French and Indian War Trial Run

 

Why "Trial Run?" Finally, I (or better, "we") have taken the first step toward realizing the "dream" of a fully-fledged wargame campaign of the French and Indian War. I have been collecting all/most of the forces involved in the French and Indian War in ten-figure units in order to, ultimately, organize a map-based campaign designed to produce tabletop battles. The collecting has been the easy part.

 

The original plan was to use the GMT boardgame Wilderness War as the basis of the campaign. Wilderness War is THE game of the French and Indian War. Part of the visual appeal of this period for me is the variation of unit types and differentiated uniforms, and each of these units is represented as a counter in the game. Then Bayonets & Tomahawks was released and I was immediately impressed by two elements of this new game. First, the game board features a clever use of a period mapmaker's perspective of the theater, that despite the modern graphic design, immediately "transports" you back in time.

 

 

Secondly, the scale of the counters is larger - each counter represents two or more battalions - still specific battalions - that entered the theater together, which practically represents my collection as is. So fewer units to collect but with the requisite variety of uniforms; I just need to paint some orange and black facings and the Drab-colored uniforms of the NY Provincials still. 

 

Generally, though, board games don't make for compelling tabletop miniatures battles. They are designed for the most part to produce lop-sided battles that strongly favor the attacker - as they should, or why fight? When used for miniature campaigns, the games are usually won on the map and not on the tabletop.

 

Then I remembered Habitants & Highlanders, written by Bruce McFarlane of the Canadian Wargamers Group, one of the essential reads for a gamer of the period. It includes a map-based miniatures campaign, Wolfe and Montcalm, along with lots of battle scenarios and other period info. The map is neatly similar to the map above and by making some slight adjustments to the forces to reflect my collection and to keep the force balances in proportion, the campaign rules can be used straight from the book. From the author:

 

 

The "Trial Run" was for the miniatures rules to be used for the campaign. The Baron and I have recently committed to a bi-weekly gaming schedule and for the first game at Castle FusterCluck I invited The Baron over to play my favorite F&IW rules, Muskets and Mohawks by Two Hour Wargames. It would be his first time playing with the rules and it was important to me that he get a good representation of them so as to be willing to play again! You can use the labels on the blog to find a full rules review and some thoughts on why I prefer Muskets and Mohawks to some of the other rules currently available.

 

To set up a smallish game with five to six units per side we could finish in an evening, I pulled the La Belle Famille 1759 scenario from the other essential game read for the period, Warlord Games' Black Powder: A Dark and Bloody Ground. I removed the ambush and made it more of a straight-up attack/defend scenario. I gave the French one extra unit since they were attacking works but reduced the effectiveness of two units to compensate. The British start with one unit of Regulars in the works and one unit of Grenadiers arriving via the road, and one unit of Rangers/Irregulars and two units of Natives arriving in the woods. The French arrive in the clearing opposite: two units of Regular Marines, two units Irregular Marines and two units of Canadian Militia (the downgraded units). Each side had two Leaders.

 

The Baron chose to defend with the British and the game was on. Views of the battlefield : 

 

 

And starting positions:

 

 

My plan as the French was to use the two units of Regulars to engage the troops at the works and the Natives I presumed would be at the edge of the woods while the two units of Irregulars went around whichever side of the defense works opened up, while the Militia units waited in reserve to prove their worth. It started out as planned. . .

 

 

The British Grenadiers and Rangers deployed to the left of the works (from the French view!) while the French Regulars engaged the British behind the works with their first - and inconsequential -  volley. Damn those timbers!

 

 

On the right, the French Regulars charged the edge of the woods where the Natives had taken up a good firing position, rather than trade fire and take more casualties (I didn't get any photos of the initial charge!). The Irregulars eyed the gap between the works and the woods while the Militia made it to the edge of the woods on the far right.

 

On my left flank the Regulars traded fire and the French Irregulars opened up on the Rangers.

 

The French Regulars on the right that charged the Natives in the woods were roughly handled. The French Irregulars rushed into the gap between the works and the woods and then instead of rolling around the works charged and joined the melee in the woods. The added enemy numbers were too much for the Natives, who died to a man.

 

 

 

Back on the left side The French Regulars lost a Morale check after sustaining several casualties and were forced to Retire. The British Grenadiers charged the Marine Irregulars instead of joining the firefight.

 

 

And then I cheated and broke the game - with apologies to The Baron. I correctly attached a Leader to the far right Militia unit to get them to charge the unengaged Natives in the woods, but I incorrectly used the Leader's REP (Reputation: training effectiveness) to fight the Melee instead of the unit's REP. This definitely skewed the Melee results, and in fact, the Militia won the combat. The fact that they won was the impetus to go back over the rules to see if I had made a mistake, and indeed I had. My only excuse is that I hadn't played the rules for quite some time (years) before this game . . .

 

 

On the left flank the British Grenadiers lost their Sergeant in the Melee and subsequently failed their Morale check and Retired behind the Rangers.

 

 

With the survivors of the fighting in the woods to the right of the road now threatening the British avenue of retreat down said road. . .

 

 . . .the British ceded the game. It was close, and if it hadn't been for my inadvertent (I swear!) cheating, it would have been closer. I hope the Baron will overlook my unintentional offense and play again!

 

If you want to see what CluckAmok looks like - and I am not sure why you would - The Baron has provided a look.