French & Indian War at March To Victory

  

March To Victory was a month ago; I ran a 54mm-scale game of Fistful of Lead: Bigger Battles. In fact, I ran it three times! I decided to run a slightly smaller game than I usually do. . . easier and faster to set up and more amenable to finishing a complete game in a reasonable amount of time. The table was 5 feet x 6 feet and there were 6 units per side; the French Colonials and their Native allies on one side and the British and their colonial subjects on the other. The scenario came directly from the Big Battles rule book: "Scenario 4 - Hold for Reinforcements." The hill (high ground) was the objective for both forces. The Defender begins in possession of the hill with half their forces and are permitted to place their "hasty" fortifications where they want. The Attackers enter the table on their first turn on the edge closest to the fortifications. The remainder of the Defender's forces come onto the further edge on their first turn. Whoever holds the hill at the end of the game (nightfall) wins.

I did make one major change to the Big Battles rules. Extensive reading around the F&IW era has led me to the conclusion that though bayonet charges happened, melee as a result was very rare. Sometimes attackers could not be convinced to charge, and more often the targets of charges fled rather than face "cold steel." In my opinion, melee should be a rare event in this period. So, I added a test for charging into contact based on the Charge Table from my other go-to rules for the F&IW, Muskets and Mohawks written by Two Hour Wargames. We had 7 charges test over the 3 games and none of them ended in melee; in one the attacker failed to charge and in the others the defender fled before contact. Felt about right to me!

I changed my approach to unit traits, too. I used the Line Regular troops as the performance "baseline" and then added positive or negative traits to other units in comparison. I further added a Unit Leader trait to each unit rather than giving a straight-up morale/rally boost to try to give different units more "personality." For instance, Regulars have no traits of their own, but their Unit Leader trait is "Steady," giving them a shooting bonus as long as their leader is alive. Grenadiers, Highlanders, Light Infantry and Natives have additional/unique positive traits and Provincials and Militias have negative traits by comparison.

If you are interested inseeing these rule amendments, Wiley Games has a free PDF download here. Make sure you receive the PDF marked "Cluck Amok version 3/20/25." Give Wiley Games a shout if not and they will update the link.

Following is a brief description of each game with some photos. Enjoy!

Game One had the British defending. The hasty defenses were placed on the hill and manned by "green" Provincials. The British commander could have placed more troops behind the cover but chose not to, and being green (and rolling a 2 on the Charge Test!) were chased out of the defenses by a successful French charge. The British were never able to recover; French win.

 

Game Two had the British defending again. The same commander from the last game decided to place the defenses at the crossroad, manned by Light Infantry, and to try to hold the hill with his Regulars. The French Regulars assaulting the hill delivered more destructive volleys than their British counterparts and again, though the defenses were never taken, the hill was. French win.

We flipped the script for Game Three with some repeat players. The French defended, placed the defenses on the hill and packed it with Regulars. The British marched right into the teeth of the French Regulars behind the works and were mauled before they could mount a real assault on the hill. French win, as the defenders this time.

 
Everyone seemed to have fun. In fact we had some players come back for a second or third try! It was great to have the toys out again.

See ya!

March to Victory - Game One

 

I planned to run two games; both set in the French & Indian War, based on scenarios provided in Wiley Games' Fistful of Lead: Horse & Musket rules and adapted to use the same terrain set-up so there was no need to change the layout between games.

Game One was titled "New France 1757: Defending the Ford." Scouts are trying to find a suitable river crossing to make a sweeping flank move. Unfortunately for them, the only forde is guarded by determined troops. 

Rules: Muskets and Mohawks by Two Hour Wargames / Rebel Minis. 6 units of French troops - 2 Rep 4 Regulars with Leader, 2 Rep 3 Militia with Leader and 1 Rep 5 Grenadier and 1 Rep 4 Marines - were up against 4 British units - 2 Rep 4 Regulars with Leader and 2 Rep 4 Provincials with Leader. The French had the advantage of numbers, the British the defending position. The side with the greatest number of troops closest to the ford and the road exiting the board edge at the end of the session time would win.

The defenders could set up hidden and the attackers could use hidden movement until actually spotted - which generally meant leaving the cover of the woods.

Terrain from the British side:

 And from the French:

The British deployed one Militia unit at the woods' edge on their right flank; a perfect shooting position providing cover, and held the second in reserve. They brought the Regulars into the open on the road.

The French came forward in 3 columns - the Grenadiers and Marines in the open up the road, the Regulars in the woods on their left flank (facing the Brirtish Provincials) and the Militia using hidden movement through the woods on their right flank.

The French troops made it to the edge of the river and the firefight began, both sides loosing a Volley and then settling into Firing at Will, the Provincials in the cover of the Woods getting additional protection.

The French right flank Militia that had been moving "silently" through the woods suddenly burst into the open and made for the river's edge. It would take two turns to cross the river outside the ford, and the two lines of troops blazed away at each other in the meantime, the British getting the worst of the exchange.

As soon as the French Militia made the far bank of the river they charged the left flank British Regulars, passing an unlikely Charge test! A round of Melee was fought and both sides passed their Morale rolls, meaning the Melee would continue when either side next Activated. Next turn the second unit of French Militia appropriately enough failed their Charge test. The Melee was then joined by the British Great Man himself and then the French Marines that crossed the river at the ford!

 

 

The French Grenadiers, arguably the best troops on the field, were repelled twice as they tried to cross the river at the ford by the valiant fire of the other weakened unit of British Regulars.

 

Finally, after losing 2/3 of the unit, the British Regulars in Melee failed their Morale test and recoiled. The French units, also considerably reduced in the hand-to-hand contest, decided not to Follow Up.

It was at this late point in the battle that the British committed their last unit of Provincials, moving them into the open (leaving the cover of the Woods) in front of the advancing French Regulars. It would prove too little too late as the French outnumbered the British by 2 to 1 in position re the Victory Conditions when time was called, and so claimed the field.

General note: I think the game would have been closer run had the British not held their Provincial unit in reserve, and instead had it in firing position at the Woods' edge from the beginning of the game. On either flank would have been useful, potentially causing more French casualties, and they would still have had the cover of the trees for several fires.

Note to the players, if you happen to read this. During the Melee, the British should have taken an automatic casualty each Activation for EACH unit they were fighting, instead of the single casualty I assigned. The Melee should have been a more lop-sided victory for the French. It was the only ruling anyone questioned, and I didn't want a fine set of commercial rules taking the blame! Again, if the reserved Provincials had been stationed on the left flank, the Melee may never have happened. . .

Game Two in the next post. See ya!