"AWI - The Battle of Long Island OOB" Topic

I'm looking for the OOB (British and American) for this battle. I don't need to know any numbers, a list of units will do. I'm putting together a demo game for a wargames convention and I want to get it right. ;-) Thanks.

Try "The Battle of Brooklyn 1776" by John Gallagher - has orbats for both sides in exactly the format you specify in the appendices. However, you will need to read the text to find out which American units were actually engaged as the divisions were constantly being reorganised and commanders shifted around. Depending on your deadline, I believe there's an Osprey Campaign scheduled to come out late 2004/early 2005 - they usually have detailed orbats.

Given the battlefield covered around 50 square miles, what figure and ground scales are you planning to use?

SM

Get the Canadian Wargamers Group book "Whites of their Eyes". It has a complete scenario including OOB and map for Battle of Long Island and a number of other battles:

link

You can buy the rules from sabersedge.com

An Osprey publicity flier mentioned that the Campaign 144 The Battle of New York ISBN 1841767735 by Brendan Morrissey and illustrated by Stephen Walsh should be published in November of this year.

I have copies of all the other AWI Osprey Campaign
volumes written by Brendan Morrissey and they are excellent. Lots of near contemporary illustrations and first rate orbat data based on research rather than regurgitation. The New York one should be definitely worth the price (unlike some other Osprey titles, e.g. Guilford Court House).

TM

Fonzie,

Forget Gallagher, his book is rife with mistakes...my suggestion is David Hackett Fischer's recently published book, Washington's Crossing. While the book focuses on the Trenton/Princeton battle there is a detailed OB for American forces at New York in August, 1776. I recommend the book highly.

Pancerni,

I heard Gallagher was ok, at least the battle narrative, provided you ignored the chapters on "democratic warfare" and his descriptions of tactics and weaponry (which range from outdated mythology to the downright bizarre).

Any other areas he's weak on?

SM

The convention I'm talking about is Crisis 2004 in Antwerp (Belgium) on november 6 so I can't wait for the Osprey but I'll look into those other books. Thanks for the help!

I will be using 25mm figs on a 2 by 3 meter table, Maximus. You can't get the entire battlefield on such a table of course so I will have to scale down. The game will focus on the fight for the passes through the Heights. The Brooklyn lines and Bedford will be off-table but the American player will be able to call on regiments that were in the Brooklyn lines and the British player will be able to do his flanking march if he chooses so. It would be a nice suprise for the American player if Howe showed up in his flank. ;-)

Supercillisus,

I dunno, isnt't that enough... if he has no clue about units and tactics I'd have to be suspicious about his battle descriptions.

... if he has no clue about units and tactics I'd have to be suspicious about his battle descriptions.

P,

Sorry, I thought from your earlier remark that there were other things you'd found.

You can still write a reasonable historical narrative - eg general X attacked general Y at point Z around this time on this day - without having much of a clue about tactics etc. However, your own - ie the author's - interpretation and understanding of those events will be skewed (Gallagher actually starts with a theory and tries to get everything to fit it, which is always dangerous). All the reviews of the book I've read (including several by some extremely knowledgeable re-enactors) praise the main text, but slate his knowledge of 18th century warfare.

Same with Fischer. Some re-enactors who work at the relevant Parks don't like parts of his "Paul Revere's Ride", but think the rest is ok - again, it's the intimate knowledge of 18th century armies (in this case the British) that prevents the author giving greater insight on "why" and not just "who", "when" and "how".

Each to his own - I've ordered Washington's Crossing, as your comments about its relevance to the New York campaign intrigued me, so thanks for mentioning that.

SM

I'm in the midst of helping a friend prep a pretty big refight of the Battle of Brooklyn AKA the Battle of Long Island and in the course of my endless research came across this TMP thread. In the interest of being helpful to others, here's a link to Volume 2 of the Long Island Historical Society Memoirs, covering the battle and related events before and after:

link