French Raid on Croghan's Trading Post - North Western Ohio - 1748

Croghan's Trading Post

George Croghan, a British Colonial fur trader in the Ohio Valley, built a series of fortified trading posts throughout the Ohio Valley region.  Many of these locations have become major metropolises in later years, including Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Sandusky.  He built two additional trading posts one in Pickanwillany and the other is believed to be in Akron, Ohio.    

The furthest fortified trading post was located in what is now Sandusky Ohio.   In the late fall of 1748 a combine forced of French Colonial Marines and Canadian Militia out of Fort Detroit and Native Americans Indians from the Ottawa and Ojibwa tribes in Michigan and Lower Canada raided the Fort, killing all of the inhabitants and destroying the fort,   The next spring when the agents from George Croghan arrived they found the burned out shell of the trading out post.

Using a modified version of Brother vs. Brother we loosely played out the raid as the first game in a French and Indian War Campaign.

French Order of Battle
* French Colonial Marines (6 Figures)
* Canadian Militia (6 Figures)
* Coureur de bois (6 Figures)

Settlers Farmstead

* Coureur de bois (6 Figures)
* Coureur de bois (6 Figures)
* Ojibwa Braves (6 Figures)
* Ottawa Warriors (6 Figures)
* Ottawa Braves (6 Figures)

British Order of Battle
* Local Militia (6 Figures)
* Local Militia (6 Figures)
* Settlers (6 Figures)
* Settlers (6 Figures)
* "Ohio Rangers" (6 Figures)
* "Ohio Rangers" (6 Figures)
* Miami Warriors (6 Figures)
* Miami Warriors (6 Figures)
* Miami Braves (6 Figures)
* Miami Braves (6 Figures)

The British had one more command of two squads however their troops were of slightly less quality overall for the average unit.

The Ohio Rangers were tasked with escorting a Conestoga wagon from the Miami Indian Village on one end of the table to the Fort Sandoske on the other end of the table.   The Settlers were tasked with defending their Farmstead and the local Milita (IE the Independent Company hired to protect the fort) had to protect the fort.  The Indians allied with British were given the task to collect scalps from the French.

The Ohio Rangers defending the wagon

The French and their Indian Allies were tasked with attack and destroying the Miami Indian Village and the Settlers farmstead before turning their attention to the Fort.

As a Scenario Designer I made the mistake of not being clear enough with the British Players telling them the first Indian group was to protect the Village and collect their scalps there.   Both commands of Miami Indians were a couple of turns away from their village.

In the first turn two squads of French Coureur de Bois sprung from the edge of the board to attack the Miami Village loosely protected by the "Ohio Rangers".  Two squads of Miami Indians moved quickly back in support of the "Ohio Rangers".  The first round of fire was bloody for both sides.

Settlers defending the Farmstead

The French Colonial Marines and the Canadian Militia attempted to move against the rear of the farmstead while the Ojibwa and a squad of Coureur de Bois came from front side and the Ottawa the other. The settlers quickly moved to defend a fence line and a long drawn out fire fight erupted between the them and the first squad of Ottawa Indians while the second squad of Ottawa moved to take the flaking position.

The Ottawa take the Fence Line

As the Ottawa engaged the settlers two squads of Miami Indians erupted out the cornfield and began the slow process of turning the flank of the Ottawa Indians.   The deliberate firefight lasted forever.

After watching the Coureur de Bois charge the "Ohio Rangers" near the Miami village the two squads of Miami Indians prepared to charge into battle.   A funny thing happened and the first unit of Miami Indians retired to a more defensible position behind a ridge line.   The Coureur de Bois "routed" the "Ohio Rangers" leaving the fully loaded conestoga wagon sitting idly nearby.

Near the farmstead the Coureur de Bois launch a charge into what they expected to be an unprotected of the settles to discover a squad of Miami Indians standing there ready to take the charge.

The center turned into a brawl as six seperate squads attempted to enforce their will.   Slowly the Miami Indians asserted themselves and pushed first the Coureur de Bois than the Ottawa Indians back.

Almost undetected the Ojibwa Indians made it to the Miami village and fired the first long-house before moving on to the second long-house.

The Ojibwa and the remainder of the Colonial Marines and Candian Militia made a desperate attempt to destroy the farmstead.   The were repulsed by the local militia from the Fort and Miami Indians.   A squad of local militia made it all the way to the Miami Village to recover the Conestoga Wagon and begin escorting it back to the fort.

A few more pictures from the game.   

The Ojibwa fire the first of the Miami long-houses

The Scrum in the Center after it was over.

The Miami Indians look for another raider.

The fur traders gather the Conestoga Wagon from the Miami Village.

The Ojibwa fire the second Long-house

Lessons Learned

This was our first Brother against Brother game in quite some time.  We had tried about five other skirmish games including Songs of Drums and Tomahawks, Smooth and Rifled, and Muskets and Tomahawks since our last game and it was near universal acclaim that Brother against Brother was the best game.  The reasoning that several players voiced was the simplicity of the system allowed players to make reasonable choices and their choices had meaning.  

