This week was sort of hectic for the crew at DMC – something which I’ll get to later. I had a limited amount of time for gaming, and didn’t get to participate in my usual Thursday night game. Still, I can’t leave my camarades without at least one contribution – so I organized a match at home, against the father-in-law.
Although he is usually a French player himself, FIL graciously allowed me to side with the French cause while he ran some of my English models. I put together a dead-simple 150-point list: French Army, using a Seasoned French Commander in charge of 4 units of Compagnies Franches de la Marine – each being 6 men strong. Each unit was busted down from Socket Bayonets to Thrown Weapons.
The objective for Week 3 was to play games using either the Night or Caught Unawares rules.
For those who don’t know, the Night rule enforces the strictest parameters for Limited Visibility: units cannot target an enemy beyond 12 inches of range. There are certain exceptions to this – such as matchlocks or torches – which allow a unit to be seen from a greater distance.
We played a quick Encounter game, just so that he could get the feel for how the Night rules would impact his strategy in the bigger game. Then, we reset the table and launched into the larger battle.
We decided that it would be thematic to do a variation of the ‘Raze’ scenario, with just 2 buildings on the table, and the Night rules in play. We decided that our “story” was a British militia company returning to their village after a long day of drills and patrols, and blunders into the lead of a French column marching into New England.
The British Captain only has his Militia left to respond with, and pushes them into melee against my Frenchmen in the building. Luckily for me, the Frenchmen hold firm and take minimal casualties in the fighting.
The battle ended with 2/2 Strike Points. Me, with a Strike for casaulties and another for not torching any buildings by the end of Turn 6. For FIL, he had lost half his force almost exactly. If I had lost another man during the fighting in the building, I would have been at 3. When the dust settled, I squeaked a victory on “points removed,” which is what I had been counting on.
It was really the French Army shooting which carried the day. It’s not much better than typical French shooting (6+) but the combination of both Expertly Drilled and Cold Blooded with a good firing plan, ultimately allowed me to win on action economy. The units alternated between half firing with Expertly Drilled, and full-firing with Cold Blooded.
There might not be a battle report for Week 4. I’m currently writing this from vacation in the Outer Banks, NC. There’s a sliver of hope that I’ll make the drive down into the Bath/Beaufort area to play against the British leadership, Jayden. I’ve got my Bark Wars list with me! But there’s also a good chance that I’ll spend the entire time doing vacation-y things with the family.
Dead Man's Chest 