Tag Archives: Skirmish

July 30th 1609 Beaver Wars Wargame Scenario

Most people are unaware of the brutal battles that occurred in North America during the height of the fur trade. Europeans exploited Native Americans across the continent to hunt, trap, and export valuable furs across the ocean. Various European countries allied with different tribes, providing them with weapons and armour to make war against one another.

The Beaver Wars were a series of skirmishes that occurred over approximately 100 years in the Great Lakes region. It pitted the English-backed Iroquois League against the French and Huron.

Wargame Scenario

I would use A Few Acres of Snow, Sharp Practice, One Brain Cell Rules, Blood and Steel

Set up, create a 4×4 board with 7 or 8 models per side. Fill the board with trees, lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, a cabin or two, and place fur markers or objectives around the map.

Models, Warlord has some native American skirmishers to paint and such. You can also use the generic plastic native american models you get from the dollar store.

Each side must identify the objectives and escort them off the table. You could randomly assign a value to each objective, and whoever wins the most value wins the scenario.

July 11th 1804 Hamilton vs Burr Scenario

On July 11th 1804 Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel near Weehawken New Jersey. The duel pitted two political power houses who wanted to settle their differences once and for all.

Wargame

2 players

Custom rules

3×3 terrain

Densely wooded terrain

3 models per side

This was a different scenario to write compared to many other fights. I didn’t want the game to hinge on a single die roll, but rather on movement.

Set-up

Each team of three should be set up within 2” of the table edge. The goal is to kill the leader of the other side. Each model gets a flintlock pistol and a dagger.

A game round starts with a roll off. The winner goes first. That player may activate one model. Then the 2nd player may activate two models. The first player activates their remaining two models. The 2nd player activates their final model.

When you activate a model you can do the following things;

Reload in cover

Shoot and cover

Move and shoot

Move and cover

Move and run

Move and attack

Run and attack

Movement

Models move 4” they can run an additional 2” but they sacrifice their ability to shoot, or cover.

Shooting ranges are 0-4” short range, 4” to 6” standard range, and 6” to 9” long range.

Shooting Modifiers

Regular shooting you hit on a 5+ on a d6

Short range +1

Did not move +1

Long range -1

Target in cover -1

Not having a clear line of sight -1

After shooting your gun is empty and must be reloaded. You cannot move and reload.

To attack you must be within 1” of an enemy. A successful attack hits on a 4+. The only modifier is if you successfully ran and attacked +1.

To successfully run and attack you must declare the attempt and roll a 4+. On a failed roll your model should move half the distance towards the model you were charging.

After being shot or stabbed successfully, the model that was attacked should see what happens. On a 5 or 6 no damage occurs. On a 2,3 or 4, the model is wounded. On a 1 the model is killed.

Leader models (Burr and Hamilton) can have 1 wound, but on the 2nd they are killed. Their aids will flee once a wound is taken.

July 10th 1921 Bloody Sunday Wargame Scenario

July 10th 1921 the day before a truce between the Irish Republican Army and the Protestant Loyalists was a day of pure violence. 17 deaths and 2,000 people homeless as both sides attacked homes and businesses of the other.

Wargame

2 players

Wild West rules or mobster rules will work well

20 models per side, some with grenades or Molotov cocktails

Small Irish village or dense street on a 4×4 board.

Scenario

The IRA player should identify 2 buildings they are defending from the loyalists. The loyalists must use two explosives to destroy the building. The IRA wins if neither building is destroyed while the two sides draw if only one is destroyed. The loyalists should have a car to increase mobility.

Set-Up

Both sides indicate a building to dispatch their forces from. 4 fighters may enter per turn.

July 9th 660 Battle of Hwangsanbeol Wargame Scenario

The Battle of Hwangsanbeol was very much a 300-type battle. 5,000 Soldiers of Baekje faced off against 50,000 soldiers of Silla. At the time, Korea had a limited cavalry, and battles were often decided by who fought harder and braver. During the battle, the underdog Baekje forces fought and repelled the Silla five times. The Silla were nearly broken when General Kim Pumil sent his son Gwanchang to single-handedly fight the enemy.

Order of Battle
Silla
Kim Yu-Sin
50,000 Soldiers

Baekje
Gyebaek
5,000 Soldiers

This was a challenging scenario to create a wargame for, but I wanted to give it a try. I want to lean into the fantasy aspect of the engagement like Achilles and Hector’s single combat outside Troy.

Wargame Rules Of Gods and Mortals or Broken Legion.
Models Needed: 10 Silla models, 1 Hero, and 50 Gyebaek Models.
Board Size 3×3 or smaller.
No terrain needed a pallisade just for aesthetics.

The Game
Place the Silla models on one end of the board. Their goal is to die heroically and not be captured. The models become captured if three or more Gyebaek models are within the engagement range of a single Silla model and are not engaged elsewhere. The Gyebaek models are attempting to capture but not kill the Silla models. The Silla forces should be superior in every way to the Gyebaek.

July 7th 1520 Battle of Otumba Wargame Scenario

The Battle of Otumba was the Aztecs’ last chance to expel the Spanish invaders from their homeland. Outnumbered 20 to 1, Cortés and his men fought bravely but were nearly crushed under the weight of numbers. In a last-ditch attempt to survive, Cortés sent his best soldiers to attack the Aztec command.

Wargame: any medieval skirmish game. Could also use Age of Sigmar or other rules.
2 Players
4×4 Table
6 Conquistador Models armoured and mounted
100 Aztec, lightly armed and Armoured, plus 1 leader

The scenario is simple: the Spanish want to kill the leader, the Aztecs want to stop them. use basic terrain, rocks, creeks, whatever you have.

Special Rules- Movement of the conquistadors should not be blocked by the Aztecs due to their mounts.

June 18th 1429 Battle of Patay (Not Waterloo) Wargame Scenario

Today, I am choosing to create a scenario for the Battle of Patay, a crucial battle during the 100 Years’ War that shaped modern France and Europe. I know a far more famous and influential battle took place on June 18th. Here’s the deal: 10,000 people like me have written a slew of wargames regarding Waterloo. Most of them are far better than I could ever come up with. My biggest idea would be allowing the Prussians on the field and having the French try to hold off their assault while the rest of the French army attempted to defeat Wellington.

The Battle of Patay is a classic example of a small superior force taking on a larger, ill-trained, ill-equipped army. The English attempted a similar strategy as had worked in Crecy and Agincourt, relying on their longbows to decimate the heavily armed French Knights and infantry. The French identified the potential ambush and slaughtered the archers before approaching the main line.

Order of Battle
French
La Hire
180 Knights
1300 Men at Arms

English
John Fastolf
2000 Archers
3000 Infantry

Scenario
Baron’s War or other Medieval-style skirmish game
2 Players
50 or 60 models
Heavily wooded terrain
8×4 Table

Objective

After discovering the ambushers, French need to escape the board to French lines to report the position of the English longbows.
English, prevent the scouts from escaping.

Set-Up
10 French outriders should be set up on the furthest edge of the table. The English should randomly assign groups of five archers to different points on the board. I’d create a grid on the table, each section being 1′ by 1′. The English should have ten groups of 5 archers each assigned to a random grid part.

Game
When the French outriders enter a grid that contains English archers, they appear on the table and begin play.

Special Rules
Ambush, when the outriders enter a grid section containing the archers, they appear and get a surprise attack on the outriders.

Line of sight. Getting an open longshot in a dense forest is hard, the archers will need to work to contain the outriders.