Beaver Wars - Turn 4 Conclusion & Wrap-up of Phase 1 of Playtest

After we played out the first three battles of the Turn 4 of the Beaver Wars playtest, I never expected it to take 2 1/2 months to get around to doing the final two. Some issues at work ate into both my motivation and my time. One of our ordinary Sunday night gaming crew asked for a break from First Command Wargames playtesting, and we were more than happy to grant it. Add to that a busy May convention schedule, and we encountered delay after delay in picking it up again.

Four of us got together to fight out the last two battles. In one, the Ojibwe were attacking another Potawatomie village. In the other, the Seneca sought to take over the last of the Illinois towns. Keith showed up to help us fight them out, so he fought Steve's Ojibwe while I tried to hold the ground for the Illinois. Since we had fought all six choices for "Invasion" battles, I set up both boards before the players arrived. One would be a battle amidst the longhouses and wigwams of the Potawatomie village. The other would be fought in the woods near a rocky outcrop just outside of the Illinois village.

The intervening weeks had seen us reflect on the performance of "Youths" in the campaign. We all felt they were simply too weak and not worth the cost even at 2 Youths = 1 Warrior. Keith and I exchanged emails and came up with something we liked. We would improve their Quality score from 5 to 4. We would also give them the "Woodsman" trait, meaning they could move normally in the woods rather than slower. However, to balance it out, we gave them the "Wavering" trait, which meant they would be -1 on morale checks. Keith ran the points and found that, when both were armed with a Bow, they came out to exactly half of a warrior's point value according to the Song of Drums and Tomahawks point system. Perfect!

    Seneca warriors form a firing line to snipe with my Illinois defenders

We would definitely get a chance to see how they'd perform, as all players selected a good number for their rosters. Many of us chose the exact same breakdown: 1 Chieftain, 6 Warriors, and 4 Youths.  At the conclusion of the games, all four players gave a thumbs up to the changes. The Youths could be an asset in battle, but still needed to be used carefully.

In my battle against Mike's Seneca, I formed the Youths up as a second line. Think of them as "linebackers." In Song of Drums and Tomahawks rules, you must fire at the closest enemy (unless he is a worse shot because of cover or whatever). So, I was careful to make the Seneca target my Warriors, who at a Combat score of 2 should be more survivable than the Youth's 1. This worked for the most part, except it meant that as I lost troops, I lost my tougher and more experienced warriors. Mike wasn't as careful with his Youths, which meant I picked off a number of them. It was a heck of a battle, though. Both of us had to take "Below 50%" moral checks. It came down to my Illinois Chieftain and 3 Youths vs. the Seneca Chieftain and 2 Warriors. I got a bit risky with my leader and he was killed. The Youths fled back towards their lines, and we decided to call the game. The Seneca invasion force had been bloodied, but they held the field of battle and collected their scalps.

    Potawatomi braves attempt to defend their town from the Ojibwe invaders

I did not get to see much of Keith and Steve's battle, even though they were sitting right next to me. I did hear the groans of Keith as the Potawatomie were rolling no better under his command than they had so far in this game under Joel. In fact, Joel was so disheartened with how his tribe was progressing in the Beaver Wars that he actually dropped out, turning them into an non-player tribe. I will discuss this aspect later in this post. It looked like each tribe's warriors tried to form a strong point in the village and pick off the enemy with ranged weapons. Twice, Steve's victorious warriors charged out after enemy scalps, which forced the battle into hand-to-hand. The Ojibwe proved the stronger at this, and soon the Potawatomie were fleeing out the back gates of one of their last villages in the Ohio country.

    The campaign map at the end of turn 4

At the end of four turns of playtest, the Ojibwe held a one point lead over the Seneca for control of the Ohio territory. Both had won a similar number of battles, controlled the same amount of towns, and had turned in the same number of beaver pelts. The Ojibwe edge was in battlefield experience points, where they held a six point lead. Both Steve and Mike are aggressive players, and it would be very likely they would clash in the future. However, it is just as likely that they'd declare a truce and attack the other three tribes (Ottawa, Miami, and Wyandot). The chart below shows the scores in each of the four categories, along with the standings at the end of four turns.

Afterwards, I wanted to talk to the players about how the campaign was progressing. Although Keith, Steve, and Mike were all very positive about how it was playing, I had some issues. It came to four main points that I did not like about the way the rules were written at this point. These were:

#1 - The campaign system meant that usually not everyone had a battle to fight in each turn. When tribes chose to "Trap & Hunt" or "Visit the Trading Post," they usually would not have a battle. This meant they were often relegated to sitting and watching the others play. To me, that was unacceptable on a gaming evening. Sure, it might work in a large club, where there are plenty of other things to do. But in a small gaming group meeting on an evening to do a turn of Beaver Wars, I don't like some people not being able to play.

#2 - Players were being knocked out of the campaign. Joel's Potawatomie were essentially knocked out only 1/3 of the way in. Some have no problem with this type of game. Think of "Risk," for example, which always results in players be knocked out one by one. To me, that is old school, and I would rather have all my players involved up till the end. The lower ranking ones may have no chance of winning, but they should still be able to show up and do something.

    My Illinois tribesmen cluster atop a rocky outcrop in attempt to hold off the Seneca attack

#3 - The campaign had the potential to generate too many battles to be resolved in one meeting. Although the players felt there was no such thing as "too many" battles, I felt this could lead to logistical issues getting the right combination of players to show up in a subsequent evening. It took us 2 1/2 months to finish off Turn 4. It is true there were other factors that helped cause that. As a GM, I like it to be clean and neat. We meet for an evening of a campaign, we should walk out with all battles finished.

#4 - Keeping track of individual experience points for figures that survived battles was too much. I had suspected this might be the case going in, but four turns of the campaign proved it would be a lot to ask of prospective players or GMs. I wanted the system to be more elegant and simple. Keeping track of each warriors's XPs and then what traits he has purchased was simply too much logistics for a campaign I wanted to produce.

So, was Beaver Wars done? No. I had been brainstorming ideas in the week leading up to our evening and had come up with some ideas to retool the campaign. After getting the players' input on the campaign, and asking their feedback on the four issues above, I presented my ideas to them. All three liked the ideas I had to change Beaver Wars and make it more simple and elegant. They gave a couple suggestions to the new system that I liked, as well.

