Battle of "Baker Street" 1758-Ohio Valley.

Last night saw Brian,Graham and I fighting Indians against Rangers,and British and French Regulars!
As usual the game was fast but exciting.....

The scenario and initial dispositions-I had decided,as a Ranger commanding the right flank and centre companies,to swing around the settlement,in a feint move,and attack in the centre,hoping to "lure" Brian away from the column.Graham was to back my moves up,and defend the fort-simple!!

The defenders of the fort,Graham used his gun well-he only had two shots,but decided to use cannister for both,with devastating effect on the attacking French.

The "unsuspecting" column advancing down Baker Street-nice day for a stroll-what could possibly spoil the tranquility??

Looks like a spot of Indian activity is going on !! However the Rangers are also getting close,surely the column and escort will be ok!!

Oh no it won't!! all hell breaks loose as the Indians spring their ambush-the first volley drove the escort back into the woods,and sent the settlers fleeing in panic!!

A simultaneous attack on the fort didn't help matters much,and even though Brian's French were weakened by cannister and musket fire,they managed to drive the British defenders out!!
Graham supported the defenders with a company of his Rangers and these inflicted enough damage to drive the French out in turn!!-thrilling stuff,but what of the column??

Against all odds,the column and escort of Rangers now,have managed to defeat the Indians-hurrah!!
This was the end of the game,the settlement was intact and the French were no longer in control of the fort_ Graham and I were declared the winners!!
A colourful and exciting game,which could have gone either way-Roll on Thursday!!

I have been working away at my "El Cid" figures,and have 7 units completed,I am quite pleased with the results-the flags and banners have been down-loaded from "freebie" sites and I think look good,the "daisy" shaped shields are upholstery nails painted!!

Fort Saint George,French and Indian War 1758

This game is one we played after we had re-newed the rules for our French and Indian war figures.(for the second time!)

Dave(a rare visitor) and I commanded the Rangers and British troops including a bunch of civilians,whilst Brian and Paul took on the roll of Indian and French troops commanders.

This is the scenario we used,a bit complicated but it proved to be an exciting game.

This shot shows the overall layout of the table,with the fort and settlement in the foreground and the raft and gun at the far edge of the table.

The raft and gun,being escorted by a company of Rangers in canoes.A war band of Indians had been selected to stop them_Ha!! no chance!

Brian has thrown a warband across the river against the settlement,which was defended,not only by civilians,but also a company of British regulars.The ensuing fight saw the Indians having to be reinforced by another warband,due to a severe defeat by the defenders.Undetered,Brian threw another warband in for good measure,and sent the defenders fleeing for their lives!!

While Brian's attack was going on,Paul had sent his warband in canoes,against the Rangers in canoes,a melee ensued which the Indians lost,meanwhile the raft an escort rowed away furiously!! Will they make it to the ford??

NO!!!! Paul had cunningly placed a warband on the Lake edge,and shot the raft,escort and gun to pieces!

It has to be said that Dave's defence of the fort was "inadequate" hence the milling Indians slaughtering the hapless defenders,consisting of Rangers,Regulars and Civilians.with the French regulars looking on in dis-belief!! Settlement lost,fort lost,will the Rangers be able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat??

A disgraceful display of "gloating" if ever I saw one-they'll be sorry!!

I have managed to retake the settlement with 2 companies of Rangers,and Dave had reformed the previous defenders into a firing line,and is giving the Indians "what for" in this photo.However the warbands are gathering in ever increasing numbers and might just assail us.

As suspected,we are being assailed!!My rangers are in the settlement and ok,but out in the open field the Indian warbands are running amok!

This shows the view from the settlement,over to the now occupied fort,whilst to the right my Rangers are "retiring" out of harm's way,I think we have lost !!

YES!! there go the Rangers (well, some of them,the one's with hair!!)

This was a good game,played with a lot of laughs and rude banter,however Dave and I did have the last laugh when I managed to kill the Indian warband leader sent foolishly against me,hence the following rare photo of yours truly and Dave.

Well I hope we will all be together next week ( apart from Graham ,who is still mouse hunting in America) and probably play a Napoleonic game.

Fort Du Lac 1758. French and Indian War.

Last night saw us (Paul,Brian and I ) in the Great Lakes,fighting Indians against Rangers,with a few regular French and British infantry thrown in for good measure.

This is the scenario,Brian and I were the British and Rangers whilst Paul was the Indian and fort commander.

This shows the initial troop positions.Brian had to land his Marines under gunfire from the fort,but he had guns on the ship too-unfortunately he missed with both his shots,but Paul managed to sink a "jollyboat full of  not-so-jolly Marines.

"Hello Sailor" Brian had 4 jolly boats containing 4 figures each,but as one was sunk he only managed to land 12 figures,he proceeded to form them into column and march them away from the fort!! (we'll never know why!!)

The view from the fort,it looks like the French gunners are taking careful aim.

Nearly there! some troops are wading ashore!!While this "landing" was going on,Brian was approaching the fort with a company of Rangers c/w with a warband of "friendlies". These "friendlies" decided that they wanted whiskey and gold or they wouldn't go on. Brian was all out of whiskey and gold,and so a melee took place between the Indians and the Rangers,before they even got close to the objective-oh how we laughed!!

While Brian was struggling with keeping order in his own ranks,and deploying his Marines,Paul had sneakily paddled a warband of Indians towards the ship,with the intention of boarding it and setting fire to it !! Will Brian ever learn not to "Gloat" in previous games??
As it happens Paul succeeded in setting fire to the ship,thus denying Brian's Marines a chance of ever getting home.HOWEVER-Paul was caught on camera,actually "Gloating" over his feat-you must remember the club motto..."If you Gloat,you'll be Smote"

Oh Dear!!!

The Rangers and Indians have made contact in the woods,my task was to stop the Indians from reaching the fort and preventing the Marines from capturing it. Both Paul and I had mixed fortunes during these encounters,but we managed to hold our own for 3 or 4 moves.

The fort is eventually under siege,from Rangers (out of shot!) and the Marines,the French infantry suffered loads of casualties and this would tell later on when the Rangers actually stormed the fort.

A company of Rangers has got into the fort,the Indians have been forced away from the ramparts,thing are not looking too clever for the French!!

One of my Ranger units has got itself into a "spot of bother" in this shot,this was Paul's parting shot really,the fort had been taken and Brian was receiving reinforcements,in the form of another company of Rangers arriving by canoe,across the lake.

Reinforcements speeding across the lake,to take pressure off the Marines,these arrived just in time,but saved the day for the British and Rangers.

Another good game,lots of laughs,excitement,as well as ups and downs-great stuff.

We are going to Falkirk on Friday,playing our demo. game on Saturday,and returning on Sunday.We are all looking forward to demonstrating our rules,figures etc. and will probably have a couple of halves of beer as well!! A full report will be made.