French and Indian War 1754

Last night Brian came up with a very interesting and intriguing game,based on an Indian rescue bid for a captured Indian.
The aforementioned Indian was being held in Edward's farm by some civilians(who by the end of the game had reached S.W.A.T./S.A.S. status!!) and two companies of Rangers.The rescue party Indians had to get him out and beat any other Rangers and British troops sent to bring him back to Fort Courage!!

This is a photo of the table before any movement began,Edward's farm can be seen on the left middle,and the first wave of Indians can be seen paddling across the lake to begin their attack-Paul was in charge of the Indians whilst I commanded the Rangers and S.W.A.T. team of civilians!!

Paul's attack on the farm was ferocious! three war parties against 2 Ranger units and the dreaded civilians!
I was making my way down the board from the left with 10 Ranger units and 1 full British regiment,fresh from the mother country.

My advance-Arrowhead formation for the Rangers,who had been ordered to relieve the Farm,and also out-flank the Indians as they came ashore from the lake-the hapless British march and form line ready to deliver a shattering volley-NOT!!

A fire-fight has developed in the woods,the British,having recovered from their earlier enforced retirement,form up a again and advance to relieve the farm,which at this point in the game,is under severe pressure.

Paul was handed a note from Brian at this point,saying his escape canoes had been "savaged" by a Bear!! and his only escape route now was via a woodland path over on the far side of the board-this was irrelevant because the Farm was still in the hands of the S.W.A.T. team!!

"Arrows flying and women crying,but I'm singing a happy song"-Paul lost so many melees and war parties,that he decided to give up his attacks and regroup nearer the lake edge(hope that Bear's gone!!)

This shot shows the Indians "retiring" to the lake edge,however I am maintaining the pressure and involving them in a fire-fight,being no nearer to achieving his objective,as he was at the start of the game,Paul decided enough was enough,and capitulated!!

The final shot,Indians on the run and Rangers all over them like a rash!!I have decided to issue all the civilians with an Uzi each,and send them on a course on how to swing through windows on a rope,and handle stun grenades!!

A "cracking" game Brian,well done!
The standard has been set high from Dave and Brian,now it's Paul's turn next Sunday,and Graham the Sunday after that!!
In the meantime,roll on Thursday!!
All the figures used last night were from Warrior Miniatures,and I think looked quite good.

Brian brought along his newly painted Rameses Chariot from Newline Designs( and not Online Design as I previously blogged!!)Check this out.........

Pretty cool!! Brian's only "grouse" is that the Chariots come in lots of bits and are a bit of a "bugger" to make up without super-gluing yourself to them!! but he has persevered and done a damned good job at that!!
One point must be made about this lovely model-Gold Reins!! wow standards are soaring now!!

French and Indian War

After a change in medication and another couple of problems left me feeling a little "under par", I decided not to have our normal Sunday club game this week,however the need for my weekly blog "fix" has to be satisfied,so I'll relate a game played by myself,Paul and Brian,after I had "tweaked" the Rangers/Indian rules.

The scenario is above,not very complicated,but interesting.

This was the overall view of the table,with Rangers and Indians converging on the settlement,and the British column at the far edge of the table,just crossing the bridge,and all the settlers blissfully unaware of what is about to descend on them!!

This is the settlement of "Sorry",with a war party emerging from the woods,Indians (honed on war and violence) versus softy,non-trained settlers (including women) this was going to be slaughter (or is that laughter??)

This seems like a strange way to get a short back and sides!!

Indians attacking,3 bloody times they attacked,and 3 times they were beaten off by the settlers!!Damn but  those women can fight!! I'm sure at one point the bloody duck was fighting !!

Here come the British,in lovely columns,led by a very smart looking colonel,I hope he doesn't get shot!

The Indians and Rangers have spotted each other and a general skirmish is taking place in the woods,neither side getting the upper hand,I wonder how things are going at the settlement.......

If at first you don't succeed!!Give up,you can't get past the women,weilding baskets of fruit etc.This was the last time the Indians attacked-their morale broke and they were forced to retire!!!

Proving that the Indians did have some success,here you can see a company of Rangers being chased by 2 war parties,however the rest of the Indians were retiring into the woods,and,although the British colonel had been killed by a sharp-shooter,the British column had gained the settlement.Game over and lights out for the Indians!!

Again,a very interesting game,although too short,I'll have to re-think the length of time,and shooting/melee rules,but I'll get there(which is more than the Indians did!!

Hopefully I'll be ok for Sunday night,I have planned a 5 hander Napoleonic game,so roll on Sunday.

French and Indian War. 17.3.13.

Last night I "rolled out" my Indians and Rangers to the rest of the "boys",after having play tested them with Brian last week,and I got mixed reactions to the project.
I had produced a scenario of an arrogant British officer getting himself besieged in a broken down fort by some hostile Indians,and the Rangers having to "rescue" him. I had set the game up to incorporate a couple of ambushes, but the boys didn't want to get into the spirit of the game,and avoided all the wooded areas like the plague!! Best laid plans etc. etc.!!
However as you can see from the following photo's the terrain looked good,and there was certainly plenty of action.

This is a general view down the table,showing the lake and fort,and various ambush spots.

This is the broken down fort housing the British infantry and their arrogant officer.

Indians surrounding the fort,at the start of the game,Brian and Graham were in charge of the Indians whilst Paul took charge of the Rangers,I was the arrogant officer in charge of the British!!

This,to me,was the highlight of the game,Paul is paddling a Ranger company down the lake,and Graham has spotted him and launched a war party at him. They both decided to fire their muskets at each other! Now I have never been in a canoe,and I have never fired a musket,but I would imagine that the "kick" from a musket would have some effect on the stability of the canoe,so I made a rule,that anyone firing from a canoe would have to throw a dice to see if the canoe capsized or not! Both sides threw the dice,and Graham's Indians decided to have a swim!! Great stuff (unless you are an Indian )

Paul is , cautiously, advancing towards some woods,whilst in the background the Indians are just about to capsize!

I have come out of the fort and attacked twice my number of Indians,not a good thing to do! I was beaten in the ensuing melee and pushed back into the fort,some Rangers are getting a bit close,so help is on its way.

Ah,Indians "lurking" in the woods !This is one of the ambushes that I set up,which was "sprung" by Paul,in the ensuing fight the Rangers got the better of the Indians.

Meanwhile,back at the fort!!

Help!!! However the Rangers did get to me just in time and they saved the day,and my bacon,the Indians were being beaten and "melting away" all over the table,so we called it a night.

On reflection I probably put too many open spaces on the board,and with the boys not being familiar with the period,they took the cautious approach to the game-can't win them all!!

We were due to put on a demonstration game at "Call To Muster" this weekend,but due to transport problems,we've had to cancel.I phoned Dave and Tom this morning and apologised,and wished them the best of luck with their show.