Early American Wars

As listed on the HPS Simulations site, Early American Wars is a series that includes the following titles:

  • Campaign 1776
  • War of 1812
  • French & Indian War
  • Mexican American War

All of the titles of this series share common traits with one another. The following is an extract from the user documentation.

Sides: An Early American War Battle is played by two sides, one typically the Americans and the other typically the British, although this can vary by game. A battle may be played by one person against the computer, or by two persons using a variety of modes such as Two-Player Hot Seat, Play-By-E-Mail (PBEM), or Network Play.

-Game Scale-

Hexes: Each battle is played on a map made up of hexagons (hexes). Each hex measures 125 feet across. Each hex contains terrain which affects movement and combat in that hex.

Turns: Each battle is conducted in turns each of which typically represents 5 minutes of real time, although this may vary by scenario. Each player has a number of units under their control, some of which are on the map at the beginning of the battle, while others arrive as Reinforcements.

Units: Typically, each unit is a company of Infantry, a troop of Cavalry, or a piece of Artillery. Each Infantry and Cavalry unit has a strength value in increments of single men, while each Artillery unit has a strength value in number of guns. In addition there are specialized units such as Leaders and Supply Wagons. Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery units are capable of firing on enemy units (for Cavalry, only when Dismounted) and each has a range value indicating the number of hexes that unit may fire.

-Style of Play-

Turns vs. Phases: Each battle can be fought in one of two modes. In the default Turn-based mode, each player moves, fires, and melees using units under his control in his turn. There are only a few restrictions on this:

• After firing, a unit cannot move for the remainder of the turn, but may melee in that turn.
• After meleeing, a unit cannot move or fire for the remainder of the turn.

The purpose of these restrictions is to help ensure that the resulting battles are fought in a manner similar to historical Early American Wars battles and with less flexibility that would be found in more modern combat. As each player performs actions in their turn, Defensive Fire is possible by the opposing side under the control of the computer. In the Phase-based mode, invoked using the Manual Defensive Fire Optional Rule, each turn is played as described in the next section.

Phases: Under the Manual Defensive Fire Option, each turn of the battle is divided into Phases. A Phase will be under the control of one side or the other. A complete turn is made up of a total of 8 phases. For example, if the American player is the first player in each turn, the phases will be:

• American Movement Phase
• British Defensive Fire Phase
• American Offensive Fire Phase
• American Melee Phase
• British Movement Phase
• American Defensive Fire Phase
• British Offensive Fire Phase
• British Melee Phase

At the beginning of each Phase (under Local Control) the Phase Dialog is displayed (see the Main Program Help File ). In each phase only certain actions are possible. Movement is restricted to the Movement Phase and firing is restricted to the Fire Phases, Defensive and Offensive. The Melee Phase allows hexes containing enemy units to be assaulted and possibly captured.

End Of Game: As each player finishes their turn or phase, they advance the battle to the next turn or phase by using the Next Turn or Next Phase function of the Turn/Phase Menu. This continues until the time limit specified in the scenario at which point the win, lose, or draw outcome of the battle is determined. Winning and losing are determined by a calculation based on the ownership of certain Objective hexes and the relative losses of the two sides.

-The Campaign Game-

A Campaign consists of a series of Situations. Each Situation offers each side in the Campaign a list of Choices. Each side picks one of these Choices not knowing what the other side has decided. After each side has selected their Choice, then the selections are cross referenced to arrive at an Outcome. An Outcome consists of a Scenario in a Module and 5 other Situations associated with the 5 possible victory conditions that can result from a battle:

  • Major Defeat
  • Minor Defeat
  • Draw
  • Minor Victory
  • Major Victory

In addition, an Expected Value is associated with each Outcome for use by the A/I (Artificial Intelligence).

The Scenario is fought by the two sides and the Union victory condition resulting from this battle is used to determine the next Situation according to the 5 Situations associated with the Outcome. This process is repeated and continues until a Terminal Situation is reached which represents the resolution of the Campaign. (Italics, mine -when used to differentiate between game specific terms, which may just be the computer nerd in me coming out :-D ).

The Early American Wars Campaign Editor supports the creation and modification of Campaigns for use in the Campaign Series of Early American Wars games.

-Scenario Editor-

The Scenario Editor can be used to create new scenarios and to modify existing scenarios in the Campaign Series of Early American Wars series' games. The Editor has full support for all unit placement and modification (such as strength and fatigue modification) and full support for other scenario features (such as breastwork and objective placement). The Editor also supports the creation and modification of A/I Scripts in the scenarios.

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