My main wargaming opponent (Michael Dardia) and I played a game of We the
People today. Though it felt to me like about half a game because it ended
pretty abruptly; more on that below.

Michael was the British, I was the Americans. I had pretty poor draws in
the first two turns (1775 and 1776). In 1776, for example, I only had 3
cards I could play out of a 7 card hand! I also made the stupid mistake of
forgetting several times to attempt to retreat my generals when they were
attacked by superior forces.

As a result, in 1775 Cornwallis defeated Lincoln in a battle in Richmond,
and wiped out all 3 of the Combat Units (CUs) there. This left Philadelphia
wide open, so Cornwallis waltzed in at the start of 1776. The Continental
Congress was dispersed, and I lost the ability for the rest of 1776 to
place Political Control (PC) markers. This was a bad thing, because the
early game is largely a race to convert uncommitted spaces to your side by
placing PC markers. My only accomplishment this turn was that late in 1775,
Washington defeated Carleton in Ticonderoga and wiped out all the British
CUs in Carleton's army, leaving Quebec and Montreal wide open for an
invasion by the American commander. Alas, matters elsewhere diverted George
from following up and adding Canada as another of the United States.

In 1776, Cornwallis captured Philadelphia as I described earlier. The only
battle this year went badly for me, with Burgoyne wiping out a force under
Benedict Arnold in New York. That put New York and Long Island under
British control, giving them a foothold in one of the largest and most
pivotal of the colonies. Finally, at the end of the year the Continental
Congress reconvened in Wilmington, under the protection of a large American
force.

1777 went badly for the Americans also. Burgoyne defeated Greene in Newport
(though only at a loss of 1 American CU), which put Rhode Island into
British hands. While Washington was off in Oswego to cut off British
encroachment on the New York frontier by new reinforcements from Canada,
Clinton defeated an American holding force of 3 CUs in Fort Stanwix. Only 1
CU was lost, with the rest joining Washington in Oswego.

Meanwhile, in the south, the British had throughout the war been steadily
suppressing the rebellion, placing lots of PC markers in Virginia and the
Carolinas. To do this, they benefitted not only from the inability of the
Americans to place any PC markers in 1776, but also from a much better draw
of Operations cards.

In 1778, the Americans declared independence, which summoned forth true
patriots in many uncommitted territories and let me place lots of PC
markers in strategic locations. The British finally had a bad draw, with
only 3 useable cards, so their generals sat idle most of the year.
Meanwhile the Americans grew stronger, and Washington in particular
collected a powerful army. At the very end of the year, Clinton shifted to
Albany to wait out the winter. Washington saw an opportunity to launch a
Winter Offensive against Clinton, which would give Washington an 11 to 6
battle card advantage and a favorable location to wait till spring. It
seemed he couldn't lose the battle. But there was one grave risk: the
approach to the attack passed through Fort Stanwix, which was still in
British hands--this meant retreat would be impossible if Washington should
lose the battle. Washington rashly proceeded with the plan. 

Of course, I lost the battle.... Michael matched my first battle card
(Double Envelopment), successfully rolled to launch a counter-attack, then
played another Double Envelopment that I couldn't match. Apparently the
guys from Fort Stanwix snuck up behind Washington and ambushed him.
Whenever Washington is lost, the Americans automatically lose.

I tend to think this particular (literal) sudden-death victory condition is
a bit too harsh, and not just because I've lost the game twice this way. It
doesn't seem historically accurate to me. I can easily believe that if the
British caught Washington, they'd hang him rather than ransoming him like
the other generals. But I don't think the Americans would just give up at
that point and return to being loyal subjects. But in this case it worked
out fine, because we were running short on time due to starting the game
late. The game took about 3 hours, because we move really really slow.

Dave