American Revolution

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by AllenOwen

I am surprised no sourcebook covering the American Revolution was ever produced back in the days of 3rd Ed. So would one use High Tech, Age of Napoleon and maybe Swashbucklers to make a game set in the 1770s ?

Age of Napoleon comes closest and could probably stand on its own as a single sourcebook for a American Revolution campaign.

If you want to go back a bit further into history and GURPSology, Scarlet Pimpernel covers much the same area but focuses on 1790s Revolutionary France. It might be valuable, however, because it focuses more on Ancien Regime France and the attitudes of both the revolutionaries and the 'aristos'. It would be a good sourcebook for Rev War spy or covert ops campaigns.

Swashbucklers would be a good sourcebook for naval actions, period swordplay, and the sort of "court intrigue" you might encounter in pre-revolution France and UK. The only real differences are that there were significant advances in business, science, philosophy, and technology between 1650 and 1790.

While religious prejudices were still entrenched and vicious, much of the 18th century social history was a reaction against the bloody Wars of Religion that gutted Europe. With some exceptions, most Europeans decided that it wasn't worth killing people based on their religious beliefs. Instead, they went back to killing each other for the time honored reasons of money and political power.

High Tech doesn't do as good a job as it could with early TL5 weapons. There was a huge amount of change during the TL5 period, a vast variety of firearms, and a number of technological dead ends as inventors tried to improve small arms performance. TL4 and early TL5 firearms really demand their own book. Even so, HT has got the basics right and it's got stats for the important weapons of the day like the "Brown Bess" and Charleville muskets, various types of single-shot pistols, and cannons.

If your ARW campaign includes Indians and frontiersmen, a final addition would be Old West. You'd need to tweak the info on Native Americans to model the "Eastern Woodlands" natives, but the info about the "Mountain Men" would be more or less accurate for 18th c. fur trappers and "long hunters." The Buffalo Hunter, Detective, Gunslinger, and Indian Police archetypes didn't really exist, although there were limited 18th century equivalents. Other archetypes would need a few tweaks to make them pertinent to the period.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Phantasm

A GURPS Hot Spots: Revolutionary Era Boston, Massachusetts would be a good first book for covering the American Revolution, probably followed closely by GURPS Hot Spots: Revolutionary Era Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

"Historical New York City" from approximately 1680 until 1880 would also be a fascinating supplement. It would be good for Age of Piracy, Rev War, ACW, and Old West games as well as all sorts of criminal and paranormal stuff.

Originally Posted by Phantasm

For the American Civil War, I'd probably go with a trio of Hot Spots books: Gettysburg, PA; Washington, DC; and Atlanta, GA. (I pick Gettysburg because it was the northernmost battle fought; most of the North was spared the horrors of the war.)

My choices would be Washington, DC, Richmond, VA, and one of Chattanooga, TN, Harper's Ferry, WV, Cincinnati, OH, or St. Louis, MO.

Atlanta was more of a target than a place where action happened. It was a relatively small city during the ACW, important mostly as a railroad hub and the site of an armory. During the Atlanta campaign, most of the fighting took place far to the north and east of the city. It was set on fire a few hours before Sherman's forces took it, either accidentally or deliberately. After the Federals put out the fires and regrouped, Sherman ordered the civilian population out of Atlanta and turned it into a supply depot for further moves against Milledgeville and Savannah.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Pomphis

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

It's not a common term, but it is valid. The American Revolution was just one of several wars between the French, British, and Spanish empires during the period.

From a European perspective, it was just one theater of the Anglo-French War (1778–1783), and the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. It was also a follow-on war to the Seven Years War AKA "The French and Indian War."

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by safisher

In terms of cinema, I think the best representation of the era is Michael Mann's Last of the Mohicans (1992).

+1

Among other things, there's a running action sequence in the movie which beautifully displays the flintlock rifle as a "fire and forget" weapon.

[Tinman]

I don't like the idea of breaking down the American Revolution into various Hot Spots. There's too much overlapping content to break it up (British eq, American eq, weapons, vehicles, tactics, political leadership and background) and would need to be included in every Hot Spot book.

