Beaver Wars in Ohio Playtest, Turn 8

Attack at the Portage was my scenario for this  round, and saw my Erie hunters spread out carrying our canoe and bundles of goods past a section of rapids

Being out of the country for 5 weeks this summer meant our playtest of the Beaver Wars in Ohio Campaign Rules and Scenario Book was put on hold for awhile. The tribes must have missed the chance to settle some scores, as more players chose "War" cards this turn than in any previous turn. The higher the value War card a player selects, the better chance he has of selecting his opponent. In particular, the tribes in the middle of the scoring range (Mohawk, Seneca, Kickapoo) wanted a chance take the leaders (Neutrals, Shawnee) down a peg.

After the cards were played and the order set, here were the declared attacks this turn:
Mohawk attacked the Neutrals, rolling “The Creek Runs Red” (War vs. War #3)
Seneca attack the Shawnee rolling “Rescue the Captives” (War vs. Hunt #6)
Honniasont attacked the Erie, rolling “Attack at the Portage” (War vs. Hunt #3)
Kickapoo attacked the Miami, rolling “Give Them Time” (War vs. Hunt #1)

To read the account written by Keith covering his Neutral tribe's battle against the Mohawk, visit his Game Reports page.

With an odd number of players, as GM (and Erie tribal chief) I sit out some of the turns. However, this turn the Susquehannock player was feeling under the weather on the morning of our meeting, so I substituted in for him. I was actually happy that I got a chance to play the "Attack at the Portage" scenario, because I think it is tactically a very interesting game.

My battle plan would be to have my Erie hunters carry their bundles to the rocky outcrop, left center. We would deposit them there, and consolidate to make our stand against the Honniasont

I chose my standard force -- one Chieftain with matchlock (Q3, C3, Marksman);5 Warriors (Q4, C2) with matchlock; 2 with Bow, Light Armor, and Primitive Weapon; and two Youths (Q4, C1, Wavering) with Bows. Taking a couple figures with Light Armor was a new one for me. My tribe's Beaver Pelts accumulated so far meant we could upgrade only 6 figures of our 10 with Matchlock. I always give one to the chief, and the remainder to the Warriors. That left two armed with Bow. I knew I would likely send them forward into melee, so I figured I'd see how this strategy worked out of giving them a Primitive Weapons -- think Last of the Mohicans, the big sword club -- but protecting them with Light Armor. As it turned out, I liked it quite a bit. I knew I'd be involved in melee regularly, facing the Honniasont. So, I figured it was best to come armed for it.

Why was I expecting a melee rather than a shooting match? Well, Bruce -- who plays the Honniasont -- has hit on a favorite tactic of maxing out his troop list with Youths. He seeks to overwhelm the enemy with numbers. He's had mixed success with the tactic, but is having fun tweaking it to see how he can make it work better. So, my 10 Erie would face a force of 17 Honniasont (1 Chieftain, 16 Youths). It provides for some interesting, though a slight bit longer, games. The key to me is to try to pick off his Chieftain so you can force a morale check. The Youths all have the Wavering trait, which means they should begin to flee fairly quickly once he's gone. Otherwise, it can be a long and dangerous process wearing them down to 9 losses (more than 50% is the point where you check morale if your leader has not died).

My troops have almost all made it to the rocky outcrop. Note the warrior with wooden armor holding the spear on the right side of the rock

The other reason I expected a close quarters game was because of the scenario. The background story is an Erie hunting party is portaging their canoe and supplies across a stretch of rapids. My two Youths were carrying the canoe (hey, put those young muscles to work!), while the rest of the men carried a bundle of supplies or goods. While carrying those supplies, we fought at -1 in melee, and could not move more than one Movement distance per turn. We were carrying our loads along a curving path through rocky areas and forest. We were dispersed along the path, and only a handful of my men would be within command range of the chieftain in the middle.

My battle plan was to have all of my men move to a rocky outcrop inside the bend of the road. We would drop our bundles there, and consolidate against the more numerous Honniasont. My command rolls on my first turn were abysmal. I think out of 14 die rolls I scored no rolls above a "3" -- not a great start! The Honniasont had split their forces into one advancing from my right and another blocking the trail ahead. My rolls improved enough that slowly, my men moved to the rocky outcrop, put down their loads, and readied their weapons. The Honniasont also began to take shots, and edged closer. He began to rush in Youths, attempting to gang up on my Warriors and force an even-up or roll at an advantage.

