Muskets and Tomahawks: The Big Cheese

 

Thursday evening at the Rose and Crown I joined James and Paul for a game of Muskets and Tomahawks using James's lovely French and Indian Wars collection.

James and Paul would take the French while I was the British.

My initial deployment

My force was three units of British regulars led by Captain Wensleydale, supported by two units of Rangers led by Captain Strathdon and a local militia led by Captain Applewood. There was a cheesy miasma around my officers, likewise the French, would good hard English cheese triumph against the pungent, soft Gallic cheeses?

French regulars

The French had two officers each leading a unit of regulars, some irregular French Canadians and three units of Huron led by a war chief.

Huron!

The French were the advance party for an attack on Fort  Necessity, I would need to drive them away before they could occupy the best ground for siting their artillery.

Captain Strathdon had to meet with an Indian informant, while Captain Wensleydale had to let his men know how proud of them he was. Applewood had no intrigue although I suspect keeping the militia in the game would be task enough!

View from the French

While my troops moved towards the creek that ran across the centre of the table, the French and their allies advanced their regulars up the road while their Canadians with Indian allies took to the woods.

British and militia ready themselves at the creek.

Canadians in the woods

Soon the militia were coming under ineffectual musket fire from the woods on their right and I started to move some rangers over to that side to counter that threat.

The French pushed up the road on my left, but highly effective musketry from the regulars and rangers saw the entire unit cut down, things were looking up, but the Huron in the woods were soon proving effective and redcoats started to fall.

Huron in the woods

I needed to stop this, so while the militia refused the right flank, the redcoats crossed the stream and unleashed a volley into the woods scattering one of the Huron war parties who fled to the rear and did not stop again.

Redcoats prepare to cross the creek.

Volley fire!

The remaining Huron kept up a steady fire though and more redcoats fell. then a disaster happened, a random event meant that the French could take a unit of reinforcements build from any figures in their dead pile, so a unit of regulars was on its way to avenge that one I had seen off so convincingly earlier, bugger!

My rangers on my right had advanced to try to see off the Huron in the wood before me and were about to strike when a volley from the newly arrived Frenchmen felled one of their number and the rest broke and ran back to the safety of Fort Necessity.

Doomed rangers move on the Huron

But things were going much better on my right, Captain Strathdon had led his rangers to that flank, and firstly their effective fire drove of the Canadian militia who scarpered to rally in cover, and then engaged the Huron on that flank at close range, driving them off in disarray, last seen scarpering for the high ground and not seen again.

The French Canadians did eventually recover their nerve and return to the fight, but they were much reduced.

French Canadians back in the woods

In the centre the arrival of the French reserves saw them start an advance against the now drastically thinned out redcoats. Preceded by a volley of tomahawks the French regulars charged catching the depleted redcoats in the open. Wensleydale deftly dispatched his French opposite number but was then set upon by the Frenchmen and fell.

The French advance was stopped by by musketry and lo, Wensleydale was not dead, just trapped under the body of a gigantic garlic muncher. Dusting himself off Wensleydale led the rest of the redcoats back over the creek and awaited the French.

Recoats form a new line back on their side of the creek.

Although the British numbers were much reduced the French, with their second in command now in charge felt that there was no way to take the ground and broke off their advance.

I have only played one game of Muskets and Tomahawks before and that was a long time ago, but it's a great game and I really would like to play some more, although do I need a new project, almost certainly not, but would like to play again.