Hysterical Wargamer Battle Report

29 July 2006:  Battle of the Monongahela (a.k.a. Braddock’s Defeat), French & Indian War

            Occasionally, the Gettysburg Wargamers play a Saturday game at another member’s house.  On this occasion, we traveled to Chris’s house, who served as gamemaster for a French and Indian scenario, played between the two sessions of the Antietam game. 

The scenario was British General Braddock’s defeat during the early phases of the French and Indian War in the mid 1750s. After he crossed the Monongahela, and moved  towards French-held Fort Duquene at the forks of the Ohio (now Pittsburgh), Braddock was attacked and defeated.   Thus, the object of the game was for the British to get from one end of the table to the other.  The French and Indians challenge was to wipe them out.  However, the British force was constrained to march down a wildness trace with woods on each side.  The road ran from a ford across the river and then deviated 90º towards the west to parallel the Monongahela River.  The placement of the road created a strip of woods along the river bank.  For the French and Indians they also were given separate game objectives.

Commanding the British were members Mic, Crazy Bill, and, if I remember correctly, member John, the Cox man. Their troops were two regiments of foot, several militia units including Roger’s Ranger’s type of characters, and one artillery piece.  

Yours truly was on the French side and served as Chief Knock-a-Homa of the Iroquois.  While members Dave and later Rob commanded French line troops and militia, who attempted to block the British avenue of advance and cover the woods between the road and the river, the Natives moved stealthfully through the woods on the opposite side of the road to hit the right flank and rear of the British column.  Chief Knock-a-homa and his two native groups slammed into the right flank of some British militia in the woods at the rear of the British column, hurling them back across the road and to the river.  The other Native group crashed into the right flank of the British column.   The French militia that was advancing through the woods between the road and the river was detected early and thrown back, which caused major headaches for the French attempting to block the road.  As Rob ran into a flurry of bad die rolls for hits and morale, as did Chief Knoc-a-homa, the British, though stymied for a time, made slow progress towards Fort Duquene

Ultimately, history was changed; the French were heavily handled and thrown back.  But the French did do a number of the Angalis, killing Braddock.  

A great game by Chris.  I especially liked the part where the French troops in the woods were invisible to the British until the French fired, attacked, or came within 6” of the opposition for the first time.