And here they come! The Honniasont Youths begin to throw themselves against my Warriors (two are in contact in the center of the picture, while another line advances from the top)

My advantage was on the counterstrike, though. When he put two against one, all I had to do was move one of my Warriors into contact with one of those two and they'd be a severe disadvantage. Slowly, I began to whittle his forces down. He scored several kills against me, too. I made it a point to grab any scalps of Honniasont I killed immediately when I had a chance for the victory points. I never did get a clear shot at his leader, though. However, my own Marksman leader began to score kills or wounds against the Honniasont clustered beneath him atop the rocky outcrop. I used my Warriors with Light Armor as the point of my spear, so to speak, though I did lose one. We stayed consolidated where my leader could use his command influence to keep my men activating, shooting, reloading, fighting, and moving to where they were needed.

What our enemies saw -- the view from the woods as Honniasont Youths work up the nerve to assault my troops clustered around the rocky outcrop

Eventually, his ninth Youth died, and the Morale tests began. Some fled offtable immediately, while others fell back a great distance. We managed to kill another, and these morale checks spelled the end of the Honniasont threat. Bruce acknowledged his forces could not win, and withdrew from the field. We were successful because we kept our men together. Whenever one Warrior was drawn into a melee, others would immediately go to his aid. Although he outnumbered me in total forces, at the point of attack, it was either even up or we had the advantage. This ended up being my most overwhelming victory, points-wise, of the campaign, so far. We scored a 27-3 victory -- killing 10 of the enemy, taking 7 scalps, and maxing out on the points for staying in control of the bundles.

As it played out, Turn 8 belonged to the Defender. All four attackers lost. Sadly, for the middle pack who'd initiated the attack on the leaders, they failed. The Neutrals and the Shawnee entered the turn tied for the lead. Both scored major victories -- the Neutrals over the Mohawk and the Shawnee over the Seneca. On the remaining battlefield, the bitter foes the Miami and Kickapoo met again, with the Miami getting the upper hand, again.

One of the other scenarios: At top left, Shawnee braves pursue a force of Seneca who have raided their town and taken some women and children captive

There are two turns left before this playtest ends. I am happy with how the rules work, but I want to more playtests of the scenarios that will be included with the rules. I also want to see how the numbers play out -- if I need to increase the maximums, so that players don't max out early on Scenario Victory Points or Beaver Pelts. Plus, the players all seem to be having a good time. So, no reason to cut the fun off early!

Here is the score in the campaign, so far. The Shawnee have edged out in front of the Neutrals! The Mohawk, despite their loss on the battlefield this turn, remain in close contention for the lead. We'll see next month if that means the two front-runners will face off, or if they will continue to fight off attacks of the other tribes.

Tribe	Place	Victory Points
Shawnee	1st	26.5 points
Neutrals	2nd	23.5 points
Mohawk	3rd	21.5 points
Kickapoo	Tied 4th	14 points
Seneca	Tied 4th	14 points
Miami	6th	13.5 points
Erie	7th	10 points
Susqehannock	8th	9 points
Honniasont	9th	3 points

The victory points come from three categories. First, Prestige Points (PPs), which come from battlefield success:

Tribe	Prestige Points (PPs)
Neutrals (Keith Finn)	19 (6 MajV, 1 MinD)
Shawnee (Joe Merz)	19 (4 MajV, 3 MinV, 1 MinD)
Mohawk (Dave Welch)	12 (3 MajV, 1 MinV, 1 MinD)
Seneca (Mike Stelzer)	12 (2 MajV, 3 MinV)
Miami (Jenny Torbett)	11 (2 MajV, 2 MinV, 1 MinD)
Kickapoo (Andy Swingle)	10 (3 MajV, 1 MinD)
Erie (Mike Demana)	8 (2 MajV, 2 MinD)
Susquehannock (Steve Phallen)	5 (1 MajV, 2 MinD)
Honniasont (Bruce Adamczak)	3 (1 MinV, 1 MinD)

Next, is SVPs, or Scenario Victory Points, which come (unsurprisingly) from fulfilling your objectives in the scenarios you play in:

Tribe	Scenario Victory Points (SVPs)
Shawnee (Joe Merz)	107
Neutrals (Keith Finn)	106
Mohawk (Dave Welch)	82
Seneca (Mike Stelzer)	80
Miami (Jenny Torbett)	80
Kickapoo (Andy Swingle)	68
Erie (Mike Demana)	65
Susquehannock (Steve Phallen)	60
Honniasont (Bruce Adamczak)	33

And finally, the Beaver Pelts. The higher value "Hunt" cards you play, the more pelts you collect. This also translates into the more Firearms upgrades you obtain for each battle (those Europeans will give matchlocks for quality beaver pelts).