    The clash between Seneca and Illinois gets bloody and up close as Indian warriors and youths close to hand-to-hand

Since it would be pointless to play out six more turns if I was going to make major changes, I decided to call Phase 1 of the Beaver Wars playtest complete. I would assemble players to restart the campaign using the newer system. To me, I want a campaign system that will be easy for people who purchase it to handle. I want the game systems to work together seamlessly and do an elegant job of producing tabletop battles for players to have fun resolving. I want players to have fun seeing how a campaign is progressing without being bogged down with or arguing over minutiae.

So, watch this blog for the start of Phase 2 of the Beaver Wars playtest. We may even try out the earlier, mid-1600s campaign which features the initial Iroquois onslaught into the Ohio area. It will give us more chances to test our rules adaptions for the early period, as well. I hope you have enjoyed reading this account of the Beaver Wars. Yes, unfortunately the changes and more playtesting means it may be more months before the rules are published. A bright spot is that the retooling will require more scenarios which will be included in the rule book. So, even those who don't want to play out a 10-turn campaign may be interested in a supplement that contains dozens of scenarios. I am more excited about the final product now than I was before, and think purchasers will get much more bang for their buck!

Indian fighting at Fort Meigs

    Friday night's crowd was full for Ohio Frontier Aflame and saw a massive French victory

I'd decided that I would be changing the four scenarios I run as part of "The Ohio Frontier Aflame" game that I run at conventions. So, the trip up to Fort Meigs for Drums at the Rapids 2015 would be the last running of these games. The four battles seem well balanced, with a wide variety of French-allied victories and British-allied wins. I use the games to showcase my French & Indian War rules, Song of Drums and Tomahawks (which you can see for sale on the table in the picture above!). As always, I receive compliments on the look of the table, and once again players had fun and enjoyed themselves. We sold 11 copies of the rules that weekend, though three were to the Fort Meigs gift shop. That is something I'd like to do this summer -- contact the gift shops of historical sites and see if they'd be interested in carrying our rules.

    The Huron rescue party takes a two-pronged approach to their attempt to recover their captives from Stockbridge Indian raiders

Commercialism aside, it was nice to have a full eight players for both Friday evening and Saturday morning's games. We were put in the meeting room of the visitor center due to my 12' long table. The players were happy to use the rolling, comfy office chairs, though once the game gets going, most end up standing a significant percentage of the time! Even better, by opening the Venetian blinds in the meeting room, we had a nice view of the reconstructed War of 1812-era Fort Meigs. There is nothing like playing a game set in the contested frontier while looking out at a battle site that played a part in the struggle. Even better, after I'd packed up Saturday afternoon, I went for a one hour stroll through the fort grounds (which are included in the convention admission). Fort Meigs is an excellent, atmospheric site, and I always make it a point to take one of the gaming sessions off and take my time to explore the fort. Many of the blockhouses have displays and exhibits, so it is easy for a history buff to eat up an hour or more immersing yourself in the past.

    A wagon load of women and children are so close to reaching the safety of the blockhouses, but Indian raiders close in to try to cut off their escape

Friday night's game was a hoot, as I knew a good number of the players. There was lots of bantering back and forth (I know...surprise, surprise!), and the players frequently found humor in the events of the game. There is a truism in miniature gaming that you should never seek to roll dice against kids and women. However, the French-allied side disproved that one by trouncing Heidi and three Toledo-area high school students fairly handily. Everyone enjoyed their games, though. There was an especially dramatic moment when the sole surviving Stockbridge Indian held off a half dozen Hurons, killing several in turn. Had he killed one more he would have forced a morale check on the Hurons (who were teetering close to the "Below 50%" mark). If the rolls went bad, that hero could have won the day. Numbers eventually told, though, and the Hurons recovered their women and children captives from the Stockbridge allies of Rogers Rangers.

    Ojibwe Indians use trickery to gain access to a British fort and attack the garrison

Saturday's game was much, much closer. It also saw one of the rare occurrences of reinforcements from one game turn the tide in the other. The Ojibwe Indians were driving the British soldiers out of the fort and were close to winning the game, when suddenly a force of a half dozen frontiersmen showed up at the front gate. They had driven off the Indians who were rampaging around their blockhouse (sadly, not before the Indians had scalped a wagonload of women and children trying to reach the safety). The frontiersmen were in a vengeful mood, and their arrival turned the tide and rescued the British regulars. That incident alone may have been what made the French-allied side eke out a narrow victory in the second game. As always, the players seemed to enjoy themselves, with a number purchasing the rules after playing.

    Atmospheric Fort Meigs -- strolling its reconstructed War of 1812 grounds is a bonus to your convention admission!

In the evening, four of us tested out my friend's scenario he will be running this weekend at Nashcon. Keith is one of my co-authors, and he will be running a three-scenario array chronicling stages of the Raid on Fort Amanda. We played the Boat Builder scenario, which features an Indian warparty attacking a lightly-armed working party building boats along the river. After one turn, the Indians had wreaked so much slaughter, Keith did a "reset" and changed some parameters of the scenario. This resulted in a much closer game. To my surprise, our boat builders -- most of whom do not have muskets -- were able to win the game. Particularly satisfying was defeating my other coauthor Mike on our half of the battlefield...!

All in all, it was a good weekend of gaming at Fort Meigs. I highly recommend people check out one of the events HMGS Great Lakes holds there: Drums at the Rapids in May, and World at War Miniature Wargaming Day in November. They are intimate, friendly events that you are bound to enjoy.

Frontier extends south to Cincycon

    A good-natured batch of players game out another session of the Ohio Frontier Aflame using our Song of Drums and Tomahawks rules

Last weekend, I headed south a couple hours to Cincycon, which would be located at the Butler County Fairgrounds in Hamilton, OH (near Cincinnati). I'd scheduled so many conventions this school year that I was fresh out of personal days. That meant I had to teach a full day and then dash south. It also meant there would be no way I would be ready for my 6 pm game, in time. It was my fault for not confirming the time, though. I assumed selecting "Evening" for my start time meant 7 pm. Luckily, a friend was already there and they put a sign on my table informing people the start time had been moved to 7 pm.

