Using Song of Drums and Tomahawks to Restage the Attack on Michilimackinac at Historicon

    A flurry of combats rage throughout Ft. Michilimackinac, as the Ojibwe & Sauk seek to take control!

Unlike last year, when the whole First Command Wargames crew went to Historicon, this year only Jenny and myself were able to make the journey. To simplify things, we decided to run just one of our rule sets - Song of Drums and Tomahawks. Not only was it our first rules set we published (partnering with Ganesha Games), it is also probably our all-time best seller. Plus, the American frontier setting fit with the convention's theme. 

    A birds-eye view of the layout of my take on this Michigan fort during Pontiac's Rebellion, 1763

I chose two 4-player scenarios to run side-by-side. I wanted them to be highly visual, but adapt well with either the full four players or also with just two in case we didn't fill up. I need not have worried about the last consideration, as all four of our events had the maximum eight players. I was pretty happy about that, especially since my name as a GM is somewhat unknown outside of the Ohio area. Jenny was listed as GM for two of the four events, and her name would naturally be even less well known. We were full, though, and had great players for all our games.

 

Gate tower sentry looks on in horror as Indians stream through the gates & execute their ruse

The first scenario we were hosting was the Attack on Fort Michilimackinac. This occurred in 1763 during Pontiac's Rebellion. The local Ojibwe and Sauk tribes were upset with the British, who had taken over control of the area after their victory in the French & Indian War. A grand conspiracy was organized by multiple tribes and the Ojibwe and Sauk scored one of its most memorable successes. The Indians arrived at the fort under the guise of peace, saying they wanted to trade. They also staged a lacrosse game on the grassy area in front of the fort, inviting garrison to come down and watch. At one point during the game, the ball was tossed over the ramparts into the fort. Naturally, the players streamed after it.

    A British officer stands firm, ready to meet Indians sprinting up the tower ramp with his pistol

Once inside, the Indian women stood up from where they had been trading and opened their bulky robes. Concealed inside were knives and tomahawks that the lacrosse players grabbed and began attacking the garrison. The ruse was a brutal success and more than two dozen British soldiers were killed. For my re-staging of the attack, I gave the two Indian players identical forces of nine figures each. One figure would be the leader and eight rank and file braves. Of those, the chieftain and three braves were assumed to have tomahawked a soldier and seized his loaded musket. In addition, the Indian players would take their turns first, followed by the British. This was to represent the shock and surprise of the attack. 

    Success of the attack often depended on the initial accuracy of the British soldiers on the palisades

Meanwhile, the two British players were each given an officer armed with a pistol and six soldiers with muskets. Since the attack was unexpected, they had to first deploy all figures spaced apart from each other (Short distance, in game terms). A maximum of half of the figures could be inside the four buildings or towers. Their advantage was that ALL British figures began the game with a loaded firearm, while less than half of the Indians did so. Most of the Indians would be forced to enter melee, which is of course riskier than shooting at someone from a distance!

    In a short time, both British and Indian dead or wounded littered the ground inside the fort

My Song of Drums and Tomahawks rules are meant to be a simple, fast-play skirmish set using only six-sided dice. The way the rules work out is that if two rank & file troops are fighting each other in melee, with no tactical modifiers (like defending an obstacle, extra enemies in contact, etc., each will roll 1d6 and add +2 (the figure's Combat score). Doubling an enemy wounds them and knocks them out of action. Beating them on an even die roll knocks them down (which makes them easier to kill in follow-up attacks), while an odd number recoils them away one base depth. However, shooting at an enemy with a musket at short range adds an additional +2 for the attacker. So, potentially, before rolling their die, the Shooter is already up +4 vs. +2. Of course, cover and other shooting modifiers can adjust those numbers, too. So, you can see why I gave the British fewer figures -- they would potentially have more deadly musketry attacks.

    Fighting was desperate & hand-to-hand inside Ft. Michilimackinac, once the muskets were fired

How did the battles turn out? Great -- and fairly even! I ran the fort scenario and Jenny ran the Clifftop Battle (which I will talk about in the next post). On Thursday, the British won the first battle in the morning, while the Indians won the evening battle. On Saturday (Jenny and I played in the Saga tournament Friday), the Indians won the first game while the second one was locked in what I called a Draw. The players felt the Indians had a slight advantage. However, comparing the number of loaded muskets the few remaining figures on each side had, I think the British could easily have driven the Indians from the fort.

