Saturday 19 July 2014

"The Battle of Fort Louis", July 20th 1758, 28mm FIW Skirmish Game.

7 Rejects gathered for a French Indian War skirmish game a few weeks ago, myself, Lee and John randomly picked the British through scrunched up pieces of paper, myself and John were horrified that we had drawn Lee"Offends Dice Gods" Hadley but what can you do?

We tried bribery but Postie wanted too much, something about firstborn?


"Fresh from their victory twelve days ago at the Battle of Ticonderoga the French have sent a small force across Lake Champlain with the intent of building another Fort directly opposite Fort Carillon. This new structure will be called Fort Louis and will be another blow to British morale and prestige. The British commander in the area, Major General Abercromby, has dispatched a small force to try and disrupt the French plans. 

The French start the game busily building Fort Louis, some troops are on patrol, some resting, others being trained in fighting skills. The mood in camp is quite relaxed as no trouble is expected. Meanwhile the British start the game moving towards the French position but no French troops have been sighted yet."

Kind words and introduction above written by the Dark Lord himself........Postie!

Order of Battle
French Forces - CO Surjit, 2iC Smiffy
  Leader Major - 1
  Guyenne Line (Muskets) - 18
  Compagnies Franches de la Marine (Muskets) - 12
  Quebec Militia (Muskets) - 10
  Indian Warband (9 Muskets + 1 Rifle) - 10
  Indian Warband (Bow/Hatchet) - 10
  Pioneers (Improvised Weapons)- 6
  Character (Rifle) - 1
  Camp Followers - 4

British Forces - CO John, 2iC Fran, 3iC Lee
  Leader Colonel (Mounted) - 1
  60th Line (Muskets) - 20
  80th Gages Light Infantry (Muskets) - 20
  55th Line Marksmen (Rifles) - 6
  Rodgers Rangers (Muskets) - 10
  Gorhams Rangers (Muskets) -10
  Militia (Rifles/Muskets) - 12
  Characters/Indians (Rifles) - 2




The French consider the wood for the trees.........

Seriously over the top with the trees Postie.........

I started at the table edge with militia and rangers......

John had the regulars or don't go in to the woods infantry........

The French Indian allies gather.....for football.............

Construction on Fort Louis stops when word of the British reaches the camp.......

Supplies or a handy escape route..........

The felt is also considered forest or something to snag on your clothing..........

Smithy, the Indian leader or also known as "Runs with Scissors"...........

The advance starts as we run towards the woods..........

But the French wait, this figure is considered hidden unless he fires.........

John is still upset with Lee being on our side..........

The British advance with still no sign of the French..........

Lee hides his forces in the woods.......

The French start sniping and the first British casualties occur......

The French would and then move back in to the trees where they could not be targeted.......

Regular French forces are dispatched from Fort Carillion........

My boys have entered the woods to smoke out the French.......

We are getting nearer and nearer to the sneaky French.......

My Rangers break cover to draw French fire, you had to spend a turn reloading or they would have to retreat further in to the woods....

The regulars continue across the lake, the French had to dice each turn to see if there was a mishap on the lake........

Lee waits in the woods for the right moment..........

Just on a side note, the wall of fame was updated...........

My advance gives Lee a chance to........

.....and he's off........

Lee would have limited success as some dice rolls for morale went a little sideways.......

Giving them a volley..........

An aerial view of the fighting..........

A mishap on the lake........

John enters the woods in a desperate, some would say (Lee) foolish gamble to engage the Indians........

Surjit has a good run of dice and likes to show his unsporting joy...........

Contractual Postie shot but John is nervous..........

The casualties mount on both sides.........

Who ate all the Viennese cakes, 2 boxes of them......... 

This was John firing approx 19 shots at the Indian leader, needing a D20 in all fairness......

No success at all, Smithy seems happy...........

Ray had turned up and joined in with the mocking laughter.......

This would lead to some close combat and melee with the Indians, don't get in to melee with Indians for future reference.......

We would get victory points if we could stop the construction......

The casualties are still mounting........

The face of evil and cake scoffing..........

The winners and Lee ..........

The game was called and went on victory points, about 15 leaders (captains, lieutenants and colonels) had died, unit and army morale checks and in the end it came down to 12 points (3 Indian casualties), luck swung back and forth and don't engage Indians in the woods with regular forces, a very close game but a good game to spend in the heat that day.........

82 comments:

  1. So you won? Very good!
    That is a huge setup. Looks like it filled the room.
    Potsie could have my firstborn. Wait, I don't have one. Crap...

