What?! That's not the French and Indian War, you say! No. . . it's not. It's a photo of the 15mm Sixteenth Century Samurai game played by the local Centurions at Recon this past weekend, using the Field of Glory rules. In the foreground is the red-armored cavalry of the Ii about to fall on an open flank.
Now for the promised French and Indian War. I hauled my Blooding at Jenkins' Ford scenario - check the TwisterCon labeled posts for background - to Recon to introduce it locally. I had 4 players in the first game, two British and two French; each took one 10-man unit just to get a handle on the rules. As it happened, the two regular units were roughed up and the Rangers decided to beat it when their Provincial allies were routed by the Indians.
For the second game, Bruce (British) took a unit of Provincial regulars and a unit of Rangers, and Greg (French) a unit of Marine regulars and a unit of Indians. Both had a good feel for the rules, This Very Ground, and handled their troops well. The Marines took on the Provincials in the opening volleys, then were put to flight and eventually killed to a man by the Rangers. Meanwhile the Indians managed to work around the flank of the weakened Provincials and then slaughter them in a whooping charge. The game ended in a draw when the last 5 Indians found themselves in the cover of the woods staring at the last 4 Rangers and the Provincial officer across the river in their own wooded cover!
Thank you, Bruce, Greg and George for helping to load the game into the truck afterward!
See ya!
As noted previously, we had 7 players for Game Three of Blooding at Jenkins' Ford. Here is the scenario description if you need a reminder. It's basically "kill or be killed;" the winner is the side with the most combatants alive at the end.
Here is the troop disposition at the end of the first turn's activations:
Of the three games, this third displayed the most strategizing and cooperation among the team members. The French weighted their right flank heavily and were very aggressive with their Indian allies. There seemed to be a tidal wave of Indians pouring through the woods!
The Indian onslaught forced the Rangers out of the woods on the east side of the river, who formed a sort of "covered square" in the woodline with the British Regulars on the west side of the river.
In the center, a unit of Colonial Provincials left the cover of the woods and received a brutal volley from the French Regulars, which sent back into the woods to lick their wounds.
The effect of this volley seemed to embolden the entire French army and they advanced all along the line, shifting to their right to put more pressure on the British left.
And as the Indians on the British left stormed across the river and charged the British "square" in the woods, I got so caught up in the action (and figuring modifiers to Courage scores) that I stopped taking photos!
When the Indians killed the Regulars to the last man, with a unit of Provincials nearly wiped out and the Rangers with no option but to run, the British ceded the game. A very dramatic finish to a game played well on both sides.
I think I will take this scenario to Recon in a couple of weeks. I am not sure how many players we will have and the game scales up and down just fine, so we can be flexible as needed. If you're in the Twin Cities on April 23rd, come see us at Recon.
See ya!
