The scenario was historically based and the background story was very interesting, I don't remember the little details, but it involved an American attack on some British fortifications, the attack was somewhat impromptu and therefore not very well thought out. The Americans hit some difficulties making their way across some very inhospitable terrain on their way to the fort and once there fled as soon as they could.
Because of the seating arrangements I went with the Land of the Free and took command of a band of US Marines, Andy was given battalion upon battalion of Militia, however his men were not as adept as mine at negotiating the terrain and it took him almost all night to get into an attacking position. The tree line to our front was held by the British, albeit in small numbers, I managed to get my Marines up and easily outnumber the defenders, within a short time I had cleared the woods in front of me, the survivors amongst Simon's men ran for the fort.
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| The Militia. |
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| My Marines. |
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| Simon's Jocks. |
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| Julian's defenders about to be clubbed. Andy's men had wet powder. |
Andy was getting nowhere on my left, each time he managed to wade across the small creek his men took fire from Julian's stalwarts and they legged it to the rear and safety, making his advance doubly difficult. Eventually I started to push my Marines against Julian's flank along with some friendly Indians who had turned up and knew secret paths through the morass. I spoke to them in their own language so they did not screw things up, it sounded authentic at least.
As time was getting on it was obvious the woods were being evacuated as the Militia had at last managed to get decent numbers on to the firing line so we set up the assault on the fort. This was just as confusing as the original and had the same result. My boys took some fire but really couldn't close with the palisade unless they caused some hurt on the defenders, the Militia of course knew the script, as soon as men began to tumble they turned and ran. There was no danger of us taking the fort and very soon the open ground to the front of the defences was empty once again.
And there we left it, a result exactly as it happened a long, long time ago. Being in the open in this game is not good and you can quickly lose a lot of men I think this scenario could also be scaled up and used with a larger set of rules and a slightly bigger table.
I am not sure about next week, most of the people I play with are not there, so it might be a night off, but we will see.
We've started tinkering around with Sharp Practice, Phil has Crimean War but I'd probably lean more towards FIW/AWI for those larger battles than what you can do with M&T.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of a larger scale than SP2 as well, perhaps Black Powder or the like, for that scenario at least.
DeleteAndy's men having wet powder puts me in mind of the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 by the Green Mountain Boys militia. The sneaky leader of the colonials entered the fort disguised as a peddler and the British commander helpfully told him his powder was wet and useless. The British then went to bed leaving a gate open and a single sentry on guard. No wonder we lost the war.
ReplyDeleteI like the French and Indian Wars part better but Rob and Andy have large numbers of AWI troops. He was warned that firing in the swamp would have a detrimental effect, but they managed well enough with the muskets as clubs!
DeleteNever warmed to Muskets & Tomahawks myself, give Sharp Practice 2 a go.
ReplyDeleteNow you know I am not a fan of TFL David, I tried it once, may do again but I like M&T, anyway saving up for that 3rd C Roman Army!
DeleteFor anyone wishing to dip a toe into this period it is worth checking out the latest reimplementations of the board game "Hold the Line". The core game is for the AWI, the rules are highly regarded, there are 28 scenarios and 200 1/72 minis (produced by the Plastic Toy Soldier Co). The expansion for the French and Indian Wars has 75 miniatures and 12 further scenarios. HTL has the advantage of a growing list of expansions including one on the Jacobite rebellion and another on the Mexican-American War.
ReplyDeleteA fine looking table there. Couldn't get on with M&T, never could put my finger on why either, lost in translation perhaps.
ReplyDeleteIt is quite simplistic to be honest, and the combat is a bit iffy, but it works well for multiplayer at the club. And there are lots of lovely troops and scenery for it.
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