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The field of valor was 4x8ft—twice as big as recommended in the FFoL rules. But then, each player was controlling twice as many figures as is typically recommended, too, so I guess it makes some sort of bizarre sense. The British forces were widely separated with a unit of Rangers in the blockhouse at one end of the field, six frontiersmen and their natterly dressed commander entered the field halfway down just about opposite the French. Meanwhile a British supply column entering the far end of the field not far from a farmstead where two armed settlers and their families surveyed the approaching battle with trepidation. The invading French force consisted of six regular Fusiliers, five Grenadiers and two war parties of Indians with six or seven warriors each.
The French mission was to burn the blockhouse. The Indians desired plunder. The British, who were widely distributed and outnumbered but generally within defensive structures, just wanted to survive. The French entered in one corp as they followed the river but quickly split. The fusiliers and grenadiers headed towards the bridge in order to assault the blockhouse. The Indians headed in the opposite direction to plunder the supply wagon and the farm. The frontiersmen started slogging through the forest attempting to intercept the French forces before they could cross the river as they made their way to the blockhouse
As the Indians approached the supply column the British escorts spread into line. They were quickly shot down by the Indians taking over 50% casualties—including their mounted commander–in the first round of fire. The drover, seeing the writing on the wall, quickly guided the oxen towards the cabin (well, as quickly as rather complacent oxen would go). The surviving redcoats followed suit thinking they’d shelter in the cabin with the settlers.
Meanwhile towards the center of the battlefield, the French force split a second time. The Grenadiers entered the forest to tackle the frontiersmen. The Fusiliers headed across the bridge to begin the assault on the blockhouse. Surprisingly, the frontiersmen won the gunfight with the Grenadiers—not a one survived the encounter. The frontiersmen continued a desultory fire against the Fusiliers who had crossed the bridge and were now on the opposite side of the river. Another French soldier went down but the rest proceeded to approach the blockhouse where the Rangers waited patiently. The frontiersmen cut their pursuit short and backtracked through the woods in order to rescue the settlers and redcoats barricaded in the cabin.
Three of the Redcoats as well as the drover made it into the cabin and slammed the door behind them. One impetuously stepped outside to fire at the attackers and was met by a fusillade of lead. The armed men within the cabin resorted to firing out the windows and doors but were unable to prevent the Indians from rushing the cabin and setting it alight. It burned ferociously. The oxen, left to their own devices but still hitched to the supply wagon, proved to be entirely unmotivated to make an escape. They halted right beside the cabin and the Indians easily got them under control. The settlers and Redcoats, suffering from smoke inhalation, made a desperate attempt to break out but their hand-to-hand combat with the surrounding natives was unsuccessful. It’s unknown if any escaped alive. The frontiersmen, recognizing they were too late, stopped their advance at the edge of the woods, undoubtedly dismayed at the fate of the settlers.
On the far side of the field the French Fusiliers approached the blockhouse taking fire from the Rangers within. Rushing the structure, they stuck their weapons through the firing ports and temporarily drove the Rangers further inside. Thinking they might be able to fulfill their mission they quickly started fires to burn the structure to the ground. The wheel of fate turned and the Rangers rallied to extinguish the flames and resume the firefight. The French took a couple more casualties, their morale collapsed and they made an orderly withdrawal. The fight was finished.
This game was my first experience with Fistful of Lead: Horse and Musket. Actually, I ignored most of the black powder period specifics and ran the game with straight, as-simply-as-possible FFoL. The only troop type specifics we used were for the Indians recovery in the open suffering a -1 and the Grenadiers receiving a +1. I don’t know if these ever came into play, to be honest. In general, I like the rules. The game was pretty vanilla but I do think using the specifics from the more recent ‘Fistful of Lead: Core Rules’ would add more character to the game. In fact, I’d recommend using the Core rules over the Horse and Musket version. I did think the fire rules were a bit aggressive but they are easily tweakable. In our game multiple figures set multiple fires which resulted in the cabin burning out in the time it took to load a musket twice. Considering a soldier could fire three to five times per minute that meant the cabin became uninhabitable in approximately 60 seconds. That’s just silly.
A bit more serious flaw was entirely my own fault. FfoL recommends that each player control 5 or 6 figures. Were were typically controlling 12 to 14. We quickly lost track of which figure had already been activated during a turn. In addition, I felt that the lack of a unit movement action worked to the detriment of the Redcoat regulars and the wagon train. However, in the Core Rules, there are ‘gangs’ which are activated as a unit and allow a more consistent use of troops in formation. So again, the Core Rules have an advantage over the Horse & Musket version. All in all, though, I am looking forward to more games of ‘Fistful of Lead’.Self taught, persistently behind the times, never up to date. AKA ~ jeff
More verbosity: http://petiteguerre.blogspot.com/Pictures didn’t post. ;-<
Self taught, persistently behind the times, never up to date. AKA ~ jeff
More verbosity: http://petiteguerre.blogspot.com/
Self taught, persistently behind the times, never up to date. AKA ~ jeff
More verbosity: http://petiteguerre.blogspot.com/
Self taught, persistently behind the times, never up to date. AKA ~ jeff
More verbosity: http://petiteguerre.blogspot.com/
Self taught, persistently behind the times, never up to date. AKA ~ jeff
More verbosity: http://petiteguerre.blogspot.com/
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