Irregularities - Muskets & Tomahawks AAR

With both the British and French forces painted for Muskets & Tomahawks, Carl and I finally got together for a game. We were using two forces at a little over 200 points each, which were fairly equal in abilities. 

French Wilderness Force (Carl)

Canadian Officer

Canadian Militia x8

Canadian Militia x8

-Coureur de Bois

French-allied Indians x6

British Wilderness Force (Brian)

Colonial Officer

-Ranger

Rangers x8

-Marksmen

Rangers x8

British-allied Indians x6

We rolled for the buildings, with one going in the center and Carl placing another nearby (it does look like I placed the "center" building a little too close to one side of the table). The rest of the table was covered with scattered woods for dense terrain. For simplicity's sake, we both went for the Engagement objective (so we would need to kill sixteen models from the other side to win), with no events or side plots.

With each unit having the Scout rules, the game began with hidden deployment markers on the table, with both sides having two dummy markers as well.

One of my ranger units was the first to be revealed, hoping that the enemy wouldn't reveal themselves too soon.

That bet didn't pay off, with Carl revealing his militia in the dense cover with a volley of musket fire. Three of my rangers fell, and the unit recoiled.

The French woodsmen moved into one of the abandoned cabins, spotting and revealing my second ranger unit.

The rangers advanced, with one unit approaching the cabin for a point blank shot.

Carl's Indian allies managed to get close enough to spot the British-allied Indians. Another Indian card allowed them to shoot, killing two and recoiling the unit.

Luckily, my rangers were up next, and the one unit fired a point-blank shot into the Coureur de Bois in the cabin, killing three and recoiling the unit.

Both sides were in the fight, with only the Canadian officer still hidden.

My rangers fired a volley at the French Indians, forcing them back with a single casualty.

The Canadian miltia shifted to their left and fired with two cards, sending my rangers into flight.

The rangers managed to rally, turning and firing at the Coureur de Bois who were trying to sneak up the side of the cabins.

At this point, it looked grim for the Canadians. They had one unit of militia still intact, but their Indians had almost fled off the table and the Coureur de Bois were down to two men.

Suddenly, the tables turned on the British. Their Indian allies were routed from the table, and the Canadian militia wheel and turned to face the suddenly outflanked rangers.

Well, things had turned very bloody very quickly. The Canadian militia killed two of the rangers, and further shots from the Coureur de Bois and Indians sent the unit fleeing across the table. Meanwhile, the other rangers managed to land a devastating volley on the Canadian Militia, wiping out half the unit with a little assistance from the ranger officer. A return shot sent the rangers fleeing, however.

At this point, the British had reached their break point, and the morale card was added to the deck.

The two sides managed to rally again, approaching for another round of combat.

More rangers and militia fell on both sides, putting the French and British over the goal for the scenario in the same turn. Counting up casualties, Carl had managed to score eighteen to my sixteen, giving the French a very bloody victory.

We enjoyed the game, and I'm hoping to get it to the table a little more often, hopefully with more of the period-flavor aspects, like canoes, events and side plots.