Description

Ranger is a set of miniatures rules for the French & Indian War (Seven Years War in North America). The scale is skirmish: 1 figure = 1 man. The game consists of a 48-page booklet - players must provide their own miniatures, terrain, dice, etc.

Ranger covers small actions in the F&I war. Rogers' Rangers, Indians, line troops, marines, militia, coureurs de bois - the rules differentiate between them all. Rules for movement, ranged combat, melee combat, morale, wounds, disorganization, etc., are given.

Due to the extensive wilderness this war was fought in, there are rules for "fog of war." Each unit uses a "tray" - a simple board to hold the miniatures on. But you don't put the miniatures on the trays until contact is made. Instead, depending on the terrain, you actually use more trays than you have units! Certain amounts of dummy trays are allotted in each scenario, and you have to scout them out to see which are real and which are not. Even then you may not be able to tell what type of troops are on the trays until they fire at you...

Another interesting rule is the "officer incident" rule. At the end of each move when in fire combat, you must roll on the officer incident table. This is a table of 66 events - use 2d6, reading them as percentile dice. Results range from beneficial to deleterious, from mild to instant death. Many are humorous, such as #44: "A musket ball misses the officer's head, hits the flag staff, breaking it, the finial landing on the officer's crown, knocking him out. Light wound, unconscious for 1d6 moves."

Two scenarios are provided and advice given for creating more. There are background notes and extensive notes on what colors to paint the miniatures. A bibliography is also included.