1773 - Future : Final Turn Results and Reflection

And the final winning argument is, ironically, the Royal Governor!  Have no fear of mischief, my wife supervised my die rolls and the Royal Governor personally does not fair well.  Read all the way through to the bottom for some reflections, and please feel free to leave comments and suggestions!

1773 - ????

Summary

With the onset of open warfare in the colonies, the crown position in the South is secure.  Charles Town itself is firmly under Crown control and the loyal back-country militias assist in hunting down the Low Country Planters who have taken to the swamp to wage a guerrilla war.  The Former low country militias are ineffective, as they are short on arms and eventually degenerate into bands of brigands. 

Amnesty is offered to Low Country planters that abandon rebellion and return to the fold, else their plantations will be confiscated and awarded to loyalists.  With no real base of support nor commercial activity to support them, many of the rebellious planters defect back to the Crown, with the remaining ones being hunted down over the years 1774-1776.

The Rebellion in the middle and New England Colonies proceeds differently, with the cunning George Washington avoiding catastrophic battlefield defeat time and time again.  Eventually, in the north the Crown only holds New York City proper, as the conflict widens with France and Spain declaring war on Britain.  But… 

In the South, with the South Carolina colony secure, the Crown launches an offensive against the Spanish in Louisiana and a simultaneous push by the SC Militia across the proclamation line into Cherokee territory and beyond.  By the time the Treaty of Paris of 1779 is signed, the situation looks like this:

• Britain recognizes the independence of a “United States of America” that consists of New England down to Virginia.  It is strictly restricted to its existing territory, with the British firmly in control of the Ohio valley.
• The Colony of South Carolina is divided, with the back country being incorporated as the colony of Western Carolina, extending through former Cherokee and Spanish territories to the Mississippi river.
• The Former low Country is now just “South Carolina” and exists purely as a subsidiary of British colonies in the Caribbean, providing them with Rice to feed the slaves on the sugar plantations.
• The former Royal Governor becomes the first Governor of Western Carolina, but is removed from office under a cloud of corruption charges linked to land speculation.  He dies in obscurity in London in 1811.

During the global conflict against Napoleon a generation later, the tiny “United States” foolishly declares war on Britain and allies with the French.  They are quickly crushed and reincorporated into the British Empire, although guerrilla war would continue in New England for decades until the American colonies are given full representation in Parliament in 1817.

Reflections

A few brief reflections from your umpire, but first a HUGE thanks to the players!  Please give them a quick round of applause!

Here are some of my thoughts:

• Running a Matrix Game via email is very different than running one face to face.  Not better or worse, just different, as there is less interaction between player arguments within a turn.
• About 6 turns seems to be a good number for a game.  Originally I targeted 9, but 6 seems to be a better balance, especially with folks having actual lives to lead!
• I believe that this is a valuable historical exercise, especially when you compare it with what actually happened, and can be a spur for deeper reading and understanding.  Historically, the majority of the back country allied with the low country during the war.  Why, when it seems like that is against their interests. (I suggest you read The Road to Guilford Courthouse for some of the answers!)

I think I will take a few months off of Matrix games and ruminate.  I would like to run another one, maybe a more military campaign style.

If you are interested in Matrix games, I urge you to just dive in and try!  I found umpiring to be a very rewarding experience.

Please leave any comments or observations you may have, and I will announce my next Matrix Game project here.  Meanwhile, you can follow all of the amazing (?) action over at my main gaming blog.  You can also find all of the files and the turn log for this game here.

Until next time, good gaming!