My thoughts on militia

[PJJ]

I recently purchased Birth of America and think it’s a brilliant game that succeeds almost perfectly in recreating the atmosphere of colonial warfare in the Age of Reason.

However, the more I play it the less I like the way militia units are handled in the game. I think it’s far too random. Now it’s of course true that historically North American militia units behaved erratically, often going home and leaving the regular troops in trouble when they would have needed every man to save the day, but I find it strange that my American militia units often don’t bother doing anything (ie. not even mobilize) to those pesky Indians and Loyalists who are wreaking havoc in my rear areas. When facing only Loyalists and Indians and not the dreaded ”lobsterbacks”, Rebel militias tended to do very well in battle and spontaneously mobilized in large numbers to beat back their hated enemies.

Another thing I’d like to see improved about the militia is giving players the ability to actually call them to arms. Continental commanders did so many, many times during the war, with varying results (sometimes many militiamen answered the call, sometimes only few bothered to come). George Washington was especially good at getting support from the militia by calling them through the state governors - in this way he was able to amass a large militia force to oppose the army under General William Howe that invaded New York in the summer of 1776. (I recommend Mark V. Kwasny’s excellent study ”Washington’s Partisan War 1775–1783” for further reading about the American militia in the revolution.)

Who knows, maybe we’ll see such things in BoA gold. In any case, I think BoA is already a wonderful game. [:)]

[decaro]

The rasing of militias isn't really that random in BoA because it's based on game mechanics; it depends on the number of strategic cities you control in an area, as well as the presence of leaders w/the patriot (flag icon) symbol. This symbol gives a 25% bonus towards raising a militia in the region where the leader is during Feb and July.

Militia usually disband in Jan, but this can be decreased by 20% when leaders w/the charismatic (heart icon) are in command.

Further, stationary militia units not under seige can be trained w/Training Officers/Master Drillers into untrained/trained regular troops, which also frees up a militia slot so that the state can produce an additional unit. Ideally you can keep a unit from disbanding and at the same time get an additonal militia from the state.

The above info comes in real handy when playing against the Brits as they can't replace troops as fast as the Colonials can.

I gleaned the above from the on-line v 1.09 BoA manual.