It was my turn to run our Tuesday musket period game and I decided to pull out Rebels and Patriots for the group, as we had not done a game of this in a bit. I have a copy of Battle of the Snowshoes scenario from Warlord and figured I would do a variation on it.
None of my F&I figures are in winter garb and I my rangers are not painted as Rogers Rangers, so a little tweaking was required (not to mention I was using a different rule set!). To throw bone, I pulled out my snow dusted gaming mat for the table. I covered it in trees, so the fight would be in the woods. I brought the wrong throw terrain box, so had to make do with what I had to add some character.
All terrain on the table would count as light terrain. Maximum visibility would be twelve inches. I gave the ranger players a quick synopsis of the situation that they were being chased by a large force of French and would have to escape off the opposite table edge, but now where the French troops would set up.
The French and Indian players were told about the approximate location of the rangers and were given two ambush points they could set up their forces. Once they decided which units would set up in which box, the Ranger players set up their forces in the center. The French then set up their forces, for the surprise.
The Rangers included for units of eight troops each with one commander. The troops were elite. Facing them were two units of French Marines and Indians of ten each. They were a step down from the Rangers and had a lower discipline rating. We started with both sides rolling their commander abilities to start the game. The French got a free heavy cover unit and the Rangers got a tiny unit of militia later in the game.
The French would get a bonus point for every Ranger unit eliminated and the Rangers would get a bonus point for every unit they exited the board. The Rangers were the attackers and had the first turn.
The Rangers started by moving into the middle, with the French staying back to engage them. The Rangers then went strong to the left to overwhelm the two units defending and leaving the other units out of position.
At this point, it was a race to overwhelming the blocking force and getting off the table. The Rangers would win the race and clear both units, before the breach could be sealed. Fortunately the Rangers, they got a few extra turns to get units off the table. The game ended up being a 3-1 victory point game, giving the Rangers a solid victory.
- Manteuffel