My Collection: 1776 Avalon Hill (1974)

I picked this up on e-bay for a very good price. I wanted a strategic representation of the American War of Independence and had read some favourable reviews. 

The mapboard stretches over four board segments simulating the entire Eastern seaboard from the Southern Colonies to up to Canada. 

The rules are quite streamlined and only get slightly more complex with the introduction of the advanced rules section and the campaign game. Like my War and Peace game the components are very utilitarian but do a grand job in representing the opposing forces. The scenario cards are a nice feature.

The cat wasn't too impressed, however!

My Collection: War and Peace Avalon Hill (1980)

This was a present which I gratefully received just after the release of this Avalon Hill classic back in 1980. 

It had a grand remit and strategic scale and came with state of the art components for the time. The mapboard encompassed the whole of Europe from Spain to Russia and greatly assisted in creating the atmosphere of an epic conflict.

The counters and game aids were quite minimalist but as with all these Avalon Hill board games, supremely functional.

A fine game that I'm delighted to have in my collection. The cat loves playing the Emperor.

 

Memoir'44: Hellfire Pass - June 1941

I enjoyed playing this scenario again. It is the first from the Mediterranean Theatre Expansion.

This is a tough scenario for the British player with attrition rates likely to be high against a dug-in and fortfied Axis opponent armed with anti-tank guns and lots of artillery support.

I decided to play the Commonwealth Forces and started my attack in the centre. This didn't go too well at first and the Axis AI opponent drew some favourable cards that wore my leading units down and took a good haul of victory medals. It wasn't until my valiant infantry units on the right flank stormed the heights and managed to dislodge the defenders there that momentum developed and my armoured units once again managed to break through in the centre. It was a hard fought outcome but I finally managed to win narrowly by 6 to 5.

 Here are these infantry that helped me win.

The cat enjoyed the desert sun.

Attention!

Command & Colours: Battle of Camden 1780

Here is the setup for the Battle of Camden sourced from the Command and Colours Napoleonics website which lists a number of scenarios that can be used with minor modification.

 

The battle was featured in the Patriot film where Cornwallis won an easy victory against Gates.

I used spare blocks from my GMT games to designate lights and militia. Generals could be represented with my Hold the Line counters.

The cat displayed her Colonial sympathies and proved effective in bolstering the militia with emotional support.