Sunday, 10 December 2017

French Indian War Campaign - Game 4 report

This weekend I played the fourth game of my French Indian War campaign. Game 4 had a French force moving against a British force. Hoping to follow up on their last victory, where a British force had failed to storm a fort protecting the roads on the North side of the river.

The French advance towards the defending British force
British defensive position
Both sides had very similar make up (five line infantry units, two skirmish units and one artillery piece) and had also deployed in a similar fashion. Skirmishers on the flanks with artillery in the centre supported by line infantry.

The French line advance  
The scene from the British command - The cannon fire was proving to be effective
After being on the receiving end of some very effective shooting. The French attacking units change their line of attack from the British centre, and head towards the weaker left flank. 
Not much happening of the French left flank with the bulk of fighting occurring on the other flank in the distance. A minor attack by some British skirmishers was easily seen off.
The French seize the woods on the British left flank, but having taken quite a few casualties they are unable to capitalise and British reserves shore up the flank
British counterattack begins
French forces are now in a precarious position after a successful British counterattack.
The game ended with a British victory. Over the last couple of I have found my house rules do not  differentiate sufficiently between skirmishers and line infantry units. After a few scribbled changes to the rules I replayed the game. The result was the same. A bit more thinking to do I think.
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4 comments:

  1. Norm10 December 2017 at 20:18

    Would it make enough of a difference to give a penalty of -1 to both line infantry and artillery fire against skirmishers?

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    Replies
    1. Peter11 December 2017 at 07:25

      Thanks for the suggestion. Since writing the post I have applied a rule where units must be in an adjacent square to shoot at skirmisher units.

      Delete
  2. Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.com10 December 2017 at 23:11

    While you didn't actually ask for suggestions, the urge is too strong to resist!

    At a distance skirmishers seem to have been able to hold their own against many times their number of formed infantry but wouldn't stand against close range volleys or artillery fire in the open. They also wouldn't stand against a charge unless they were in cover.

    Having looked over the rules again, I would make 3 suggestions.
    1) remove the movement penalty for skirmishers in woods
    2) give regulars a -1 if shooting at skirmishers unless they are using volley fire
    3)Canadian militia skirmishers should be treated like indians.
    4) allow skirmishers to 'evade' if charged with this counting the same as losing, ie retreat plus a disruption test.

    My $.02 CAD

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    Replies
    1. Peter11 December 2017 at 07:41

      Thank you kindly for the suggestions, and I will work through them. Seeing your list has reminded me I should list down what I want from the rules. For example, skirmishers can move and shoot, skirmishers flee a charge, etc. All content for a post methinks.

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