Having been exposed to the Osprey publication "Rebels and Patriots" at the Seven Years War Convention this spring I determined to pick up a copy and give it a try. For those not familiar with it the aim to provide a quick, skirmish level game. Intended for one on one games with additional companies it can work at a multi-player level. I believe we had six players at the SYWA game.
Each company is composed of several units. A large number of suggested companies are provided with the rules and have a wide range of years/wars to play with. Each unit activates on a 2d6 roll. Failure means the unit does nothing and does not lose your turn. A big plus in my book.
Here we have a French and Indian War era British company of three line, one grenadier and one light unit moving on a Huron village with mischief in mind. The natives and their French allies field two French light infantry units (troopes de la Marine), a sharpshooter group of Coeur du Bois and a large, aggressive native unit. Each side had 24 points in the company.
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| The British view of their intended target. |
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| A peaceful village about to have their day interrupted. |
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| The initial deployment, 48" apart. |
R&P has an officer advancement system whereby honor points are gained by deeds. More honor, more traits, with a goodly number undesirable. The log position in the center was the objective. Holding it the most turns in the game gained honor, as well as inflicting casualties on the enemy and minimizing your own. Player reaction to this semi role-playing option was varied.
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| After some movement and activation failures on both sides. |
Normally activation is fairly easy. A roll of "6" or better on 2d6 with the presence of the company commander within 12" adding a plus 1. To spice it up, a roll of double 1s or double 12s brings a negative or positive extra result. In our first game the French managed to roll "snake eyes" three times.
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| The first game went quickly and in the British favor. |
With a quick game and lots of time before the planned barbeque, we reset, tweaked one rating and started again.
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| The Hurons got in among Howe's light infantry. |
I neglected to take more photos in the 2nd game. The dice were more balanced, the natives managed to do their thing to effectively take out a unit and in the end we had a draw. The British got the objective points but the French took out more than 33% of the British while keeping their casualties under 33%.
I plan to try more games. The notion of a quick and dirty game that plays easy and the chance to use figures that have seen little use appeals to me greatly. It will also likely get me to reexamine my other two Osprey publications, The Men Who Would be Kings and Honours of War.
