Background
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) pitted the colonies of British America against those of New France, each side supported by military units from the parent country and by American Indian allies. At the start of the war, the French colonies had a population of roughly 60,000 settlers, compared with 2 million in the British colonies. The outnumbered French particularly depended on the Indians.
The European nations declared a wider war upon one another overseas in 1756, two years into the French and Indian war, and some view the French and Indian War as being merely the American theater of the worldwide Seven Years’ War of 1756–63; however, the French and Indian War is viewed in the United States as a singular conflict which was not associated with any European war. French Canadians call it Guerre de la Conquête (“War of the Conquest”).
The Game
After a long pause, it was time to dust of my Musket’s and Tomahawks rules and run a multi player scenario. I had five players that made it to the game, so I divided the forces accordingly. On the French side, we had one Indian and another Coureur des Bois player with three units and a leader each. On the British side, we had a Ranger player and Colonial Infantry player with two units and a commander each. Finally, we had a British player that was in charge of the civilians and the supporting Militia.
The table was laid out with a small hamlet in the center, which was surrounded by crops and forest. Most of the terrain was light cover (except for the buildings), with the woods and buildings being difficult terrain.
We rolled on the random mission table in the rules, which both sides getting the scout mission (each force would have to get a figure into each of the six sections of the table and then exit with a third of their forces). Ironically, most of the players countered each secondary objective roll, with only the British having the Militia player having one (rescuing a prisoner). With that, we went forward with the game!
The French Indians aggressively moved against the hamlet (mostly due to forced moves required by having the savage trait), while the Coureur des Bois re-positioned from one flank to the other. Due to their lack of maneuverability in comparison to the French, the British played a defensive game. This worked out, as they were able to wipe out the Indians before the Coureur des bois could finish their re-positioning. Once in position, the French tried to carry the day, but could not cope with the numbers of British, allowing the Rangers to grab final victory on behalf of the British!
- Manteuffel