A huge milestone was reached recently when I received the prototypes of the game. I like to support local, which in this case means Poland!
Although there are tons of issues with especially the counters (being protos & my own data errors), it’s awesome to actually have “real” counters to play with. The quality is so good! No more messing with blank countersheets, printing to adhesive paper, cutting, peeling, etc. I can just pop more counters whenever I need some!
And this also means getting down to business 🙂 I get the feel of the components while I am trying out various scenarios. Colors, image quality, font sizes, readability, whatnot are important. Also the rulebook is getting some serious attention – moving from a Google Doc sheet to an Adobe document that is print ready. That is a lot of work!
So I decided it is the time for some alternate history:
July 9th, 1758.
George Howe, 3rd Viscount Howe, did not bite the musket ball a few days earlier. The unfortunate Captain Alexander Monypenny of the 55th Regiment of Foot and Howe’s brigade major, being next to Lord Howe during the encounter with Captain Trepezec’s scouting party, was hit by the musket ball instead killing him instantly. Now he lies in an unmarked grave close to Trout Brook.
The British army, lead by Howe and his “young Turks”, was planning an audacious attack on Fort Carillon (the formal commander of the army, General Abercromby, stays mostly in the safety of the army camp). The French had retreated to the immediate surroundings of the fort and built a strong defensive perimeter around it. Against common sense, being young and impetuous, the British leadership decides against a prolonged siege and instead wants to strike the French from the rear – a quick victory here would open the road to Montreal before the bad weather arrives in the fall. The majority of the British army was ready around the perimeter for a major assault. Selected units were being readied to strike by boats against the French rear and perhaps even force their way into the fort.
It was an ambitious plan, but no risk, no reward!
As they were preparing the amphibious landing, carefully coordinated with a simultaneous all-out assault against the entrenchments, the French had not been resting on their laurels. They had spotted a hive of activity both north and south of the fort – the enemy was up to something!
The French army had to strip much needed troops away from the main defensive line to protect the rear of the army. However, the Admiral of Lake Champlain, Captain Joseph Payant dit St Onge, had managed to sail into the wharf by the fort on the preceding night. He was in command of the 10-gun schooner La Vigilante – and also the most experienced naval captain in the inner waters of America. That might be a nasty surprise to the British!
There are 300 Canadian reinforcements on their way to the fort (upper right-hand corner) – are the British going to interdict them?? They are preparing for the strike against the French rear, so probably no – it might disturb the coordination of the forces.
Captain Ord of the British Royal Artillery had been able to move some artillery pieces to the French left flank. They had evaded the enemy and built a strongpoint to soften up the French defensive line.
On the south side, William Johnson and his Indian contingency – ignored by Abercromby, but not by the young Howe – were part of the spearhead destined to hit the French. He was supported by Rogers Rangers and some of the best provincial troops, the Jersey Blues.
On the north side, Howe with the third in command, Colonel Thomas Gage, assembled their shock troops comprised of a composite grenadier battalion, Howe’s hard-trained 55th Regiment and Gage’s newly raised 80th Regiment of Light-Armed Foot. In the council of war early in the morning, they had coordinated the signals for each attack group. Once the two strike groups had landed, an all-out assault would commence against the strong French main line. This would place them between a rock and a hard place.
However, they were unaware of the French schooner in the wharf. With the 10 cannons it could devastate the invading light troops. Also, the French – understanding what was going on – had reorganized their artillery. The naval 18-pounders now covered all directions.
The few days of inactivity allowed the French to improve their positions and emplace many artillery pieces along the shoreline.
This is the setting for my first setup with the near-production quality protos. I shall test some of the long neglected features of the game – water movement and interdiction. Upcoming posts will explain how things work and also – hopefully – what will happen in the decisive battle!!