The Struggle for New France

The Struggle for New France Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components

one 22" x 17" game map
one Rulebook
two Player's Aids
62 event cards (31 British, 31 French)
114 unit counters (53 British, 61 French)
20 Leader counters (12 British, 8 French)
42 markers
two six sided dice

Setup

Place the map between the two players. Each player should familiarize themselves with the spaces on the map, paying particular attention to the Victory Point values of each space.

What is a Space?

Spaces are the points on the map that represent the different towns, cities, forts, fortresses and Indian Villages that existed in 1755. The type of the space is indicated in text and picture. The number to the left in the yellow box is the Victory Point value of the space. The number to the right of the space in the grey box is the Defense Value of the space (more on that later). The anchor symbol indicates that the space is a port.

Place the two Player's Aids next to the map, one in front of the British player and one in front of the French player.

The French player places the following units on the board in the locations noted. Any combination of counters equal to the indicated Strength Points for that location may be used.

Location	Strength Points	Leader
Quebec	8	Dieskau
Montreal	4	Bougainville
Fort Niagara	4	Contrecouer
Louisbourg	5	N/A
Fort Duquesne	2	N/A
Fort Carillon	2	N/A
Indian Villages	2 Indian Units per Village (18 total)	N/A

"Contrecouer" is printed this way in the rulebook; the map spells the name Contrecoeur.

The British player then places their units on the board in the following locations. Any combination of counters equal to the indicated Strength Points for that location may be used.

Location	Strength Points	Leader
Baltimore	7	Braddock
Albany	15	Shirley & Johnson
Halifax	5	Monckton
Fort Cumberland	2	N/A
Fort Oswego	1	N/A
Iraquios Indian Village	4 Indian Units	N/A

What is a Strength Point?

A Strength Point indicates the overall number of men that make up the unit. Each Strength Point, on average, represents 300 men. There are counters for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 10 strength units. At any time, you can switch out counters of equal strength. For example, you can replace one 5 strength unit with a 2 & 3 strength unit. Throughout the game, SP or SP's will be used as shorthand for Strength Points.

Place the Year marker on the 1755 space.

Place the Season marker on Spring.

Enlarged map on back cover.

The French player places the French VP x 10 marker on the 30 space and the VP x 1 marker on the 0 space of the Victory Point Track of their Player's Aid.

The British player places the British VP x 10 marker on the 30 space and the VP x 1 marker on the 0 space of the Victory Point Track of their Player's Aid.

Each player places their Sequence of Play marker on the British Reinforcement Phase of their Player's Aid.

Each player should shuffle their side's Event Cards and place them face down on the Draw Deck space of the Player's Aid. Each player then takes the top five cards for their first hand of play.

General Course of Play

The objective of The Struggle for New France is for each player to capture spaces on the map and thus gain Victory Points. For every Victory Point or Points one player captures, the other player loses an equal number of Victory Points. The Victory Conditions are as follows:

French Victory Conditions:
- The French player wins if they accumulate 45 Victory Points in the End Phase, OR
- At the end of 1762, if the French still control any of the following spaces: Montreal, Quebec, or Louisbourg.
British Victory Conditions:
- The British player wins if they accumulate 50 Victory Points in the End Phase, AND
- Controls all three of the following spaces: Montreal, Quebec, and Louisbourg.

What is a Victory Point?

A Victory Point is the value of the space on the map. At the start of the game, each player has 30 total Victory Points for all the spaces that they control in 1755. The goal of the game is to acquire Victory Points by capturing more spaces than your opponent. Throughout the game, VP or VP's will be used as shorthand for Victory Points. The Victory Point value of each space is listed on the map in yellow next to each space.

The game is divided into eight years with four seasons per year. For every Season (except Winter) of each year, there are seven phases.

Spring/Summer/Fall Seasons

Each Season has three phases per player, broken down in the following order. There is also an End Phase once both players have finished their respective three phases. The British player goes first.