Perhaps because of this (or what seemed to be lighter attendance on Friday evening), I had only four players out of my possible eight. I let them choose which of the four scenarios they wanted to play, and we sat down and began the rules explanation. Song of Drums and Tomahawks rules don't take long to pick up, so before long, the players were deploying and the first shots rang out. I had two lady players and two men, and the ladies chose to play the French side in the "Interrupted Raid" and "Rescue the Captives" scenarios.

    A Huron hunting party returns through the palisade entrance, interrupting a raid by Rogers Rangers

Rogers Rangers got the jump on the Huron hunting party returning to the Indian village right away. The Huron player was rolling terrible for activations, allowing the Rangers to regroup (they start scattered throughout the village) and open fire on the Huron braves as they slowly filtered into the village. The Hurons charged into contact as they were able to, but the Ranger musketry wore them down. It ended up being more one-sided of a battle than usual -- in fact, it was the first Ranger crushing victory ever in this scenario.

Meanwhile, the Ranger's Stockbridge Indian allies were in a much bloodier battle atop the cliffs, as they sought to return home with Huron captives. Losses mounted on both sides, and both ended up having to make "below 50%" morale checks. The Stockbridge rallied quicker, though, while one or two key Huron braves fled the field. This allowed the Stockbridge to slowly whittle away at the remaining Indians until they alone held the clifftops. Far below, one Stockbridge warrior led the captives on a circuitous path to avoid any Hurons getting close enough to rescue them. With both scnearios ending with "British allied" victories, we did not bother counting up the victory points. The British side was declared the winner.

    Stockbridge and Huron Indians fight to the death atop the cliffs in an attempt to rescue or maintain control of the captives from the raid on the Huron village

The next morning, we had six players, who decided to play the "Fatal Lacrosse Game," "Hurry, to the Blockhouse!" and the "Interrupted Raid" scenarios. I actually knew all of the players, so it was fun to watch the combatants banter back and forth as they competed. Good-natured jokes and taunts flew back and forth across the table just as often as musket shots. Jenny, who had played the previous evening to even out to four players, did the same again. She played the part of the Rangers and did not have near the success that they did last night. The Huron hunting party took vengeance for its defeat the previous evening, and all but one of the Rangers was killed in scalped. This racked up a huge amount of victory points for the French side.

    A family of English settlers are escorted by frontiersmen, hoping to make it to safety at the local blockhouse

In the "Hurry, to the Blockhouse!" scenario, Steve's frontiersmen attempted to escort a settler family to the local blockhouse. He was able to quickly get a relief force from the blockhouse to join up with the family. However, when they turned around and began to retrace their steps, they ran into a solid firing line of Indian raiders. Steve's brother Mike played the Indians, and after exchanging a few shots from patches of wood on either side of the road, they both charged into hand-to-hand. I had never seen a game where two skirmish parties lined up in melee as neatly as Steve and Mike's troops did. Both sides lost men, but soon the Indians began to force the frontiersmen back. Just when their morale was about to break, a fresh party of Indians showed up near the wagon at the rear (reinforcements from the Huron victory on the neighboring board). I allow players in the Ohio Frontier Aflame to send reinforcements onto other tables if their games are over or well in hand. The new arrivals turned the tide, and the Indians reached the wagon and began to kill and scalp the family. Once again, this resulted in big points for the French side, and a defeat for the Frontiersmen.

    Brutal, hand-to-hand fighting as frontiersmen struggle desperately to escort a family to the blockhouse

    Rogers Rangers were big winners in Friday night's battle, but on Saturday were killed and scalped almost to a man

The final battle was the one inside the fort, inspired by the seizure of Forth Michilimackinac during Pontiac's Rebellion. The local Ojibwe Indians have used the ruse of a lacrosse game to follow an errant ball and storm into the fort. The battle between the attackers and the defending British is usually a brutal and bloody one. Kevin and Derek's game was no exception. The Ojibwe managed to kill three redcoats early on, but Kevin was able to pull his scattered garrison back into command range of his leader. He then began to use musketry to shoot down the attackers, half of whom were armed only with knives or tomahawks. The battle was a tense and close one -- with both sides being one away from the "Below 50%" morale checks. The British were forced to check first, which scattered their forces, again. Kevin bravely charged his leader into melee with the Ojibwe chieftain. It was a clever move -- if he killed him outright, the Indians would have to take two consecutive checks and would likely lose most, if not all, of their forces. The Ojibwe leader won the combat, though, and with it, the battle. This meant the French came out overwhelmingly on top by victory points.

    My scratch-built cliffs are always atmospheric eye candy at our games

It was a great series of games, and the players seemed to have fun. We sold 13 copies of Song of Drums and Tomahawks rules, which continue to go over very well with players. I'm extremely happy with their success. I look forward to equal success in a week and a half at Drums at the Rapids -- our next convention stop. There we will run a game Friday night and Saturday morning in the shadow of the palisades of Fort Meigs. This reconstructed War of 1812 fort is an atmospheric place to visit, and I always enjoy wandering among its blockhouses and artillery emplacements after running my games. Anyone in the area on May 16 or 17 should stop by and check out both the game and the fort!

Come to Fort Meigs on May 16-17 to play in the next running of the Ohio Frontier Aflame using Song of Drums and Tomahawks rules!

Latest Painting Projects: Last of the Mohicans & Footsore Minis "Skraelings"

    Conquest Miniatures "Last of the Mohicans" pack: Hawkeye, Chingachgook, Uncas

Contrary to what it may look like from reading this blog, I have actually been painting in the last couple months. The problem is what I am painting is deadline-driven. I need it for a project. Soon. Most of those projects have been for convention games, such as getting stuff ready for Cold Wars -- or more recently -- Cincycon (next weekend!).

The first of these convention-related subjects are the six characters from Conquest Miniatures' "Last of the Mohicans" pack. A couple of the games I was running at Cold Wars last month were scenarios from the movie. So, I pretty much needed to have the figs done in time! I purchased the set months ago, but never got around to painting it until deadline pressure loomed...not like that is common for miniatures wargamers or anything!

