The Wargamer

Introduction

Guilford is a turn-based, 2D board game of tactical combat set during the American Revolution. Volume III in GMT Games Battles of the American Revolution, it is really two games in one, as it features two battles in the southern theater in 1781: Guilford Courthouse and Eutaw Springs.

Historically, the American forces led by Major General Nathanael Greene lost both battles, but through partisan warfare and maintaining an army in being, ultimately won the campaign against the British.

The two battles provide a variety of interesting situations. At Guilford Courthouse an outnumbered but highly professional British force attacked a militia-heavy American force. At Eutaw Springs, a more professional American army launched a surprise attack against a British force of similar size and quality.

With a relatively low learning curve and small counter density, Guilford offers some interesting battles that can easily be played in an evening.

Plot and Presentation

With the war stalemated in the north after three years of fighting, the British in late 1778 adopted a "southern strategy," hoping to capitalize on the perceived number of loyalist colonists in that region. After quickly overrunning Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, the British found themselves faced with an increasingly effective partisan movement. The Americans sought to expand on these successes by appointing Major General Greene as head of the Southern Department in late 1780. Greene's first major battle was at Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina on March 15, 1781. In a match up of quantity versus quality, Greene's force of 4000, almost three quarters militia, faced 2000 professional British and Hessian troops under Lord Cornwallis.

Major General Greene arrayed his forces in three defensive lines. The first line, made up mostly of North Carolina militia, was expected to put up only minimal resistance. The second line, placed in the woods, was made up of better-trained Virginia militia. The third line was positioned on a crest north of Guilford Courthouse overlooking a clearing and included most of the Continental troops and some steady Virginia state troops.

Lord Cornwallis chose to mount a frontal assault with his veterans. The British quickly punched through the center of the first American line, scattering most of the North Carolina militia, though riflemen on both flanks kept up a galling fire. The forest and the second line put up more of a struggle, causing many casualties and breaking up the British line. The attack on the final American line took place in a piecemeal fashion. The first assault was beaten back handily, but the next thrust broke the 2nd Maryland Regiment. A timely American counter-attack not only salvaged the situation, but also put the British guards in a perilous position. Lord Cornwallis calmly ordered his artillery to fire into the melee, causing casualties on both sides but stopping the American attack.

With over a quarter of his force scattered and the British regrouping, Major General Greene decided to abandon the battlefield and his artillery to the British. Though he won the battle, Lord Cornwallis suffered more casualties than the Americans, who still maintained their army in being. The British withdrew to Wilmington, North Carolina and Lord Cornwallis then departed to eventually meet his fate at Yorktown.

Six months later, command of the British army had devolved under Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Stuart, who had encamped his force of over 2000 troops at Eutaw Springs, South Carolina. Major General Greene, with an army of about the same size, decided to attack the British.

The Americans approached the camp, and after overrunning a foraging party, deployed into two lines. The first included South Carolina state troops headed by Colonel Wade Hampton, North Carolina and South Carolina militia, and partisans under of the command of Frances Marion (a.k.a the "Swamp Fox"), while the second line consisted of continental regulars.

The British, taken by surprise, scrambled to form a defensive line in front of the encampment. A seesaw battle ensued, with attacks back and forth by both sides. The British line gave first, crumbling from left to right and retreating past the encampment. The British far right held and then fell back in good order to join some other troops to make a stand at the Watoon Plantation house. Unfortunately for the Americans, the supplies in the British encampment proved too much of a lure, and many of the troops fell out to loot. The British were able to regroup and counterattack to drive the disordered Americans back. Once again, Major General Greene decided not to press the issue and retreated from the field. This latest American tactical defeat led to another strategic victory, however, as the British abandoned Eutaw Springs and fell back to Charleston.

The battles of Guilford Courthouse and Eutaw Springs are presented as two separate games with no linkage. Each game has a campaign scenario covering most of the day of the battle and a shorter historical scenario portraying the period when major fighting occurred.