Reinforcements Phase: During the Reinforcements Phase, each player may play one card from their hand to bring on new units and/or new leaders. Any played card is placed on the Active Card space of the Player's Aid as a reminder that the player has played a card for this Season.
Movement Phase: During the Movement Phase, each player may move all, some or none of their units and/or leaders. In addition, if the player has not already played a card, they may play it during this phase.
Combat Phase: If a player has moved any of their forces into an enemy controlled space, combat occurs. During combat, either side may play combat cards if they have not already played a card this Season.

The French player will then repeat the above three phases for their turn.

Interrupts: During a player's Reinforcement, Movement, and/or Combat phase, the opposing player may play an Interrupt card to disrupt the player's actions. Instructions are written on Interrupt cards to explain how they function.

Once both players have taken their turns, the End Phase is performed:

Both players move their active cards (if they played one) to the Discard Deck space.
Both players check to see if there is any change to the Victory Point count and adjust their tracks accordingly.
Check to see if either side has won the game. If not, advance the Season marker.

Winter Season

In Winter, each player has the option to discard as many cards as they like. Any discarded cards are placed on the Discard Deck space of the Player's Aid. They are no longer available for use in this game. Then each player draws their hand back up to five cards.

Reinforcements Phase

During the Reinforcements Phase, each player can bring in new Strength Points and/or Leaders. To do so, a player must play a Reinforcement card and place it on the Active Card space on the Player's Aid. Reinforcement cards are color-coded with a yellow bar on the left side. Certain conditions on the card must be met in order to play the card. For example, the French player must control Louisbourg or Quebec in order to bring in new forces.

(The rulebook illustrates this phase with two diagrams captioned "Play the card" and "Place the units".)

Movement Phase

During the Movement Phase, each player has the option to move all, some, or none of their forces along the lines that connect one space to another. The lines represent the roads, trails, and sea routes that connect the Villages, Towns, Cities, Forts, and Fortresses on the map. Below are the rules governing the ability to move:

A group of Strength Points in one space with or without a Leader is considered to be one force.
Forces must move from one space to another by using a connecting line.
A force must stop moving when it enters an enemy controlled space.
A force without a Leader may move one space and then engage in combat if necessary.
A force consisting of only Indians and no Leader may move one space and engage in combat. It may move two spaces if it does not enter an enemy controlled space.
A force that has a Leader can increase the number of spaces that it can move and initiate combat based on the Leader Rating of the Leader attached to the force.
- A force with a +1 Leader can move one space and engage in combat. It can move two spaces but cannot engage in battle in the second space.
- A force with a +2 Leader can move up to two spaces and can engage in combat in the first enemy controlled space it enters (either the first or second).
- A force with a +3 Leader can move up to three spaces and can engage in combat in the first enemy controlled space it enters (either the first or second). They may not engage in combat in the third space.
As the force moves, it can pick up or leave behind units and/or leaders.
A force may contain any number of strength points; there is no limit to how many can be present in a single space. However, note that there is no advantage gained on the Combat Loss Chart once the force exceeds 13 Strength Points.
Leaders may move during the Movement Phase but must end the phase with a force.

If the player has not already played a card this Season, they may play a Movement Card at any time during the Movement Phase. Any Movement Card played is placed on the Active Card space on the Player's Aid. Movement Cards are color-coded with a green bar on the left side.

Combat Phase

Once all movement is complete, the players should make note of any spaces where friendly forces are in enemy controlled spaces; for each space where this situation exists, combat occurs. The force that moved into the space is considered the attacker and the force that was in the space prior to the start of movement is considered the defender.

Combat works as follows:

The attacker totals up the Strength Points of their force.
The defender totals up the Strength Points of their force.
The defender adds the Defense Value of the space where the force is located to their total Strength Points. This number is found in the grey box to the right of the space.

What is Defense Value?

The Defense Value is the amount that the space increases the total combat factor of the defender during combat. The Defense Value of each space is listed on the map in grey to the right of the space. Villages, Towns and Cities have a Defense Value of 1. Forts have a Defense Value of 2 and Fortresses have a Defense Value of 3.

If a space is attacked and there are no forces present, the player that controls the space still receives the defense value for the defense of the space. The local forces and/or garrison are protecting the space.

