First Look: Muskets & Tomahawks

So whilst I was at the Broadside 2012 show I had a look at Muskets & Tomahawks from Studio Tomahawk (the chaps who brought us Saga).  I had been wondering about whether to get these rules since Salute 2012 and having read a few positive reviews I gave into temptation.

Muskets & Tomahawks is subtitled Skirmishes in North America during the 18th Century and is clearly aimed at the French & Indian War, the Indian Rebellions and the American War of Independence.  It's a 62 page paperback booklet with an accompanying deck of 45 cards. Whilst the covers are in colour the interior is black and white but all with a glossy finish.  The text is in a two column format interspersed with various examples and optional elements along with photographs, mainly of wargames figures and scenarios.

The rules are clearly laid out and relatively straightforward; there are a few clunky translations from the original French (including some bits that weren't) but these don't really detract from the whole.  The sequence of play is driven by the cards, the special feature here is that different troop types have different numbers of cards in the deck with differing numbers of actions permitted when they are drawn.  So Regulars will activate less frequently but have more actions per activation than Indians for example.  The card deck can also contain Event cards and other scenario or rule specific cards.  The standard approach does not include an end of turn card (like the Too Fat Lardies rules) although this is given as an optional rule.

Following the main rule sections is a scenario generator which contains three standard sizes of games, scenery set up and a set of simple but cleverly structured tables to provide an interesting mix of objectives for the two sides.  The game sizes are build around table size and point values (which isn't something I am usually keen on, but I can see how it is beneficial for a generating games on the night).

Next up is a section detailing the various combatants, a brief background and their characteristics.  This is followed by three appendices detailing the six scenario objectives, 31 side plots for individual officers (which will add an interesting dynamic to any scenario) and 36 random events.  Then finally there is a single page quick reference sheet.

The rules look very interesting to me and with Northstar producing a range of figures of accompany them I can see they are likely to provide a significant source of distraction from my current projects!