From: "EMDE,BRION (HP-Loveland,ex2)" Subject: Yet another correction the the latest Quebec 1759 replay I sent y ou. Sorry for the deluge of corrections! Hi Alan, et. al, This revision of Friday's Quebec 1759 replay corrects yet another critical typo that effects the proper understanding of the write-up. Please use this version if you wish to add to the replays that you have already published from me on web-grognards. Thank you, Brion Emde --------------------------------- Game Report - Quebec 1759, October 6, 1999 Steve - French Brion - English This was Steve's second game of Quebec 1759 and first playing the French. The French used a defensive setup never before seen by the British. Nine pieces were placed in the Levis zone, defending against a British upriver strategy and the remaining sixteen units were placed in the Beauport zone, on the north side of the river, leaving St. Charles and Montmorency undefended. The British player, knowing that the undefended zones would be defended on the first move, decided to try his luck attacking Levis amphibiously. The double-fire first defensive volley from the completely militia-based defenders in Levis was withering, reducing one of the British columns to 1CV (from 4CV), the second to 2CV (from 4CV) and the third reduced to 3CV (from 4CV), clearly some above-average rolling. Fearing a rout if he stayed, the British player recalled his battered troops in an amphibious retreat. The ensuing two hits from pursuit fire were fortunately blocked by the 4CV unit that the British had in reserve. The simultaneous French first move saw four units moving to St. Charles and two to Montmorency, leaving ten units in Beauport. The British player, seeing his force reduced so handily, looked for an objective on the north shore of the river. Not believing that the French would leave St. Charles so lightly defended on the second turn, ordered an attack at Beauport, thinking that the troops currently defending would be moving on Turn 2. While some of the troops did move, both to Montmorency and St. Charles, the crafty French player took advantage of the freedom of movement allowed in the game, where only the number of units to be moved must be written down, not the actual units to be moved. He saw that the attack was coming to Beauport and moved weaker units to their assigned zones, leaving the bulk of his strength in Beauport to meet the hapless British. The British general, using similar thinking, sent three blank pieces and a 1CV survivor from the Levis disaster across to Beauport. The ensuing battle revealed the British blanks and eliminated the 1CV unit. Turn three saw the British attack the St. Charles zone, directly adjacent to the Plains of Abraham and finally win a beachhead, though with large loss of strength in the double-fire defensive response on the first round and ensuing rounds of combat. The French, fearing a rout through loss of one of his battle columns, retreated his units from St. Charles to Beauport, massing a sizable force that threatened to push the British back over the river on the next turn. The British were faced with another dilemma, reinforce the beachhead with four more units or move the units in St. Charles to Abraham, inflicting the desertion of another Quebec militia on the French but abandoning the beachhead. The British chose to reinforce the beachhead. But the French attacked with their full force from Beauport, inflicting more casualties on the paltry British defenders before they could retreat to Abraham. The British, seeing Beauport now empty, sent an expeditionary force to that zone, which was met by defenders rushing upriver from Montmorency and defeated. Things now looked very bad for the British, with only 27CV of total strength remaining. He knew that if he fell below 20CV the game would be over. The French now sat back and used the Indian guerrilla warfare unit to attrition the British still further. In retrospect the British, in possession of Abraham, should have maneuvered, moving both to Silery and St. Foy, reducing the French by two more Quebec militia, and tried to make for Cap Rouge, to start the reduction of Montreal militia as well by cutting off their supply. Instead he continued his failed policy of trying to establish a new beachhead on the north shore, while two successive Indian raids further reduced his strength. When the final French assault came across the St. Charles river, it was overwhelming. The British retreated as soon as they could but had fallen to 18CV, providing an attrition victory to the French in turn 8 of 16. ---- The freedom to choose the units to be moved once the point of attack is known is a very great advantage to the French that had not been used extensively in previous games I had played by either the French or the British. That, combined with the massing of all north-shore defender in Beauport provided a dilemma that the British player could not easily overcome. The continued maneuver by the French on the north shore provided a kind of shell game atmosphere that left the head of the British commander spinning. Granted, there was an imbalance in the dice rolling effectiveness, with the French rolling an above average number of hits during combat and the British rolling below average. But that was minor compared to the command headaches caused by the dilemma of not knowing where the crafty French commander would order his troops and which troops were moving once the attack objective was known in a turn. Once again the game of Quebec 1759, which I had thought lacked new possibilities, provided an hour of tense excitement. It seems that every time I play with a new player that some new possibilities are made apparent. My head was left spinning with 'what if I had....?' possibilities at the conclusion of the game. I'm sure that Steve (who likes simple games) and I will be playing this classic block game many more times in the future. I may even write up the replays, especially if they are as groundbreaking as this one......