Each player then decides whether they want to play a Combat card. Combat cards are color coded with a brown bar on the left side. A player may only play a card if they have not already done so this Season. Place the played card on the Active Card space on the Player's Aid.
Each player then rolls a die and adds the Leader Rating of one leader with their force. If multiple Leaders are present in the force, a player can only use the Leader Rating of one of those Leaders. A player is free to choose any Leader in a force.
Each player then checks the Combat Loss Chart and cross-references their total Strength Points on the top of the chart with their adjusted die roll on the left side of the chart. The number indicated is the number of losses inflicted on the opposing player.
Each player reduces their force by the number of losses indicated. Losses must come from Strength Points and cannot come from the Defense Value of the space.

See the Combat Loss Chart under Charts below.

Victory and Defeat

Once combat is complete, players determine the combat's winner:

The players compare their total losses. Whichever side suffers the most losses loses the combat.
If one player loses its entire force, it loses the combat regardless of the opposing force's losses.
If both player's losses are equal (including zero losses), the attacker loses the combat. (Ties always go to the defender.)
If there were no forces to defend the space and the defender only used the defense value of the space for their combat factor, the attacker needs to cause more losses than the defender to win the battle.

Retreat or Surrender

Once victory is determined, players determine what happens to the forces afterwards:

The winning player retains control of the space.
If the losing player is the attacker, they must retreat to the adjacent space from which they moved to initiate the attack. Note that, if multiple forces advanced from different spaces into the contested space, they must retreat to the original spaces they moved from.
If the losing player is the defender, they must retreat from the lost space to an adjacent friendly controlled or neutral space.
If the losing player cannot retreat to a friendly controlled or neutral space, then remove the forces permanently from the game.

What are friendly controlled, enemy controlled, and neutral spaces?

A friendly controlled space is a space that you control. Control is indicated in two ways:

The space has your flag printed on the map.
The space has a control marker placed on it. The control marker overrides what is printed on the map.

An enemy controlled space is a space controlled by the opposing player.

A neutral space is a space that neither player controls. The only spaces that can be neutral are Indian villages that have been destroyed and on which a Destroyed marker is placed.

Forts and Fortresses

Combat in Forts and Fortresses is the same as standard battles with one exception.

The defending force in a fort or fortress is not required to leave the space unless their entire force is destroyed.

If the defender's force is not destroyed, the attacker must retreat to the adjacent space from which they moved to initiate the attack.

Villages and Indians in Combat

Historically, both sides used extreme brutality when attacking Indian Villages. During combat, if the attacker wins a battle and takes the Village space, the attacker takes the opportunity to burn the Village down. The player places a Destroyed marker instead of a Control marker. The space is now a neutral space. The winner still receives the Victory Points for the win and the loser still loses Victory Points, but the space no longer counts toward the Victory Point total. In addition, defenders in that neutral space will no longer receive the Defense Value during combat.

During the war, Indian forces would return to their Villages after engaging in combat. Therefore, any Indian units that engage in a combat and survive are removed from that space and are placed in the closest allied Village that has not been destroyed.

If there are no undestroyed allied Villages remaining, the Indian unit(s) are removed permanently from the game.
If a force consisting of only Indian forces wins a combat, a Control marker is placed on the space where combat occurred before returning the Indian forces to their Villages.

Leaders

Leaders play an important role in combat as their Leader Rating is added to the die roll for combat resolution. However, it is possible that the Leader can die during combat.

If either player rolls an adjusted result of 5 through 9 during combat, there is the potential that their Leader may die. (There is an asterisk on the Combat Loss Chart to remind you of this possibility.)
Once combat is resolved, each player who rolled a 5 or higher must now make another die roll and reference the Leader Loss Chart to determine their Leader's fate.
If an entire force is destroyed, regardless of what type of space the battle occurred, the remaining Leader(s) must always retreat from the space where the combat took place to an adjacent friendly controlled or neutral space. If the Leader cannot retreat to a friendly or neutral space, then remove the leader permanently from the game.

See the Leader Loss Chart under Charts below.

Control and Victory Points

If the attacker wins a combat for a space, they must place one of their Control markers on that space (but remember Indian Villages, above).

A player will retain control of that space for the rest of the game unless it is recaptured by the other player. There is no need to keep a force in the space to maintain control of the space.

