French and Indian War Game

 I ran a game based (very loosely) on Robert Rogers' raid on the Abenaki village of St. Francis during the French and Indian War. In the historic event, most of the fighting men in the village were away searching for Rogers' force and so Rogers' only opposition were old men, women and children. In my game I added Indian warriors, French Marines and Militia to give a more balanced scenario. The rules I used were Muskets and Tomahawks 1st Ed. The French and Indians began the game hidden in the lodges and houses of the village and were activated only when the British were spotted or fired their muskets. The British were able to infiltrate into three of the Indian lodges before they were spotted. Before the French and Indians could react, the lodges were set afire. One of the French and Indian victory conditions was to escort the village Sachem (Leader) to safety, which they accomplished. There was a lot of fighting around the burning Indian lodges, with the Indians attacking and routing one of the British Light Infantry units and badly mauling another. Rogers' Rangers played cautiously and made use of their firepower to keep the rest of the Indians at a distance. The French Marines put up a strong defense, exchanging volleys with the British until they were whittled down and had to rout. In the rules, the Indians are at a great advantage when fighting in the cover of the woods, but in the village their 6 figure units become very brittle and eventually the British were able to push the Indians and Militia out of the village and Rogers' force completed their objective of burning the village. It was a fun game, but next time I am going to set the scenario in the woods to give the Indians a more balanced game. Note the enemy scalps hanging in the center of the village, as noted by Rogers.