    Indian attackers took advantage of the ramps that led up to the corner cannon platforms

The Indians actually begin deployed inside the fort at the start of the game. I have half a dozen casualty figures littered near the gate entrance to represent the initial, shocking moments of the surprise attack. All Indians deploy within one Long distance of the gate, limiting them to a relatively small semi-circle. The more successful Indian players began their first turn firing off their capture muskets at British sentries who were out in the open on the palisade platforms. Those who tried to eliminate sentries deployed in positions of hard cover ended up fruitlessly wasting their musket fire. Also, the more aggressive Indian players were with their braves armed only with knives or tomahawks, the more successful they tended to be. Moving into contact with a British sentry and locking him in combat, meant that not only could he not be shot by that soldier, he couldn't be targeted by his fellow garrison members either.

    Another closeup of the Ojibwe and Sauk boiling through the gate in the initial moments of the attack

The more successful British players began in good cover, taking advantage of the towers as well as the log piles, buildings, etc. They immediately targeted the closest Indians, scoring initial successes to even the numbers. One of the things about my rules is that players are constantly called upon to make decisions. When a player is activating a figure, he must choose to roll for 1, 2, or 3 Activations. If the figure is within the leader's command range, he succeeds on a 3+. If outside, rank and file succeed on a 4+. The risk part of the rules is that if you fail with two attempts on a single figure, your turn is over. We call it a "crap out." Any unmoved figures lose their chance to act. 

    Cannon platforms were the scene of many bitter struggles over the course of four, hard-fought games

Obviously, you could roll only one dice for all of your figures until your final figure (when you roll 3, because your turn will be over anyway after this figure is finished). However, this very conservative path means you are often activating far fewer times than a player rolling for two or three. I advise players to prioritize. Which figure is the most important one to activate? Has your leader been knocked down? Activate him first to keep the enemy player from launching a killing blow before he can stand back up! Are any of your figures in contact with enemy they have knocked down, and can finish off by simply beating and not needing to double them? Prioritize those, as well. And finally, remember figures within range of your leader have a 2/3's chance of success to activate, while those outside have only a 50%. Many a player has unwisely chosen to begin with those out of range and lost their turn throwing poor activation dice.

    A look at the two games, side-by-side, set up and ready for its next batch of players

The players picked up the mechanics quickly, as usual. Once the game begins, I typically assist them in calculating their factors for the first couple shots or melees. After that, I go into teacher mode and ask them to calculate it for me, checking to ensure they have it right. Not far into the game, I hear the players talking to their friends excitedly about how these simple mechanics work really well. They begin to ponder taking the rules engine and applying it to another period they play.

 

    Released in 2014, Song of Drums and Tomahawks is still First Command's all-time best seller

We sold all but one of the Song of Drums and Tomahawks rules sets we brought with us. The rules were carried in the Exhibit Hall by Brigade Games and (I believe) On Military Matters, as well. I know they sold copies, too. So, I felt happy that the game was popular with my players. There were a lot of cinematic fun moments, too. One particular British soldier in the final game we nicknamed "Badger" for how fierce he was when knocked down. He would lose his even-up melees against Indians, only to time after time defeat the enemy who followed up to finish him off. Thursday night was a blast when my friend Jason and his two high school age kids played. Lillian did the same thing, over and over. She won at least four combats in a row when she was on the short end of a +4 vs. +1 disadvantage. Killing a rival player's miniatures is always a visceral thrill in a wargame, but the taste is that much sweeter when it is your Dad, sister, or brother! I commiserated with the Indian player matched up against Lillian as he was being hit doubly by the wargamer's maxim of "not rolling dice against women or children."

    Here is a link to my 2014 blog post about building the Acheson Creations frontier fort

The Acheson Creations fort looked great, as it always does, on the tabletop. I got lots of nice compliments about the terrain and the miniatures themselves. Most are from the old Conquest Miniatures line, and I spent a lot time detailing them with tattoos, bead work, and more. It was fun to run my first published rules, again. I had been running my gang warfare Mean Streets rules, as well as my Wars of Insurgency modern Africa game much more, of late. Historicon was a nice blast from the past and let me remember how fun of a game it is to run. 

Next up will be an account of Clifftop Battle. If you have seen the movie The Last of the Mohicans, then you have an idea for my inspiration!