Muskets and Tomahawks

One of my favourite gaming systems which hasn't been out for a while is Muskets and Tomahawks. Created by the same people who developed SAGA but a completely different game play. As it happens one of my favourite films is also Last of the Mohicans. M&T is very much a game based around scenarios with different objectives for both sides and narrative side plots and random events. Anyway the weekend saw a chance to get a game on the table.

Picture a small colonial settlement somewhere in the forests of North America. The local colonists have already been attacked by small sporadic raids from local native tribes. The Colonial Governor has sent troops and two companies of Rangers to the settlement to scout the nearby woods. Little do they know that a full Huron war party is heading their way intent on slaughter.

In this scenario the British Rangers and Regular infantry are supported by a small group of Mohawk scouts. Their objective is to scout all four quarters of the battlefield and return safely. They also need to protect the villagers who are hiding in amongst the buildings and Church.


Rangers head into the woods

 The British supported by their Mohawk scouts set of into the woods whilst the villagers pretty much hide behind the buildings. The British infantry formed up can be seen advancing slowly from the church. (I use the little cotton wool bits to mark figures which have shot and need to reload)

French speaking Canadian trouble makers allied with the Huron

The native war party are supported by a group of French speaking Canadian trouble makers. The natives have used hidden deployment (I use animal markers for this, one dummy for each two units hidden) and you can see them in the distance looking a bit like wolves and an elk!

Mohawks are sent running by a volley

M&T uses a clever way of spotting the enemy before you can shot at them and a series of random events, in this case it started raining after the first turn which further reduced visibility. The first Huron to reveal themselves immediately fired a volley at the Mohawks sending them running, but they would be back.

Musket fire across the battlefield

 In the distance the second huron group has now revealed itself creeping through the boggy ground to contest the wood closest to the church. The French Canadian trappers are exchanging gun fire with rangers in the central woods. But some of the Huron have not yet been revealed

Rangers give the Native warparty a concentrated volley but it has little
 effect through the trees

All the Huron now revealed the Rangers fire a full volley but the impact is dissipated due to the trees and has no effect. The Braves fire and charge into combat in the woods proving to much for the rangers who flee back past the formed infantry, no doubt receiving some serious verbal abuse from the Redcoats.

Rangers flee past the formed and steady redcoats

 At the other end of the village the Mohawks have rallied and run back to protect the villages by the cabin which they do successfully although one of he villagers is shot down as they try to get away.

Mohawks to the rescue

 Things now looking bad at the church where the larger numbers of Huron have pretty much wiped out he rangers and run into combat the Redcoats a desperate struggle follows and the British commander calls the remaining Mohawks back towards the charch in case the redcoats fail.

In the distance the native braves face up to the last few redcoats
and the allied Mohawks try to get back to the church to support

 But what is this at the last moment another Huron group appear out of nowhere (the turns in M&T are card based and include a number of random events here unlucky for the British we randomly rolled up another Native unit to be placed anywhere at the edge of the table !) we can assume they were hiding earlier in the battle.

But from nowhere another party of Huron appear intent on scalps !

 There is no chance for the villages now who pay the price with their scalps, they do manage to kill one brave but this is too little too late. The Mohawks can be seen now dashing back but even Hawk-eye can't be in two places at once.

Despite attempting to defend themselves one group of the colonial
settlers are hacked down and scalped

At this point we declared a draw. The majority of the raiding party had been killed, but only half the villagers. The British had scouted 3 of the tables quarters.

A really fun game and encouragement for me to get on and paint the rest of the British and French in my lead mountain.