French Indian War Campaign Game 4

Game 4 of the French Indian War campaign relay has Fort William-Henry being fought over again. Except this time with slightly larger forces. The campaign background and lead up to this battle can be found at Jonathan's blog - Palouse Wargaming Journal.

The Order of Battle (OB) for this game was larger than previous games which means a reduction in the unit representation of regiments. Past games had one regiment was represented by three units on the tabletop. For this game the two units would represent a regiment. This adjustment was required to fit in with my tabletop size and available units.

French prepare to advance upon Fort William-Henry

Here is the OB with regiments shown in brackets. Both forces were allowed to have one grenadier unit in their regulars, and the French because of the larger OB were allowed an artillery piece.

British

Commander Monckton (A2D1)
6 units (3) regulars
2 units (1) militia
2 units (1) rangers
1 artillery unit in fort
Army resolve = 11 (1 for each regiment plus 1 for commanders defence quality)

French

Commander Dieskau (A2D2)
6 units (3) regulars
2 units (1) militia
2 units (1) Huron war-band. A particularly fierce war-band which will get +1 in combat at half range.
1 artillery unit
Army resolve = 12 (1 for each regiment/warband plus 2 for commanders defence quality)

Will the fort change hands again in this 3rd Battle over the fort.

Game setup

The Plans

The British plan having heard the French force has supporting artillery, is to harass any advance using their rangers from the hills and form a defensive line from their regulars to make any French advance as costly as possible.

The French aim to try and tackle the British forces outside the fort before turning their attention to the fort itself. 

Even having dragged an artillery piece along on their march. This will not be an easy battle for the French to win. They are hoping to reduce the British army resolve by eliminating the forces outside the fort and avoid any costly assault on the fort.

Plans

Preparing for a siege - building a star fort part 1

The current French Indian War campaign relay with Jonathan of Palouse Wargaming Journal (for campaign background and concept click HERE) may well include a siege game at some point. With that in mind this weekend I decided it was time to get started on building a star fort, well half a star fort, which will be positioned on the edge of the tabletop.

Given my units are all based on 4x3 inch bases and played on a 6 inch square grid, I had to give some though as to how my units will be position in any fort I build. During the week I had sketched out a fort plan and given some thought as to how to build it.

So here is part 1 of my star fort...

MDF sheet cut out to act as the terrain feature base.

Using the MDF as a template multi-use foam board is cut out. In the case of the main fort a centre 6 inch square removed. 

The foam board is stuck using PVA glue to the MDF base.

Once the base MDF and foam board were firmly attached. Half inch triangular wooden dowel was cut out and attached to the top to act as parapets. I don't need to be too precise with my cutting the joins as later in the build process it all gets covered.

Two guerites were added as an after thought. These sentry boxes add to the look of the fort. A gateway entrance has been cut out in the foam board. This photo shows how my based units will fit into the fort once completed.

The next step is to cover the fort in tissue paper and PVA glue (I tend to use kitchen paper towel for this). Then small details are added.

So that is part 1 of the star fort build. My guide during this process and for creating some supporting war-game rules is the book "Fire and Stone - The Science of Fortress Warfare 1660-1860" by Christopher Duffy. There is even a siege war-game in Appendix 3!

Lots of rereading of chapters going on

While I was out in the garden waiting for the PVA glue to dry. I started on the making of a battle mat which will eventually have a hex grid drawn on it. My starting point was some light green curtain material, too light for my liking, but provided a good base for adding some mid green and brown tones.

Watered down mid green paint (5 parts water to 1 part paint) randomly brushed over. This was repeated with the same mix, but with a touch of brown acrylic paint added.

The battle map on the tabletop 

There is sufficient overhang on my 6x4 foot tabletop to allow my existing hills to be used under the mat. Their outline is still clearly visible, useful to know when a unit is on the hill or moving up a slope.

I may will add some more paint in the future. I am just getting used to this which is a bit duller in colour to my Games Workshop purchased mat which I generally use.

Once I am happy with the dappled colour I will mark out a hex grid.

Napoleonic gaming and using D3 dice

With a lull in the French Indian War campaign collaboration, it has provided some time for me to try out using the D3 dice for a couple of Napoleonic games. With these games I have been using a variation of the One Hour Wargames (OHW) Horse and Musket rules.

