Using Militia in AWI

[TG1]

Hi guys wondering If you could help,
Me and my Mate play AWI battle using blackpowder, however we have one huge problem. With My redcoats I normally fire a volley and in the next turn charge. the problem is my mate likes US milita and 9 times out of ten the redcoats just go straight through them. we were wondering hopw he could use them better to make it more compeptitive
Thanks in adavnce

[Big Al]

I understood that the Americans did things that way, rather than have a huge standing army. I have been reading a little on the French Indian Wars and it would appear that the American militias were good fighters. It would, therefore, appear that you are treating them in the traditional sense of being poorly trained and green, which they probably weren't on the whole. So, I would suggest making some of them veterans and giving some of the militia units some of the Useful Rules that would reflect some of their fighting prowess. Perhaps you could give them a -1 to command for being Militia and reflect their lack of training, but with regard to their fighting and shooting ability, perhaps make them more equal. I would expect the British Elites to be superior, but not necessarily the ordinary units.

[Comte Michel]

Basically what Big Al said. American militia units would make up in eagerness and dedication to their cause what they lacked in training. So an extra command factor to make them harder to control is in order, but you could give them the same factors as a normal line unit for shooting and combat, plus maybe something like Stubborn to make them harder to shift.

My ACW units for instance tend to get Stubborn since they were usually pretty hard to break despite massive casualties, but they also get a +1 on command if they have fired, since once they stopped to fire they were very hard to get moving again.

[Invisible officer]

They did so 9 times out of ten in reality. So why change a perfect rule system?

The militia needed cover to have a chance against the redcoats, not for winning, just for inflicting enough casualties to drain the small pool of available redcoat manpower. So let them fight from cover.

But give them no shooting factors like line, the Redcoat fired and loaded 2 - 3 times faster. And combat? No militia stood to the bayonet.

You should not confuse the border region militias with the east coast ones. The average militia recruit in the east was as untrained as any English peasant. And not disciplined. Stubborn? The moment the redcoats came into bayonet range they ran.

The SYW myth of the brave and clever militias and the dumb redcoats stumbling helpless through the woods is deep rooted in the US history view (spread all over the world) but all the crucial victories are won by the despised redcoats.
And AWI ? No French, no Yorktown.

[Cubster]

Yeah, I think the French and Indian Wars were kind of different because the irregulars recruited by both sides were frontiersmen, tough fighters who already hunted, tracked, shot and probably fought in order to stay alive. AWI were a different kettle of fish.

Commitment to a social cause is no substitute for military training and I agree that it is entirely appropriate for the militia to be outclassed when in close contact with regulars. The way to use the militias effectively would probably be to play to their strengths - ie. to stay behind defensive works, easily defended buildings or walls and make sure when those regulars come forward they do so into a lot of lead. Maybe don't even try to stand for the charge, but keep moving back from position to position. The regulars would no doubt be heavily outnumbered in an evenly balanced game, so that should help even the odds.

[TG1]

Thanks guys. TBH the American seaboard militia were in history pretty crappy apart from those at Bunker Hill. The brits usually are outnumbered and the militia do have unreliable. I think the best thing to do would be as was said to use defensive works and cover to harry the brits before falling back. Hopefully I'll stil be able to hit home a win or two!!!

[grant]

Quantity should have a quality all it's own!

[Jammers]

Stubborn for AWI Militia, really?

I might be tempted to give some units Skirmishers, Sharpeshooters etc

[sandman36]

The war was won by Continental regulars fighting in the same fashion as their British counterparts. When American generals tried to use militia that way, they lost. The best use of militia was at Cowpens, where their known proclivity to run away was part of the plan and sucked the British (mostly Americans as well) into a well laid trap.

If your friend doesn't like the way Militia fight, but is wedded to fielding them, have him designate some of his "Militia" as "Continentals" for gaming purposes. If he insists on fielding all Militia, as militia, then he should get used to running away and losing battles.

[TG1]

Bunker Hill? Sandman. Bunker Hill? He has some continentals that he uses to hold up my advance but I normally assigned a special brigade of British grenadier Battalion, a unit of Tarletons legion and an escaped slave regiment with the terryfing charge rule. They are given this as the behaviour of the colonial Marines in the war of 1812 and their effect on the yanks