Experiencing Muskets and Tomahawks

In January a couple of people from the Dutch Miniature Wargaming group on Facebook decided to meet up and have a beer and a chat. The idea was to meet people from all over the country in a central location. For the third outing we opted for a game of Muskets and Tomahawks in Zutphen.

My militia guarding the flank supported by Minutemen in the woods

I had already picked up on the buzz for this skirmish rule set for North American colonial warfare in the 18th and early 19th century. It combines mission driven scenario's with a card driven turn sequence.

Firefight between my sharpshooters & Minutemen and the Hessians.
Although I won round one, they later wiped out my sharpshooters

M&T works with a point system to determine the forces. 200 point gives you three to four units and enough to start with.  There is quite a range of troops types, from British grenadiers to Canadian Coureurs du Bois and New England militia. Each has special traits that give them the historical feel (eg some units have the 'native' trait, which means they are harder to spot because they are better at using the local terrain).Further variety is provided by optional upgrades to units and traits to your leaders.

Indians charging into the flank of the Continental Army. Although the Continentals were destroyed,
the braves were too hard hit to threaten the issue on the other flank

Both sides get open and hidden objectives to win the game. For example, your force may have the objective to torch the enemy buildings or inflict as many casualties as possible. On the other hand, your leader can have the instructions not to get within 6" of the enemy, or to make a glorious charge. It's up to you to reconcile these objectives.

The Hessian Jaeger taken in the flank. This further weakened the Imperialist force

The mechanics are simple. Combat is D6s with to hit and 'saving throws'. The card driven turn sequence allows for some gambles. You can try to race your opponent while reloading. Do I wait or go now? It´s a nice tactical challenge.


I was very much taken by the rules and how it plays out on the table. Enough tactics to be a challenge, but still fast and fun. Apparently only with skirmish sets are designers able to break from the urge to add too much detail and turn the game into an accounting excercise.

The coup de grace. Because they have lost more than 50% of their force,
the Imperialist Morale card is added to the deck. When it came up, 
all the imperialists units had to check morale at -2. Goodbye!

All in all a great day in good company. Leo, thanks for your good natured reaction to your grenadiers getting wiped out. Jasper and Christy thanks for the hospitality and good luck with the book on the Duke of Alva (where do I pre-order?).

Looking forward to the next Wargame-biertje