I have been on the lookout for a new set of rules to use to run French and Indian War skirmish sized battles. I had not been happy with the rules on the market, as they did not quite fit what I was looking for. Generally speaking, they all require a certain mastery of the rules to get though an enjoyable game. Most of the games I run, really need to use rules that are very simple, as we do not many things very often and many of the players are new to the game.
Well, while I was skimming the internet looking for something or another, I came across an article on Rebels and Patriots. I had never heard of the rules (thanks Covid). This was rather surprising, as they are published by Osprey and I normally notice such things! They must have slipped past me at my FLGS when they got them and there was never a re-stock. So, I read a few more articles (there are not many) and decided for the price, they were worth a purchase. I have some Amazon gift cards from the holidays, so what better way to put them to use!
The night before, I printed out the unit logs from the Osprey website and filled in different unit types for each player to choose from. I figured if I liked the rules, I would type them up at a future time.
I decided I would create cards for the six different forces that I had models for. I opted to do 18 point forces (the game recommends 24 points), as there would be multiple forces on each side. I wanted each player to have only one troop type to keep it simple, but see the differences as each force was different.
The rules arrive a few days later and I was impressed with their simplicity. As such, I was excited to give them a try. We were coming up on our monthly Lace Wars Tuesday, so I decided to run them in place of my planned game (which was probably a surprise to everyone).
I grabbed some of my easy to transport 28mm terrain, troops and rules and headed to the store to set up. Since it was the play test, I figured I would go with the first scenario in the book, which was a straight up fight for a terrain piece in the center of the table. Technically, it was a ridge, but I changed it to a bridge, as I wanted a more wooded board.
Put out a lot of hills to give a rolled effect, added two homesteads (one on each side of the river) and some roads to connect everything. Next I pulled out the trees and put them everywhere (and I do mean everywhere). A little scatter terrain, some civilians and the table was ready.
I started with four players, so I asked each to pick a side and different force. Humorously, know one wanted Indians or Rangers! We were ready to go and another player showed up! I did not want to add even more troops, so I just had the existing players spread their forces into three groups.
The French force consisted of French Marines. I set these all as light troops, without any upgrades. The other company was Courier des Bois. I also organized these as light troops, but they got a sharpshooter upgrade. Each force had an officer.
The British force consisted of militia and provincial infantry. The militia were light troops and the provincials were regular line. The militia had downgraded morale. Each of these forces also had a commander. Since the British had the larger army (cheaper troops), the extra player was assigned to them and they just shifted a few unit to him.
I quickly went over the rules and we rolled for attacker defender. The British rolled higher, so they went first.
The game is an IGOYOUGO style, so I just had each player roll their commands and move. In the rules, if you fail (normally that means rolling less than a six on 2D6, you do not get your command and sit there). The Brits had a few of them. Ironically, it was the units out of command of their officers (he gives a plus one out to twelve inches).
It was at this point that I realized that I went overboard with the trees… Fortunately, I did the movement wrong, so everyone just moved in skirmish, not to be slowed down. Fortunately, for the movement, not in playing the game wrong!
Both sides got in a few moves out of sight, due to the forests, so they got used to the command system. The French made a bee line for the bridge with the Marines, while the Courier des Bois covered the flank. The British moved forward more cautiously and got off some early volleys, that did not do too much damage.
The French were in possession of the bridge on turn four. They had to hold in the face of blistering British volley and skirmish fire. The casualties mounted on the forward unit, so the second unit moved up and took their place. They gallantly stood and fired back at the massed British the next three turn. They were on the loosing end of the firefight, as the casualties pilled up. However, they stood firm, chasing away some militia in the process!
The Courier des Bois engaged the Militia on the flank and got the better of the shooting. Their sharpshooters shot down a number of militia, driving them back into the forest.
The French decided they would try to throw back the closing British from the bridge, so they launched themselves into a charge. The Militia decided to skirmish back, but could not get away and ended up being defeated in combat.
The British tried their own charge at the end to throw back the French, but they stood firm! Turn eight arrived and the British rolled to end the game (the scenario had a variable turn ending). They rolled a six and that was that.
The game ended in great carnage, but the French had held the bridge and one the scenario on points based on holding the objective.
So, that was the first game with only a night to read the rules. I made a number of mistakes (which is par for the course). The first was regarding skirmish. I thought units could move at full speed if they did a skirmish move, which is not correct. They can only move half (and shoot). To get the full move, you have to be dedicated skirmish troops. It probably worked out better for the game, but was wrong none the less.
I also did not do the charge range correctly. The player is supposed to roll their command and then move forward the distance of the dice rolled. I thought it was twelve inches if you passed the order. This did not affect the charges, but still wrong. This makes the skirmish fall back roll make a lot more sense, as you do have a chance to get away.
Another mistake I made was regarding how fire works. In the game, you usually roll twelve dice, until you have a negative status, at which point you roll six. This means that the casualties do not affect fire unless you disorder your opponent or they are down to half strength. What I did was let the players roll as many dice as they had figures, halved for a negative effect. I actually think I prefer what I did to what is written. I will have to try it the right way and decide.
Ironically, one of the things I liked about the rules was that each player rolls traits for their commanders to give some flavor. Ironic because I forgot to do that in the game! Oh well, next time. I also prefer a some more randomness (more than just the two blunder tables), so I created a random effects table to use in the next game. Players will roll on this whenever they roll snake eyes for commands (max one per turn). This should give a bit more unexpected happenings!
Overall, I liked how the game played. Everyone quickly understood the mechanics and I only had to help here and there by the end. Definitely worth another try!
- Manteuffel