Redcoats and Rebels- Élan for the American War of Independence is a collaborative work based on the recently released ÉlanDeluxe rules for 10-25 mm miniatures by Phillip Jones with special contributions from Messrs Mark Hume (AWI specific rules and army lists), Chris Johnson (more army lists) and Greg MacPherson (campaign rules).
Presented in a style similar to Élan Deluxe, (which was recently downloaded for the 10,000th time!), Redcoats and Rebels is well indexed and written in a straightforward clause style.
Redcoats and Rebels provides a thorough introduction to the Revolutionary War. Told with great authority and clarity it describes and details the effects of each notable event from 1770 to 1781, examining each of the major battles and skirmishes but not getting bogged down in deep analysis of battle formations and strategies. Rebels and Redcoats: How Britain Lost America, is a British television documentary series about the story of the American Revolutionary War, narrated by Richard Holmes in a four-parts.
At nearly 100 pages including play charts, the zipped PDF file also has internal bookmarks for ease of navigation and includes campaign and optional rules, numerous specific unit and general ratings, battle scenarios and orders of battles for several actions in the AWI.
The game is scaled for 1:25, but can be used at the 1:10 to 1:50 ratio and uses any basing system.
The rules sequence features both simultaneous and alternate actions, resulting in an intuitive and balanced game that captures the feel of the period. Individual units represented are the battalion and regiment and players can do sub-unit actions such as company and squadron actions.
The complexity of the game is moderate, and would appeal to a player who enjoys small unit tactics and a wide latitude of unit options (within historical parameters) on the table.
There is also a Yahoo group called Redcoats & Rebels for players where they can ask questions, seek rules clarifications, and share tips, scenarios, etc. with fellow R&R gamers. Anyone may join, although to avoid spamming, all members must be approved by the group moderator. At this time it is moderated by Mark Severin, owner of DeepFriedHappyMice.com The groups also includes an Opponents database, so be sure to sign up.
The Redcoats & Rebels rules now include, in a single downloadable file, complete Army lists for all the armies involved in the AWI, numerous OOB’s and a campaign system. It is an Adobe Acrobat file. You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader (a free download - get it here for Windows, here for Mac) to use this file.
To download the file, RIGHT click the link and choose “Save Target As”