The Battle of Cowpens, South Carolina, Jan 17, 1781

Two critical battles were considered turning points in the American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Saratoga in New York and the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina. The Battle of Cowpens was a catalyst to a series of events that led eventually to the surrender of the British at Yorktown. Small BoAR Volume I, The Battle of Cowpens, puts players directly into the milieu of this decisive contest.

The goal of the Small BoAR design concept is to include small yet critical battles that otherwise do not fit the scale of the historically simulating and highly successful Battles of the American Revolution (BoAR) system designed by Mark Miklos. This new system, aptly termed Small Battles of the American Revolution (Small BoAR), was designed by Bruno Sinigaglio working closely with Mark Miklos to preserve the continuity and popularity of the original Battles of the American Revolution game system.

Although extremely important to the history of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Cowpens involved slightly over 1000 participants per side. In the Battles of the American Revolution system, which represents 100 men per strength point, this would equate to only ten or so combat factors per side. The scale for the battle of Cowpens, on the other hand, is 12 men per strength point, or one-eighth that of the BoAR system. The map scale is also correspondingly reduced to 25 yards per hex from the BoAR scale of 200 yards per hex. The time scale is approximately four minutes per turn as compared with one hour per turn in BoAR.

Although Army Morale, the game-within-the-game in BoAR, is faithfully preserved in Small BoAR, and the Small BoAR sequence of play resembles that of BoAR and will look familiar to anyone who has played games in the original series, certain novel elements appropriate to the new scaling have been added. These include:

• The ability to designate cavalry units in reserve
• Artillery Fire conducted both offensively and defensively
• Simultaneous ranged musket Fire as a complement to ranged rifle fire
• A Cavalry Reserve Phase where units designated in Reserve may charge after the normal Close Combat Phase
• Opportunity Card Management

Let´s look at some of these new design elements in more detail.

Artillery

Veteran BoAR players will note that artillery fires both offensively and defensively in Small BoAR. The firing ranges in BoAR are nominally 1 to 3 hexes (200 to 600 yards), while in Small BoAR the firing ranges are 1 to 24 hexes, with increased devastation due to cannister fire at 1 or 2 hexes (25-50 yards).

Muskets/Rifles

Due to the scale of the game, both rifles and muskets fire in Small BoAR, thus there is the potential for more casualties by fire combat. By contrast, in standard BoAR, musket fire is abstracted into Close Combat. In Small BoAR, rifle equipped units are still outclassed by muskets equipped with Bayonets during Close Combat, unless those rifles are protected by friendly musket equipped units involved in the same combat.

Cavalry (Dragoons)

Small BoAR adds a dimension to the BoAR system with the inclusion of cavalry tactics reflective of the actual Battle of Cowpens. Both sides employed cavalry leaders and tactics that were instrumental in the conduct and outcome of the battle. The most feared and hated British officer in the Americas, Banastre Tarleton, commanded Tarleton´s Legion and the British Army at Cowpens. He was opposed by the American Cavalry Commander, William Washington, a second cousin of the Father of the Country. In Small BoAR, cavalry placed in reserve at the beginning of a turn may move after the close combat phase and charge targets of opportunity.

Leadership

The tactical finesse of Daniel Morgan at the Battle of Cowpens is recognized as the most significant display of that quality during the entire Revolutionary War and is faithfully captured in the game design. Morgan understood the value, experience, and in some cases the limitations of his troops: militia, Continentals, and cavalry. To maximize their effectiveness and limit their liabilities, he employed an unusual defense in depth. In addition, he chose a relatively open battlefield that appeared to be the worst possible choice for his army when confronted by the dangerous cavalry of Tarleton´s Legion. Morgan´s flanks, however, were anchored on impassable, canebrake (bamboo) lined creeks and boggy swamps, which narrowed the battlefield and prevented wide flanking movements by the British cavalry. Mark Miklos, Bruno Sinigaglio, and Small BoAR Series Developer Dave Stiffler walked the preserved Cowpens battlefield numerous times in Mid-January in order to fully develop an accurate map representative of the January battlefield. They waded up and down every creek, and Dave unsuccessfully attempted to infiltrate a stand of canebrake.