Highlanders:

The Seven Years War in North America

review by Dan Schorr

Written by Bruce MacFarlane and published by The Canadian Wargames Group, 207 Bernard Drive NW,Calgary, Alberta T3K 2B6, Canada. $16.00 check (US or Can), Money Order,VISA or MASTERCARD (#1 Name, Expiration) postage paid. 72 pages. This booklet is more than just a set of table top wargame rules for the Seven Years War in North America ( The French and Indian War as we know it south of the border). It is a complete package which contains everything one needs to wargame this conflict, except the figures. The booklet's 72 pages are filled with information and rules. There are chapters on the combatants, geography, tactics, uniforms and flags. The latter two contain the essentials and greatly reduce the research necessary to begin painting. There is a campaign game complete with printed counters, and a mini-campaign game on the Siege of Quebec, as well as 11 scenarios for battles and skirmishes. Finally, there are two sets of miniature rules, one for large scale battles and the other for skirmishes.

The miniature rules are pretty standard although they contain a unique feature called the action phase. Each C-in-C is allocated 10 cards. Each card indicates the number of actions (from I to 3) that each unit in the army may perform during the current turn. An action is move, fire, or change face/formation. The number of cards in each C-in-C's deck with 3, 2 or I action depends on the quality of the C-in-C (Buffoon, Plodding, Efficient and Brilliant). For example, a Plodding C-in-C has two 3-action and four 2action cards, while a Brilliant C-in-C has four 3-action and four 2action cards. Each turn a card is randomly drawn from the shuffledeck. This procedure combined with the variable command radius should add a great deal of variety and uncertainty to the game.

By far the greatest value in Habitants and Highlanders is the campaign game and the 11 scenarios. The campaign game covers the entire geographical area of the conflict from Louisbourg to Lake Michigan, and Alexandria, VA to the Algonquin villages north of Quebec. The printed counters represent all major European units, the various Indian tribes, American and Canadian militia, the Troupes de la Marine and the major leaders of both sides. The nice thing about this campaign game is that it is designed to produce miniature battles and skirmishes which in rum decide the campaign, rather than the campaign being decided by map movement. Although written to tie into the battle and skirmish rules provided in the booklet, these campaign rules can be used with any set of miniature rules. The 111 scenarios range from skirmishes to major battles, and two of the scenarios have adaptations for solo play. All in all Habitants and Highlanders provides great value for the money, especially considering what is being charged for scenario booklets for other popular rules. Highly Recommended.

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