Tribe	Beaver Pelts
Shawnee (Joe Merz)	45
Mohawk (Dave Welch)	43
Neutrals (Keith Finn)	41
Kickapoo (Andy Swingle)	36
Susquehannock (Steve Phallen)	32
Erie (Mike Demana)	31
Miami (Jenny Torbett)	29
Seneca (Mike Stelzer)	23
Honniasont (Bruce Adamczak)	22

Tomahawks to Historicon 2016

Raid on the Ohio Frontier and my rules, Song of Drums and Tomahawks, had a great visit to Historicon 2016

 We took my "Raid on the Ohio Frontier" game to Historicon 2016 last weekend. It was set up for 6 players, 3 scenarios running side-by-side. We could easily have filled more slots, though. It was great to see the interest, even if I didn't like turning people away. My coauthor Mike Stelzer ran two of the four games, while I ran the others.

A family runs the gauntlet of raiding Indians to reach the local blockhouse

The Historicon Event Coordinator was very accommodating and helped us schedule the events so we could leave the table set up and not tear down after every game. We ended up running it Friday afternoon and evening, and Saturday morning and afternoon. All of the players seemed to have fun, even if their dice weren't always cooperating!

Players had a great time taking on the role of frontiersmen or raiding Indians

Sales were good. We sold 14 copies of Song of Drums and Tomahawks to convention attendees, and Mike arranged a sale of 8 copies to Brigade Games on one of his visits to the Vendor Hall. So, there's another place to pick up copies of Song of Drums and Tomahawks, now -- Brigade Games! We also sold a copy of First Command Wargames' For Queen and Planet, and a copy of Ganesha Games' Song of Drums and Shakos.

The burning log cabin made with LED votive candles was a hit with attendees

I received a lot of positive comments about the board, though I think this setup doesn't have the eye candy that some of the other ones do (no cliffs, no Indian longhouses, no fort). I think the burning log cabin with the LED votive candles made some people smile. It was nice to talk to folks who were regular readers of this blog. They said they recognized my terrain, and enjoyed seeing it in person. I think what amazed most gamers were the $2.99 log cabins and how good they look on the table with just a little bit of tricking out.

Frontiersmen and Indians exchange shots in the square of a small hamlet in the disputed Ohio territory

Here are some photos of our events -- hope you enjoy them! I had a good time running the games, and an enjoyable weekend overall.

Three different scenarios challenged the players with different objectives and tactics

The local tribes were angry with the constant encroachment on their hunting grounds by settlers

Protecting civilian women and children was a big consideration for the players controlling the frontiersmen

"There's one now! BLAM!!!"

 

Indians encircle a burning cabin in "Raid on the Ohio Frontier"

Indian raiders rush across open ground to attack the defenders of a farmstead

Indian Raid in Frontier Ohio at Drums at the Rapids 2016 Convention

Both of my frontier Indian raid scenarios were full -- including this shot of the Saturday morning session

I took my multiplayer Song of Drums and Tomahawks event up to Drums at the Rapids, a convention held at historic, Fort Meigs, Perrysburg, OH. I have been attending the convention for more than a decade, and it is an excellent local con put on by HMGS Great Lakes. The focus is historical miniatures, though there are always cool-looking fantasy and science-fiction games, too. I cooked up a new set of linked scenarios. This one would feature Indians vs. frontier settlers, as opposed to the more varied scenario groups I've run in the past.

An overview of the "Farmhouse Raid" scenario in the opening stages of Friday night's battle (you can see the women and children beginning to run away from the side that the Indians are entering from)

The first scenario begins with the people of a frontier farmstead community spotting a plume of smoke rising off in the distance. They know that it usually means a raid across the frontier by hostile tribes, so hurriedly debate whether to "fort up" in their cabins, or head to the local blockhouse. Before they can decide, a man runs up and says an Indian warparty is right behind him. The frontiersmen and six women and children deploy in the middle of a collection of four log buildings in the center of the board. The Indians can deploy anywhere on the table, as long as they don't deploy within 1 Long distance (close musket range) of a frontiersman or family member.

On both days, the Indian player decided to have his raiders enter through one of the cornfields

I really liked how this table looked, once it was all set up. This was also the table where I had made my scratch-built, snake rail fences. I used them to create three fields at corners of the boards. Inside the fields were the JTT corn rows (which I now know I need to make more of...!), along with the 3 Sisters native American crop pieces, and some random bits of vegetation to fill them up. In both the Friday night and Saturday morning sessions, the Indian player chose to enter using the cover of the fields.