During the End Phase, both players must adjust their Victory Points if any spaces changed sides. The Victory Point value of the space is indicated by the number in the yellow box to the left of the space. The winner will increase their victory points by that amount, while the loser will decrease their victory points by the same amount.

Interrupt Cards

Interrupt Cards allow a player to disrupt the play of the opposing player. Interrupt Cards may only be played if the player has not played a card previously this Season. To play an Interrupt Card, a player must reveal the card at the moment they wish the event to occur and place it on the Active Card space on the Player's Aid. Interrupt Cards are color-coded with a blue bar on the left side. Each card indicates when and how it can be used. For example, the British Blockade card is played immediately after the French player plays a Reinforcement Card. The French player would then not be able to place those reinforcements and will have wasted their card play for the season.

Combat Example

The year is 1758 and the Season is Spring. The British player is in the process of moving his forces during the British Movement Phase.

The British have a force of 15 Strength Points in the town of Deerfield. Monckton, a Leader with a +2 Leader Rating, is in command of this force.
Monckton moves from Deerfield to the town of Hampshire.
Hampshire is occupied by a French force of 8 Strength Points. Drucor, a leader with a +1 Leader Rating, is in command of this force.

Combat commences in the following manner:

Each player totals the number of Strength Points in their force.
- The British force has 15 Strength Points.
- As the French are the defending force, they combine the total of their Strength Points with the Defense Value of the space in which they are defending. In this instance, they have 8 Strength Points in their force and 1 Strength Point from the Defense Value of the space. The total French combined Strength Points are 9 (8+1).
Each player must then decide whether they want to play a combat card.
- The British player decides not to play a card.
- The French player decides to play 'Troops de la Marine' which gives them an additional +2 Strength Points. The French force is now at 11 Strength Points (9+2).
Each player rolls a die and adds their Leader's Rating to the die roll.
- The British player rolls a 4.
- The result of 4 is added to Monckton's Leader Rating of +2.
- The British player's modified die roll is now 6 (4+2).
- The French player rolls a 1.
- The result of 1 is added to Drucor's Leader Rating of +1.
- The French player's modified die roll is now 2 (1+1).
Each player cross-references their total Strength Points to their modified die roll.
- The British player's modified die roll of 6 for 13+ Strength Points indicates that they inflict a loss of 4 Strength Points on the French Force.
- The French player's modified die roll of 2 for 11 Strength Points indicates that they inflict a loss of 2 Strength Points on the British Force.
- The British player has won but since they rolled a 6, the player must also roll a die and compare the result to the Leader Loss Chart to determine what happens to their Leader, Monckton.

Charts

These charts are printed on the rulebook's enlarged map and are referenced by the rules above. The printed Combat Loss Chart is also on the page with the combat steps.

Combat Loss Chart

Cross-reference the total Strength Points (top of the chart) with the adjusted die roll (left side of the chart). The number indicated is the number of losses inflicted on the opposing player.

D6 (1)	1-2	3-4	5-6	7-8	9-10	11-12	13+
1-2	0	0	1	1	2	2	3
3-4	0	1	1	2	2	3	3
5-6*	1	1	2	2	3	3	4

Combat Factors (2) across the top.

(1) Add leader's rating to D6 die roll. (2) Add Total Strength Points + Defense Value + Combat Card. * Roll on Leader Loss chart.

Leader Loss Chart

D6	Result
1	Leader is decapitated by solid shot. Remove leader from play. Troops Panic; lose 1 SP.
2	Leader suffers a leg wound and must undergo an amputation. Roll D6: 1-3 Survives and stays with force, 4-6 Dies and remove from play.*
3	Leader suffers a arm wound and must undergo an amputation. Roll D6: 1-4 Survives and stays with force, 5-6 Dies and remove from play.*
4	Leader suffers major body wound. Place him in a friendly area two areas away. He is available in his next activation.*
5	Leader suffers minor wound and shrugs it off! Leader stays with force.
6	Leader has his hat shot off but is uninjured. His troops are inspired. Gain 1 SP.

* When a leader suffers a wound (Result #2-4) and survives, flip counter to the wounded side. If he suffers a wound again, immediately remove leader from play.

