James and Matt came over for some more R&P FIW gaming. James and Matt took the French and I once more took command of the redcoats and the persona of Lt. Wensleydale. As a result of successfully driving off the French in the last game and killing their leader Lt. Roquefort I had acquired enough honour to earn another trait - it turned out Wensleydale was something of a dancer, which means one unit could move faster (I'm not sure this makes too much sense, but we let it ride). James and Matt welcomed Lt.Boursin to command their forces (at one point if was going to be Lt. Vachequirit but at the last minute he was called away).
The scenario would be one from the book with the British following up their previous success to fall on the French and attempt to liberate their legumes. The French camp was defended by four units of light infantry - their Native allies were out foraging but would likely return as soon as the alarm was raised.
The peaceful bucolic scene as Lt Boursin prepares to enjoy a delicious repast of tartines des flageolets dans un sauce rouge with his new command.
Suddenly the sound of fife and drum can be heard and redcoats appear.
"Zut alors!" exclaims Boursin. "Aux armes mes braves!"
Wensleydale has wisely used colonial militia to screen his valuable men from fire.
The cooking pots are swiftly, if ruefully, packed away and muskets primed.
Wensleydale's men prepare to give fire.
"Red" Ned Lester's men likewise prepare their Brown Bess muskets.
Colonial Militia also provide the nearest target for the French on this flank.
Boursin orders his men to discharge.
Musket smoke soon fills the air around the camp.
Wensleydale's men return shot.
The crack of musket alerts the foragers and they reappear and make their way toward the camp.
Ned Lester commands the right flank to continue shooting.
Boursin's troops take casualties, but he leads a charmed life.
Despite Wensleydale's best attempts to drive his men from the field.
Lester's Colonial support are living a charmed life.
Rangers on the right squelch into the swamp.
A Blunder! Under the weight of fire the corner of the camp abandon their posts and flee.
"Red" Lester seizes the opportunity and orders an advance.
The more mellow Wensleydale keeps his men firing.
British musketry reap a fearful toll and Boursin and his men finally crack and rout from the field.
Another Blunder and the right hand corner is once more abandoned. Lester's men enter the camp accompanied by the remains of one of the Militia groups.
Wensleydale switches focus and orders his men to deal with encroaching Natives.
The resultant fire sees the Natives break and flee and with that French morale tumbles and the field is left to the British!
According to the rules of the scenario this means that the defending French would actually have secured more Honour, as the game ended before the British could ransack the camp entirely. But as the redcoats had driven them from the field we instead ruled that Wensleydale got *all* the available Honour and Boursin received none for his troubles.
And so the British tucked in to the finest French cuisine whilst Boursin attempts to regroup his forces for a cold and hungry night in the woods.
A good fun game - increasingly thinking R&P is one of the best iterations of the "Mersey/Rampant" rules. I like them all but this one works particularly well.
We did tweak the Skirmisher rules for this scenario - *only* allowing them to use the Skirmish rule for shooting, rather than allowing them the opportunity to fire with twelve dice. It did neuter their power a bit from the first game but they were still jolly effective - it's probably a rule we'll keep.
