Mohawks vs. Ostend Privateers Battle Report

By Niguel Vega

Black Kettle reflected on the strange circumstances that found him leading his warriors through the sparse woods.

The men they tracked were unfamiliar to him – his English allies had described them as the last remnants of an empire in decline. They’d raided several caches of pelts along the river, and it had fallen upon him and his braves to drive them from their lands.

He ran his thumb along the smooth finish of the English musket he carried, marveling at its craftsmanship as his warriors settled into prime ambush positions. Hearing the sound of strange, foreign voices, he raised the weapon to his shoulder and waited for the enemy to come into view.

For today’s battle report, Tom and I played a game of Ostend Privateers versus the Mohawks from the Fire on the Frontier expansion.

Niguel’s FotF Iroquois (Mohawk)

All Fire on the Frontier Native American Force Special Rules:

This Force may not include ships of size 2 or larger.
If this Force is the attacker in a scenario, it may deploy half of its units (round down) following the Lay in Wait scenario rule.
Any size 1 boat included in this Force gains the Paddles Trait.
This force may not include Artillery.
When a shooting attack is declared against any unit in this Force that is not prone, before the attack is rolled, the targeted unit may gain a -1 bonus to its Shoot Saves for that attack. After the attack is resolved, this unit goes prone.
All units in this force gain the Poorly Equipped and War Cry special rules.

Fire on the Frontier Iroquois Force Special Rules:

Units in this Force gain the Cunning and Battle Hardened special rules.
This force adds +2 when determining the Attacker in a Scenario.

Mohawk Tribe Special Rules

Due to their proximity to the New England states, the Mohawk may exchange the Cunning for Well-Equipped special rule.

Lay in Wait: Units that Lay in Wait may set up last after all other units have been placed on the board. They must be set up in or behind Cover and must start the battle Prone. They may ignore the scenario rules for deployment and be placed anywhere on the board, but may not be placed within 9” of an enemy unit.

Mohawk Force Breakdown:

Black Kettle attached to a unit of seven Pnieses, upgraded to War Captains with a Sharpshooter.
Two 6-man Units of Braves upgraded to veterans

Niguel went for a small force of Mohawks comprised entirely of veteran units, including the elite Pnieses led by the very aggressive Black Kettle. This Bloodthirsty historical commander grants Ruthless to any unit he leads and temporarily bestows Ruthless on a unit acting under one of his Command Points. Niguel chose to exchange Cunning for Well Equipped for all his units, eliminating any penalty to their reload speed.

His strategy was simple – use the supporting Braves to soften up and suppress enemy units, then have Black Kettle and the Pnieses deal the coup de grace with either a punishing volley or overwhelming charge. However, at only 20 models, he was very likely to be outnumbered and risked having his units overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the opposition.

Tom’s Spanish Ostend Privateers:

Ostend Privateers Force Special Rules:

All units in this Force gain the Ruthless Special Rule.
This Force adds a +2 to its roll to determine attacker in a scenario.
Units in the Force ignore the effects of the Poorly Equipped Special Rule.

Ostend Privateer Force Breakdown:

Experienced Corsair Commander attached to six Kapers
Five Enter Ploeg with a Grizzled Veteran
Two units of six Corsairos

“So Basically I thought I could close the distance between me and the enemy and overwhelm him with concentrated musket fire….It did not work out that way” – Tom

Today’s game was a Take and Hold Scenario, which involves three objective marks being placed on the board before unit placement, one in the center and the other two 12 inches away along the centerline. A force gains a Strike Point if the enemy force has units that are not Shaken within 4” of any two objective markers and that force has no units that are not Shaken within 4” of the same markers.

In this game, the Mohawks won the roll-off and served as the attackers, which allowed them to use the Lay in Wait rule.

Using the Lay in Wait, Niguel set up his braves within the deployment zone dictated by the scenario, then once both he and Tom had completed their standard deployment, chose to place Black Kettle and the Pnieses in cover (and prone) in the center of the board and in control of the centrally located objective.

Turn 1

Having one less unit than Tom, Niguel chose to pass on the first card play.

Tom spent the first turn pushing the Kapers, Enter Ploeg, and one unit of Corsairos into the centrally located woods where one of the objectives was held by Black Kettle and the Pnieses. The remaining unit of Corsairos pushed forward on Tom’s right flank in an effort to occupy the objective located there.

Black Kettle wasted no time, ordering his Pnieses to stand from prone, then Shooting at Tom’s Kapers, using a second action to trigger Marksman, as well as using the War Captain’s ability to further improve their accuracy. The results were devastating – five of the Kapers were struck, with three succumbed to their injuries.

