Recruits XXII AARs. . . finally. The Scenario.

It's raining today, so I can't seal the new deck. Great excuse to catch up the blog : )

The scenario for the games we played at Recruits XXII was borrowed - quite liberally - from a scenario found in the Iron Ivan Games Yahoo Group: French Raid Scenario - New.pdf. The terrain layout is shown above in the map; north is the top edge. Here are photos of the actual terrain. The view form the northwest:

 From the northeast:

 

From the southeast:

And from the southwest:

And the homesteads prior to their troop assignmments:

The scenario is a basic raid. The American Provincials start on the field in control of the homesteads. The French and Indian forces are raiding the frontier. The British are aware of the raid and have sent regulars to help defend the homesteads. 

The British win if they are able to get the 4 pack horses - 2 start in each homestead - off the eastern edge of the field via the road. The French win a major victory if they are able to get the pack horses off the western edge of the field via the road, and a minor victory if their native allies are able to burn down the settlements and/or capture any of the civilians.

The British started with two units of 5 civilians (Miitia in This Very Ground terms) and two units of 10 Provincials, and placed one of each in each of the two homesteads. These 4 units were commanded by a Provincial officer. A British officer commanded another 4 units, one unit of 10 Regulars, one unit of 10 Grenadiers and one unit of Highlander Light Infantry that would enter the field anywhere on the eastern edge, and one unit of 10 Rangers that would dice for a random entry point on their first activation.

The French had 8 units total, too, none of which started on the field. One Marine officer commanded 4 units; 2 units of 10 Marine Regulars and one unit of 10 Marine Irregulars (Light Infantry) that would enter from the western edge, and one unit of 10 Natives that would dice randomly. The second Marine officer commanded 3 units of 10 natives and one unit of 10 Coeur De Bois, all of which would dice randomly. 

The Native units had 8 torches to split up amongst the 4 units, and those warriors carrying torches could use them to assault the walls of the homesteads, starting a fire, or subsequently stoking it, if scoring successful wounds. 5 wounds would be enough to burn down a homestead. The homesteads could otherwise be assaulted by winning a melee roll against the door, the score needed starting at 1 and rising by two each turn the attack fails. Units inside can then be charged normally.

This Very Ground permits a player to activate any unit, friendly or enemy, during his or her activation, and this made for some interesting choices early in the games, especially for the British. Does one use an activation to get an early start with the pack animals, not knowing where the enemy is exactly, or does one choose an enemy unit to dice for entry point and activation, potentially finding them threateningly close to your path, but at least knowing where they are?

Look for more on the games themselves in future posts. . .