Battle of Mount Rock - French Indian War large scale skirmish in 28mm

Once again I'm a bit late in reporting on this (covid-in-da-house) but now that I'm feeling a little better it's time to get this Battle Report written up. So a couple of weeks ago the Rejects gathered for a game in the Shed-o-War and this time El Capitano Postie was our umpire. His French Indian Wars rules are simple, fast to play and fun so when he runs a 'Skirmish' game it is usually on a massive scale. True to form this game used the whole of the 6ft by 12ft table and hosted five players fighting it out through a frontier town c.1757. Ray posted his battle report last week and it's worth checking it out here. 

The Setup & OOB

The British forces are a mix of Regulars, Light Infantry, provincials and civilians. They are dispersed across much of the table with the Line troops concentrated around the construction site for a new fort. They also have a unit of friendly Indians hiding in nearby woods. The French have a mixed force with Marines, Militia,  Coureur de Bois and a sizable Indian contingent. 

The British players (Myself, Ray and Mark) start the game not knowing where the French may attack from, and based on previous games, fully expecting to have to defend at various points around the table edge. I don't know if Stuart gave the French players (Steve & Surjit) much choice in deployment but they decided to attack with everything from one direction. The British had to wait a couple of turns to be absolutely sure that this was the only attack, before drawing reserves away from the other roads and this delay proved crucial for the outcome of the game. 

The setup (picture gratefully borrowed from Ray's blog, Don't Throw a 1)

The Action

The largest British unit on the table (not counting Militia) was the 44th Line, but they were concentrated around the Fort construction site, guarding several roads and a bridge into the area. When the French arrived at the other end of the table (twelve feet away!!) we had to decide whether to abandon this defensive position or wait to see what the French plan was. 

The French and their Indians emerge from the woods and move quickly to get across the river. Their movement was very swift and the British were on the back foot for most of the game...especially when the French kept winning Initiative turn after turn. 

French troops and Indians press forward sending British Militia and Civilians running for their lives. 

The 44th start to form up and move towards the battle, but having waited for two turns to be certain of the French attack, maybe it is too late?

The French press quickly into the town, with British stragglers ruthlessly cut down. Casualties are mounting and as the victory points for this game are purely based on kills, this is already a one-sided game for the British. 

One of the British Militia units has been pursued several turns and have lost all but two men. They decide they can't run anymore so bravely turn and charge the nearest Indians. Their attack, and 18 inches of British Steel on the ends of their rifles, kills a couple of pursuers but then the Indians rash in and finish them. 

Now the Indians start to funnel into the centre of town, shifting their attack more towards the left of the British defence. There was considerable confusion as units mixed (I'm pretty sure some movement distances were 'stretched' a little) but it was already clear this game was only going one way for the British. 

The British now see the direction of the attack and try to concentrate their forces. The 44th have reached the rear of the defensive line and started to consolidate into a formed unit blocking the road.

Formed up like this both lines can fire and with a bonus for volley fire...but only if they can get close enough to fire on the invaiders. 

Having swept through the outskirts of the town, the French forces reach a more open area and coalesce into a concentrated line. They are probably considering the wisdom of pressing across open ground (especially the Indians) but do they need to? They have already caused considerable casualties to the British for relatively light losses on their side. 

The British have a strong looking defensive line, but the light is fading and the French decide their raid has been a success. The Victory points agree! British 62 pts to a massive 132 pts for the French

The winners. Steve and Surjit after a well-deserved win. Steve's ability to roll hits was so impressive he won Man-of-the-Match, hence the happy look on his face. 

Conclusion

An excellent game, with some beautiful terrain and figures from Posties collection. As a British player, I was of course hoping for a different result, but the points at the end showed this as a clear win for the French, not least because they won the Initiative in all but one turn of the game.