Close up the menfolk of the farmstead community mustered to defend their families (and one brave goat, willing to take his place in the line alongside his owners...ha, ha)

The two runnings of this scenario had vastly different outcomes, though. Friday night, the frontiersman player chose to take advantage of the fact the Indian warparty came in on one board edge to shuttle the women and children off the opposite edge. If a family member ends the game with no Indians within a Long distance, it is victory points. The menfolk fought a delaying action against the Indian raiders, slowly giving ground and surrendering their homesteads to them. When some settlers began to flee from morale checks, they decided to withdraw to prevent further losses. The result was more homesteads up in flames, and Indians in possession of scalps and loot.

The fighting was at close range and brutal. Here Indians and settlers struggle for control of the center of the farmstead

Saturday morning saw a much more aggressive frontiersman player. She put the women and children inside the cabins and had the menfolk launch an assault on the Indian raiders. Losses piled up on each side, but the Indians broke first. Before long, the settlers were victorious and had chased the raiders off of their hard-won land.

A patrol of rangers investigates the plume of smoke in "They Died in the Smoke"

The middle scenario on the 9'x3' table layout was where that original plume of smoke was originating from. Here, the family spotted the Indians at the last moment and fled into their house, bolting the door. At each window, a musket poked through and fired when any Indians ventured out into the cleared area surrounding the cabin. Fire arrows were shot onto the roof of the cabin, and soon the home was ablaze. Smoke filled the cabin and poured out the windows. However, the family refused to come out and die under the tomahawks of the raiders. Suddenly, the one of the braves spotted a ranger patrol hurrying to the spot to determine the source of the fire.

Indian raiders wait in vain for a family of settlers to come out of their burning cabin

For this scenario, I constructed a special "burning cabin." I used one of the Darice Premium Wood Model log cabin sets that are available at Hobby Lobby for only $3.99. I modified this one by sawing through some of the dowels to have actual openings for windows. I used a corrugated pattern balsa wood sheet for the roof, which I also cut holes into to represent areas disintegrating in the flames. I placed two electric LED votive candles inside the cabin to light up the smoke with their flickering yellowish light. Acrylic "batting" (pillow stuffing) was cut and placed in the windows and protruding out from the roof. I am only moderately pleased with the results. Of course, I was hurrying to get it done in time for the convention, so I intend to go back and tweak it some.

The Indians begin the scenario deployed in the woods in an arc around the cabin

Once again, I had two vastly different outcomes in this scenario. The Indians begin deployed in a woods in an arc around the burning cabin. The rangers enter through the corner of the board where a pathway runs through the forest. I was particularly surprised by the Indian player's choice to deploy part of his force very close to the ranger entry point. Since about 1/3 of them would be scattered far away around the clearning, I felt this could go very bad for him as he faced the full force of the rangers. One of the things I like about Song of Drums and Tomahawks is that player decisions have a major impact and drive the game. How many times have we sat down for a miniatures game to find the only decision we could make was to move forward and roll dice? These rules definitely are NOT that, and the player is constantly called upon to make tactical decisions that impact the game in a major way.

A family hurries to the local blockouse, women and children aboard wagons, while the men scour the woods alongside, searching for ambushing Indian raiders in "Wagon Train Through Peril"

As it was, the aggressive Indian player was rewarded for his decisions when the ranger advance proved tentative and was halted by poor die rolls. The battle was very one-sided, and the rescuing rangers were quickly whittled down by Indian musket fire. The survivors bravely attempted to maneuver around to reach the cabin, but soon the last remaining ones were driven from the field. The previous night, the opposite was true for much of the battle. It was the Indian player who was hampered by his poor die rolls, and could not collect his forces together to oppose a much more aggressive ranger advance. In fact, the Indian force, though causing casualties among the Rangers, soon was fleeing backwards due to morale checks. However, here is where the tide shifted. The core of remaining Indians fought back aggressively. Soon, they had whittled the rangers down to where they were fleeing backwards in morale checks. It proved to be a nail-biter of a game, with the Indians very narrowly triumphing.

Waiting for the family, in the trees is a line of Indian raiders. When they see the wagon, they close in.

The third scenario was a variant on one I have run for several years. Having seen the plumes of smoke, a family is hurrying for safety towards a local blockhouse. In this version, there are a substantial number of men escorting the wagon. The blockhouse, on the other hand, is only weakly guarded and can send no rescuing force. The family must fight through any Indians they encounter on the way on their own. A couple special scenario mechanics enable the wagons to move on their own, as long as family members are there to drive them. Also, if any Indians enter the clearing surrounding the blockhouse, they can be shot at (one per turn) by the defenders. They will not waste powder on shots in the woods, as they don't know how long the siege will last.

