It was my turn to host a game against Ian, and we choose to play French Indian Wars using Muskets & Tomahawk rules. I would normally have used my table in the garage but the hot weather turns the place into a sauna, so instead I decided to use the extended dining room table (which is actually 6’x4’, with rounded corners). I set up the terrain before Ian arrived and we diced for sides (Ian got the French), officer talents and missions; Ian got ‘Scouting’ whilst I got ‘Protection’. Both sides had 400 points, and we did not use ‘side plots’. The photo below was taken at the game end, but shows the terrain set up. Ian’s French deployed on the left whilst the British reinforcements came from the right side.
The first turns seemed to favour the French and they rapidly advanced on the village, whilst my forces were inactive. I did manage to get the civilians into the houses which helped me with my protection mission. My Rangers moved into the woods by the pond and my Indians moved to the woods near the wheat field. My Regulars guarded the approach to the settlement near the pumpkin patch, but they were soon blown away by units of French woodsmen and Indians. My reinforcements were reluctant to appear. I was forced to bring my Rangers back to the village, which was now rather exposed. Ian drove my Indians out of their cover and picked them off as the retreated, so he was able the reach the stream (he had now scouted 5 of the 6 segments of the table). On the far side of the table French Indians were poised in the woods to complete the scouting mission by advancing to the track, thereby scouting the last section. An accurate fusillade from my Rangers in the village forced them to retreat (both us players thought this would prevent the French from succeeding in their mission). The British reinforcements had also finally arrived.
Ian still had some woodsmen nearby and their chits seemed to emerge from the bag in rapid succession, enabling them to quickly move over the stream and reach the track. The French mission was partially complete, now Ian had to retire a third of his force form his table edge, before I could successfully dice for the game end. A tense race began in which Ian needed his chits to emerge before each turn end, when I could dice for game end. Luck favoured the French and they got off in time! Both sides achieved their mission requirements, so a draw resulted. In this game the British objective was fairly easy (i.e. keep 50%+ of the civilians alive); I don’t think the French could prevent the British succeeding without abandoning their own mission.
Overall, an enjoyable game. The rules are reasonably simple and effective and give a good flavour for the period. The defining feature of the rules is the randomised order in which units act, switching the action from side to side in an unpredictable manner (nb. We used chits drawn from a bag, rather than the cards supplied with the game). Some units move multiple times whilst others sit still due to the turn ending early. I think I could have made better use of the ‘vigilant’ action, and thereby allow my men to wait the French behind cover, firing when a target appears.
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