French and Indian War Battle on Snowshoes, 1757

Cross-posted on PMCD Mobilisatie

We played one last game of 2023, a "Christmas" themed skirmish in the snow, based on Rogers Rangers First Battle on Snowshoes. Each of the five players controlled five miniatures and the Rangers were outnumbered by the French and Indians by three to two. Historically, the battle started with a successful ambush by the Rangers on a party of Indians, however the Indians were soon reinforced by a much larger force of French Marines, Militia and more Indians. The fighting continued until darkness, which allowed the Rangers to withdraw, having lost half their number. In our game the Rangers had to perform a fighting withdrawal while carrying their wounded. The Rangers used snowshoes in the four foot deep snow, while the French and Indians did not, so the Rangers were able to move six inches compared to the French and Indians' four inch moves. We used the Fistful of Lead Horse and Musket rules that force the players to spend a whole turn reloading their muskets. We represented the reloading with black markers. Other markers were used for Shaken and Wounded. It was a fun game, played to a conclusion in four hours. Casualties were about equal, but the Rangers were able to slip away off the end of the table, allowing them to fight another day.