From: "Mark E. Johnson" Subject: Another Montcalm & Wolfe replay (long) Montcalm & Wolfe After Action Report (What's the difference between an AAR and a reply, anyway?) MAY, 1755 * British don't roll on the Command table, choosing instead to activate Shirley (and Johnson, stacked with him). Shirley takes the unit of Rangers and 2 Regulars up the river to Fort Edward. Johnson sets out alone (militia would only slow him down) to try to win over Iroquois (his presence in an Indian settlement gives an alliance bonus). It doesn't work yet, as the Oneida stay out of the conflict. * French roll on the table, getting a whopping five activations. Militia from Tres Rivieres moves down to secure Isle aux Anne, while Dieskau shuttles three Militia from Quebec to Tres Rivieres. Bougainville packs up the Montreal defenders and heads for Fort Frontenac (leaving the slower Militia behind at Sorel. Finally, Chatrenr departs Fort Niagara (for Fort Presquile? I think so.) Again, the Indians don't form any alliances (tried for offmap Hurons). JUNE, 1755 * British roll, getting three activations. Two units of Militia move upriver from Albany to Fort Stanwick to respond to Bougainville's movements. Braddock moves his coastal force along the pike to Alexandria. Again, the Oneida fail to ally. * French roll, and get no activations! (We weren't testing the idea that at least some Rangers/Indians units always get to move, but he had none, in any case.) The attempt to win over Hurons again fails. JULY, 1755 * British get four activations. Braddock moves overland to secure Fort Cumberland, and I believe the Stanwick Militia moved on to Fort Oswego. Shirley's forces are waiting for the completion of forts William Henry and Carillon (one to occupy, one to assault!). This time some Indians do join the British cause, the Seneca, who are able to take Fort Niagara, which was left undefended (other than by the nominal garrison). They don't massacre everyone, so the Brits claim one Political Shift. * French get three activations. Chatrenr wanted to return to Niagara, but can no longer make the trip in a single turn (fort is now enemy-occupied), so opts not to try. Dieskau manuevers some troops to Isle aux Anne, also preparing for the new forts along Lake Champlain/Lake George. No Indians join the fight. AUGUST, 1755 * The British get a single activation, which is used by Johnson to bring some minimal reinforcements (2 Militia) to the Seneca at Niagara. Can't make it there in one turn, forcing a roll on the foraging table. One unit fails, and is eliminated. (This actually happens at the end of the turn, after the French move, but is listed hear for better readability.) The Oneida keep their distance once more. * French get three activations. Dieskau moves back to Montreal (alone), where Naval Transport is used to shuttle the last unit of Regulars from Quebec to Montreal. Bougainville sweeps down to take Fort Oswego with barely a fight (political shift). French Irregulars march to Fort Duquesne. Finally some Indians join the French cause, as the Algonquin send a unit to Montreal. SEPTEMBER, 1755 * The Britsh get four activations, especially useful on the last normal turn before winter. Shirley moves his troops to the newly completed Fort William Henry, and tries to quickly take Fort Carillon, too. Only the speedy Ranger unit can do all of this in a single turn, though, and it isn't enough to take the fort. Not only are the irreplacable Rangers lost, but Shirley is wounded in the foolhardy assault. Two more Militia units go up the Mohawk River to Fort Stanwick in an effort to delay Bougainville. Johnson and his remaining Militia unit finally reach Fort Niagara, just in time to see the Seneca depart (they leave before every winter). The Oneida are finally won over, are able to skirt around Fort Presquile to assault nearby Fort Le Boeuf, but they plunder it, negating the political bonus for the Brits. Then they, too, depart for the winter. * French get only a single activation, and use it to bring Dieskau back to Isle aux Anne, and Naval Transport ships one unit of Militia from Montreal to Quebec. The longshot attempt to get an Iroquois tribe to raid a British settlement fails. WINTER TURN 1, 1755 * With just one British activation, it is used to move a single unit of British Regulars from Fort William Henry to the still-unoccupied Fort Carillon. This time they're successful, and gain another political shift (enough for a nominal bonus on the reinforcement rolls in spring!). * Not so fast! The French get five activations, which is plenty to move some Regulars down to Oswego from Frontenac, as well as the recapture of Fort Le Boeuf. Dieskau moves down from Isle aux Anne with enough troops to take Carillon, and the British political advantage is largely negated. Bougainville and Chatrenr both leave their troops, and meet in a wilderness hex (I think in the middle of swapping commands). *** During the harsh winter, most of the Milita across the map demobilizes and is removed, including all of Quebec's defenders! WINTER TURN 2, 1755 * The British get two activations, but only use one, moving Braddock and his troops back to Alexandria (setting up for the following year's amphibious assault). * The French get no activations at all, but there's not a lot to do in the winter anyway. *** All but a unit or two of Militia have now left, and a unit of French regulars at Fort Oswego fails its winter check, too. STRATEGIC INTERPHASE * The British roll on the reinforcement