Gaming Great Bridge IV: Playtesting Insights

 “Nine-tenths of tactics are certain, and taught in books: but the irrational tenth is like the kingfisher flashing across the pool, and that is the test of generals.”

— T. E. Lawrence

I’ve been spending time writing down the rules for processes discussed earlier, with an eye to producing both a rulebook for a board wargame and a streamlined player aid format of rules for the event where I expect to run the Battle of Great Bridge game demo. Once I had some firm rules down as a baseline for game play, I devised a gridded map, found some generic pieces to use, and started some self-play testing (with me taking turns running both sides), given my general lack of local players. I made a few adjustments, but overall it seems to deliver the experience I’d hoped to offer: basic rules with player choices, short play time, and all taking into account some historical considerations.

For those following along I’ve documented this process in three earlier posts:

I. Gaming Great Bridge

II. Battle into Game

III. Interaction Factors

Several realizations stood out as I managed the playtest games. They’ll help me hone the rules and the implementation, both as an event demo game and as a more traditional albeit simple chit-and-board wargame.

Victory Conditions

In focusing so much on the rules details I’d overlooked defining victory conditions. I measured success by how many units remained on each side, losses historically having contributed to the British retreat. So I decided that any side with only two units or fewer remaining at the end of a turn retreated and lost the engagement. With five Patriot units over the four British units, the Patriots could sustain one more loss and hence had an advantage in the game. This clear victory condition helped me gauge how often the Patriot player prevailed. I expect, when running the game as an event demo, that single players would want to run the Patriots, so having them win more often would contribute more toward a positive player experience.

Map Realizations

A fatigued British unit has breached
the Patriot defenses.

In preparing to playtest I wanted a map board beyond the dry-erase board I’ve been using to brainstorm and jot down notes. I really didn’t want to have to go through the trouble of drawing one out to relative scale, scanning it, and imposing a grid over it. Maybe down the road, but I’m on a deadline for this, so I needed something quick and dirty. So I fell back on the historical sources...and decided to use the map of the encounter Lord Rawdon drew which has survived as one of the key contemporary maps of the action. And it’s even in color. I cropped in on the map section where most of the battle — and hence the game action — occurred, making sure to include the western breastworks used by the Culpeper Minutemen and the Great Bridge itself. I dropped a grid over it and adjusted it to mostly conform to my earlier estimations that one square equaled about 100 yards.

This exercise, however, revealed some interesting insights I’d not noticed before. The biggest one was that the main Patriot breastworks at the end of the causeway really only protected two militia units; I’d included four, plus the Minutemen, to account for numbers and reinforcements. My first inclination was to manipulate the map to extend the line, either by playing with the image size or grid size or by drawing it by hand. But I’m glad I didn’t.

Playtesting revealed the difficulty the British faced in eliminating Patriot units behind the breastworks. This forced the Patriot player to make a choice: keep two units firing from behind the defenses, with the others behind waiting as reserves; or throw the reserves into the fight in positions lacking breastworks and therefore putting them at risk of more effective British fire. The overall outcome didn’t change much — beyond the random nature of the die rolls (see below) — but it offered some considered choices for the Patriot player and, in a few games, ultimately forced a draw when each side had only two remaining units at the same time.

Game Length

Most games lasted only six turns. Some ran only four, a few as many as eight. Play time took between five and ten minutes, certainly within my event demo game parameters to keep things short. This may seem too brief and unfulfilling for hardened wargamers; but they’re not the audience here. The game experience, including rules explanation, must run between 10 and 15 minutes to allow for those unfamiliar with wargaming to learn the rules and play the game making meaningful choices.

The actual battle didn’t last more than 30 minutes...long enough for the British to advance along the causeway toward the Patriot defenses, taking fire from the front and, eventually, the flank. The game mirrored this nicely, mostly delivering the historical result.

I found the unreliability of die rolls vastly affected the course of the battle. At best, a unit could hit one third of the time. This forced some interesting player choices, especially on the part of the British, who faced constant Patriot fire, often from behind breastworks. Several times I chose to send the grenadiers into close combat, which was only rarely successful. While they might have occasionally breached the defenses, only once in all the games did they take significant ground and defeat the militia.

Attack Opportunities

The set-up severely limits British fire combat opportunities during the opening moves...just like the original action. Patriot forces, including minutemen, can fire with full effect on the firs t turn, at least two behind the breastworks, and an additional two reinforcements if they move out into the open. The grenadiers — the lead British unit in a single line of advance — cannot effectively fire until the second turn...and even then, they face a penalty against the Patriot breastworks. The artillery also cannot effectively fire at any Patriot target until turn two.

Limiting the two long range fire units (British artillery and Culpeper Minutemen) to firing every other turn to account for reloading kept them both from unfairly dominating the fight. Their contribution had the potential to influence the outcome (depending on die rolls), but not overwhelmingly or decisively so. Again, the targets of British artillery frequently had the benefit of defensive works, reducing the effect of cannon fire.

Ranged fire often prolonged a game, given the low chances of scoring a hit on the target and the necessity of two hits to eliminate a unit; lucky and unlucky streaks of die rolls played their part. It became particularly frustrating for the British, with units backed up single-file along the narrow causeway approach; this help encourage making a desperate choice...to engage in deadly close combat.

The grenadiers aren’t in a position to assault the breastworks in close combat until turn three. If they make it that far. The close combat rules offer no mercy; both sides roll a die, add modifiers (+1 for grenadiers, +1 if defending behind breastworks), winner eliminates the loser and may move into their space. After a few tries I increased the grenadier die roll bonus to +2. Even then, they rarely succeeded. The best they managed behind the Patriot defenses was to force a draw. Close combat, as designed, is extremely risky, and, unless a draw, always eliminated one participating unit. Once the British decided to engage in close combat, the game took a trajectory toward a quick conclusion.

Next Steps

I’m fairly confident the playtest sessions, as limited as they were, highlighted some concerns I addressed and confirmed some of the foundational mechanics reflected the historical elements. I need to hammer out the rules, work them into a format for a standalone print-and-play game and a player reference sheet to use during the event demo.

I’m tempted, if time allows, to put the print-and-play version out there for additional playtesting, but I’m on a deadline for a mid-late October event celebrating the mustering of the Culpeper Minutemen in 1755. That said, any insights, from playtesting or even running it at the event, can help adjust the rules for this or other projects.

Along those lines I intend to tidy up my board and add appropriate pieces for a print-and-play edition. How far I’m going to take the event demo board remains to be seen. Ideally I’d like to craft a terrain piece overlaid with square markings (with string pinned along the edge?) and some kind of figures (most likely Peter Dennis Peter’s Paperboys figures, which I adore). I’ll see how much I’m able to accomplish on a large, visually impressive scale given the constraints of time and energy of real life issues.

“I didn’t fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.”

— Benjamin Franklin