On Saturday of Fall In, I participated in a game of Muskets & Tomahawks, run by Kimber VanRy and Jameson Proctor of the Metropolitan Wargamers group.
The game was a recreation of the Battle of Fort Necessity, one of the initial skirmishes of the French and Indian War (and of the wider Seven Years War).
The American and British defenders had to hold the "fort" (really, just a collection of tree trunks jammed into the ground in the form of a rough circle and a shoddy storehouse for supplies), while the French, Canadians, and their Indians allies wanted to capture the "fort" as well as the defenders' commanding officer - a young Lt. Col George Washington.
The British force (of which I was commanding half) consisted of a mix of Regular and Provincial troops. While James Mackay - the other British commander - was out with the men in the half-made trenches, Washington would be directing the battle from inside the walls of the fort.
The French force consisted of Indian warriors and Canadian provincials, with a single unit of French Regulars to form a stiff backbone for the attackers.
The huddled British troops, soaked in their shallow trenches, couldn't do much more than stand and watch the mass of bodies gathering at the far treeline.
The game began with limited skirmishing, before the Indians and Canadians to the left of the fort charged en mass against the fort's meagre defenses.
To the fort's front, a single unit of Indians moved out of the woods to get into range, the rest of the French forces decided to stay in the woods and engage at range.
The defenders sent out volley after volley of withering fire, which smashed into the approaching attackers with deadly results, forcing several units to flee or rout.
However, the mass of bodies was enough that the attackers could approach while the British were forced to reload their guns.
The French Regulars, seeing that there British counterparts were duly engaged, emerged from the woods in a firing line and because their attack.
The defenders, while able to take cover, were under such heavy fire that the individual losses began to take their toll. The men in the fort waited as a reserve.
The Canadians, using the natives as a shield against the British fire, made it to the trenches and attacked the defenders in close combat.
The British repulsed the attack, but with casualties.
The attackers came again and again, until finally one unit of British Regulars were either killed or unable to continue the fight, and a unit of Marines was past the trenches.
The remaining British in the trenches rallied and sent the Marines off. With so few defenders left, the men in the fort were able to fire on the French.
While the attack on the left had mostly run out of energy and men, the Indians, Provincials and Regulars to the front began their advance on the fort.
Most of the men in the trenches were out of action, and only the Provincials in the fort were left to keep the attacks away.
Unfortunately, the French weight of fire was too much, and even with the protection of the fort, men began to fall. Washington, understanding the futility of his position, decided to surrender.
Kimber and Jameson put on a fantastic game, and it's only encouraged me to get my FIW miniatures on the table for more games of Muskets & Tomahawks.
What a Tanker!