tables, receiving 3 Militia, 4 Regulars, no Light Infantry, and one general, chosen randomly. It's Wolfe!!!! (Look out, Quebec...) * The French roll and receive 1 Militia, 2 Regulars, 2 Irregulars, and General Drucour. MAY, 1756 * The British get three activations. Wolfe and Braddock consolidate the amphibious assault force at Philadelphia (and Braddock moves off to leave Wolfe in command). Some Militia move up to help defend Fort William Henry. The Seneca agree to fight for the British, and raid the two French leaders still stuck in the wilderness, wounding Bougainville and killing Chatrenr! * The French get five activations. Dieskau brings more Militia down to Isle aux Anne, slowly preparing to fight down the length of Lake Champlain/Lake George. Some Light Infantry moves to Montreal, and leaderless Regulars from Fort Oswego capture Fort Stanwick, as well. JUNE, 1756 * The Brits take no chances on the command table, using the standard one activation to let Wolfe conduct his amphibious assault of Quebec. With about a 2:1 advantage in troops, as well as his own stellar leadership (no Montcalm opposing him this time), Quebec falls. * The French get only a single activation, and use it to move a unit of Regulars from Fort Frontenac to Montreal, surely England's next objective. Some Algonquins are also won over, and join the defense of Montreal. JULY, 1756 * Just one activation for the Brits, who take Tres Rivieres. The Oneida ally with the British, and make their way up to Fort Niagara, where Johnson is still alone! The British also get one bonus activation from a botched French roll on the command table, and use it to bring more Militia up to Fort William Henry, leaving Albany dangerously unguarded... * The French get three activations, bringing some Militia back from Isle aux Anne to further bolster Montreal, while two units of Regulars leave Fort Stanwick to capture Albany (worth two political shifts, offsetting the loss of Quebec). AUGUST, 1756 * The British must deal with the marauding French, but have committed too many troops to the assault of Quebec. As if that wasn't enough, the command roll yields zero activations! * The French have four activations, use two to send some Irregulars toward the southeast coast, and the other two to use the pair of Regulars from Albany to take New York. The political tide has swung firmly toward the French, now... SEPTEMBER, 1756 * Again the British fail to get any activations at all, and now have the pending winter to worry about as well as the pair of French Regulars. The troops are not in position to be supplied over winter... * The French, on the other hand, get lucky with five activations (having few leaders on the map, this is crucial). The Irregulars reach Fort Cumberland, and take it, while the Regulars take New Haven. WINTER TURN 1, 1756 * The British opt not to roll this time, desparate to get Wolfe's troops back to Quebec for the winter, and use the single default activation to do so. They also get a bonus activation from a failed French roll, using it to retake Albany with nearby troops from Fort William Henry. * After giving one bonus activation to the Brits, the French again roll well enough for five activations. With Winter upon them, all they do is have the Regulars take Boston. WINTER TURN 2, 1756 * The British use some Naval Transport to send a unit of Regulars from Quebec to Philadelphia, one of the few friendly ports remaining, and also retake New York. * The French lay low for the winter, taking only Easton (inland settlement). [At that point we had to call the game on time, but at least rolled to see what reinforcements both sides would've received in the Spring. I failed to write those down (drat!), but recall that even with the political advantage firmly pegged out on the French side (giving reinforcement bonuses and penalties to the French and British, respectively), the Brits still received slightly more troops for Spring (that's built into the system, since the Brits get *two* rolls on the Regulars table).] Whew! After misplacing not only my game notes but the entire playtest copy of M&W, I was very pleased to find it again (in a rather obvious spot, actually). This game was played 2.5 weeks ago, but I took decent notes. At my local boardgame group, the Tri-Valley Boardgamers, I played a historical scenario against Dave Kohr, who played the French. Once again, the central feature of my British strategy was the amphibious assault of first Quebec, then Montreal. Even though these are only available once per game year, and usually require several turns' worth of logistical maneuvering to amass a sizeable army at a friendly port for transport, they come off almost as "lightning strikes" in this setting where overland mobility is painfully slow and difficult. Looking back, both sides played too agressively, especially the British. Though it's hard to defend the Lake Champlain and Lake Ontario areas while building sufficient strength to pry the French out of Quebec via amphibious assault, time is in English hands. Not only do they have greater reinforcements, they also have more places to winter their troops, and so can build and maintain a decisive advantage in troop strength. The French, therefore, had better score some victories within the first few years, while they can, but leaving forts undefended will find them raided, probably by pro-British Indians. Even a single garrison of the unreliable Militia or Indians should be enough to deter that.