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Old 06-17-2020, 03:51 AM   #41
Phantasm
 
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Default Re: American Revolution

The first two books in John Jakes' Kent Family Chronicles - The Bastard and The Rebels - are set during the Revolutionary War period, and the third book of the series - The Seekers - is a generation later, about the 1820s. (The books were published in 1974 and 1975.)

There were miniseries adaptations (four hours total each) for all three produced in '78 and '79; I've only seen the first one, but might be worth watching (if you can find it).
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Old 06-17-2020, 07:03 AM   #42
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The one of the problems of historical settings is what are you going to do? A bit like reenactment, it's history and the outcomes are known.

I had a plan for a WW2 scenario that involved a few German Soldiers on the Eastern front, they maybe have a half track and a large gun. The idea was they knew that it had all gone wrong and they were trying to find a place to hide, avoiding the Wehrmacht and the Russians etc. Regrettably it did not come to fruition.

Possibly the better idea is not to have the campaign during the major event but after it. The post American Revolution etc, but it is a history not for the rose tinted lenses.

The biggest issue is that Revolutions by their very nature are intensely political and if your group doesn't mind that's great.
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Old 06-17-2020, 07:23 AM   #43
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The biggest issue is that Revolutions by their very nature are intensely political and if your group doesn't mind that's great.
In the states, the vast majority would see the ARW as good/just, whereas even in the 1770s and 1780s there was divided opinion on the same thing. In one of his fits of insanity, George III claimed he was George Washington. The king was nuts but not so crazy that he didn't want to be the George people respected. Similarly, the English Revolutions and Civil Wars, although massively important to what the USA became, are so obscure here that they are apolitical. No, the ACW and Vietnam are the only non-contemporary wars that can stir political fights here in the states.
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Old 06-17-2020, 07:47 AM   #44
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There was a TV series called Hawkeye back-in-the-day based on Last of the Mohicans.
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Old 06-17-2020, 08:01 AM   #45
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In the states, the vast majority would see the ARW as good/just, whereas even in the 1770s and 1780s there was divided opinion on the same thing. In one of his fits of insanity, George III claimed he was George Washington. The king was nuts but not so crazy that he didn't want to be the George people respected. Similarly, the English Revolutions and Civil Wars, although massively important to what the USA became, are so obscure here that they are apolitical. No, the ACW and Vietnam are the only non-contemporary wars that can stir political fights here in the states.
I think the Revolutionary War, itself, would probably be fine.

However, if the campaign extended into the years of the Articles of Confederation, and some of the intrigue that went on during that very difficult period, then you might run into some hot-button issues.

Now, granted, those would have much more to do with modern American political issues than with the problems the people faced in that time, but that might still poison a campaign.

That said, I think any such player conflicts might be restricted to those of us in the United States. I think players and GMs in other countries could get a lot of mileage out of a campaign set in the era -- especially if they threw in some magical realism or wainscot fantasy elements.

You could mine Manley Wade Wellman's Silver John stories for some ideas for magic and monsters, or Orson Scott Card's Alvin Maker series, even though both were set two centuries later.
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Old 06-17-2020, 08:44 AM   #46
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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 British don't call it that in the present day. We call that one "The American Revolution" or "The American Revolutionary War". The war against the French and Spanish just gets lost in the long series of wars we had against them.

The lesson learned was "Treat colonies better", and we managed the transitions of other colonies into independent states better, mostly.
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Old 06-17-2020, 08:47 AM   #47
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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.
I have half of an idea for a WWI campaign, but have not figured out the rest. Tip #1 for keeping characters alive in military games is "Don't make them front-line infantry."
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Old 06-17-2020, 08:57 AM   #48
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Probably the single greatest resource for a WWI campaign, IMO, would be this YouTube channel (assuming someone interested in WWI was not already aware of it)
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Old 06-17-2020, 09:12 AM   #49
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especially if they threw in some magical realism or wainscot fantasy elements.
See Orson Scott Card's Alvin Maker series.

It's early 19th century, so would be a little post-Revolution if it weren't for the fact that it's alternate history, so there's not a single United States. (IIRC, New England was separate from the US (in the mid-Atlantic), with the southern coastal colonies being a monarchy.) Stronger native American nations. The books are set on the American frontier when that meant the Midwest between the Appalachians and the Mississippi, so the coastal nations are more distant background than important nations.
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Old 06-17-2020, 11:15 AM   #50
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The British don't call it that in the present day. We call that one "The American Revolution" or "The American Revolutionary War". The war against the French and Spanish just gets lost in the long series of wars we had against them.

The lesson learned was "Treat colonies better", and we managed the transitions of other colonies into independent states better, mostly.
I do, and if I get to teach history I will carry on calling it the American Revolution. In the same way I will call the ECW the English Revolution.
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