and Arnold cooperate, or will their feud spell disaster for the American cause? And what of the fog on this chilly Autumn morning? Will it be an ally to the Americans by impeding the progress of the enemy?

These are only a few of the challenges facing you as you relive one of history's most decisive battles and the turning point of the American Revolution.

• All the replacement counters that have been provided over the years are included, plus new Momentum counters and “Rally on Me” (see description under “Brandywine,” below) counters for the series. 
• This battle will include a new historical scenario featuring the fighting around Freeman’s Farm. 

Brandywine

 

An early morning fog burned off with the dawn, and revealed two long columns of scarlet and blue clad troops. This was His Majesty's Royal Army, commanded by General Sir William Howe. They were marching through the extreme southeastern corner of Pennsylvania and heading toward fledgling America's capital at Philadelphia. Only short weeks earlier this army had disembarked at Head of Elk, Maryland, after a 32-day voyage from New York City aboard the largest armada North America has ever seen. With some 14,000 troops, including crack German mercenaries and elite American Loyalist units, Howe's army was about to execute a flanking maneuver of "Jacksonian" proportions.

General George Washington, holding interior lines at Morristown, New Jersey, was unsure whether Howe would move north in support of the British invasion from Canada (see Saratoga, 1777), or whether he would move south against the Capital. Once the armada set sail, however, Washington shifted southwest and took up a naturally strong defensive position, on high ground behind Brandywine Creek, astride the main road to Philadelphia. Washington posted his troops advantageously and in depth. Control of the fords of the Brandywine would be the key to his position and although a possible flank attack was discussed, it's likelihood was discounted on the strength of local information.

Thus the stage was set. Howe, pursuing a strategy of posts, sought European style victory in a sudden taking of the enemy capital. Washington wrote, "Should they push their designs against Philadelphia...they will put the contest on the event of a single battle. If they are overthrown...the war is at an end. One bold stroke will free the land."

• An updated countersheet will include all the counters updated over the years, plus a new marker to the series, “Rally on Me!”  As you know, one of the combat results is Disruption.  When this occurs, a Disruption Marker is placed on top of the Disrupted unit.  If the Disrupted unit is alone in a hex or if it stacks with other units that are also Disrupted, there is no issue because the Disruption Marker remains on top of the stack, in plain sight signifying that every unit under it is Disrupted.  It serves as reminder to the player to roll for Rally in the Rally Phase.  When, however, Disrupted units stack with Parade Order units, those Parade Order units are placed above the Disruption Marker.  This typically obscures the Disruption Marker within the stack.  Particularly in larger games with high counter density and multiple fronts, where lots of action is occurring, players often forget to make their Rally rolls because they can’t readily see the Disruption Markers.  The “Rally on Me!” Marker is primarily intended to be placed on top of any stack that contains a combination of Disrupted and Parade Order units in the same hex.  This will be a visual cue for the player to remember his Rally die roll. 
• There will be a new amusettes counter among the Hessian forces in Brandywine
• Includes an updated Brandywine mounted map with redone Charlie Kibler artwork.
• The Brandywine rules have been split into a Series Rule Book and an Exclusive Rule Book. A couple of key updates here:
• a.       Updated unit deployment protocol for the Knyphausen’s Feint scenario in the Exclusive Rule Book.
• b.      Also in the Exclusive Rules, new optional intelligence rules called, “Muddying the Waters of Brandywine Creek” are introduced. While the original game attempts to model the lack of good intelligence that plagued Washington by restricting American movement within the American Army Bivouac Area until a certain point in the game, this and the other devices used like optional British Brigade entry zones have become “set-piece” after all these years.  Players familiar with this game can “game” those intel rules enough to mitigate their impact and as a result, the flow of action across the board is becoming a little too predictable.  The new “Muddy” rules introduce a random element into both players’ decision making.  There are four possible permutations: 1) neither do a recon, 2) both do a recon, 3) only the Brits do a recon, and 4) only the Americans do a recon.  This is further complicated by five different possible states of the upper ford on the Brandywine (off-map):  1) Blocked, 2) Partially Blocked, 3) Hindered, 4) Open and 5) Dry.  The interplay of these factors will influence how each side can maneuver so that it can never become predictable.

Guilford/Eutaw Springs

Volume III in GMT's Battles of the American Revolution Series the Battles of Guilford Courthouse and Eutaw Springs, 1781. Contains 1 two-sided mapsheet, 1 sheet of 5/8 inch counters, series rule book, battle book, aids for previous games in the series, baggies, and dice. Regimental scale, 1 hour per turn.

The game features:

• Replacement counters:3 for Saratoga, 2 for Brandywine
• Low counter density. Guilford, in particular, offers lots of room for early maneuver
• Decisive, substantial, and marginal levels of victory with new requirements that compel the armies to fight in order to avoid a draw
• Random player order rather than "I go, you go" sequence assures variability of play
• Army Morale Track measures tenacity and will to fight of opposing forces
• Specialty units: American and German rifle units and American Partisans with special capabilities
• 8 tactics chits with use restrictions to gain close combat modifiers
• Combat results that include pinned, capture, and step reduction
• Historical and campaign scenarios for each game with unique game and scenario rules
• Set up in minutes; play in 2 hours or less
• Leaders: (Guilford Courthouse) Greene, Eaton, Stevens, Lee, Cornwallis, Leslie, O'Hara, Webster, and Tarleton. (Eutaw Springs) Greene, Hampton, Marion, Stuart, Majoribanks, and Coffin.

Game scale:
Unit: Regimental
Time: 1 hour per turn
Map: 200 yards per hex

• Mounted Mapboards for each game
• Updated Victory Conditions for each game
• An Updated Looting Table for Eutaw Springs
• Replacement counters for each game.

Components List:

• One box
• two double-sided game maps (Sara/Brandy and Guilford/Eutaw)
• Four  counter sheets (one for each game and one that includes revised counters and new markers for all battles in the series)
• One series rulebook
• three Exclusive Rulebooks/Scenario Books
• 6 player aid cards – 2 identical for Sara, Brandy and Guilford
• 1 set of 16 tactics cards
• 2 D10s