"Learning curve and tricky bits in "British Grenadier"" Topic

After a long hiatus, I am dragging out my AWI figures and playing with them.
In part this was inspired by Darrell and Roger from our group doing Breed's Hill, using Age of Reason. Some of you may have seen this at Cold Wars. Beautiful game.
Then, Jim did a "small 25mm" game with AoR at my house.

I like larger battalions than used in AoR, but I am not as certifiable as der Alte Fritz with his 60 figure battalions.

So, last weekend, I dragged out something old, something new, and ran a "not-Germantown" with "1776". Definitely Old School, but fun.

My plan is to run some games with a different rules set every other week until I find my favorite set of rules.
The problem with this approach is the learning curve. One always plays it wrong for the first few games, until it "clicks".

For the record, my infantry are all mounted on 2"x1" bases, with 3 figures. Cavalry are (for the most part) mounted on the same bases, but the long way, singly. Artillerists are individually based, with loose guns.

So, my queston for BG fans is basically: What are the tricky bits? What are the parts that I have to pay close attention to to grasp the nuances that make BG a good game?

Future plans include trying or re-trying Volley and Bayonet, Generalship, and Patriots and Loyalists until we get a consensus game for 15-24 figure battalion games.

Orders!!!!!!!1

I have always wanted to try BG as well but it seems just a bit more complicated than I care for. Don't forget to try "Disperse Ye Damned Rebels" by Larry Brom. I think it's one of his best rule sets.

but I am not as certifiable as der Alte Fritz with his 60 figure battalions

Hey, hey, I resemble that remark. I don't deny my lunacy.

American Revwar in the 1:10 ratio is easy to do without a lot of figures, especially if you are fighting the Southern Campaigns where 200 to 300 men in a battalion is the norm.

'I have always wanted to try BG as well but it seems just a bit more complicated than I care for.' – Me too.

Like the OFM I have recently dug out my AWI stuff (25mm and based for Patriots & Loyalists) and am looking at trying out a game soon.

Our group have fiddled around quite a bit with the P&L playsheet a while back (amongst others changes, we use the 15mm shooting bands, units dice for their actions points dependent on their current status and played around with the firing/morale modifiers).

I also have copies of, and haven't yet used, Guns of Liberty, BG, Two for Tea (Wargames Journal free set) and Loyalty and Glory (another WJ free set).

Sounds like a good idea to try each set to see what is easily picked up and playable. Loyalty and Glory may come first and it includes a Guilford Courthouse scenario that should just about fit on our usual 7' x 4' gaming table.

Ezza

I'm a big fan of BG. There are some "tricky bits", which I would define as surprises to the un-initiated.
Artillery is pretty powerful. Wargamers who play horse and musket don't expect to get hurt bad by light and medium guns, but it can happen in BG, and it sneaks up on you.
The dice based movement is anthema to some gamers, especially in linear periods. Advancing in good order is tough, and virtually impossible for militia.
The order rules can get a player into trouble, due to placing restrictions on your options as a commander. That takes some getting used to.

It's a bit "old school" in that there are lots of charts and modifiers. (some would say complicated, I would say challenging and flavorful)

Overall though, I find it's the best system I've played (according to my tastes) for the AWI.
I think it captures the differences between regular troops and militia very well, allows limited numbers of cavalry some useful scope, and provides a good limited control command structure that's not randomly driven.

It's worked terrific for the southern campaign actions we've played.

The two things to grasp are orders (including the difficulty of changing orders and the limitation on troop actions for the various orders) and disruption points. If you make a good plan, and give appropriate orders for the right troops, you can actually win a game. If you try putting militia on assault orders, you're in for a loooong day…

Actually, of course, it's likely to be a rather short one. Anyway, thinking about it, I thought of my own playing history in the AWI. I actually based my figures as you do (except for the gunners) but my armies were designed for `Loose Files and American Scramble', which you can pick up for free on all sorts of sites. I haven't rebased them for BG. LFAS is where the idea of disruption points and variable moves in BG came from. LFAS, to my mind, gives a faster and more fun game, but I've generally moved to BG because most of my opponents don't much like `home brewed' rules. I'm fiddling around with the idea of adding the command system from BG, and some rules about visibility to LFAS and trying again. So, in your shoes, I'd have a game of LFAS before trying BG, just to get the idea of Disruption points and variable moves fixed.