Muskets and Tomahawks AAR

Back on September 7 I was treated to a game of Muskets & Tomahawks at the Metropolitan Wargamers in Brooklyn. (I then left town for a couple weeks, hence the delay in posting this.) This is a set of skirmish rules for the French & Indian War – and the American Revolution too. The Metro Wargamers have a basement in a Park Slope brownstone, with multiple wargame tables, not a few with board games on them, including an on-going strategic game of the Napoleonic Wars.

But I was there for tin soldier action, courtesy of the MW President, Kimber. He had set up the scenario and graciously gave me the rather numerous French & Indians, some 4 groups of Indians (6 each) and a 10 man unit of French Canadian militia. The Indians and French each had a leader. The British had an 8 man unit of armed civilians who’d apparently just finished loading a wagon with barrels of rum, the objective of this fight. Nearby was a 10 strong unit of Provincial troops. Unknown to me, a 6 strong unit of Rangers was to appear later in the game. The Provincials had a leader. All told that made 25 British colonists to 36 French and Indians. The two to one advantage in leaders would tell too.

Now for a short introduction to the rules; activation for both sides is controlled by a single deck of (rather attractive) cards. Indians, for example, get 4 cards, each giving one action. Civilians/militia get 2 cards, 1 action each. Provincials get 2 cards. One has 2 actions, the other has 1. If regulars are present they two cards, each with 2 actions. Leaders each get 1 card. When drawn, the leader can give a subordinate unit within range an extra action. Event cards are also in the deck; when all three have been drawn, the turn is over and the deck is reshuffled. Firing is one die per firing figure, hits always on the same number. There is a second roll to convert hits to an actual casualty and this roll is modified by cover, range, type of target, etc. Once a unit loses a figure it must check morale. The result varies from carry on to recoil to flight (out of action until the end of the turn) to rout (out of the game). There’s more to it than that but you get the idea. The size of the units is also a clue to their staying power. Larger units hang around longer. The game lasts for 6 turns. A lot can happen in a single turn. 

And back to the game. The civilians noticed Indians approaching and opened fire, bringing one down. (Looking at the photos after coming back to town, I decided to name the tribes and leaders.) An Abnaki warrior went down but high dice and the cover of the woods kept them carrying on and they returned the fire. On my left, the Micmacs ran in single file to flank the civilians, with Bear Claw urging them on. On my right, the militia moved to flank the rum runners urged on by Lieutenant Legrand. My dice ran hot and cold, but Kimber’s dice mostly ran cold.

Concentrated musket fire told on the laborers. After most of them had been shot, the survivors took to their heels. In truth they had stood up longer than I would have.

And now a poorly focused picture of my left flank:

Now the Rangers arrived from the side table edge – decided by a die roll. They arrived behind the Abnakis. In the excitement I failed to get any pictures of it. They closed with the leading Abnaki group and set to with their tomahawks. They had two to one odds against two warriors and one on one against Bear Claw. My dice were pretty hot, nailing two rangers. The rangers only brought down two warriors. Bear Claw was spared, I suspect more by Kimber’s generosity than by the rules. A tie resulted which means a second round is fought immediately – good thing, I heartily dislike melees that last more than one turn. On the second round Bear Claw knocked a ranger on the head and survived. Having lost more troops in the fight, the surviving rangers recoiled. Kimber’s dice were cold and mine were hot, so the rangers were defeated. I do think that a surprise attack like this should get some additional bonus. I really expected at least one group of Abnakis to be defeated.

My musket fire continued to tell on the Provincials as the British side went below 50% effectives. An army morale card was added to the deck. Whenever it was drawn every British/colonial unit had to check morale. I now realized how fast the Indians could move and the Micmacs began a rapid move around the British left flank. I offered to end Kimber’s misery but he opted for one more turn. Some of his Provincials ran into the house while others were still out in the open. As the fourth turn came to an end, it looked like curtains for the Brits.

We ended the game. I like these rules. They are fairly simple but give a good period flavor. The Indians feel very different that the militia and regulars. I shall have to get a set of the rules. With minor tweaks because our 15mm figures are mounted 3 to a base, we can play this at our local club meetings. Since the card decks are sold out, I’ll have to make cardboard counters that we draw out of a cup, no big deal. I do intend to wander by the Metropolitan Wargamers again. This has inspired me to start painting up a small group of Conquest Miniatures Iroquois warriors that have been laying around after being primed for a year or more..