It was war-game Tuesday and I was up to run a game. We had been doing more serious scenarios with Valour and Fortitude for a while and I thought the group needed a break, so I opted to put together a Rebels and Patriots group game.
I had to see what we had for players and then locked down the forces. I often get confirmations that do not show and surprise attendees, so flexibility is always on the menu! I had decided on the My Enemy scenario from the rule book, pitting French and their allies against the British and Colonists.
I wanted to switch it up a bit, so I made a number of changes for multiplayer. The Indian encampment was located off center, to start. Second, all groups had to roll random set up areas, which would result in some intermingling the forces. There would be a side victory and a player victory, based on points accumulated.
The terrain was mostly open wood. This would provide cover, but not slow down movement. In addition, visibility would be limited to twelve inches in the woods. There was also a shallow stream across the center of the table. The stream was flowing for right to left and there were a few canoes units could use to navigate it. One of the random entry points was by coming in via canoe along the stream.
The scenario rules for negotiating with the Indians was in play. The difference was that the Indians would attack anyone within range that did not negotiate a treaty. Once the Indians decided to join one side, they would become part of that force.
We got everyone into their random positions and went at it. As luck would have it, the French tended to form on one side and the British the other. All forces closed in and started to fight. The British rangers made it to the Indian camp first and tried to start their negotiations. Unfortunately for them, there was some misunderstanding and the Indians poured out and attacked the rangers en masse. Just as things looked bleak, the commanders settled down their forces and agreed to work together against the hated French!
The French came floating down the stream and tried to break up the negotiations, but just seemed to make things worse! The fighting around the Indian camp continued, with the other forces closing in and engaging in the fight. The French militia was the last force to get into range and decided it was better the fight another day and let the other forces go about the sport of war.
The game ended on turn ten and we tallied up the points. The Brits had taken slightly more casualties (thanks to the Indian misunderstanding early win the game), but had the Indian allies victory points. In the end, it turned out to be a minor British victory!
- Manteuffel