French Indian War Raid - 7TV style!

So something a 'little different' from the Middle-aged Warfare gang this week: 7TV Adapted for the French Indian Wars.

It was also good excuse to play with my expanding collection of 54mm FIW and AWI figures!

So one afternoon I set out to produce some new character cards for the game. I decided to do them in powerpoint.

After a few hours I had character cards for French and British Regulars, Rangers, Indians, Courier De Bois, Scouts, Militia, Civilians, Spies etc. I have added a few shots of the front of some of the custom made card here.

We also adjusted some of the ranges to include muskets, bows and pistols etc and one new action was reload - any figure that fired had to spend an action to reload their weapon. This actually worked really well in the game as it gave players something else to consider when activating their forces.

So for this inuagural game we pitted a mixed British raiding force against the French.

Major Debonair (French Leader and Star) leads a small command at the outpost of Mossy Bottom. His orders are to oversee the stockpiling of supplies from Sandy Crevice in preparation for a planned attack against the British. Meanwhile a larger French distraction force has been ordered to make as much noise as possible several miles away to distract any British attention in that vicinity.

Major Debonair addresses his small command

Major Debonair awaits at Mossy Bottom with a small detachment of regulars, a cook and his recently hired memoirs scribe Hugo Egocentric. On his way to Mossy Bottom is Captain Soufflé, Major Debonair's soon to be son-in-law, escorting one of the last supply wagons. Captain Soufflé (co-star) leads a group of Courier De Bois and is guided by a trusted scout.

Captain Soufflé leads a supply wagon on the track from Sandy Crevice

Unbeknown to the French, the British were aware of the French deposits at Mossy Bottom. They had a spy in the middle of Major Debonair's command - Hugo Egocentric (Sleeper Spy). The British command had despatched a hastily gathered raiding force to use the local river to launch a surprise attack. The British force was commanded by Major Fernley Snipplethwatch (Star) and comprised of Captain Lance Boyle (co-star) of the Royal Engineers, Sergeant Randy Fellow (heroic-extra) of the Rangers and 4 rangers. One of the allied Indian tribes also lent a hand - Chief Strong Wind and 4 of his braves as well as a local scout. The British had several objectives: Blow the bridge between Mossy Bottom and Sandy Crevice; Discover and capture/destroy the stockpiled ammunition at Mossy Bottom; Stop the Wagon Reaching Mossy Bottom and/or Kill or Capture Major Debonair.

The bridge connecting Sandy Crevice with Mossy Bottom

Dave took charge of the French and Rich was left to command the British Raid. Dave elected to hide the ammunition in the 2nd building (top right in the above picture with the red roof). Rich chose to 'appear' at the end of the river (top left of the above picture) - smack middle between the French at Mossy Bottom and the column coming from Sandy Crevice.

The British appear! The Rangers and officers head to Mossy Bottom and the Indians whoop and cheer towards the wagon!

Rich won the initiative. He divided his force into two - with Captain Snipplethwatch and the British Regulars making a dash for Mossy Bottom and the Scout and Chief Strong Wind navigating the woods towards the track. Rich pulled a nice first event card - enabling him to give three of his figures a free move before he spent any activation points. He moved his indians swiftly through the woods in an attempt to intercept the French wagon.

Jumping out of their canoes the British Regulars ran across the open fields towards Mossy Bottom hoping to catch the French off guard. Unfortunately for the British - the French are alert and sound the alarm. Dave manages to move towards the sudden British threat. Several of his regulars open fire and manage to drop one of the Rangers. First blood to the French!

Turn Two: Even Stevens as musket exchanges ring our around Mossy Bottom

Turn two sees Rich manage to get his Rangers to the relative safety of the fence surrounding Mossy Bottom. They also manage to drop one of the French sentries - as the officers move up to support them. The french respond by moving to block the British and try to keep them from crossing into the settlement. Meanwhile to the north the Indian force edges nearer the unsuspecting French column and manage to pepper the column with some speculative shots. The French respond - Captain Soufflé in a daring move steps in to defend the wagon horses and empties his pistol at the ambushing enemy. He scores a lucky hit and Chief Strong Wind howls in anger as one of his braves falls.

Surprise surprise!

Turn 3 sees the action hot up. A fair few figures are no unloaded. The Indians hold back at the edge of the woods - seeing Captain Soufflé out in the open they rather unsportingly use him for target practice. Captain Soufflé is wounded. To the south Rich manages to get his Rangers over the fence and into Mossy Bottom - but Dave has countered by having his troops shoot at the advancing British. Another Ranger is felled and another French regular ends his colonial service.

The British penetrate Mossy Bottom

As Rich moves to the nearest building Dave uses Major Debonair's special 'endless subordinates' ability and brings another French Regular into Mossy Bottom. The garrison is now fully engaged with the British.

Dave also pulls a lucky event card - which has three of the Rangers loose off their muskets in panic at a sudden nearby noise. Rich has more luck to the North - where Chief Strong Wind manages to shoot Captain Soufflé as he tries in vain to scramble to cover. The Wagon driver is also taken out - but the Frech do manage to kill another Indian. The French supply column is deflated!

Blood on the road

Turn 5 sees Rich search the nearest building. He also activates his spy in Mossy Bottom. Hugo Egocentric makes no hesitation and immediately shoots one of the French Garrison dead before charging into melee with the rather affronted Major Debonair!

Traitor in our midst! Hugo Egocentric attacks Major Debonairs rear!

Somehow Major Debonair manages to dodge the sudden knife wielding attack! He didn't realise his memoir scribe would actually be creating surprise chapters! The Major even manages to extricate himself from the Melee. Dave then pulled a very useful event card that saw the British Rangers disabled for a turn due to internal squabbling on who was going to search what part of the building! The British Officers looked on helpless. Rich did manage to pull an event card enabling him to bring an extra Ranger reinforcement into the fray.

The final chapter for Hugo Egocentric!

The last turn sees the French despatch the British Spy and pin the British at the first cabin - disabling their ability to search any of the other buildings. At the other end the Courier De Bois try in vain to protect the wagon.

The result: A minor British Victory. While the French gained points equal to the British in terms of objectives (The French held the supplies and the Bridge was in tact; The British had stopped the Wagon and entered the settlement) - the untimely demise of Captain Soufflé tips the balance (Major Debonair has much consoling to do with his daughter!).

An enjoyable game. The new stats cards worked well and it played out with as much fun and surprise as any 7TV game. I have tweaked the objectives slightly - with the French getting an extra activation point per turn to be able to move the wagon.

If anyone wants a copy of the Scenario and objectives please get in contact at: Simon@innovationbubble.eu - I have a two player and three player game ready.

Also if anyone wants a copy of the French Indian War Character cards I have designed on powerpoint get in touch.

What next? Can Major Debonair exact retribution and restore honour to his name (as well as hire a new autobiographer!)...........