Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Campaign Update 1755

Volley Fire In the woods by British Highlanders

Results for the 1755, "Battle in the Wilderness" year of the World-wide Muskets and Tomahawk Campaign are beginning to roll in. As a refresher here is the background and basics to the 1755 campaign.

On April 14, 1755, Governors of the British Provinces met in Virginia to determine a strategy to force the French from North America. It was determined that three separate expeditions would be launched against the enemy.  Collectively these three expeditions have some similarities.  All three entailed an expeditionary effort through remote wilderness areas.  Both land expeditions ended up being ambushed.  Additionally, during this year there were efforts on both sides to erect  and improve the fortifications that protected the wilderness frontier for both sides.  This required men, supplies and significant transportation effort to bring the needed supplies to these frontier forts.  Often called the “battle for the Wilderness”, Commanders during 1755 had to make tradeoffs between escorting supplies, scouting, defending or launching an attack against an enemy expedition.  Finally there were several instances where forces had to mount a hasty defense, conduct a pursuit of fleeing enemy or conduct rear guard actions.  To reflect the nature of the conflict during 1755 five new mission objectives are created and the following tournament guidelines are provided to fight the battle of the Wilderness Campaign 1755.      

Round 1:  Expedition vs Ambush
Round 2:  Pursuit vs Rear Guard
Round 3:  Engagement vs Hasty Defense

Force Construction:  Force point totals for 1755 are to be between 225 and 230. 
Results Thus Far (as of 15 Sept 2014):  Below are the results.  We do have several players with incomplete set of rounds, but I decided to post the situation as it looks right now.  Some of these players are new and may not complete all three games before the end of the campaign year. 

French Players
Player                       Character's Name          Total Points     Character's Promotion Points
Nick G                      Squinting Dog                      1                               Died in Battle
Pat H                        Lieut. Hillaurd                      1                One more round to complete
Nick N.                     Lieut. Nestericue                 0                 Two more rounds to complete
Todd                        Lieut  T                                0                     Died in Battle
Tristan                       Egushwa                            9                     2 + Natural Talent
Brian/Jim                   Lieut Lipscomb                  4                 One more round to complete
Dillon                         Indian Leader                     0                Two more rounds to complete
Tom K.                     Lieut. LeBouty                     10                          2+Natural Talent


British Players
Luke D                     Lieut. Dixon                          8                 One More rounds to complete
Ranger Bob             Wolf with Two Kills                0                Two more rounds to complete
Roy                          Lieut. Williams                      1                 Two more rounds to complete
Jeff W.                     Lieut Wiltrout                        10                       1+ Natural Trait
Oskar/Maanus         Lieut Goldsberry                   5                        1+ Natural Trait
Bill/John                   Lieut Hawks                          4                 One more round to complete
Larissa                     Lieut Larissa                         4                 Two more rounds to complete
John K.                    Lieut McBean                        2                 Two more rounds to complete
French Allies Charging up a hill in "Pursuit"

Updated Results as of 13 Sept 2014:

1755 Round 1: Expedition vs Ambush objective.
French Points: 7 
British Points: 16 (British victory)

1755 Round 2: Pursuit vs Rear Guard Objective.
French Points: 8 (French victory)
British Points: 5
1755 Round 3: Engagement vs Hasty Defense
French Points: 10
British Points: 13 (British victory)

Here is what the campaign game overall situation looks like leading into the next round.


British have a slight lead in the 1755 results.


Pictures of our M&T Games Day at Barrage 2014:



Early Morning. All four tables set up.
  I'm in the red shirt running the demo in the distance.
Two players playing the demo.
Table 2 starts the Expedition vs Ambush Scenario.
A unit of Goreham's Rangers (with Pursuit Obj) fires on French Regulars serving
 as a Rear Guard.
British Regulars open fire at French Marines
Pursuit vs Rear Guard
Everyone had a great time.  I think we've recruited a few more players to the M&T system and perhaps to the campaign.  



5 comments:

  1. what no mention of Acadia or Fort Beausejour? Once again completely disregard any event that takes place outside America.

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  2. Actually the complete explanation of the 1755 rules covers all three British expeditions. From the actual explanation of the 1755 campaign rules.

    "It was determined that three separate expeditions would be launched against the French. One, under Sir William Johnson, would move against French interests in the Lake George/Lake Champlain corridor. The second, led by General Edward Braddock, would move against Fort Duquesne in the west, and the third expedition, led by Brigadier General Monckton, would move by sea into Acadia."

    I am studying each year of the FIW to find what is typical, or the most common type of fighting that occurred in each particular year. I use that information to develop specifically tailored objectives for that year of our Campaign.

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  3. not to impeed your excellent game, figures, terrain or actual campaign, however, 1755 also saw a major campaign in Nova Scotia and Acadia, namely the siege of Fort Beausejour which then led to the expulsion of the Acadians.

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  4. Good luck with your campaign. The Nova Scotia theatre is a very interesting one. It's also my back yard as I grew up there. In fact, my home town was originally an Acadian village which was burnt out, and was also close to the main MikMaq encampment. Eventually, when the New England Planters came to the area, they built Fort Ellis as a defensive measure.
    Gorehams Rangers were also a big part of the offensive, and defensive troops in Nova Scotia from about 1750.

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