Small Wars: Mohicans

Small Wars Mohicans

Small Wars: Mohicans is the first game of the Small Wars series. Covering the French and Indian War of the mid-18th century, it is based on a popular 1983 Canadian boardgame called Mohawk. Mohicans starts in 1754 and continues to 1760, which historically was the year after the conquest of Quebec by British forces (a founding event in the creation of modern Canada).

In Mohicans, the powerful regular forces of Britain fight for control of north-eastern North America against the mixed regular and irregular forces of the French and their local allies. The forces of both sides are bolstered by local militia units and other irregular forces, such as the famous French Couriers des Bois or British Rangers, and the arrival each year of more regular reinforcements from Europe.

While the British have the edge in firepower and numbers, the French have better mobility and their Indigenous allies can make effective use of terrain, particularly the massive forests that covered eastern North America at the time. The British are also more vulnerable to having their supply lines cut off.

Both sides seek to curry favour with the powerful but neutral Iroquois Confederacy, as an alliance with them is an enormous strategic advantage. With each major victory on the battlefield, one of the six tribes of the Iroquois will offer its support to the winning side. Get the support of all six tribes, and the Iroquois will join the fight.

To win the game, the British must hold three of the French cities and towns of Louisbourg, Frontenac, Duquesne, Montreal and Quebec (and at least one must be Montreal or Quebec). If they don’t do this by 1760, the French win by default.

The French can also win by holding the British cities of Albany and either New York, Boston or Philadelphia. This will be a tall order for the French but they can take comfort in the fact that the British, like NATO 250 years later have the watches, but the French have the time…

Combat occurs at the different locations, after the seasonal movement has been processed. It covers different battles, such as ambushes in woods, landings, raids on enemy villages and towns, field battles or forts assaults.

During the Winter between each of the 7 years of the war, reinforcements are received, militias and Indians are mustered and forts can be built.

MAIN FEATURES
The game contains:

• Over 100 game locations in a map of colonial North America in the 1750s, from Virginia to Eastern Canada.
• Fight the land campaign with units including the famed Courrier des Bois and British Rangers, along with Indigenous warriors, town militia and colonial and European regular troops.
• At sea, use your warships to clear the way for supply and troop ships to bring reinforcements from Europe.
• Use tactics like ambushes, sea invasions, raids and building forts to gain the advantage.
• Two players, takes two hours to play the board game or 45 minutes to play the video game.
• Language support: English and French (with more coming soon)
• Platform support: PC, Steam Deck and other handheld PCs at launch.
• Full controller support
• Single player vs the AI
• Local multiplayer (supports two controllers, great for couch gaming!): Game is playable in Multiplayer directly over the Internet Multiplayer (live over the Internet), cross-platform Multiplayer (PC/Mac/Mobile handheld consoles)
• It will also be Steam Deck compatible and offer full controller support.

HISTORY
Philippe THIBAUT (creator of Europa Universalis, and the SGS games series or the Britannia port to computer) and FOIBLE GAMES (Canadian Developer) have agreed in 2021 to work on the adaptation, improvement and port of the old 1983 boardgame “Mohawk” on the computer and to make a new version print of the game.

All have been for years great fans of the game and convene that it would be great to have a digital game engine allowing to play it when time is lacking or when finding a real-life opponent is not so easy.

Although first published in 1983 by Aulic Council Publishing, a new defunct Canadian company, the game has got a stable amount of fans over the last 40 years and is still played once in a while, but deserved a modernization of its design, gameplay and look.

The original rules and scenarios have been improved, to make them more in line with nowadays’ players expectations. And the computer version has been created in a way that the board gameplay is found again in the digital world.

PLAY DURATION
Estimated Playtime: 1 to many hours.
Number of Players: 1-2