In the above image, you can see my take on Hawkeye, Chingachgook, and Uncas. I tried my best to make them look like the actors from the 1992 film starring Daniel Day-Lewis. It certainly looks like Conquest Miniatures had them in mind when they sculpted them. I used successive layers of watered down acrylic washes to do Hawkeye's shirt. I think it looks better in person than in this photo. I also like how Uncas turned out. His faded green shirt and decorative beading on his straps and belts makes for a good look.

    Conquest Miniatures "Last of the Mohicans" pack: Magua, Alica, Cora

Next up is Magua and the ladies, Col. Munro's daughters Alice and Cora. Conquest chose to sculpt the ladies in their tea dresses rather than what they wore for most of the movie. That is unfortunate because I think there is a lot more detail and possibilities with the ladies' "campaign wear." I don't particularly like Alice's face. I think I can only partially blame it on the sculpt, though. Cora's looks better, I think. I also did washes to come up with the tan and light brown for the ladies' skirts. They came out okay, but a little too much collected in the folds. So, they're not perfect.

I like how Magua came out much better. The sculpt appears to be from when he was at the Huron village negotiating with the chief on what to do with his captives. I like the contrast of the antique gold shirt and the blues and reds of the blanket. I couldn't resist decorating up his apparel with fancy borders and beadwork. Even though he did not have on warpaint in that movie scene, chances are he will see action on the tabletop during battle. So, I gave him my take on the movie warpaint scheme. All in all, I'm happy with how the Mohicans characters came out. They'll definitely add some splash to the tabletop when I use them in scenarios.

    Footsore Miniatures "Skraeling Warriors" with scratch-built gun stock war clubs

My most recent batch of figures comes not from Conquest Miniatures -- for a change. I love Conquest's line so much I rarely paint anything else. However, they do not make a pack armed solely with hand weapons -- no bows or muskets. I need those types of figures for one of my scenarios I run in "Ohio Frontier Aflame." So, when I saw that Footsore Miniatures' Skraeling line had a pack armed with separate spears, I bought a couple at Cold Wars. Since the spear is not in as common usage in my period as it is in the Viking period (which is what this line is produced ostensibly for), I decided to do some of my own weapon modification.

First off, I wanted to make at least a couple figures armed with what are sometimes called Indian "gun stock clubs." There is debate about whether they actually used discarded musket stocks, but nevertheless, the shape is similar. Early on, animal horn points were inserted on the club. This was later replaced by metal points. I decided to make my early ones with deer horn points. Where did I get the shape? Well, I'd been saving the lead sprues that some of the 28mm spear points I owned came attached to. These provide jagged-like points on a curved shape. By trimming off all but two of the points, it made a passable club. The difficult part was drilling out the end so I could attach a needle to it through the warriors fist. I figured this would be a more secure hold than simply gluing the end of the weapon onto the fist itself. Plus, the end of the needle gives a rounded end to the handle. I like how they turned out, and would have done more if they weren't such a pain!

I like the Footsore Skraeling miniatures themselves. I'm not exactly crazy about every single figure having an animal tail dangling from their clothing, though. I made the best of it, though. I'm sure they researched it well and it must have been spoken about in Viking sagas or other sources.

    Footsore Miniatures "Skraeling Warriors" with scratch-built root ball war clubs

The rest of the weapons I modeled were forms of the root ball club. This was much easier to do. I simply epoxied a small rounded bead onto a paperclip. Once it was dry, I bent it into the proper shape. I added more epoxy to give it more of a transition from the handle to the root ball. I kind of messed up the middle figure above when adding epoxy, and went overboard. However, some root ball clubs were more compact and less streamlined, so it doesn't look horrible. I think these ended up looking the most accurate of the all the weapons I modified for these figures

    More Footsore Miniatures "Skraeling Warriors" with scratch-built root ball war clubs

I really like how the figures painted up. They are mostly all bare-chested, which gave me more scope for applying tattoos and warpaint. Although I know some Indians wore large amounts of warpaint covering much of their chest, shoulders, and face, I tend not to paint them that way. I am not sure they look as "realistic" as more subdued amounts of warpaint. Strange, I know. Maybe on the next batch of these that I do, I'll try one of the all-black or all-blue paint warpaint jobs.

I did a mix of leather tones and common colors for their loin cloths and leggings. I decorated them to make some bright and colorful and others more subdued. Once again, I referred to my picture book of Robert Griffing's paintings of Indians. Time and again, it has proven an excellent, well-researched source of Indian apparel, patterns, tattoos, and warpaint.

I hope you like them!

2nd Battle of El Teb: For Queen and Planet AAR

    British players, Allen and Keith, deploy their troops to attack the Mahdist hilltop entrenchments guarding El Teb

Steve had stepped forward to run a couple games of our Victorian Sci-Fi rules, For Queen and Planet, at the upcoming Cincycon this next weekend. He wanted some practice GMing it, so we set up the battle for a Sunday evening's gaming. We are hitting up a lot of conventions running our game company's two rules sets this year. Fortunately, everyone is pitching in running or attending conventions, so it hasn't been too much of a workload.

    Close up of the hillside Ansar entrenchments, with the sneakily disguised water tower-cum-Martian walker

The 2nd Battle of El Teb features the Ansar and Beja forces for the Mahdi dug in on a hillside overlooking a town. As Ansar commander, I had two units of rifles, one of warband, and an artillery piece. My fellow commander Mike S had the more wild and wooly Beja, who had two warband and only one rifle to go with their artillery. Our secret weapon was the Martian walker disguised as a water tower in the town. Although Joel, Allen, and Keith knew about the surprise, the players in the convention game will not necessarily know it!

    A common sight (for me) in this game, "Artillery Malfunction" counter on my Ansar artillery battery

We were basically in a static defense, and the British had to attack and take the town. I kept my warband unit on the reverse slope of the hill to charge the enemy if they got too close. The battle opened amidst a raging sandstorm -- or so we theorized, because the artillery on both sides kept malfunctioning. In the For Queen and Planet rules, artillery rolling a "11-12" (Colonial) or "10-12" (Native) on 2d6 malfunctions. A further roll at the end of the turn determines if it is fixed or out of the game. Virtually every piece on the board malfunctioned at one point, with both native pieces going out of order on our third turn of firing.

