The American War of Independence, Muskets & Tomahawks, 28mm

As two of the regular Orkney wargamers couldn’t make it, I looked around for a small skirmish game – two players and an umpire. I’d just bought Muskets & Tomahawks rules from Caliver Books, and I wanted to try them out. I’ve actually bought French & Indian War figures to use with it, but as they’re not painted yet I dug out my American War of Independence skirmishers, and based a game around  them. I “pointed” them up, and worked out I had about 400 points a side – the Americans were more numerous, but the British were better quality – or at least the Light Infantry and the German jaegers were.We rolled for the scenario, and the American objective was to conduct a reconnaissance of the area, while the British had to engage and destroy the enemy. The game was fought on a 6×4 foot table. The two sides appeared from adjacent tabe edges – the Americans on the left of the view above, and the British from the bottom. Both sides also had secondary objectives – to capture a prisoner for the British, and to thwart this objective for the Americans. So far so good. We hadn’t played the rules before, but as I’d read them at least I was the umpire, while Chris took the Americans and Alan the British. Alan had four units at his disposal – one of British light infantry, one of German jaegers, and two of American loyalists, commanded by an officer, for a total of 36 figures. The Americans had two units of Continental light infantry, one of minutemen, one of militia and one of riflemen, plus an officer, for their total of 52 figures. Despite the difference in size of force, both commanders had 400 points-worth of men at their disposal.The way Muskets & Tomahawks works is that both sides have cards with their troop type on them. these are shuffled into a deck, and played one at a time. When the right card for that side’s troop type is turned, then it can perform one or more actions, depending on the number on the card. It’s actually a very slick little system, and while it leaves some units standing around getting shot at, everything sort of balances out in the end. Besides, it was easy enough for everyone to pick up. When you get an action the unit can move, shoot or reload. This meant that players had to be a bit cautious about blazing away, as it might be a while before the unit would be able to reload again. It all added to the tension.The two Loyalist units took the first casualties, and lost a race into the hamlet. Left without any nice cover to hide in the two units were badly shot up, and the smaller one was destroyed. What remained of the British Legion ran for cover, and eventually holed up in the church. Meanwhile the British Light Infantry occupied the tavern (that’s it above), while the Jaegers skulked around in the woods, taking on their rifle-armed American counterparts in a rifle duel. the Americans occupied the two buildings on the other side of the crossroads, and soon both sides were blazing away at each other.The loss of the Loyalists proved something of a disaster, as it left the British seriously out-gunned. Chris eventually managed to move a unit of light infantry around the table to threaten the back of the church, and their fire drove out the remnants of the British Legion. A few reaction tests later and the survivors broke and ran from the table. The Jaegers followed soon afterwards, which left the British Light Infantry, holding on grimly in the tavern. The only bright spot for the British player was the American “elite” light infantry, holed up in one of the houses. They were forced to evacuate it, and the next turn they re-occupied the building. This cycle was repeated three times during the game, and the American unit was getting smaller every time.Eventually though, the British were forced to pull back, and as the last of the light infantry and their Major retreated into the woods behind the tavern, the Americans closed in. We eventually agreed the British could call it a day, so bringing this sorry performance to an end. Both players enjoyed themselves though, and the card turning helped keep the tension high throughout the game. We’ll certainly play Muskets & Tomahawks again, and who knows – next time I might have painted up my Indians, Rangers and French Canadians.

Tags: Muskets & Tomahawks