In November I hosted an online miniatures test game for some friends. It was the Battle of St. Denis, a historic battle between the British and French Patriots in Lower Canada (now Quebec, Canada) on November 23 1837. I used the Rebels and Patriots rules with 28mm miniatures, with two players a side. The French were defending, with the British trying to defeat the rebels.
I had never done an online web game with webcams of one of my miniature games. I did some testing myself beforehand, but had no clue how things would run with four other people online. I used the free program Jitsi as my interface for us to interact through. They rolled the necessary dice, explained what they wanted to do and I tried to run the game just like in person.
Video of the background to the historic battle and initial setup.
Here is how the game went...
The initial layout with the British four line infantry (two of them veteran) companies and a 24pdr howitzer on the left. The French were defending the outskirts of town with four line units, a skirmish unit and two units with only farm implements.
The British advanced a third of the way across the battlefield and started to take fire.
The British were now starting to fire back with all their infantry and the howitzer. An infantry company took advantage of cover in a farm house and barn during the advance.
British troops advanced closer to the French defending the fences to apply more pressure.
The British infantry in the open were starting to take losses.
Due to losses a British unit retreated from the battlefield.
The British Commander with his company charged the unit with French Commander and caused it to withdraw from the battle.
Even with the French Commander not on the battlefield, the French continued to fight on.
With the British advancing on the main stone building the French with improvised weapons charged the British Commander's unit, causing it to withdraw.
Another British company advanced on the stone building, but French inside caused significant casualties and the British withdrew.
Due to casualties and getting low on ammunition, the British withdrew. A French victory!
The battle played out pretty much as the real battle did. I think the rules worked out well for the battle and for the online game. It certainly takes more effort for the GM. The game lasted maybe 4.5 hours when in person I think it could have been finished in three. Using Jitsi was very successful with just the normal connection issues people have. Having an overview camera and a close up camera worked, but I think there might be a better way to do the close up camera. Having a second person helping me do the camera work would be the way to go. I think 28mm battles are the best for online miniature games. Anything smaller and it would be more difficult for players to play.
This is the first Rebels and Patriots game I've run and I think the key is cover. Being shot in the open can be rough, but for the period, lines in the open was standard practice.
Thanks to all those who participated and who knows, maybe I'll run another online game in the future. My preference is definitely in person, but this has proven I can run an online game. Also a great opportunity to game with friends from far off places. I recommend using a simple ruleset and the Jitsi online program with one or two HD webcams.
