Supplies for Fort George

[SteveBurt]

A British supply train with provisions for Fort George heads through the forests, escorted by a couple of units of Provincials, some Rangers and Indians.
The French ambush it with regulars, compagnies franches, militia, and indians (one group of Indians in a canoe to seize the bridge).
The remaining British forces (regulars, light infantry, more rangers and indians) will enter when the shooting starts.


British win if they get at least two of the wagons off the table edge where the fort is located. French win if they loot at least two wagons; looting a wagon takes two actions once someone is in contact with it.


It was a fun game; initial advantage all to the French who soon wiped out one group of Provincials and closed on the convoy, but they failed to press their advantage aggressively enough, and soon the British relief force arrived and fought its way past the blocking Indians. The French managed to partly loot one wagon, but it ended a British victory.

[SteveBurt]

I realised I didn't mention the rules we used - Muskets & Tomahawks.
The scenario worked well, so I'm planning to run it again using Sharp Practice to compare the two sets of rules using the same scenario.

[vtsaogames]

I'm certainly interested in hearing the comparison. Thank you for the AAR.

[Captain Reid]

I suspect it may be a fair bit harder for the British in SP.

Will you use the Escort mission from the rulebook as the basis for deployment when using SP?

[SteveBurt]

I'll use something closer to the M&T scenario. The French all entered from one edge apart from two units (Indians or Irregulars) which could enter on the other edge; the guys in the canoe obviously start in the river. Indians and irregulars all start hidden. So in SP that would be a deployment point on one edge with a movable DP to allow the other units to enter.
The British escort are all on table (although the Indians and rangers start hidden - might use a movable DP to deploy them); the relief force arrives from the table edge, so will all come on via a deployment point as normal once the firing starts.
I might use the M&T hidden movement markers and the spotting rules from SP1; I've played a few of the 'Compleat Fondler' SP1 scenarios with SP2 and adapting those was no problem.
We'll see; can't see any reason it won't work.

[SteveBurt]

We played take 2 of this game using Sharp Practice. Same forces with some adjustment to group sizes. French had a deployment point on one edge (shown by a mule on the table) plus a movable deployment point usable by the Indians and Coureurs des Bois. British convoy and escort started at one end of the road on table. British reinforcements entered at the other end of the road when the firing started.
Another very close game, with lots of shooting, and a mad dash by the convoy late in the game when the blocking units had been cleared out of the way. British force morale was very shaky by this point (and the French were not much better). The French managed to contact and loot one wagon, but the other two escaped and were within a move of exiting and winning the game when a last ditch charge by the French broke British morale.
One difference between the two sets of rules. The Sharp Practice game took 3 hours. Muskets & Tomahawks took 1.5 hours. More decisions in SP, and units don't die as quickly (but do accumulate shock).

The table at the start


Huron allies of the French slip between the bluffs in their canoe


Late in the game, the British regulars move onto the bridge to protect the wagons.

[Captain Reid]

 Nice to see canoes in the action.

 Sharp Practice games do seem to take around 3 hours (more if chatting a lot), and as you say it's because more models remain for longer and there's a lot of decision making. It's interesting (to me) that M&T is 'fiddlier' (because figures in a unit can do different things and line of sight etc is more awkward) and yet quicker, which the much reduced figure count only partially explains. I like M&T but always found the low number of units typically fielded a bit unsatisfying for some reason.

 Out of interest do you know how many points you were using for each side (you may not have been using points at all of course but I find that 60-70 points of FIW/Napoleonics doesn't take much less time than 80-100+. What seems to add the time is the number of leaders involved).

[SteveBurt]

In Sharp Practice I think there were about 75 points a side (the points actually came out pretty even)
British had 9 units and French 8. British had 4 leaders (status 3/2/2/2), French had 4 leaders (status 3/2/2/1) - so each had as many leader status points as units; I find that gives a good balance. Too much leadership and everyone rallies and can act all the time. Too little and half the force does nothing.
In M&T the French were around 450 points and the British 500