The Battle of Lament Hill: Conclusion and Observations

 

A quick recap of what has happened in our first battle of Rebels and Patriots (Paid Link): Bloody fighting, lots of casualties, units routing, and the French controlled the objective for 3 turns.

Turn 7.

Even though the French commander and 50% of the French army (points) have fled the field of the battle, the French see an opportunity against the the now much diminished British Force. Even though their is little chance the French can occupy the objective again, the British have been unable to occupy the objective with the 42nd Highlanders disordered and the Rangers on the other side of the battlefield. The French intend to keep the 42nd disordered.

The Sharpshooters of the Canadian Militia take out a grenadier of the 42nd but they pass morale.

Caught in a crossfire, the French 2nd Marine Company takes out three more figures but once again pass their morale check. Now the British turn.

The 42nd Highlanders successfully rally allowing them to remove all disorder markers and occupy (they are within 3 inches of the objective marker) the objective.

The depleted, and permanently disorder Ranger force makes it to the cover of the tree line.

The British have now occupied the objective for 1 Turn versus 3 Turns for the French.

Turn 8.

The Sharpshooters take aim . . .

. . . and three more exposed Highlanders are felled!

They pass their morale check; but, now that they are at 50% strength they receive a permanent disorder marker. They still control the objective.

The 2nd Marine Company on the left flank fires!

Another Highlander falls - but they pass morale.

Time to activate - double "1's"! Nooooooooo! Fortunately for the Highlanders they roll and get "Friendly Fire." Since there are no friendly units in range or visible, the Highlanders do not have to fire on their own.

The Rangers fire from the tree line and two Marines fall.

The 2nd Marines are now permanently disordered and during their move take cover near the hedges of the farm. 

"You want us to shoot again? Sorry, the hockey game is starting."

And then the sun went down and the battle ended . . . 

In the scenario, after the completion of turn 8 a die is rolled at the beginning of each turn and then adding the number of turns that have been played. If the total equals 14 or more, the scenario ends. A hush fell over the darkened battlefield.

A seemingly inconclusive, bloody skirmish - just like many actual battles and fights of The French and Indian War. So which officer got the most Honor?

Lieutenant Charles Deschamps de Boishebert et de Raffetot:

1. +3 Honor for controlling the Objective Marker for the most turns.

2. +1 Honor causing at least 33% casualties to the enemy (in points).

Total: 4

Lieutenant Coll McDougall:

1. +1 Honor causing at least 33% casualties to the enemy (in points).

Total: 1

A French victory. Narratively both sides took heavy casualties and the British kinda, sorta held the field; but they are too disordered and exhausted to consolidate their gains - plus the French are still out their taking pot shots!

Observations from our first game of Rebels and Patriots (Paid Link):

1. Love the feel of the large skirmish game.

2. Activations. As a retired soldier I know stuff happens! That flat terrain has an unexpected steep ditch you did not see; Pierre stumbles and twists his ankle; what did you want to do again? As expected, the more disciplined the unit (and the positioning of the officer) adds to a successful roll.

3. Firing. The firing mechanism I believe is right; 2 hits are required normally to remove a figure which replicates muskets quite nicely. 

4. Light Infantry, Skirmishers, and Natives. These units are hard to hit in Firing as you would expect. The units count open terrain as cover requiring 3 hits to remove a figure; if in cover they need 4 hits, etc. As both sides were made up of these units, with only one exception, the firing usually only took out one or two figures at a time. It will be interesting as we acquire some line infantry to see how the Firing goes.

Take advantage of your special rules. That goes for me too!

4. Fighting. This was the big casualty producer until late in the game when the 42nd Highlanders were the only target. Bloody! Tomahawks, rifle butts and bayonets. True Hollywood fashion. As a side note, when the Rangers attacked the Huron Tribe, the Hurons forgot that they could counterattack - oh well.

5. Small Units (especially Skirmishers). At first glance they seem a bargain in points due to their lower cost and having the same amount of Firing/Fighting dice as a normal sized unit; but, they are so brittle. Once these smaller units started taking casualties, they were easily permanently disordered and/or routed. As a reminder, when disordered or permanently disordered they only fight with 1/2 of their dice. Skirmishers have a low discipline (except when upgraded) which is a challenge for activations and rallying. So you takes your chances and roll the dice!

Not looking good.

6. Disorder the enemy! If you can keep as many of the enemy units disordered as possible, his fighting is weakened and he has to make decisions on whether to rally (meaning that's all he can do) or take the risk to stay disordered which is never a good idea and you are asking for a rout.

7. Shock Infantry in Close Order. Wow. When the 42nd hit the 1st Marine Company in an attack, it was a slaughter and caused the French to rout with their leader. Shock Infantry normally has a Fighting factor of 5+, plus the Highlanders were Aggressive making it a 4+, plus they were attacking making it a 3+, and finally, it was their first Firing/Fighting of the game giving them a +2. Line Infantry also has the first Firing/Fighting rule. Muskets are clean and not fouled with repeated firing using black powder and for Fighting, it represents men who are not tired, have their gander up and our ready to stick it to the enemy! 

All in all the battle was exciting, fast, and a nail biter: The French almost pulled Defeat from the jaws of victory and British forgot that Close Order Infantry could pass through Light Infantry which might have tip the scales of the battle. Maybe.

"Next time my brave lads!"

So what will happen next? Both sides need to lick their wounds, reorganize and plan for their next encounter.

Until next time . . .