We had two extremes when it came to resolving fire.   On the western edge of the board, the Ohio Rangers engaged some Coureur de Bois in a firefight.  It was short and brutal, 9 casualties between the four squads in one round.  Mathmatically that should have resulted in only 6 casualties, so the dice were hot in that corner.   In the middle near the farmstead the fire fight between the Settlers and the Ottawa Indians was a virtual snooze fest, 1 casualty in two turns of firing between the three squads involved.    What was the difference, a wooden rail fence.   Mathematically it turns out to be a drop in the probability of a successful hit by 11%, but still with 35/36 rounds fired it should have resulted in 6 casualties.   Cold dice on the part of both players?

There was some discussion on adjusting the number of figures in each group, with groups having between 5 and 7 figures.  Another suggestion was to not count the squad leader.

There are some pros and cons to those type of suggestions that will need to be further evaluated.  

For a skirmish game, my trees need to be updated.

Finally it was an unanticipated result.  I honestly didn't consider the British could win a dragged out game.  It caught me off guard to say the least.  I figured they could win quick or the French in a slog.  So I was like this is wow.    

The Road to Bull Run – 17 July 1861 – Near Dranesville, Northern Virginia

An advance party of the Colonel Ambrose Burnside Federal Column comprised of Colonel John Slocomb 2nd Rhode Island Volunteers has been order to take a crossing in preparation for the movement of the Union Army of Northeastern Virginia against the Rebel encampment at Manassas Junction.

The advance party, consisting of four squads of Company B and one Company H of the 2nd Rhode Island Volunteers moved in the early morning hours ahead of the main force. Shortly after sunrise near Dranesville, Virginia the advance party encountered the most northern detachment of Confederate Army of the Potomac, the First Louisiana Special Battalion at a small bridge crossing Difficult Creek. The First Louisiana Special Battalion under Major Roberdeau Wheat, consisting of three squads of Tiger Rifles and one squad from the Catahoula Guerrillas and one squad of Swedish Jagers (A Mercenary Unit Recruited on the Docks of New Orleans).

Deployed North and West of the old Arlington House, a European Style Villa, Captain Jimbo Fitzgerald, a cagy veteran with vast experience in all forms of miniature combat, deployed the Swedish Jagers in a wood line and the squad of Catahoula Guerrillas moved along the small track that served as the road for the locals. Captain Mark deployed his three sections of Tiger Rifles to the north and east of the Arlington House in parade ground formations.

The 2nd Rhode Island Volunteers were deployed in two divisions, the jolly Bavarian Captain Conan commanding the section of the Kent Guard and one section of the Company B on the west side of the road north of the White Farmstead. Captain Andy with three sections of the Company B faced off against Captain Mark on the east side of the road.

The terrain was almost evenly divided on the west side of the battlefield by a line of trees on the north side of Difficult Creek. On the east side of the road the White Farmstead dominated the center with solid stone fence along the east west road. A decent sized open field bordered on the south by heavy woods and the Arlington house and on the north by the stonewall filled the south eastern corner of the battlefield.

The Jolly Bavarian and Captain Jimbo had a race for the stonewall while Captain Andy and Captain Mark sprinted at a dead ahead slow speed for the wood line.

The section of Company B under Captain Conan made it easily to the stone wall leaving the mercenary Swedish Jagers caught out in the open. The Catahoula Guerrillas moved ahead to take the split rail fence along the intersection ahead of the slow moving Kent Guard.
On the west side neither Captain Andy or Mark could motivate their troops to do anything beside stand and look pretty.

A protracted firefight between the squad of Rhode Islanders behind the stonewall and Swedes continued for several minutes as the Kentish Guard got their dander up and charged the Catahoula Guerrillas who decided an all out retreat, I mean strategic redeployment to the south was in the best interest.

Captain Mark finally got his first squad of Tiger Rifles to march in parade ground perfection forward and Captain Andy also got his boys to move along in more of a gaggle than a block. The Tiger Rifles took the first volley and the first squad of Company B seemed to disappear. The second squad of Company B fired through the wood line into a squad of Tiger Rifles.

A squad from Captain Andy’s Company B moved up on the Catahoula Guerrillas and both the Kent Guard and the squad from Company B fired multiple volleys. In an unexpected moment the squad form Company B moved forward one additional turn pulling itself out of position as it fired one last volley into the already decimated Catahoula Guerrillas.

Captain Mark finally got his Tiger Rifles to move forward and fire multiple volleys into the remaining squad on the west side of the road. Outnumbered three to one the lone section of Company B on the west side of the road hit the road as the Rhode islanders Skedaddled, leaving what is left of the Kentish Guard, two heavily damaged sections of Company B against the basically untouched Tiger Rifles.
As the Tiger Rifles swung to the East it caught a squad of Company B on a small hill and several squads of Tigers fired volleys into Company B. The next squad of Company B disappeared in hail of musket balls, leaving two heavily damaged squads.
As the Tiger Rifles moved forward another volley fire was leveled at the last squad of Company B and they skedaddled quickly after the fire. The Kentish Guard attempted to with draw under fire.
Lacking orders to advance the First Louisiana Special Battalion looked to their wounded as they controlled the battlefield.

