Today is the day I’ll be running my first Burning Hesselberg game. Remember, this is my AWI playtest using the Take Action rules by Chris Leach. These rules fit my purpose as a semi skirmish game, similar to Daniel Mersey’s Rebels and Patriots game. It is an activation based game, but the players are offered a bit more flexibility than the Mersey rules. Burning Hesselberg is played in 28mm figures, with three British players and two American players.

In the game, the British have been sent to punish Hesselberg for their support of the Patriot cause. Their job is burn houses, forage food, and try not to get too shot up by whatever Americans are sent out to face them. They have some very good troops–light dragoons and jaegers, some middling troops-Loyalist provincial infantry, and some truly wretched troops-New Jersey loyalist militia. Their mission is to do their jobs and go home.

The Americans have some ties to Hesselberg and hope to save some of the buildings, particularly the big sawmill. Their job is to harass the British, minimize the destruction and drive off the invaders.

The game is scaled for the properly for the rules and the relative inexperience of the players with Take Action.

Running games is always a challenge for me. I really like developing scenarios. I want scenarios with a little bit of a twist, something more than two armies show up and have a battle. Especially for these lower level skirmishes, there’s usually a purpose in mind, but there are extenuating circumstances that make things interesting. And while I’m imagining all this and writing it down, its still important, at least for this game, that I see what the table can look like. Unfortunately, I don’t have a game table in my house. But yesterday it was very nice as it often is in summertime Puyallup, so I was able to set up tables on my patio to get a glimpse of what the board should look like.

I use a 6 X 10 felt mat for my games. Yes, I know it’s old school, in my case really old school. I’m guessing this mat is 30 years old. I do have some of the mousepad mats, but Ii don’t love ’em and prefer to use my felt that is well cured with residue from years of lichen and various tree shedding (plus a small but unsightly coffee stain.)

The first step was to put out the Hesselberg road. It has to run about 8′ down the center of the table. I have 2″ Wizard Kraft roads, but I wasn’t sure how much straight road I could manage. Thankfully there was enough. From there I needed to determine where British units would enter the board. I wanted them to start 12″ in from the “East” board edge. I plunked down a wagon to show where that would be. From there I could begin distributing the buildings that form the farming town of Hesselberg.

From left: This picture was actually taken as I was putting things away, but it shows the main road and the additional “driveways” I added to space out the buildings. Destroying the buildings is a British victory condition, so they couldn’t be too close together or too far apart. The large saw mill is an important victory condition for both sides. I added a few small woods to break up line of sight and fields for eye candy. The mill is water powered, so there had to be a river.

My goal with scenario development is to create a story. The British are sent to Hesselberg to carry off some needed forage. This will be represented by vegetable gardens scattered through the village that can be carried off. They are also ordered to burn the sawmill and other houses which have supported the Patriot cause. One British command will start in the village, the rest must move on to the board. There will be wagons which must stay on the road. There are rules for burning the structures and there are limited resources for effectively burning. Some British troops may be tempted to loot buildings rather than doing their jobs which might be a problem, chiefly a time waster.

The Americans have a different goal. Sent to Hesselberg by General John Sullivan, New Jersey militia with men from the town will begin in the town so early opportunities for combat exist. They won’t deploy their three units immediately, but will have six counters including three dummies to confuse their enemies. Three units of Continental troops will set up at the west side. They win by saving the saw mill, and as much of the town as possible, and by killing British.

The British definitely have the tougher job.

The set up for the game will look something like this.

From left, an overall picture of the battlefield. In the foreground Connecticut Continentals head down the road from the “West” board edge. The British come in from the “East” with Loyalist militia ravaging a farmhouse in the middle of town. In the middle of town Loyalist militia surround a farmhouse. Will they forage and burn, or will they loot the place? 17th Light Dragoons and New Jersey Provincials enter the East side of town. New Jersey militia defend the mill. Connecticut Continentals and riflemen enter from the West.

I’ve done the best I can to create a game that isn’t symmetrical but should have some play balance. Looking forward to working through it. I’ll be running it again in Chehalis in a few weeks. It’s also a game that has Enfilade potential.