At first, our gunnery kept the British from getting too close, but once our artillery was out of action, they came double-timing forward. My Ansar rifle fire was ineffective for most of the game, though their return fire drove us out of our rifle pits several times. Each time, though, we were able to shepherd the Ansar back into the trenches and to keep firing. Fortunately for me, the Martian walker decided to step forward into action. His death ray tore holes in the British lines and sent them recoiling backwards in horror. Soon, all of Keith's and Allen's forces opposed to my end of the line were keeping their distance.

    The Martian walker rears up and begins blasting away at the British, tearing huge chunks in their battleline

Meanwhile, in the Beja sector, Joel drove his camel corps and highlanders forward aggressively. The Beja warband, never one to back down from a fight, charged forward howling and screaming. They drove first the camel corps, then the highlanders back. Joel brought his other British unit forward, though, and flanked the overextended warband. The Beja rifle tried to protect their brethren with rifle fire, but it proved ineffective. First one, then the other of the Beja warband units were cut to pieces by fierce British counter-attacks.

    Mike's Beja warband charges out and drives off the Egyptian camel corps

From its elevated position, the Martian walker saw this and lumbered over to help this sector of the battlefield. Without its covering fire, my Ansar were soon threatened by a British advance. When their shooting drove my rifles from the trenches again, I sprung my warband's charge. Naturally, we fell a few inches short on closing with the enemy. And just as naturally, the British "Ace" card showed up immediately after that, which allowed them to pour an extra turn's fire into my exposed warband. Keith chose that moment to roll a typically "Keith-esque" roll which he tends to do more often than not when we are gaming in his basement. He rolled a "snake-eyes" -- a "2" on 2d6 -- the best he could do. It shattered my warband and sent them reeling backwards.

    The British close in on Mike's Beja warband, cut down to one stand, with no help from the ineffective shooting of the tribal riflemen

With the Beja crumbling, and my Ansar broken, our only effective unit was the walker. We failed our next army morale roll and the Mahdi's forces gave ground, surrendering El Teb to the determined British advance. Through most of the game, both sides were neck and neck in losses. So, it was another close, gripping game of Victorian Sci-Fi flavored Colonials. Hopefully, the players in Cincycon have a similarly good time (I just hope they roll better than me...!).

Beaver Wars playtest, Turn 4

My prediction for tribes on the warpath during Turn 4 followed as surely as the rumble of thunder chases the arcs of lightning across the sky. Five tribes danced around their campfires and -- with a yell -- struck tomahawk home into the war post. Warriors of the Ohio tribes sweated and fasted, then applied black and red warpaint to their faces as they ventured forth into the woodlands of the Ohio Valley.

For the first time since the campaign began, we would have more battles to fight out than we could game in one evening. The turn began peaceably enough. The Potawatomi, chose not to strike back against the Ojibwe who had seized one of the main towns last turn. Instead, they chose to Trap & Hunt, hoping their rivals thirst for new lands was abated.

Next, the Wyandot stirred from their reverie and struck out against the Illinois, who had been creeping ever eastwards for years. They invaded, hoping to seize their town on the Wabash River.

The Seneca continued their march westwards across the Ohio Valley and invaded the remaining Illinois town on the White River. They chose to ignore the Miami, who they had went to war with last turn, hoping their blow against them had cowed their rival.

The Ojibwe were the next to stir from their winter reverie and they proved they were thirsty still. The Potawatomi once again felt the northern tribes' wrath as a large warparty moved upon another of their towns.

Perhaps responding to a treaty laid out upon a belt of wampum, the Ottawa roused themselves to defend the Potawatomi. They launched a fleet of canoes across Lake Erie to attack a Ojibwe town on the water's shore.

Last to throw off their warm buffalo robes and gather together their tribal warparties were the Miami. They heard about the Seneca attack on the Illinois and deemed it a good time to retake the town they had lost to the Iroquois last turn.

Five battles, but with only six of us present, we could game out just three that evening. We could have done a marathon session and staged a round two. However, the players did not seem interested. Once again, the curse of Chief Leatherlips spat upon Ohio on the evening of a Beaver Wars session. A spring rainstorm drenched the trees outside and clattered upon the roof, driving those inside the lodge to huddle around the smoke of the campfire. I gave the players who had two battles (Seneca and Ojibwe) the choice of which battles to game out. Both chose to defend their towns first, and resolve their invasions later. I played the part of the Illinois again, defending against the Wyandot attack.

    Two of this turn's battles took place inside Indian villages

Allen and my battle took place within the confines of the Illinois village in the immediate aftermath of the Wyandot attack. A furious Illinois counterattack was driving into the village, catching the Wyandot dispersed as they looted the bark lodges and hunted down hiding villagers. The Wyandot moved first, probing towards my forces and circling around the edges of a large longhouse in the center of the table. We charged the invaders, hoping to close quickly and minimize their advantage in firearms. Our gambit was a success as the battle was mostly one with tomahawk and war club. There were a few warriors slain by musket and bow, but most fell in melee. Allen struck first killing one of my warriors, but we slew two of them on the next turn. We went back and forth for a few turns, until a couple crucial, back-to-back Illinois "turnovers" (failing with two or more activation rolls on the same warrior) allowed the Wyandot to press their advantage. Once again, my leader proved relatively useless -- never killing an enemy with his musket or in melee. In addition, he was the cause of at least two of my failed activations. Appropriately enough, when our numbers fell below half and we checked morale, the leader was the only one to flee off table! Seeing their leader desert them led to another round of morale checks, and the end of the game as the Illinois counterattack melted away, and they surrendered control of the town.

Ojibwe scouts brought news of the approach of the Ottawa canoes. This gave them time to marshal a force and meet them in the forests before the invaders could reach the town. The meeting engagement quickly went the Ojibwe's way. The report from the players was that the Ottawa player (Tom) was having a horrible evening with his dice. Five Ottawa warriors fell at the loss of two Ojibwe. This broke the will of the invaders and they streamed back to their war canoes. The Ottawa celebrated, scalped the fallen, and carried their weapons back to their town, shouting their war cries.