I'd much prefer a source book for the whole conflict.

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

+1

Among other things, there's a running action sequence in the movie which beautifully displays the flintlock rifle as a "fire and forget" weapon.

Yes, an excellent film of the time period.

[AllenOwen]

Originally Posted by Tinman

I don't like the idea of breaking down the American Revolution into various Hot Spots. There's too much overlapping content to break it up (British eq, American eq, weapons, vehicles, tactics, political leadership and background) and would need to be included in every Hot Spot book.

I'd much prefer a source book for the whole conflict.


Yes, an excellent film of the time period.

Don't forget the Culper spy ring. In fact, I started watching Turn on Netflix, which is what inspired me to start the thread. I think playing an espionage based game during the American War for Independence would be a great way to play during the period.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

Age of Napoleon comes closest and could probably stand on its own as a single sourcebook for a American Revolution campaign.

If you want to go back a bit further into history and GURPSology, Scarlet Pimpernel covers much the same area but focuses on 1790s Revolutionary France. It might be valuable, however, because it focuses more on Ancien Regime France and the attitudes of both the revolutionaries and the 'aristos'. It would be a good sourcebook for Rev War spy or covert ops campaigns.

Swashbucklers would be a good sourcebook for naval actions, period swordplay, and the sort of "court intrigue" you might encounter in pre-revolution France and UK. The only real differences are that there were significant advances in business, science, philosophy, and technology between 1650 and 1790.

While religious prejudices were still entrenched and vicious, much of the 18th century social history was a reaction against the bloody Wars of Religion that gutted Europe. With some exceptions, most Europeans decided that it wasn't worth killing people based on their religious beliefs. Instead, they went back to killing each other for the time honored reasons of money and political power.

High Tech doesn't do as good a job as it could with early TL5 weapons. There was a huge amount of change during the TL5 period, a vast variety of firearms, and a number of technological dead ends as inventors tried to improve small arms performance. TL4 and early TL5 firearms really demand their own book. Even so, HT has got the basics right and it's got stats for the important weapons of the day like the "Brown Bess" and Charleville muskets, various types of single-shot pistols, and cannons.

If your ARW campaign includes Indians and frontiersmen, a final addition would be Old West. You'd need to tweak the info on Native Americans to model the "Eastern Woodlands" natives, but the info about the "Mountain Men" would be more or less accurate for 18th c. fur trappers and "long hunters." The Buffalo Hunter, Detective, Gunslinger, and Indian Police archetypes didn't really exist, although there were limited 18th century equivalents. Other archetypes would need a few tweaks to make them pertinent to the period.

One difference between Swashbucklers and Age of Napoleon is that things are less freewheeling at least in Europe. There are fewer "romantic" bandits and more professional military and naval officers.

One type of character that is fascinating is the Voyageur. They tended the rivers of Canada under the British and French regimes.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Tinman

I don't like the idea of breaking down the American Revolution into various Hot Spots. There's too much overlapping content to break it up (British eq, American eq, weapons,

There isn't 2 pages of British v. American equipment and weapons. Maybe not 2 paragraphs.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

There isn't 2 pages of British v. American equipment and weapons. Maybe not 2 paragraphs.

The basic was the musket and bayonet. Americans were short on bayonets in the Revolution. On the other hand they used rifles better (British had riflemen but hadn't learned to like them as much as in Wellington's time). Cannon were just cannon.

One piece of gear that was popular among everyone who fought in Eastern North America was the "trade" tomahawk. That was an Indian hatchet reproduced with a metal blade. As it happens they are still in use today. A patriot or loyalist would likely have one and a redcoat if he did not use one before would easily take a liking to it.

[Gigermann]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

There isn't 2 pages of British v. American equipment and weapons. Maybe not 2 paragraphs.

True, but High-Tech and Low-Tech cover the period very broadly, therefore it's probably not a bad idea to take a page or two to sort out the specifics of what's in use at the time. (I encountered similar issues running my 1725 campaign.)