Gaming at last.

A year ago I was lucky enough to get "Hold the Line" a boardgame of the American Revolutionary War.
I enjoyed this game so much that I tried to get the "French & Indian War" expansion. Although readily available over in the US the P&P was ridiculous and the game was unavailable in the UK.
Two weeks ago a copy turned up on ebay.

The expansion contains only five battles but many more are freely available online (I have found an extra seven scenarios so far). Over last weekend myself and eldest sprog Glynn played two games of "Fort Duquesne" sometimes more commonly known as "Braddocks Defeat".

 Braddock led his men into an ambush by French and Indian forces. Braddock himself was killed and his troops routed.
In both our refights (we swapped sides for the second play), Braddock managed to fall back and rally his troops. Under my control he established a good defensive position which was too strong for the French to attack. Glynn was very aggressive and sent Braddock forward with the Grenadiers in bayonet charges to drive back the ambush. Two very different tactics that both brought victory against the historic result.
I was a bit worried about these results so I decided to replay the game solo. This time I played the French forces with a lot more "Bravado". Braddock was killed early and without his ability to "Rally" the British column was driven back and destroyed. The photo shows the endgame.

This third refight was much more historical in its result. If the French can kill or even neutralise Braddock early in the game it becomes much harder for the British player to command his troops.
Very much looking forward to more battles of this game.