    Ottawa warriors disembark from their war canoes to attack an Ojibwe town

Hoping that most of the experienced Seneca warriors would be in the warparty attacking the Illinois, the Miami struck back at the town they'd lost last turn. Many of the same Seneca warriors who'd fought in that battle were still in the town, though, and they hurriedly collected to oppose the Miami invasion. The battle swirled amidst the bark longhouses and wigwams of the former Illinois town. The Seneca triumphed again over their Miami foes, losing one warrior while the Miami lost four. The Miami leader also fled the battle, causing his troops to lose heart and flee for the entrance way of the palisaded village, leaving four of their slain warriors behind.

    Seneca warriors gather to defend their newly-conquered town

The "table talk" as players were announcing their tribe's actions for this turn featured a rousing oration by the Ottawa player. He tried to fire the other players into attacking the two leaders of the campaign, so far -- the Seneca and Ojibwe. The Wyandot ignored them. The Miami player listened, though. Their elders debated long around the council fire before accepting the belt of Ottawa wampum. However, with both of the campaign leaders successfully defending their villages, it remains to be seen if they will be equally victorious in their invasions of the Potawatomi and Illinois towns. If only one succeeds, that tribe will be the clear leader after four turns. If both are, it will likely continue to be a tight struggle. How long before the leaders turn on each other, though?

Beaver Wars - Scores after 3 turns of play

I thought I would publish the scores in the Beaver Wars campaign as we have finished 3 turns. The campaign is intended to last 12 turns, so we are one quarter of the way through. It is a very tight race for the lead, with three tribes separated by one point. The Ojibwe, Seneca, and Miami are ahead of the other three tribes by a significant margin. However, if you examine the numbers in each of the four categories in which they earn points, it will be easy to make up ground. For example, the Ottawa and Potawatomi will jump at least 3 points once they trade in a bundle of beaver pelts.

Victories in battle is also another category with a razor-thin margin. Four tribes have one victory each in battle. Obviously, the scores in this category will likely space themselves out as we proceed through the 12-turn campaign. Fighting successful battles rewards a tribe in at least three ways. If the battle was a successful invasion, that increases the number of towns under a tribe's control. Naturally, it also raises the total of battles the tribe has won. Perhaps more importantly, it is the way a tribe's warriors earn experience points (XP). Simply by surviving a battle, and not running off-table, earns a leader, warrior, or Indian youth one XP. So, a tribe that has most of its braves survive a victory will rack up the points quickly. This has the effect of modeling in margin of victory in an abstract by simple way. The best way for a tribe to amplify its victory even more is to come home bearing enemy scalps. Each figure earns 1 XP per scalp it collects in battle. This rule not only reflects the Indian outlook on war, it also encourages the player's troops to act like Indians and take risks to secure the scalps of enemies they've slain.

    "Open up! We bring beaver pelts for trade...never mind our warpaint...!"

The big rewards for fighting successful battles is to encourage the players to go to war with their opponents. The campaign is meant to reflect the vicious warfare that occurred in the Ohio Valley between tribes seeking to secure its rich hunting and trapping grounds. The beaver was dying out in the East -- too many Indians and whites were trapping them to satiate the demand for pelts in Europe (used to make hats, which were all the fashion rage, at this point in history). Furs were the currency of Indian tribes to obtain European goods they were coming to depend upon, more each year. They needed firearms, gunpowder, metal tools, and many were beginning to switch to imported European cloth. Whichever tribe gained control of the Ohio Territory would be better-armed, richer, and thus, more powerful.

The emphasis on battles to earn campaign points should reflects this. A campaign of peaceful Trap & Hunt turns would not be that exciting. I expect my players are learning this now, and we will continue to see multiple battles per turn, from this point on. We meet again on this coming Sunday, so we will see if my prediction runs true! The campaign rules will be published upon completion of the playtest as a supplement to our Song of Drums and Tomahawks miniatures rules.

    Many scalps will adorn the lodges of the tribes of the Ohio Valley as the campaign progresses

Beaver Wars, Turn 3 Report

After turn 3, everyone was joking I would not be allowed to host any more Beaver Wars playtests until spring. Once again the weekend saw a major winter storm batter Columbus. Sunday cleared a bit, so I had most of my players there. We also had more battles this turn than in any previous turn. The one player who was not present (Ottawa), sent in his choice of card play and action for his tribe.

The system calls for tribes to play a card, one at a time, in reverse order from the previous turn. One of my players is questioning whether that actually has any effect. He is suggesting that since we are only using one deck and that there is a tie breaker, there is no need for that step. Everyone should secretly choose their card and reveal all at once. We'll be checking to see if the extra step I have written in actually would make a difference in a turn.

So, after playing cards, the turn order was established, and actions chosen in that order:

1. Miami chose to Invade an Illinois town
2. Seneca chose to Invade a Miami town
3. Ojibwe chose to Invade a Potawatomi town
4. Ottawa chose to Trap & Hunt
5. Wyandot chose to Trap & Hunt
6. Potawatomi action received no choice of action because they were invaded

An important note in turn order is that actions are NOT simultaneous. They represent which tribe seized initiative and acted earlier. So, if a tribe like the Potawatomi is invaded or raided, they would cancel any plans to deal with the immediate threat. The result is they receive no action that turn. Their resources are being marshaled to deal with the enemy. However, if a tribe had already acted earlier and launches an invasion or raid -- and then is subsequently invaded or raided themselves -- they will have two battles to resolve. This is exactly what happened to the Miami player this turn. They played a Ace of Clubs (highest card in the game) to act first, wanting to seize another Illinois town. The Seneca watched them do that and then launched their own invasion of Miami territory.

    The Beaver Wars map after the third turn of the campaign

In fact, with the Ojibwe invasion of the Potawatomi, this meant we had three battles this turn -- the most, so far in the campaign. There were six of us present, so we divvied up the commands. Keith (Miami) chose to fight out the battle against Mike S (Seneca). This left Allen and I to play the role of the defending Illinois and attacking Miami, respectively. Steve (Ojibwe) fought his own invasion against the Potawatomi (Joel), who was also present. Each invader, raider, or ambusher rolls on a chart to produce the scenario that will be fought out. We ended up with two identical rolls, which made me make a further playtest only rule that we'd cross out the type of battles we'd already gamed on the tabletop and reroll duplicates. That way, we can adequately playtest all of the encounter types.

