After having to make the heartbreaking decision to let go of my Apple IIGS yesterday, I was able to find an emulator and most of my favorite games last night.
Played Revolution '76 for the first time in years via this method. Won the Turn 1 battle in Boston, which is the basic decider for how the game will play out, thanks to Nathaneal Greene.
Turn 2 always sees a massive British force attacking an American city (or, if you're really unlucky, a province), so I did my usual token defense there and thought I saw an opportunity to go for a quick momentum changer by attacking Canada with Greene. Greene loses and Disgraces himself in the process, while the British overwhelm New York as expected.
Turn 3 sees them take Charleston as expected, although with noticeably lower troop amounts because I successfully laid the groundwork for Ben Franklin to convince King Frederick to crack down on Hessian mercaneries in the Turn 2 diplomacy phase. Turn 3 I think is also where Benedict Arnold routed the Native Americans in the Northwest territories to protect the settlers.
I forget what turn it was after that, but Arnold managed to take back New York on the same turn that George Washington successfully saved the Carolinas from being taken over by the British, which would have crippled us. That was the big turning point of the game, as the turn after that, Arnold successfully reconquered Charleston, leaving the British only Canada.
By that point, it was simply a matter of waiting for the French and Spanish, who I secured alliances with, to send troops (Note: I've never seen the Spanish send troops in all my games, much to my disappointment). The French sent troops and I went for Canada with Arnold. He lost in the first attempt, taking a hit to his popularity, but won on the second attempt.
Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to administer Canada, because World Hero Benedict Arnold's conquest of Canada caused the Tory party to fall in the diplomacy phase and Shelbourne's Whigs quickly agreed to Expansion, which means the US not only won Independence, they won control of Canada as well, and had a future where they ruled the entire North American continent except for Mexico.
My final score was 7 (Fair), which was my best ever. Was hilarious to see Benedict Arnold as the World Hero. So contrary to real life.
