French and Grenzer War - A New Beginning

ReCon! was held at Geek Partnership Society this past weekend and the War of the Jumbo Alliances got its name, The French and Grenzer War.   Offered up by the Jeff Knudsen Earl of Garfield (at least that is his title in the War of the Jumbled Alliances), the name has taken hold and I assume will last.  

This was the first ReCon! (roughly a quarterly gameday that has been on hiatus for the past year) at the Geek Partnership Society, for much of the past decade ReCon! has been held in Coon Rapids at the VFW hall.   The Building had ample lighting and considering I brought in four tables it had enough tables for the people who attended.     I am not going to beat around the bush when I say the rooms use provided enough space for the games that were played, but increasing the number of attendees is going to make the space tight.

After Action Report – French and Grenzer War

ReCon! – June 14, 2014

Fort St. Jimmy and the French Garrison



Forces

French Left (Fort St. Jimmy)
10 French Piquets
12 Canadian Militia
10 Ottawa Indians
2 6Lbs Canons




French Battle Line

French Center

36 - Bearn Infantry Regiment
36 – Languedoc Infantry Regiment


French Center-Right

30 – Croat Grenzers

French Right

36 - Colonial Compagnies Franches de la Marine
24 - Colonial Compagnies Franches de la Marine
16 – Canadian Militia


Compagnies Franches de la Marine

British Right

30 – Highland Infantry
24 – Provincial Regiment
10 – Gorham’s Rangers

British Center

48 – Von Mansbach Infantry Regiment
36 – Erb Prinz Fusilier Regiment
12 – Hessian Jaegers

British Right

British Center Left

24 – Colonial Militia
16 – Mohawk Indians

British Left
36 – Dunbar’s 48^th Infantry Regiment
24 – Amherst’s 15^th Infantry Regiment

British Far Left
24 – Colonial Militia
10 – Hazen’s Rangers

 

Hessian Jaegers

Orders

French Left – Hold Fort St. Jimmy
French Center – Drive the Hessians from the Field
French Right – Take the Blockhouse

British Right – Take Fort St. Jimmy
British Center – Hold against the French Center and assist in taking Fort St. Jimmy
British Center Left – Hold Farmstead
British Left – Drive the French from the Field
British Far Left – Hold the Block House

The Action

British Right moved against Fort St. Jimmy, quickly driving off the Ottawa Indian Allies, had some minor difficulty getting through the Chevel-De-Frise but by late in the game made it to the wall.  The Rangers finally cleared a section of the wall and storm the fort at the end of the game.

Hessian Brigade moves on the French Center.

British Center moved directly against the French Center which moved forward to meet them.   It was quick and bloody as the French Center pummeled the Erb Prinz Regiment.  Von Mansbach attempted to setup a defense against onslaught of the French Center and was defeated two turns before the Rangers stormed the fort.   The French Center was unable to move British Right fast enough to save Ft. St. Jimmy.

The Colonial Militia held the farmstead, as no one cared they were there.

Karlstädter-Szluiner Grenzer

On the French Right one composite battalion of Colonial Compagnies Franches de la Marine moved against the block house with Canadian Militia Support, while the second composite battalion of Colonial Compagnies Franches de la Marine held the link between the forests.   The Zolton’s Grenzers (named after the famous Grenzer Zolton who held an Austrian village by his lonesome for a turn and half against insurmountable odds) moved through the woods and fired on the Dunbar Infantry Regiment.   After most of the day the French and British forces were exhausted and for all practical purposes routed from the board simultaneously, leaving the Amherst’s 15^th Infantry Regiment on the field alone.

Strategic Redeployment of the Erb Prinz Regiment to the Rear!

View from above

The game was laid out for 8 players, with an option to expand to 10 players; however only 6 players participated.   While everyone had fun and was challenged by the scenario it would have been nice to have a couple more players.

The Units are for the most part full strength, or fairly close.  The game is  getting to the point of needing setup tables which I think will be a requirement upon completing the last view under-strengthed units.

The Erb Prinz Fusiliers in full retreat

In Batailles de l'Ancien Régime  aka BAR one of the unique aspects is awarding battle honors to units that performed beyond the level of expectation on the Table Top.   On this day no unit earned a Battle Honor.  The Provincial Regiment held strong but could not take Fort St. Jimmy was the closest unit to earn a Battle Honor. 
On the other end of the spectrum the Erb Prinz Fusilier Regiment unit is halfway to receiving a downgrade however.

It was a hard fought game, a minor British Victory that was extremely costly as 2/3 of the Regulars were pushed from the table or removed as casualties. 

British Forces storm Fort St. Jimmy

Rules Questions

Can a unit move full and Shoot?
What’s the penalty for crossing a Chevel-de-Frise?
Who can fight and how can they fight in a wall assault

Rules we got wrong

Fire Modifier for shooting at Chargers.
Who and when can a light unit shoot.