"54mm Battle of Trenton-December 20-Rat Palace Redux" Topic

For those DFW Lurkers and those that may be traveling to DFW during the holiday period. I'm putting this game on at my game house: The Rat Palace Redux, Red Oak, Texas (suburb of Dallas).

Battle of Trenton-The Crossing!

George Washington gambles EVERYTHING on the toss of his dice by launching a surprise attack upon the hated Hessians quartered in Trenton Town. Washington is counting on the Hessian Wassail to give them a more permanent Silent Night.

This game is played with All the King's Men rules. They are available for free via:
PDF link

I've always wanted to play Trenton. It is the battle in which I started my 54mm journey. See if you can change history. 54mm single painted miniatures for the winning side (Merry Christmas from the Big Rat)

Consider this your PERSONAL invitation…ping me for additional info if intrested.

Steve Miller
DFW Irregulars-Southern Front

When exactly? I'll be in Sachse (NE of Dallas) from Dec 27th-30th.

I can't make it to Dallas, but would be interested in seeing the Orders of Battle you will use for your Trenton game.

I'd like to try it out with my 28mm AWI collection, using the rules from All The King's Men.

dberczel AT hotmail DOT com

Please take photos. I have always been interested in this battle also. Especially since I live in the vicinity of Brandywine, Valley Forge and Washington's Crossing. I am thinking of putting one on eventually but I have not decided on scale, 15mm, 28mm, or 40mm have all crossed my mine. I would love to see it done in 54mm.

Dave Gamer:
Putting it on Sunday 12/20. Sorry…I wanted to avoid the "I can'ts because it's Christmas holiday".

WarWizard…there will be a load of pics. I keep a blog…not very well but hey…here's the link to it: stevesfieldworks.blogspot.com

dberczel….will do. I'm still hammering out the number of units I want to put on the table. I've got 6 players. 3v3 works but the Hessians are a little force. The Americans are overwhelming force. Any thoughts on scaling? I've got the figs…that's not the issue…just want folks to have enough to hold onto and roll dice.

Steve Miller
DFW Irregulars-Southern Front

I hate them "I can'ts" be a man and grow a pair.

pilum40 -- since the Hessians are a little force, you might consider a 4v2 game for your 6 players: 4 Americans and 2 Hessians.

Remove one or two "Black/American" cards (playing cards #3 – #10) from the ATKM deck so the four American players get a few less activations than the two Hessian players.

Non-historical, but maybe include a possible British "relief column" arriving on-table on Turn 5 or 6.

Or you could put a "Joker" in the deck. When the Joker comes up, the Hessian Commander (Colonel Rall / Rated 2?) uses a Command Point to roll 2 Red Die to see if he can activate the arrival of the Relief Column.

Good ideas!! I'm thinking Col. Rall should get a die roll for the first two turns (completely through to the beer card) 1,2,3=success, 4,5,6=failure for the two British Light Dragoons to push through and inform von Donop. I'll steal your Joker idea and when it is pulled, roll a successful command roll then von Donop rolls 2D6 turns to get to Trenton. vonDonop can't arrive before turn 4 to keep the game a little tense. I'm also toying with the idea of putting an extra green bead on the Rall Grenadiers to reflect their more prestigious rank. I'm thinking this should be a good, nervy game. ATKM is bloody and fast. There won't be much time to BS in this game.

Steve, I will plan to be there.

You're the man, Steve! Regarding von Donlop's possible arrival, 2-12 turns after turn 4 is likely to equate to "will never make it." As you know, the game moves fast and any single turn can be the make or break. I'd suggest that if he isn't there by turn 4, he'll likely be too late to make a difference.

Take plenty o' pics!

Ken

Another thought, Steve: If you really want pressure on Rall, make the Hessians 2-player while the Continentals are 4-player. Each player activates a unit on a card of his side, as usual, so the Americans will come in as a wave. Perhaps the Hessians can buy time if they get enough red cards. This approach would also encourage the quicker arrival of local light dragoons and von Donlop. Re-creating history is fun, but introducing historical possibilities like speedy Hessian re-enforcements takes the historical "certainty" out of the game.