Now that I am moving full bore, rebasing all my guys, I can start to vary the troop options for my games again! It was time for some more Rebels and Patriots gaming, so I decided to pull out the French Coureur des Bois and Indians to go against some British regulars.
I decided on the retreat to the sunken road scenario, out of the rule book. It would be an interesting test of light troops and natives against formed troops that had to maneuver.
The British would be the defenders and would be given the mission of falling back and holding a sunken road. The force included regular infantry and highlanders. They would start on a forward fenced road and would have to fall back through an open field and hold the position.
The French and Indians would be the attackers and would be tasked with punishing the British and taking a portion of the sunken road to turn the position.
The British had to set up first and be along the forward fenced road. The French and Indians would set up in the woods, just out of view of the British. The terrain was totally open in the center, with light cover on each end along both roads.
The French and Indian players set up their forces spread out in front of the British. They decided to forgo the first turn’s movement, fearing the British fire. Seeing the hesitation, the British began a quick sprint to the sunken road to their rear.
See the British falling back, the French decided to sent most of their forces forward engaging in skirmish fire. Their Indian allies just moved forward quickly, to try to get into close combat.
The British continued to fall back, engaging is some fire combat on the flank, hoping to slow down the attackers. Some casualties were caused, but this did not change the overall tempo for either side.
The British managed to win the running race and took positions on the line of the sunken road. It looked like the early hesitation by the French would be their doom, as they now faced an enemy in heavy cover.
Well, that is why we roll the dice…. The Indians moved forward and began assaulting the British positions. The British for their part tried to shoot off the attackers. However, they never formed up into close order. That, plus some terrible die rolls resulted in the attackers getting off lightly….
The assaults went in, with each being successful and the British loosing troops and giving up ground. Discipline checks were failed one after another.
Every effort was made to shoot up the attackers, but to no avail, just not enough could be done and the British hesitated to charge into action with cold steel themselves. The game ended as a solid French and Indian victory.
In the end, the game was a bit of a bull rush. Once side just moved forward, while issuing light fire and then charged home. The other tried to fall back and fire, but just could not find the right die rolls!
- Manteuffel