Solid Men to the Front - An AWI skirmish with Fistful of Lead.

 

I’m sure the American War of Independence needs no introduction, although the rules might. Fistful of Lead (FoL) have been used in the club in various guises for some time.

It’s a card driven system, with specific cards allowing extra actions. One card per figure, but the player chooses which card is used for each figure. 

This creates a degree of friction but allows some degree of planning.

The scenario came straight from the ‘Horse and Musket’ version of the rule book, ‘Defending a bridge.’ This requires three groups of six attackers to control a bridge and its exit from the table before nightfall, nine turns of game time. The defenders have two groups of six men.

The British defenders deployed six sturdy Grenadiers in the bunkhouse on their right and six swift and bold Light Infantry in the woods to their left, protecting the two river crossings. The canny Colonials approached through the woods, Lights on the right, Continentals in the centre and the Green Mountain boys on their left.

The Colonial Lights immediately started banging away at long range, to very little effect. In the centre, the Continental Line surged forward towards the bridge. On the left the Green Mountain Boys advanced steadily through the trees to the log bridge, using cover and stopping to fire as they moved to pin the Grenadiers in the bunkhouse.

On the Crown’s left, Lawrence’s Lights (Highland Light Infantry?) kept up a steady fire on the approaching rebellious ne’er-do-wells. The Continentals in the centre crossed the bridge and prepared to rush the British Lights, to clear them away from the exit point. 

One notable Continental, clearly intoxicated, having been wounded and knocked down by accurate fire, immediately leapt to his feet and charged his assailant. Unfortunately his bid for fame, glory and a prime plot of land in Virginia came to an abrupt end, run through by 18 inches of Sheffield steel. Nice try, but no cigar.

The forces of law and order were now under pressure on their left. Fortunately for the King’s cause, an

observant Grenadier spied what the rebellious rogues were up to and did what Grenadiers do best; fix

bayonets. He made for the nearest Continental. 

A round of close combat ensued, to no real result. A second Continental joined the fray whereupon the Grenadier gathered his wits and against all odds killed first one, then the second sparrow-boned rascal.

By now the laggardly Continental Lights had caught up with the Line, but were clearly a bit puffed out with all the excitement and still unable to hit an elephant’s arse with a spade. The gallant British Lights met them with cold steel and a considerable ruckus ensued.

When the dust settled there were no Continental Line on their feet and only three Lights. Lawrence’s Light Bobs (HLI?) were also down to three men, all a bit sweaty and breathless, grappling around the bridge.

Meanwhile, back at the bunkhouse, the Grenadiers had dropped a couple of the Green Mountain mooks for the loss of one of their own. As the fracas at the bridge resolved in favour of good King George, the

Grenadiers regrouped to drive away the last of the seditious scoundrels at the log bridge. Luckily for them, darkness gathered and ended the affray before the Grenadiers could finish the job. Turns out the Colonials weren’t quite so canny.

All in all, the rules provided some good entertainment, a couple of cinematic moments and several scoffs and chuckles, even if Lawrence’s dice rolling did become a little embarrassing. The ability to repeatedly roll a ten on a D10 really is quite special. 

The great thing with FoL is that the game really can be played from the QRS, and runs itself after two turns. Great for a club meet and new players.

The game was played with 54mm figures, mostly ‘A Call to Arms’ and ‘IMEX’, all eBay rescues. Several had head swaps to increase the variety of poses within the groups. Terrain all came from the garden, other than the ‘Charlie Foxtrot’ fence bases used for the meandering stream and the bunkhouse built from 10mm dowels.

Thanks to Matt, Tom, Mark and Lawrence for playing with good humour and appropriate banter. Si