The War of 1812 in a Box

In many ways, the War of 1812 makes an ideal setting for Old School wargames. Well, unless you want massed cavalry charges  and huge armies that is. However, like a lot of Old School games with single figures, the logistics of setting up and clearing away are considerable and the games themselves can take a full afternoon or evening to reach a conclusion so they are more of a "main event" than what Neil Thomas calls Practical.

A test of the Fort Meigs game I took to Huzzah! in 2013 using single figures and With MacDuff to the Frontier. 

Fair enough, but there is a time and place for almost everything and my plan calls for a mix of Practical and Impractical games. Since the War of 1812 lost out to the Not Quite Seven Years war as my Impractical Horse and Musket wargame it was elected to be one of what Stuart Asquith called "A Game in a Box": a small game, quick to layout, quick to play, quick to clear away and easily stored.

I have other collections that can do raids and ambushes but have somehow ended up short of collections that can be used to refight historical battles and the War of 1812 is ideal for historical refights, especially for Historical Battle Game in a Box mode, since the battles are relatively small and well balanced.  I already had The Square Brigadier for rules so I was all set. Until ..........

A OHW scenario test game which was enjoyable but too fast and virtually unwinnable for Blue given the mix of terrain and short ranges in the draft rules.

Actually I can't remember what combinations of things got me reconsidering the question of whether or not units frequently made short retreats during combat only to renew the attack in short order, especially during the War of 1812, nor can I remember just when I started considering that yoyo effect to be a traditional wargame thing. Reviewing various old rule sets and detailed accounts of several 1812 battles made me decide to revisit some of the Square Brigadier mechanisms.

The 3rd game. New OHW scenario, revised SB rules. Getting closer.
(and a victory for Blue!)

The first extreme make over led to a 20 minute game which would not satisfy on any front. A less drastic change was ok but not quite right so a new scenario and 3rd draft followed but I lacked the time  to blog any of it.

All reset for a test of the latest draft.

Now there is an even more promising version and a game just waiting to be played  and hopefully blogged soon after. If that works, a refight of an historical action will follow.