At last I have got around to trying one of the scenarios from John
Fletcher's 'Liberators!' source-book. This is due to me finally
finding what I think may be a suitable set of rules for Liberation
battles - The Canadian Wargames Group's 'Rocket's Red Glare' (RRG).
This is also a source-book, for the War of 1812, but as well as
background information it includes three sets of rules (large-scale
land, small-scale land and naval) and heaps of scenarios. With a 1:50
figure scale, stand-based units and a 50 yards to the inch
ground-scale the large-scale rules seemed perfectly suited to my
needs, and the period is right as well.

To try them out I picked Chacabuco, which, whilst not a
straightforward fight, was one I'd tried with other sets, so I could
make a comparison. And it worked pretty well - the Patriots swept to a
convincing victory, and I suspect would have done so with all but the
most appalling luck, but the mechanisms held up well, suggesting that
all I need to do to balance it in the future is tweak commander/unit
ratings a little.

The Patriots went for a rapid advance to contact, not waiting for
Soler to turn up. The Royalist plan was to sit and wait, although the
ad hoc skirmishers were pushed forward to slow the Patriot advance
over the gully. After an exchange of musketry the skirmishers were
charged and fled the field, and the Patriots crossed the gully. The
Royalist artillery caused a few casualties as they advanced, but
nothing significant. Victory was secured by the Horse Grenadiers,
however. The Royalist cavalry turned and fled the moment they were
charged, putting up no fight at all, leaving the Grenadiers to wheel
around and hit the flank of the Royalist line. As they charged up the
slope, the Chiloe Battalin also decided that discretion was the better
part of valour, and they too ran off, leaving the Royalists in total
disarray. All the Patriot infantry had to do was march forward, fire a
few volleys and the Royalists gave in. Soler's flank march turned up
just in time to see the Royalist collapse.

I was certainly pleased enough with the result to want to try this
scenario again, and to give the rules a run in oneof teh more
conventional face-to-face battles as well. RRG comes highly
recommended as a set of rules.

Alan Saunders
alan.catherine@...