One unit of Braves moved up towards the objective on Niguel’s far-right, the other moved through cover towards Niguel’s left in an attempt to cover the approach of Tom’s Corsairos as they threatened to occupy the objective there. The Braves each took shots at separate units of Corsairos – the Corsairos who’d advanced towards the center suffered a single casualty while the others escaped unscathed.

As the Mohawks controlled two objectives while the Ostend Privateers controlled none, Tom’s Privateers suffered a Strike Point.

End of Turn 1 Strike Points: Mohawks 0, Ostend Privateers 1

Turn 2

Black Kettle and the Pnieses seized the initiative, moving effortlessly through the woods before charging both the Kapers and the nearby Corsairos, taking some defensive fire from the less fatigued Corsarios. The Kapers, still suffering from more fatigue than their attackers, triggered Ruthless, and that plus Hard Chargers and War Captains had the Pnieses hitting on 2+ and Black Kettle hitting on a 3+. Despite all that, the initial fight test was less than ideal, but the expenditure of a Fortune Point for a reroll saw the Pnieses score 8 hits, which had to be divided between the two units.

The Kapers were killed to a man, the Corsair Commander Cheating Death by spending a Fortune Point and replacing one of the nearby Enter Ploeg. The Corsairos, for their part, were reduced to two men, incurring a 5-dice morale test, and subsequently routed due to fatigue. The Pnieses consolidated away from the locked and loaded Ploeg, then tried to move further away under Black Kettle’s command, accruing a point of fatigue for the effort. Lastly, Black Kettle used a Command to move the nearby Braves closer.*

The Enter Ploeg, now led by their Commander, girded themselves with a Rally action before hastily charging Kettle’s Pnieses, who were still within charge range despite their best efforts. The Pnieses suffered a third point of fatigue as they used Evade to avoid the first charge, leaving them Shaken, but the Ploeg would not be denied their vengeance and charged again, cutting down 3 of the Pnieses and pursuing them as they suffered a fourth point of Fatigue and retreated**.

The Braves near the fight between the Ploeg and the Pnieses moved into position, then charged into the flank of the Ploeg, killing all but one Ploeg and the Commander, who held fast despite the overwhelming odds.

The remaining Corsairos shot at the other Braves who dived for cover and suffered no hits. For their part, the Braves stood back up and partially reloaded.

With the Privateers having accumulated 2 more strike points due to casualties to the Mohawks none, Tom was forced to make a Strike Test against his Commander’s morale, which he failed.

3 – 0 Strike point victory for the Mohawks.

* Niguel forgot to utilize the War Cry ability granted to all Native Factions in FotF.

** Both Niguel and Tom forgot that Shaken units are not allowed melee saves.

Tom’s Final Analysis: “I should stop taking sea-based forces to fight natives in a jungle… it’s like bringing a knife to a gunfight. Additionally, the Scout rule is HUGE. I was hampered constantly. I couldn’t pursue units that were fleeing, because they had four inches of movement to my three.

My greater numbers didn’t help me much because I was constantly trying to get close enough to hit him. By the time I did, he pounced! I will be looking carefully at some lists that better match up against some of these interesting native lists from Fire on the Frontier.”

Niguel’s Final Analysis: “The Mohawks, in particular, are excellent skirmishers, benefiting from the option to avoid reloading issues by exchanging Cunning for Well-Equipped.

The Pnieses with Ruthless and War Captains from Black Kettle, and Markman from the Sharpshooter, were murderously accurate when they delivered their volley, and almost unmatched in melee. Winning the attacker roll allowed me to place my command unit within control of the central objective, and that circumstance coupled with the Privateers’ inability to fire at me from Long Range because of Hidden, forced Tom to either advance on their position or surrender the only objective that benefited from cover.

Still, I don’t believe this was as one-sided as the Strike Points suggest – my command unit was positioned far in advance of my supporting units, and there were moments when Black Kettle and his entourage were in danger of being overwhelmed. I recommend a degree of caution when using Lay in Wait, as placing an important unit in an area where they’re unsupported can leave them dangerously exposed. With an elite list, you’re almost always going to be outnumbered, so you have to very carefully manage your units to avoid a costly mistake.

Also, know your list – the Force Builder still has some errors and omissions with regards to the FotF factions, so make sure you go over your list before you play.

The FotF Native factions are a welcome addition to B&P. As a longtime player of North American Natives, who longed for lists with greater effective use of musketry, I immediately took advantage of the new units. That said, even as an experienced player, it’s very easy, in the heat of the moment, to overlook Faction, Leader, Unit and/or Character awarded skill or ability. That oversight can often cost you the game.

These are very crunchy factions, and might demand a bit more skill and experience from a player, but they are also very rewarding, and I find them endlessly fun to play. “