Both the Ottawa and Wyandot chose the Trap & Hunt option, and each selected a card from the deck that they preferred over one from their hand. Since Tom (Ottawa) was not present, as GM I chose the most logical card he would take to give him the best advantage. Meanwhile, all six players chose their troop lists and selected figures from our collections to represent them. My players are actively debating on whether the Youth troop type is a worthwhile choice or not. Youths cost 1 army point, while warriors cost 2. The Youths are much less effective, but often having a couple extra figures in your force makes you eligible to select another musket-armed figure instead of one armed with a Bow. This depends on your Firearms Ratio, currently at 2:1 for the Miami, Seneca, Wyandot, and Ojibwe, and 3:1 for the Ottawa and Potawatomi. The way this works is that if you have a 2:1 ratio, you select 2 bow-armed figures, then 1 musket, then 2 bow, then 1 musket, and so on. Having greater numbers can mean an extra musket in your warband that is fighting out the battle.

    The Ojibwe invasion force is deployed on a wooded hill in the center of the board, while the Potawatomi defenders are split in between two clumps of woods and brush

Since I was playing the role of the Miami invasion force, I did not get to see much of the other two games. The Potawatomi took a larger percentage of Youths than the invading Ojibwe. The had one Chieftain, 5 Warriors, and 6 Youths. Their opponents had 1 Chieftain, 7 Warriors, and 2 Youths. The Potawatomi suffered numerous casualties in the exchange of musket and bow fire, and soon fled the table. The Ojibwe claimed five enemy scalps and lost no casualties themselves. The other two games were much closer affairs. Keith admitted he tried to be gamey with the deployment rules and attempted to force the Mike to deploy in the open while he was in cover in the woods. However, it did not work, and the entire battle was fought in one small quarter of the 3'x3' table. Both forces had identical compositions -- 1 Chieftain and 8 Warriors (no Youths). Both figured out the numbers game the same way. Being allowed one musket out of every three warriors (Bow, Bow, Musket), nine figures in your force is an efficient composition.

    Miami force marshaling in the center of an Illinois town, getting ready to fight off a counterattack by the defenders

The Miami-Seneca battle see-sawed for awhile, but Keith's leader, Many Feathers, had difficulty controlling his troops and he rolled turnovers too many times. In the Song of Drums and Tomahawks rules, this occurs when a player rolls two or more failures to activate a single figure. The Seneca did not have the same misfortune and slowly wore down their opponents in melee. Keith ended up losing his leader and six warriors. Only two of his veterans that he had so lovingly named -- Slow Turtle and Blue Face -- survived to make it off the table. For a much more detailed battle report of the encounter, read Keith's blog on the playtest.

    Some of the Miami have made it to the walls, where they face off against the counterattacking Illinois. The rest are getting ready to move around the longhouse and join the fray.

My own game with Allen was an even closer affair than the Miami-Seneca clash. Interestingly, we had also selected identical forces -- 1 Chieftain, 7 Warriors, and 2 Youths. Under the scenario rolled, the Miami had just taken the town with a surprise assault. Our forces were reorganizing in the center of town when scouts brought word that a relieving Illinois warband was nearing the walls to counterattack and retake the village. Both of us rushed for the palisades, hoping to be the first one there and set up a firing line. The battle soon flowed into the channel between two lines of palisades that is the entrance to an Indian village. After a few turns of shooting from behind the cover of the upright logs, we charged each other in melee. At the climax of the battle, both of us were at five casualties. The next one to lose a figure would have to take morale checks and see a number of their forces begin to bolt for the rear. Those that remained would likely be outnumbered and overwhelmed. Allen got the next kill on one of my men and the inevitable began. The Miami chieftain tried to knock the Illinois below half by engaging in battle himself, but was unable to score a killing blow. In a tense, hard-fought game, the Illinois retook their town and drove off the Miami invaders. My apologies for the lack of photos. I was so into the game that I neglected to take many!

    Once Allen and my forces reached our respective palisades, the battle devolved for a few turns into a shooting duel. Soon, warriors left the safety of the wooden uprights and charged into the entrance way and settled the issue with hand-to-hand fighting.

I have been happy with the mechanics of the campaign, so far. Nevertheless, I am making tweaks as we go -- particularly to the scenarios. The players seem to be having fun and I look forward to the next evening of the Beaver Wars.

Snow, Song of Drums and Tomahawks, & Success at Cold Wars 2015

    We ran 6 events of Song of Drums and Tomahawks to demo the rules at Cold Wars 2015

A massive snowstorm plowed across the eastern part of the United States on the weekend of Cold Wars in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. More than one gamer looked at the weather ruefully, and turned around and went home or did not set out at all. Four members of First Command Wargames persevered, though, altering either their route or time of departure to miss the bulk of the snowfall. The convention was noticeably lighter in attendance on Friday, but steadily picked up as the weekend went on and the roads were cleared by snowplows.

    "Treachery at Fort Michilimackinac" -- one of our new 4-player events

I arrived Thursday evening. After checking in and unloading the figures and terrain into the room, my friends and I went off to grab a bite to eat. We returned and I began to set up my 5-foot by 12-foot board in the Ohio Frontier Aflame setup. This features four 3-foot square scenarios, side by side using my Song of Drums and Tomahawks rules. On one end is an Indian village for the “Interrupted Raid” scenario that pits Rogers Rangers against a returning Huron hunting party. Next is the “Clifftop Rescue,” where a Huron rescue party has cut off the Stockbridge Indians who have taken captives from the raided village on the first board. Third in line is “Hurry, to the Blockhouse!” This game has frontiersmen hoping to see a family in a wagon safely through to a blockhouse, with the woods alive with Indians on the warparth. The final scenario, “The Fatal Lacrosse Game,” is inspired by the Ojibwa seizure of Fort Michilimackinac through a ruse that allows them access to the fort.

