"Freeman's Farm scenario from British Grenadier rules booklet" Topic

I was thinking about playing this scenario this weekend, and something struck me as odd. It is my belief the primary reason the German units are typically rated "2nd Line" in BG is to make them slower, by not rallying off DPs as well as "Line" units. The mods for "Line" and "2nd Line" are the same for fire, melee & morale.

In the Freeman's Farm scenario, it says "Riedesel's brigade is assumed to deploy with 'loose files' and is therefore not subject to the +1 modifier on enemy firing hits. This reflects orders given by Riedesel as the campaign began, to allow his troops to form in this way rather than the usual, denser German formation."

The +1 modifier is for firing at "Close Order" line.

So if Riedesel's brigade is using 'loose files', why are they rated 2nd Line?

Prejudice. Change it if you don't like it.
I change printed scenarios all the time.

I think that might just be an oversight on the part of the author – as Winston suggests, just drop it. Personally, based on their performance over the course of the campaign, I would make the Brunswickers comparable to the British, ie 1st Line.

There are some other questionable things about that scenario as well. Do a bit of your own research and you might modify it a bit more.

There two excellent books on the battles and campaigns:

link

and

link

There are chapters in the second book written by Luzader (former battlefield park historian) and Eric Schnitzer (current battlefield park historian) that are excellent. The chapter by Eric really does a great job breaking down who went where during the battle. Also, not sure why the scenario shows earthworks when there were none at the time of the battle.

At least according to Spring, With Zeal and Bayonets Only pages 143-144, the Brunswickers operated in two ranks and open order from July 1776 (Reidsel comlained about being made to do so). At the close of Freeman's Farm they put in a counter attack in close order so they should be rated at least as good as the British line.

Yes. There should be no earthwork on the map where the British reserve forces are deployed. This is the September battle, not the October one.

And what HG said re: the books. Very good sources for a battle where details can be hard to run down.

In reading Eric's chapter, it would appear this was a battle where Arnold fed in about one battalion at a time, with no overall field commander.

It's kind of funny because as gamers we always know where the enemy is, but Burgoyne seemed to keep some units in reserve and protecting the rear of his army as he didn't know.

Thanks for the responses!

Second Luzader--a real eye-opener. Guess I'll have to look for the new one too.

Take those scenarios with a huge grain of salt. There are mistakes throughout. They are a nice resource but always check with other sources.

Neither side used all their available troops. Burgoyne had absolutely no idea where the enemy was. The Americans were guarding every road in the area afraid the British would escape.

"Take those scenarios with a huge grain of salt. There are mistakes throughout. They are a nice resource but always check with other sources."

We have extensively modified both Saratoga scenarios when we play them.