American Revolution

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

As one of the playtesters on GURPS: Age of Napoleon I got a clear impression that the author of the book was fairly close to the opinion of his mouthpiece character.

I would note, though, that Robert Heinlein, a staunch American patriot, described the War of 1812 in Starship Troopers as one of the brushfire wars that sprang up on the periphery of the Napoleonic conflict. So at least treating the Anglo-American conflict as a series of minor wars has precedent.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I would note, though, that Robert Heinlein, a staunch American patriot, described the War of 1812 in Starship Troopers as one of the brushfire wars that sprang up on the periphery of the Napoleonic conflict. So at least treating the Anglo-American conflict as a series of minor wars has precedent.

It would be valid for the war of 1812, which was a side effect of the Napoleonic wars. However, while we were having the American Revolutionary War here in North America, Europe was going through what they call The Wars of the American Revolution. The American event setting off the world war, rather than the world war setting off the American event.

[Pomphis]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

However, while we were having the American Revolutionary War here in North America, Europe was going through what they call The Wars of the American Revolution

Who does that? I live here, studied here, and never heard that term before.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

It would be valid for the war of 1812, which was a side effect of the Napoleonic wars. However, while we were having the American Revolutionary War here in North America, Europe was going through what they call The Wars of the American Revolution. The American event setting off the world war, rather than the world war setting off the American event.

I know one of the causes of the French Revolution was the American Revolution bankrupting France (after France got involved in the war, then the Treaty of Paris not having any provisions for France), but I hadn't heard of this "Wars of the American Revolution" reference. How do the UK and France refer to that war?

Of note: the Treaty of Paris refers to "the conflict between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the States of..." (proceeding to name each state individually), rather than to "the United States of America".

[Gigermann]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Ah, no. High-Tech starts around 1715 or so. By the time the revolution starts it's been in progress for more than half a century.

Sure, but a lot of the stuff from Low-Tech is still around and in some degree of use—specifically some of the guns described. And that's neverminding the Amerindian tribes. I wouldn't leave it out.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Gigermann

Sure, but a lot of the stuff from Low-Tech is still around and in some degree of use—specifically some of the guns described. And that's neverminding the Amerindian tribes. I wouldn't leave it out.

I don't have a problem with that. I'm just pointing out that it's not a "transitional" period.

[Andrew Hackard]

Mod notes:

(1) We do not need UK/US sniping in this thread. I've issued one infraction for a particularly unnecessary comment and considered a couple of others before I decided to write a general post. Particularly right now, this is a good time to take the "no political discussion" rule as having VERY narrow definitions of what is "political."

(2) Discussing the history of GURPS Age of Napoleon is going back almost two decades and really serves no useful purpose; whatever was decided then doesn't need to be re-litigated now. If you want to discuss that book's application to an American Revolution game, that's fine, but the side discussion is off topic.

(3) Aside from the usual "don't talk down to fellow gamers" rule here, this is a subject with particularly emotional resonance to many people in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Assume good intent when you reply to someone, even if you think they are mistaken, and don't feed trolls -- if you believe someone has posted something completely outside the pale, report the post and let the mods handle it.

Thanks, all.

[doctorevilbrain]

What does the American Revolution have to do with a world war? Was there a world war 0?

[(E)]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Good news. Oh, and books on the ACW and WWI would be wonderful. Tossing in the ARW, the English Civil Wars (17th Century) and the Thirty Years War, would be wonderful. As would a book on English colonial wars 1815-1960 and a British Raj book.

One source for WW1 that provides lots of ideas to avoid the "WW1 gaming means you just die from gas, going over the top or artillery" is "Charley's War" an excellent and quite influential comic book series.

It's very much in the Battle style but the plotting and art are top notch.

I never managed to convince my players the setting was worth a shot, but perhaps others may have more luck.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by doctorevilbrain

What does the American Revolution have to do with a world war? Was there a world war 0?

Many consider the Napoleonic Wars a "world war" as they engaged most of the world powers at the time and was fought not just in Europe but also in the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean, among other places.

They were just fought well before the term "World War" came into usage.

As has been noted, the American Revolution had France entering the war on the side of the Americans. The big "world powers" of the time in the world were Britain and France, who had previously fought four wars (at least part of the reason the American colonies were in revolt was because of new taxes imposed by the British Crown to refill the treasury following what we Americans call the French-and-Indian War*). These four prior wars were fought in part in the Americas over ownership of Canada and in the fourth war the Ohio River valley.

The British-French portion of the war continued for a bit after the Treaty of Paris was signed. As a result, several naval skirmishes in the American Revolution were fought in the Caribbean between British and French ships without any American ships getting involved.


* Known in Europe as the Seven Years War.




(Apologies if anyone takes offense to anything here; I am trying to maintain a neutral stance. Real life is messy.)