    "An Interrupted Raid" -- Rogers Rangers are caught in a Huron village by a returning hunting party

My partner and I were running six events over Friday and Saturday. It was a tiring schedule, but my friend Mike did the 2 pm slot, while I did the 10 am and 7 pm ones. This gave me some time to rest between games. The eight-player Ohio Frontier Aflame was actually scheduled to run twice, with my partner running a similar “First Blood” event that tested out the rules for the early period, featuring Conquistadors, Jamestown, and other scenarios. Also new this time were three four-player games on expanded 3-foot by 6-foot boards. This meant I had to reconfigure the terrain set up four times over the course of the weekend, but gave a nice variety in the size and look of events we staged. The four player scenarios were, “Treachery at Michilimackinac” (a four player version of the lacrosse game), “Will Magua Kill Gray Hair?”, and “The Clifftop Rescue.” The last two featured characters and adaptions from the Last of the Mohicans movie. I’d finished the 28mm Conquest Miniatures “Mohicans” pack earlier that week, so these games would feature the first time on the table for these figures.

    The clifftops are always a spectacle in Ohio Frontier Aflame events

Our 10 am Friday offering was a sign of the reception we would receive at Cold Wars. The game was slotted for four players, but I ended up accommodating eight. The extra four were set up on two of the other boards, and everyone was happy. Ten-year-old Garrett was exceptionally enthusiastic, and caught on to the rules quicker than quite a few adults. He played the part of Capt. Etherington, taking an active hand in driving out the treacherous Ojibwa and Sac invaders in his fort. The players all seemed to have fun and I sold quite a few copies of the rules from the rack I had on display atop the table. The convention staff was equally enthusiastic and came by and gave my event an award for that slot — a trophy featuring a painted 54mm miniature mounted atop a wooden base. I displayed that next to the rack of rules throughout the convention. It never hurts to be able to claim your rules are “award winning”…!

    Players and spectators crowded around the table throughout the convention

My partner Mike ran his “First Blood” scenarios during the 2 pm slot. He filled six of his eight slots, one player urging one of my coauthors to join in him in a follow up game immediately after he finished his first. I took a break to have a leisurely lunch, visit the Dealer Area, and relax. I returned to set up the table again for the Ohio Frontier Aflame set up. That was run in both the 7 pm Friday and 10 am Saturday slots. I filled all eight slots on Friday night, and had six of eight for Saturday morning. Once again, all players seemed to enjoy the rules — even when plagued by bad die rolls. One player returned and played in three sessions, while others played in two. Sales of the rules were brisk enough that I decided not to make the rounds of the Dealer Area and try to sell copies of the rules there. In fact, we brought 30 copies of the rules to the convention and sold 29 of them! I had a feeling we’d do well in sales there, but never dreamed we’d essentially sell out of them purely through sales from the gaming table!

    Interspersed with the 8-player events using the full 12-foot table were three 4-player ones, including "Treachery at Fort Michilimackinac"

Saturday afternoon and evening featured two four-player scenarios. Mike ran “Will Magua Kill Gray Hair?” while I ran the finale of “The Clifftop Rescue.” Both games had extra players show up and wanting to get in. I did not get to see much of the “Magua” game, but the rescue game featured an interesting twist. I’d left a side path down from the mid-section of the cliffs, thinking that the Uncas player might want to use it for a shortcut and head up and face Magua’s Hurons like in the movie. Instead, the Huron players used the side path to detour off the cliffs and make their way through the forest. This meant Magua had to fight a rearguard action against Hawkeye, Chingachgook, and three Mohawks. On the other hand, it forced the Joseph Brant/Uncas player to guard both the end of the clifftop section and the woods, thus splitting his forces. This clever gambit gave them an initial advantage, which was compounded by the Uncas player rolling terribly on his combat rolls. The Magua player was also having a miserable time with his dice, but survived the run of luck in time to see the momentum shift his way. Chingachgook was gunned down shortly after Uncas was, meaning there were NO Mohicans after this encounter. Hawkeye was left to pursue Magua on his own. As the Hurons slipped out of sight and off table, he shouted in desperation to the ladies, “You stay alive, no matter what occurs! I will find you. No matter how long it takes, no matter how far, I will find you…!” Although the ending wasn’t Hollywood, it was cinematic. I’d made some extra low cliff sections for the game and this allowed me to expand the setup so that it was quite the eye catcher on the table.

    Players picked up the rules easily, including 10-year-old Garrett, playing the part of Capt. Etherington at Fort Michilimackinac

I received lots of compliments on the look of the games — especially the fort, Indian village, and the cliffs. The setup takes up a lot of room in the car and is a lot to haul around, but it is all worthwhile when you see convention goers flocking to the table. Of course, the 28mm Conquest Miniatures do a lot to set off the terrain, too. I even had a player beg me to sell him one of the Indians (of course I didn’t…ha, ha!). All in all, it was a successful second venture by our new game company to a convention to promote our games. My friend Tom ran his Colonial/Victorian Science Fiction game, For Queen and Planet, four times during the show, as well. Although his game did not pull in the sheer number of players that my Song of Drums and Tomahawks games did, it provided us some ideas on how to better promote his game at ensuing shows. If you want to attract players to your table, you need more than just a fun system. You have to have eye candy! A visually scenic tabletop gets the players in the seats. Then it is up to your game’s enjoyment factor to sell the rules. I feel fortunate that my French & Indian War event seems to have both. Players have fun, and spectators love to come look at the setup.

    Rogers Rangers are caught scattered and flat-footed by the Huron hunting party returning to their village

Luckily, the weather had abated by the time we were ready to drive back home. Bright sunshine followed us all the way back to Ohio. The storm had not kept us from having a successful outing at Cold Wars. The sunshine — not the storm — had been the omen for a great weekend at Cold Wars, and for Song of Drums and Tomahawks.

    Hurons attempt to rescue captives taken from their village by Stockbridge Indians

 

    This ain't your static, Seven Years War gentlemanly warfare...this is in-your-face close combat in the French & Indian War!

    This ain't your static, Seven Years War gentlemanly warfare...this is in-your-face close combat in the French & Indian War!

    The grand finale of our events was a restaging of the clifftop rescue scene from the Last of the Mohicans movie. Here, Magua's Hurons fight a rearguard action against Hawkeye, Chingachgook, and 3 Mohawks

    Wily as ever, Magua's Hurons divert off of the cliffs and take the captives -- including Alice and Cora Munro -- through the woods to try to escape off table

    As Magua disappears through the woods with Alice, Cora, and the other captives, Hawkeye shouts out, “You stay alive, no matter what occurs! I will find you. No matter how long it takes, no matter how far, I will find you…!”