A few years ago, I won a trivia contest put on by The Mighty Ed at
Two Hour Wargames and
the prize was a copy of Long Rifle, a French & Indian (Seven Years)
War "immersion game", which is a game somewhere between, "very small
and detailed skirmish" and "RPG lite". Not long ago, Ed was kind enough
to provide me a copy of the full Muskets & Mohawks wargame which is
the companion to Long Rifle. These are the foundation rules for my
New France
(alternative history Louisiana Territory ca. 1640) campaign which I've
neglected horribly for almost six months mostly due to the demands of my
former job; I now have a job I love working from early morning to mid
afternoon - the painting table is getting geared up to stock the New
France campaign. In the meanwhile, I picked up some Imex 1/72 AWI and
painted them over two weekends, finishing in the late morning of July
4th, precisely on my deadline to fight an AWI battle using M&M somewhat "dumbed down" into fewer dice per roll. Okay, so I didn't
get the bases flocked. No dessert for me.
 |
| Colonial militiamen wait inside the fortification on Breed's Hill as the British advance through the Charlestown waterfront. Historical accuracy was thrown out the window (as usual) so that I could use this terrain tile I had just made by peeling the paper off one side of foam core poster board and etching the paving into the foam with a disposable ball point pen. The buildings are actually printed on the back of the Imex packaging and the trees & rocks are out of a "bucket of dinosaurs" I found at Walmart for five dollars. |
 |
| Aggressive woodsmen, possibly wishing to establish Roger's Rangers, charge forward attempting to ambush and destroy the British Huron allies. Once again, not historically accurate, but I wanted to practice the melee rules. |
 |
| The Huron reaction was to fire into the charging woodsmen with lethal effect, and then the natives eliminated the woodsmen in melee. This is still turn 1 as the THW reaction system moves things along at a quick pace. |
 |
| On the left, each side exchanged volleys |
 |
| The result of the volleys was two stands of militia Out of the Fight (OOF) while the British ducked for the light cover near the village. |
 |
| Turn 2: The British center and Huron right flank advance within musket range. Unlike 1775, the colonial muskets fire without inflicting a single casualty. The British return fire, but the fortifications provide perfect protection to the militia. |
 |
| Meanwhile, the left flank charges into musket fire, but unlike the historical battle, make it all the way to the fortifications on the first charge. The colonials eliminate one stand of British in melee; both sides stand their ground. |
 |
| Once again, the militia's musket fire has no effect as the British center and right gain the fortifications, charging into hand-to-hand combat. |
 |
| The dice once again fail the colonists as they lose every combat, falling before the British onslaught. |
 |
| The colonial right flank managed to beat back the British left, but the majority of the defenders fall quickly and horribly to the combined center / right attack. |
 |
| The last few defenders split their formation in a desperate attempt at survival, |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| But the ferocious British onslaught sweeps through the small rebel contingent. | |
|
|
This was a very quick, and due to lopsided dice rolling, brutal victory for the British, unlike the historical Pyrrhic victory. I suppose follow-hp games could be alternate history.
