Developing a Hubbardton Scenario for "Live Free or Die" - The Resources

Compared to many other well-known engagements of the American Revolution, the Battle of Hubbardton in 1777 was quite small.  Being a "meeting engagement" of sorts, it was a fight that pitched an advance guard of very high quality and highly motivated Crown forces against a rear guard consisting of a mix of decent quality Continental troops and stragglers from their retreating army.  The battle was fought as part of the Saratoga campaign in July, and the British Army in the north must have been riding high with the recent capture of Ticonderoga. 

Battle Map from British Battles site.  Used w/o permission.

The small and relatively compact size of the battlefield means you can spy most of the key points and key terrain in the engagement area from the same position atop "Monument Hill" as it is called now.  (I have been there many times, having attended military college about 45 minutes from the battlefield.  It is a wonderful (rural) place to visit if you are looking for solitude and quiet!)

Typical Vermont road!

The compact nature of the battlefield and battle also makes it an extremely attractive battle to model for the wargamer when testing any set of AWI rules, and I have been known to use the battle for playtesting of other rules sets, including Norm's "Two Flags One Nation" ,an ACW set that I tried for AWI, Guns of Liberty, and even One Hour Wargames' "Horse and Musket" rules.  

When LittleWarsTV announced their "Live Free or Die" rules, I immediately purchased them with the hopes of putting on desperate AWI clashes on my table.  I like many of the facets of these rules, although admittedly I have not yet played them.  So with all that being said, what do I have in store for you? Let's get into it!    

So I will be uploading some blog posts on developing a Hubbardton Scenario for Live Free or Die, including the OOB and troop qualities, the terrain, and the scenario coordinating instructions.  This will all culminate in either a download you can use for LFoD, or simply some pics on the blog that you can snip and use on your own.  My intention is to use this as a very down-and-dirty introduction to the rules, so stay tuned!  

In the meantime, here is a list of resources to get you and I started.  These are not definitive by any stretch, but they're not bad for a Saturday morning on the internet:

• Quick Primer on the Battle of Hubbardton from British Battles.
• Wikipedia page that has links to some of the more colorful personalities from the battle.
• Vermont Historic Sites History of the Battle (excellent troop strength references - this is honestly one of the best battle accounts with plenty of primary source info quoted within)
• A good military Staff Ride resource for the Saratoga Campaign that has a good section on the fighting at Hubbardton.  Check out page 84.
• Here is an animated map and video of the battle and its events.  I love this map because it's topographical and gives you a much better sense of the nature of the terrain unlike the British Battles map which makes it look relatively flat with intermittent hills.  Rather, the battle was fought among undulating hills and mountains.  Sargent and Zion "hills" are very impressive in their own right.
• The absolutely obligatory Steve Jones "Tales from the Paint Shed" Hubbardton video which provides much inspiration!
• For books, Ketchum's "Saratoga" is a natural first starting point, followed by Wards' "The War of the Revolution" and finally the Osprey Saratoga 1777 book, all three of which are open on my desk now!

That's all for now.  Look for an OOB post coming up in the coming days!