Polemos Ruse de Guerre: Second Battle

The Battle of Quebec Polemos: Ruse de Guerre scenario was too good just waste in just a single playing, so I reloaded it and had another go now that I had a better understanding of the flow and finer points of the Polemos Ruse de Guerre rules.  I didn't make any changes at all from the first scenario.

Here is a summary of the orders of battle again:

British:
12 bases of Infantry
1 base of Skirmishers
2 bases of Artillery

French:
7 bases of Infantry
4 bases of Skirmishers
2 bases of Native American skirmishers
4 bases of Artillery

The Set-Up:

Viewing the British left wing, with the French on the left as viewed and the  Native Americans concealed in the rocks and bushes (bottom-right)

French artillery and infantry prepare to give the redcoats a fierce reception on the French right.

As they do on the left, too.

The British right wing prepares to advance

As does the British left wing

 The Battle:

The British begin a left-flanking movement - the Native Americans look to find a better position (left)

The British left and centre advance into French artillery range...

Splendid French gunnery, along with some accurate tirailleur fire, routs two British battalions in short order!

A view of the same from the French right-hand battery

The French left-hand battery achieves results nearly as good: another British battalion is broken and it flees to the rear (top-centre!)

On the other hand, the British left-wing attack has routed the light troops opposing them

Seeing the British advance falter, the French charge down the slopes!

Whilst further accurate French gunfire routs the Louisbourg Grenadiers too!

However in the centre, a crashing volley from the Highlanders routs one of the attacking French battalions

The British left slowly advances...

The British Highlanders' volley and counter-charge has routed two French battalions and shaken another; perhaps just as importantly, the threatened British 3lb guns (right) managed to hold off the attack upon them

In the confusion Montcalm himself and a French brigadier have been captured, the French centre routs and the army's morale collapses!

Game Notes:

Losses:
British: 4 infantry bases
French: 2 infantry bases, 2 skirmisher bases, 2 generals

A highly unlikely victory for the British here.  The French artillery caused so much devastation that it seemed impossible that Wolfe could triumph.  However, using the scenario deployments, it is quite difficult for the French to avoid having their left turned, so given the British losses, it was reasonable for the French to try and charge and destroy a British brigade.  The key moment wasn't so much the Highlanders' volley and charge, effective though that was, but the British artillery holding out against the odds against the initial French infantry charge.  Although it only recoiled the French, it allowed the Scotsmen to volley, charge and rout the troops in front of them.
Because the tempo points worked out quite differently than in the first game - in that the British held the initiative, in this game, the French held the tactical aces - it had quite a different character: units couldn't move and/or were destroyed easily, the sides couldn't get coordinated attacks going, the flank moves were really slow, generals couldn't rally their troops in time.  I shall have more to say about this in a later post. 
This game really rattled along, now I understood exactly how the tempo process and turn sequence would work in this game; the processes are not complicated, making it very quick to administer.