French and Indian War skirmish game

We are off to a great start.  12 players and three assistants are crowded around several tables depicting a forested valley in the American colonies.  On one end is a small town from which a road emerges towards the west and a frontier fort.  Amidst trees and streams are several farmsteads.  Branching off toward the south is a table containing a native village whose inhabitants are eager to bring havoc to this idyllic setting.

Many of the colonists and British were already on the table at the game's beginning.  The allied leaders were warned that raiding parties of French and Indians could appear from anywhere at any time.  The task of the red coated soldiers was to protect the town, the fort, a very strategic blockhouse in the middle of the table and the many farms that dotted the landscape.  Additionally, they were to try to destroy the native village which had become a seriousl threat to the locals.

The French and Indians, on the other hand, were to rain down terror on the valley, and set about their mission with great energy.

The first victory went to the French as they destroyed a cabin that had been built wrecklessly close to the hostile village.  Soon after that, three war parties appeared and launched an attack on the blockhouse.  This jolted the allied companies into a brisk response.  The fort was stripped of most of its defenders to go to the aid of the blockhouse, and most of the soldiers billeted in the town embarked on spreading out into the rest of the valley to defend the locals.  And then a large faction of French marines and militia appeared on the south side of the town.  The soldiers were recalled to fend off this threat.

On the second day of our conflict, more French regulars arrived at the Indian village and began to make their way toward the main table so as to storm the fort.  Some marines and Indians managed to sneak through the woods to the south of the fort where the lone company of the 28th Foot did their best to man the walls.  But the French and Indians were stunned when three companies of Rogers' Rangers disembarked from canoes and attacked the village.  Things had changed for both sides in a hurry!

By the end of our second day the French threat to the town had all but been extinguished, shot down by volleys from the disciplined British.  But in doing this, many units had been prevented from aiding their comrades to the west.  The blockhouse fell to the French as did four of the farmsteads.  Rogers' Rangers were roughly handled by the few defenders of the village and were completely dismayed by the arrival of companies of French regulars.  The attack on the fort, while menacing at first, had diminished considerably by the end of the day.

As day three begins the French have taken the lead in points, 225 to 170, but many companies are on the move and it is clear that much bitter fighting is still ahead.

The fort and the western end of the table, well defended at the beginning of the game.



The fortified town at the eastern end.



A farm about to be taken by a war  party.

Some of the players at the western end of the table.

I will conclude this report with a brief video from the very end of the day.  It is my first post of a video, and what I like most about it is the trash talking taking place in the background.  It's the best part of the game!