A couple notes on Gameplay:

I play tested this game several times and had virtually no problem moving squads around, of course Jim and Mark as well as Andy had an average move of what seemed like 2 inches for the first couple of turns. Is it a problem in scenario if one or both sides cannot role at least average dice.

During the play test we started with eight squads and a half section of artillery a side, each time we ran the scenario we scaled it back, I think however I took it one step to far with five squads a side, should have been six.

Players easily controlled three squads a piece and I think that is a nice number for players to control.

Will be working on adding three more squads for the Kentish Guard and four Squads for the First Louisana Special Battalion before starting new Companies. In addition I need to finish the Union Artillery even though I don't expect to use them very often.

Completed 2 Sections of Confederate Artillery for Brother Against Brother

While it isn't a huge under taking I completed two sections of Washington's Louisiana Light Artillery for Brother Against Brother. This includes 11 Artillerists (1 Officer and 2 NCOs and 8 Privates) and 2 Union 12# Napoleonic Guns.

I purchased a bag of Union 12# Napoleonic Guns and if the project gets large enough will pick up a confederate 12# Napoleonic Gun Bag I just can't justify $35 ($21) to get two guns and let the other four just sit there for now. Considering most people can't tell the guns and limbers apart I am okay with it for now.

Next on to completing the 20 Louisiana Tigers I have started plus some more terrain.

Brother against Brother

Years ago I purchased a number of 25mm ACW figures for a couple of projects, the first was attempting to do 25mm Mass Combat (cough Gettysburg Campaign cough). I have/had a fairly substantial collection of 15mm figures, mostly Confederate Troops that were supposed to be for a number of failed campaigns. Right now I think I have at least 75% of the Army of Northern Virgina, short Artillery and some of the Specialized Figures at 1 stand = 100 men and 1 gun = 1/2 battery.

Lately I have been painting up the 25mm figures which have been in a box unpainted for at least eight years. The Union I Corps at 1 stand = 50 Men painted at paper strength is coming along, with four Regiments of thirteen Regiments completed. There are another two regiments in the works on the painting table. For the Confederates I have been working on Heth's Division of with two regiments painted and one more on the painting table. So now that I am getting to a point where I will be able to demonstrate the game and attempt to get other interested in painted time to look at some other figures.

I have 60 Zouaves with Straw Hat that I purchased for a Brother Against Brother (BAB) project that never went anywhere. Like so many other projects I got started in more than a decade ago my partners all disappeared when it came time for the rubber to hit the road.

I think I am going to try and get a some number of figures done for BAB as well. it really won't take many figures to make two playable forces and I have a good start at some terrian. Arguably to make two armies to allow 6 to 12 players a chance to push figures and roll dice I am talking 60 figures a side, give or take a couple.

In talking with Tom Zwirn, who has an interest in doing 1861, an idea sprung into my head over the weekend, 1861 for BAB. Units would be relativily small and there would be a wide variaty of uniform options available.

The Two Forces I plan on painting or Wheat's Tigers and 2nd Rhode Island Infantry Regiment, being the two forces collided at the First Battle of Bull Run it is a fitting grouping.

What is interesting about the Two Units is the detail of the Uniforms that are available for the 1861 Campaign. I personally like the Kentish Guards for the 2nd Rhode Island.

To start with I will be painting 30 to 40 figures in two companies for both sides. Starting with the Tiger Rifles and the Kentish Guards, my goal is to have 40 figures in each of the Companies (four squads of 10) with one Squad being the Color/Guard and three Squads of Troopers. Both Sides will end up with Five Companies, that 200 figes a side, which I think is reasonable.

For the Wheat's Tigers:
Company A - Walker’s Guards – (WBS-41 – Zouaves with Fez)
Red Fex, Blue Tassle, Dark Brown Jacket Red Trim, White Pants with Stripes
Company B - Tiger Rifles – (WBS-42 – Zouaves with Straw Hats)
Straw Hat, Dark Blue Jacket, Red Trim, Grey Pants)
Company C - Catahoula Guerrillas – (WBS-39 – Zouaves with Kepi)
Blue Kepi, Dark Grey Top, Red Trim, White Pants
Company D - Delta Rangers
Red Fez, Red Tassle, Dark Blue Jacket with Red Trim, White Pants with Blue Stripes
Company E – Wheat’s Life Guard
Red Fez, Blue Tassle, Dark Blue Jacket with Red Trim, White Pants with Light Blue Stripes

I don't have all teh details yet on the 2nd Rhode Island, so stay tuned.

Company H - Kentish Guard