The different dice mean for the shooting and hand-to-hand combat rules, hits instead of being determined with D6-2, D6 and D6+, are translated to D3-1, D3 and D3+1. For target units in cover rather than halving the number of hits, I subtract 1 from the score. This does mean cover is not quite so effective for defending units.

For convenience of tracking unit hits (using a D6 dice placed behind a unit) they are eliminated on taking more than 6 hits. This is a reduction in a unit's resilience which I try and offset by allowing commanders to rally their troops and remove hits.

(Using a D3 it takes 3 average scores of 2 to have a unit at the verge of elimination, where the OHW rules would take 4 average scores of  3.5.)

To date I have played two games using the D3 variation, and it is so far, so good.

My Napoleonic games are not played on a grid and use free movement instead. I have been trying to figure out why I have a preference for avoiding a grid with my Napoleonic games. One thing I put it down to is my like of the old prints of battles with their lines of troops tightly packed at different angles, looking quite chaotic, and lots of musket smoke.

A Napoleonic game with gunpowder smoke used not just to mark units that have fired, but also to improve the look of a game.

An example of the type of print that captures my imagination when wargaming

A gridded game using squares in this instance has the disadvantages of spreading out the units and does not convey the aesthetic. This is all somewhat strange, the uniformity of a grid does not bother me for my French Indian War games, but does with my Napoleonic games. Anyway, given my like for using a grid I am wondering whether a hex grid many create that look for me and be a better option.

Similar game size using a square grid.

Making a hex grid might be on the cards this weekend. Although, I am also wanting to build a star fort for the French Indian War campaign, as I suspect their may be a siege game at some point.

French Indian War Campaign - Game 3

French Indian War campaign game number 3 was played out over the weekend past. The results of this game will be fed back into the operational campaign moves being played out by on Jonathan of Palouse Wargaming  Journal. (All campaign detail can be found there.)

The British attack plan was to move their regular troops and rangers forward on their left flank. While holding the militia back and only bringing them forward if the French regular units positioned outside the fort tried to advance.

British light troops move forward as planned along the hills.

Militia take position while the regular units are struggling to move forward  through some difficult terrain.

Finally, British forces start to gain some cohesion and move forward.

Fort guns open fire and French regular infantry units move forward. Their grenadiers are held in reserve to support the line or reinforce the fort.

French regular infantry continue to move forward. 

On the opposite flank British forces organise themselves for an assault upon the fort.

The attack on the fort begins 

French regulars come under fire from militia. The militia aim is to keep the French occupied without taking too many casualties.

The militia units keep the French regulars occupied. British regulars and rangers attack on the fort gains momentum.  

The militia line - difficult to see the French line through the smoke

The first militia unit is eliminated and another one moves forward to take its place. Militia shooting at this point was proving to be quite good.

Casualties (hits) were mounting on both sides.

More militia units are eliminated, but one French regular unit is looking a bit fragile.

A British ranger unit is also eliminated. 

The sustained shooting from militia eliminate a French regular. The D3 dice roll came up 3  half the French army resolve of 6. Ouch! 

Meanwhile the assault on the fort continues.

The British lose a regular unit attacking the fort. The British army resolve of 13 was starting to look a bit shaky with this loss. 

Militia units are starting to suffer serious losses and the British army resolve is on the brink of failing. This allowed the reserve grenadier unit to move into the fort.

Finally the fort walls are scaled and a second French unit is eliminated. The British commander (Monckton) had used both his attack bonuses over two moves to achieve this success. Another D3 roll of 3 against the French army resolve of 6 means any more losses and they will surrender the fort.

French forces outside the fort advance hoping to force back their line and cause the attack on the fort to be broken off.  

Another militia unit eliminated. The game is now on a knife edge with both army's resolve about to fail with any more losses.

The French lose a third unit and surrender the fort. A battle depleted force accept their surrender with relief.

In this game the French were unfortunate to roll 2 consecutive 3's against their army resolve. However, I do like the random nature of unit loses against an army'e resolve. Rather than having a set number of units losses, e.g. when an army losses more than half their units. The British resolve would have failed before the French were it not for the additional point their received from the commanders defence quality.

