Battle Report 9/21/12: Muskets and Tomahawks

This past Thursday night I got a chance to sit down with my friend Roy Scaife and play a great game of Muskets and Tomahawks.  I continue to be impressed with the Muskets and Tomahawks rules for several reasons ... well written, easy to learn and remember and the gameplay is smooth.  So with a beer in hand Roy and I set off to some Thursday night scalp'in ...

(left - Jay White, right - Roy Scaife)

I should have tomahawked him then when his back was turned ...

We rolled the "scout" scenario.  The French (Jay) took on the task of scouting the table to report on the local area and enemy forces present while the British (Roy) did their best to get in the way of that objective.  Specifically, the table was divided into 2'x2' sections (we played on a 4'x8' table).  The French had to scout each section by having at least one friendly model present in an area at the end of the turn in order to claim the area scouted.  I had setup the table terrain first, before rolling the scenario.  Right from the start the French had a tough road ahead as there was a river present and the British would make it difficult for the French to get across to claim the last to areas.  The table setup is below.

Table Setup

My new corn fields --- just arrived hours before the game

My "Dice Shield"

(http://www.diceshield.com/)

Ok, a shameless plug for the upstanding gentlemen at Dice Shield.  I picked this up at a recent convention and I must say it is a lovely object.  There is a clear rubberized mat in the bottom to keep the dice from "clinking" off the plastic and removeable feet to raise the bucket above your terrain features (I suspect he came down and measured my tallest tree before selling it to me ... lol).  I bought his prototype (which he did not intend to sell ... but I waved enough money at him and he folded).  I really hope this kickstarter takes off ... this is a great idea and very functional.

Partly because we forgot and had already started the game and because we where trying to fit the game into a weeknight we decided not to roll for subplots (although I love this aspect of the game).

French Forces (Jay)

1 x French Regular Officer

12 x French Regulars

12 x French Regulars

12 x French Regulars

11 x Compagnie Franches de la Marine (fielded as Irregulars)

11 x Compagnie Franches de la Marine (fielded as Irregulars)

1 x Indian Leader

6 x Indian Allies

6 x Indian Allies

British Forces (Roy)

1 x British Regular Officer

12 x British Regulars

12 x British Regulars

12 x British Regulars

12 x British Grenadiers

8 x Rangers

8 x Rangers

6 x Militia

The British deployed 12" in from the "river side" table edge.  After that the French deployed 12" in on the opposite end.  The first turn saw both sides advancing --- nothing special to report but lots of pictures below.

Initial French Deployment

Turn 2 saw more advancing and the British making to the fords/bridge to start crossing.  The French managed to pickup all areas scouted less 3 of the 8 (two at the far end past the ford and one at the near end that I have moved a little to far to pickup).  I figured the near end section I could scout on the way back ... I really needed to get up there and try to get past the ford to scout the two far sections.

Turn 3 was a critical turn.  The cards favored the British and the French ended up taking the first rounds of fire with no answer.  Both British regular cards came up and allowed the British regulars to finish crossing the bridge and deploy then deliver their first volleys at the advancing French regulars.  The Indians managed to get up to a stone wall and faced off with a unit a Rangers.  After throwing their Tomahawks and charging in the Rangers managed to fend off the Indians and unfortunately that Indian unit failed it's reaction test horribly (rolled a 1) and went "poof".  Fear not, the Indian leader and second Indian unit were poised to take revenge.

With the chances of getting across the river being extremely remote, the last turn we played was turn 4.  Due to some recoils ... and a ill placed flight on the lead French regular unit, that section of the board became a meat grinder.  The Compagnie Franches de la Marine managed to fire at the Militia a couple of times and they recoiled and eventual went into flight ... but in the end there was no getting across at that point.  The Indians on the other side had some successes.  The British grenadiers forced the remaining Indian unit to recoil once, but they quickly got into a tomahawk infused melee with a unit of Rangers and did some serious damage (revenge!).  Unfortunately while the Indian unit recoiled the Indian leader was left out in the road surrounded by freshly loaded Rangers ... who quickly saw him off (but not before he killed a British grenadier!).  In the end we call it, the French had too little left to be able to ford the river to scout the far two sections ... so we ended with the French failing their objective but managing to get 5/8 sections scouted.  Perhaps a minor British victory.  Some final pictures below.