Battle report: British marines vs. Indians

I started my skirmish battle of British Marines vs. Indians. The general premise is that the marines must protect the settlements from the Indian raiders who are tired of the white man encroaching on his lands. The figures are 1/72 scale plastics and the rules are This Very Ground. I'm playing solo and came up with a few different mechanisms to put the Indians on auto pilot for the most part.

First, an overview:

The sachems whip themselves into a frenzy upon news of the British warship  in the bay. The longhouse is scratch built from half an oatmeal container, some crepe streamers and bamboo skewers.

An overview of the battlefield. The colonial administrator's house is the stone house far in the distance. You can also see the wooden church and the village is just off the frame to the right of the hayfields.

The sleepy village.

A view through the woods with the masts of the frigate in the distance.

I decided that the marines would come ashore in two groups and proceed up the stream to the trail around the bend that leads to the village. I picked four spots where Indian hunting parties were likely to be. A roll of 7 on 2D6 meant that there were 2D6 warriors in the spot who would attack the marines with at least one volley. Depending on numbers, they may or may not continue the fight or could just melt back into the woods.

The first ambush point was the point of bluff. A roll of 4 meant no ambush.  The stream is only knee deep and in places, is the only way to get through the dense underbrush.

The next ambush point was in the heart of the swamp. The marines on the trail heard something to their right. (Roll of 7 = Ambush!)

The Indians have 10 warriors, but not all are armed with muskets, but they do have the element of surprise. The marines scramble to figure out what's going on. The second group of marines with the lieutenant are one move behind them.

The Indians fire. One marine is struck and killed while another is wounded.  The marines form a firing line and prepare for an attack, but the Indians melt back into the woods. (I decided that because so few had muskets and the other marine unit was nearby, it was better to celebrate the one kill and worry about getting scalps later.)

The marines march forward and cross the small bridge into the village.

The townspeople are relieved, for they have been told a major Indian attack is imminent. The lieutenant quickly decides on a course of action, putting the bulk of his troops in the village and sending detachments to reinforce the citizens defending the stone house and the church.

In the village, one group defends the bridge while another the road. The villagers aren't of a whole lot of use, as not all have muskets, but they will defend their property as best they can.

The detachments at the church and the stone house ready themselves.

The colonial administrator demands more troops, but the sergeant ignores him.

For the Indian assaults, I divided them up into five groups. One large group led by a war leader, two medium groups with sachems and two smaller groups with experience warriors. I picked five launch points for the assaults and diced to see which group ended up where. Chief Red Coat with the largest group ended up across from the stone house, looking to avenge the wrongs to his people directly from the blood of the administrator. The two sachem-led groups ended up close to the village.

Chief Red Coat prepares to lead his warband through the crops to attack the stone house.

One of the smaller groups is led by an experienced warrior to attack the church.

A sachem about to lead his troops across the stream between the church and the village in a flank attack.

Another smaller group directly assaults the village.

War cries go up as the sachem-led group moves to the right of the bridge.

The attack on the right started well for the sachem-led group. They skirted the village and attacked the villagers near one of the tents, driving them off with screams of terror. They quickly looted the tent and set it on fire.
The smaller group of warriors drove the villagers defending one of the houses inside, where they barricaded the door. Things were going really well until the senior warrior rounded the corner right into the line of fire of the marines. A hail of lead killed him and made the other warrior hesitate near the side of the house as they waited for the sachem to come down the road to help them. They weren't as well armed as the marines and would need to rely on cunning and numbers to have a chance to burn all the settlements and kill all the villagers.

Part 2...click here.