This game was always going to be a close. The difference turned out to be the British commander Monckton (Quality A2D1) with his 2 attack bonuses and increase of 1 to the army resolve.

From a narrative perspective, the lack of a clear leader and two depleted regiments still recovering from their last battle had cost the French the battle. However, neither regiment was destroyed and may yet fight another day.

The British had lost a militia regiment in their victory with their other three units in a depleted state.

Jonathan - back to your campaign moves.

Preparing for an ECW project

This weekend I finally dug out by English Civil War (ECW) collection of Hinchcliffe figures. I started collecting them when I was 13 or 14 years old and slowly added to them each year until I was 16 years. During that time I made a number of (unsuccessful) attempts at painting them with different styles. They all got packed up when I left home in the UK and later became part of my baggage to Australia, New Zealand and back to Australia. So this year I finally intend to paint them up. This being my first collection of metal figures.

Unboxed and unwrapped after many decades

So having unwrapped them all and laid them out, I discovered I have approximately:

• 70 Pike
• 70 Musket
• 14 Dragoon foot with 10 mounted dragoon
• 65 Horse
• 4 Artillery

The artillery I have purchased over the last two years in preparation for this project.

My plans, given my preference for wargaming on a gridded tabletop using 6 inch squares, will be to base the units on 4x3 inch stands. This size of base will accommodate 10 foot or 4 mounted quite nicely. This approach will give be per side:

• 7 Foot units
• 2 Dragoon units
• 7 Mounted units
• 2 Artillery units

I may also add to these figures as the figures are still available. Additions will be to add variety as fielding all those units on my 6x4 foot tabletop will make any game too congested.

Possible mounted unit basing

Possible foot unit basing

I estimate it will take about 8-10 months to complete this project. Presently the figures are soaking in a paint-stripper solution for a week or so, before they getting blasted with a high-pressure water hose.

All in the metal bucket waiting for paint-stripper to be poured over

As for rules I am not totally sure. I have a copy of Pikeman's Lament and could use dice to mark casualties. I took this approach with Lion Rampant and adjusted the rules to a grid which provided me with a campaign and many enjoyable games. But I will also take a One Hour Wargames approach for larger battles, having read a number of interesting battle reports by Kaptain Kobold using an ECW OHW variation on The Stronghold Rebuilt.

French Indian War Campaign Relay - Game 3 setup

Game 3 of the French Indian War campaign has the British attempting retake Fort William-Henry. The background narrative for this collaborative campaign can be found on Jonathan's Palouse Wargaming  Journal. Where Jonathan plays out campaign operational moves using the Montcalm and Wolfe boardgame, and when reasonable sized battles occur they are played out on the tabletop here.

So having received the campaign situation and orders of battle, it was time to setup the tabletop for the Second Battle of Fort William-Henry.

Setup for the 2nd Battle of Fort William-Henry

The order of battle (the campaign regiments are in brackets)...

British
Commander Monckton (quality A2D1)
3 (1) Ranger units
3 (1) Regular Infantry units
6 (2) Militia units
Army Resolve (AR) = 13 (12 units + commanders D1)

British units - I don't have a lot of units painted as militia so for this game I am using frontiersmen to represent militia units in this game. 1 campaign regiment = 3 units on the tabletop.

French
No named commander (quality A0D0)
6 (2) Regular Infantry units (because they have 2 regiments - 1 unit of grenadiers may be selected)
They also get 1 artillery piece with the fort.
Army Resolve (AR) = 6

French units - 2 regular regiments represented by 3 units a piece.

The French deployed first and took quite an offensive posture by putting 2 units plus artillery in the fort and the remaining 4 units outside on the left flank. This does give still give them the opportunity of moving one unit back into the fort if necessary.

The one risk for the French is their army resolve of 6 which could be easily exceeded with 3 losses. So they will have to temper any plans involving an all out counterattack.

The British militia has its limits and they will have to rely on their regular infantry to storm the fort. Their commander's quality A2 allows them to double two attacks, which if well timed can help swing the battle's momentum in their favour.

French defensive positions.

The British attack plan is to attack the weaker side of the fort while pushing their militia units into a defensive line out of range of the fort's artillery, but close enough to endanger the flank of French units should they try and sweep around the fort to counterattack against a British regular's attack on the fort.

British forces take up position

Next post the game report...