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  2. Great report there Mr Lurker! Awesome looking table. Congrat's on the win!

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  3. love the part with the boats, Fran!

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  4. Congrats on the win, and great report! Great setup, and a tough spot to fight a battle!

    I loved the game of football before the big shootout. ;-)

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  5. Yo ho ho... and the boats on the run. Wonderful, simply wonderful Fran. Congrats for the win! :)

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  6. All you have to do is lie and you get yourself on the wall of FAME! Ehm I mean state that you like your blog. In all honesty it is a good blog but what the Feck! You told me it was for acts of outrageously good general ship!

    John never looks happy!

    Shall I make some cakes just so Lee does not eat them all! And a nice hot curry for Ray?

    Nice report and good to see another blog post from you as well, It seems ages since the last one. We all want more of a good thing!

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    Replies
    1. I don't care what Ray and Lee say, you're a top man!

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  7. A huge set up indeed, yeah John does look pretty ticked lmao

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  8. Great report Fran, wish I could have played in the bloody game though!!!

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    Replies
    1. It was offered mate but it would have been the losing side.

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  9. Great looking game & figs, Fran. Love the beach assault. I plan to do a Louisbourg game and this is very inspiring! Best, Dean

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  10. Great report Fran. Maybe you could claim that Ray is your firstborn next time? ;)

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  11. Poor Lee he seems to have gotten the sort end of the stick in this post. That's a great looking game very inspiring! Your boys did good Fran but British regulars fighting Indians in the woods!? People never seem to learn. Just out of curiosity how many Potise are required per post? And finally lets see more posts please.

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    Replies
    1. I per post at least or there's trouble, I'm just going to mention the nails!!!!!!

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  12. Entertaining write up, fun to read!

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  13. Nice AAR. I do like the shots of the French arriving in boats!

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  14. Lovely looking table and figures. A fun batrep. It all turned out nice in the end then.

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  15. Lovely figures, and I recognise the lovely 'Last Valley' trees!
    Good write up too!

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  16. Looks like you guys had fun. I enjoyed seeing all the smiles.

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    Replies
    1. lololol. I bet you do.

      Hey, I read a comment from you over at Marcy's blog. Are you
      moving to another country? Or did I read that wrong?

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  17. That is a lot of tree models. Of course, having lived in the Appalachians and in the Ohio Valley, I'd say the density on the table looks pretty good. Any closer to the real thing and you might have no place left to put your minis...

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  18. A masterful victory, General!

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  19. congrats for the victory ! V !

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  20. Cracking table set up and AAR Fran. The first casualty of war is the Viennese cakes!

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  21. damn you had me laughing my socks off so much so I've sent a link of this to my brother. If I ever get across the pond I would love to watch you guys play.

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  22. Well Fran seems like an evocative game if ever I saw one. Did the trees have the effect associated with battle in cramped woods? I.e. did it break up the way formed units moved enough?

    Cheers Sander

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    Replies
    1. Regular units suffered the most, minuses to melee,morale and shooting!

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  23. Great report and nice looking table & forces. But the best thing is, that everyone seemed fairly happy!

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  24. looks like a great game, lovely looking table and figures.

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  25. Great to see you getting in some regular gaming, not to mention winning! What a fabulous looking set up as well - bravo all round.

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  26. Superb looking game. Well done as always!

    Cheers,
    Aaron

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  27. Nice bunch of pics Fran. Congrats on the win!

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  28. Great looking game Fran! Congrats on the hard fought win!

    Christopher

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  29. Great looking game that sounded like a lot of laughs at the expenses of just about everyone and a win to boot, despite Ray's late presence.

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  30. Great looking game that sounded fun!

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  31. Yay! A win! Good for you. The trees make it look quite inviting…until the gunfire started.

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  32. Very interesting AAR. Fantastic terrain and figures!!! And you won!!!! Perfect then.

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  33. That's a nice cup you got there, Fran! Use it to drink the blood of your foes!

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  34. Very good report and stunning scenery.Great pictures too.I will start following your work now. :)

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  35. Cracking good game Fran and congrats on the win!

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  36. I put one of those "Top Commenters" widgets on my blog. Rousell is my number 3 supporter. You're quite a bit lower on the totem than that :0)

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  37. Don't know how I missed this the first time around. Looks fantastic! Love the period, one of my faves, and this game sounds like it was a ton of fun.

    FMB

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  38. Great pictures and battle report! Thanks for sharing!

    I want some cookies! But Lee ate them all! :-(

    Greetings
    Peter

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