Movement Chart

Unit Type	Move 1 Area	Move 2 Areas	Move 3 Areas
Leaderless Force	Yes and Battle	No	No
Indian Force	Yes and Battle	Yes but no Battle	No
+1 Leader	Yes and Battle	Yes but no Battle	No
+2 Leader	Yes and Battle	Yes and Battle	No
+3 Leader	Yes and Battle	Yes and Battle	Yes but no Battle

Designer Notes

The Struggle for New France is my attempt to create an introductory level game using simple mechanics, yet with just enough detail to allow the players to deal with the many issues both sides encountered during the struggle. These issues are reflected in the Event Cards, which are designed to show the political, military, and other outside events that occurred during the war. Playing these cards reflects the random nature of such events and allows multiple replays in a manner that is not predictable.

The reinforcements reflect the orders of battle I gleaned from multiple sources. But rather than have them arrive as they did historically, the Event Cards give a bit of randomness, along with the arrival of certain leaders. In playing the game, a player will be waiting for that +3 Leader to arrive on the field in order to move their forces faster through spaces... but will that leader arrive in the first turn hand draw, or the last? Hopefully this will create some uncertainty and tension for both players.

The problem for the British player in the early stages of the game will be to hold the western frontier and keep the French player from attaining control of Baltimore before British forces are ready to move up the seacoast. The best option for the French player is to use their Indian allies in the early turns while they have relatively equal numbers of Strength Points and seize as many of the British spaces as they can, allowing them to maintain a strong defense while trying to hold out until the Winter 1762 turn. The French player also must at all costs hold on to the key city of Louisbourg and Quebec. If both of these vital spaces fall under British control, the French player will not be able to bring in reinforcements and thus will be hard pressed to maintain a strong presence on the board.

Usually by 1758 the growing might of the British army will allow the British player to go on the offensive, so the French player's last chance for victory will be to stubbornly defend his three key cities before the game ends.

The History

The French and Indian War, or Seven Years War as it was known outside of North America, began in 1754. It was in fact a true world war, with nearly every major power of the era at odds involved in the fighting, a situation that would be repeated several times over the next two centuries. The French and Indian War could be considered America's First World War.

The cause of the French and Indian War in North America was the dispute over French-occupied lands that were coveted by the British colony of Virginia. The governor of Virginia sent the young George Washington to oust the French from those disputed territories. In addition, the Native American Indians, who had a long history of trade with the French, made the situation even more complex. Leading a small party of militia and Indians led by the Indian leader the Half King, Washington ambushed a small French detachment near present-day Pittsburgh. He then built a small palisade fort that was described as some sticks in a circle and awaited the French attack, a move which proved disastrous to Washington and his men.

The war, which started as a local skirmish in far-away colonies, took over a year to become a formal war between France and Great Britain. Even during that time, there were multiple skirmishes all along the frontier.

The British plan for the domination of New France was a three-pronged assault:

March on Fort Duquesne in western Pennsylvania (Braddock's defeat).
To march north to Lake George in preparation for a move towards Montreal.
March towards Fort Niagara.

For the most part, all these advances led to disasters. Only the march towards Lake George had some success, with a fort being built at the southern end of the lake within striking distance of the French at Fort Carillon and the pathway to Montreal.

In the game, the British player will find the same issues in trying to advance on Montreal and Quebec, while keeping enough forces to guard the frontiers. The French will need to use their Indian allies to try to keep the British dispersed, guarding their western spaces such as Ft. Cumberland and Carlisle.

The war dragged on with the French having the upper hand after winning several major battles at several places, including Fort Oswego, Fort William Henry, and Fort Carillon. Unfortunately for the French, the British, under the leadership of William Pitt back in Britain, sent vast amounts of men, material and money to North America to take New France. Meanwhile, King Louis XVI had decided that when the house is on fire, you do not worry about the stables...

Once the large fortress of Louisbourg, key to the St. Lawrence River, fell in 1758, the French colony could no longer receive help from the mother country and the end of French rule in what would later be known as Canada was only a matter of time. The peace treaty was signed in February 1763.