The male family members trade shots with the ambushing Indians, trying desperately to drive them off so their family can reach the blockhouse

Both nights provided a tense, gripping game. The one on Saturday morning was particularly tense, though. It swung back and forth, with the settlers having the upper hand one moment, and the Indians the other. On Friday night, the wagons came close to making it through to the blockhouse, but did not. However, on Saturday morning, they actually made it all the way to the clearing before losses piled up enough to cause morale checks. One interesting feature of my side-by-side scenarios is that players can reinforce neighboring battles if they have driven the enemy from the field in their own. With the rangers being chased off relatively early in the Saturday morning game, a fresh force of Indians was able to appear on the edge of this field.

At the sight of one too many of their menfolk slain, the women and children abandon the wagons and flee on foot towards the safety of the blockhouse

The family proved stalwart, though. They had broken the morale of the ambushing Indians and driven most of them from their path. Three menfolk of the family bravely stood and barred the advance of a new warparty of seven Indians, who had been drawn by the sound of the gunfire. In particular, one man whom the Indians called "Yellow Hair" slew many warriors before finally succumbing to a musket ball. Equally heroic, the leader of the ambushing Indians ran forward and grabbed the reins of the lead horse. Two family members attacked him, but he slew one, which broke the morale of the family. Most of the women and children leaped off of the wagons and sprinted for the blockhouse. A few of the men also bolted for safety, while others remained to fight off the Indians.

Indians triumphant! One day saw an Indian victory, and the other a Settler one, but good games all around!

Just when you'd think the battle could show no more twists, the family members killed enough from the warparty to have them check morale, too. They proved eager for battle, though, and only one warrior fled the vicinity. Meanwhile, the women and children were streaming closer to the blockhouse. The Indians closed in, and only about half of them made it before they were caught. It was a relatively long game of Song of Drums and Tomahawks -- prolonged, of course, by the arrival of 7 fresh warriors from the neighboring battlefield. It was certainly one of the most gripping I'd watched (or played). Everyone who'd played in the games enjoyed them, though, so it was another successful pair of convention events. My next games will likely be at Historicon (I need to sign up for them ASAP). I will also be running games at the local Ohio History Center as part of their Ohio's March Through Time event.

Beaver Wars in Ohio playtest: Turn 6

 My Erie tribe had a "bonus battle" this turn. After initially confirming they could attend on our arranged date at the pizzeria, three players had something come up. Two of them obligingly matched up against each other in the strategic phase, and were able to schedule a makeup game. The third I fought with my Erie on another date, as well, despite also fighting a battle on the regularly scheduled meeting at the pizzeria against a different opponent. I reasoned that since I did not fight a battle due to the odd number of players last turn, that no one would mind if I made that up with an extra one this turn. In fact, my players have been incredibly flexible during this playtest. If two players can't make it, the others leave their tribes alone so that they can match up against each other. It would be a disadvantage to fight fewer battles over the course of the campaign, although the rules will have mechanisms to make that fair.

Rival Shawnee and Susquehannock warparties close beneath the trees of the Eastern Woodlands of Ohio

The first and second place tribes continued to roll, both winning major victories this turn. The Neutrals were the tribe I fought on our Saturday morning at the pizzeria. The battle was going well, at first. I was using my warriors with the Marksmen trait and our matchlocks to good effect. The turning point came, though, in one of those cinematic moments that seem to occur so often in games of Song of Drums and Tomahawks. One of the Neutral warriors dashed forwards towards my warriors to collect a scalp. One of my matchlock men fired at him and knocked him down. Another of my warriors rushed forwards to dispatch him with a "Powerful Attack" (using two actions in one attack, which makes the opponent -1 to its die roll). Despite having a +4 to +1 advantage, Keith won the die roll and knocked my Erie brave down! It was still my turn, so I had another warrior rush forward. Once again, I had a +4 to +1 roll on opposed six-sided dice. Another loss. A third warrior ganged up on the heroic Neutral warrior and also could not finish him off. I had just lost three straight six-sided dice rolls with an advantage of +3 to my rolls! I don't even want to calculate the odds of that occurring. The heroic warrior popped up on Keith's next turn and finish off an attacker. Soon, all three of my attackers lay dead at the mighty warrior's feet.

Susquehannock hunters race to rescue one of their brothers who has been captured by the Shawnee

Just as you would expect, my warband was demoralized after this display of ferocity. We had gone from being ahead on enemy casualties to faltering fast. Keith ended up winning 15-3 in scenario victory points -- another major victory for his tribe, and yet another defeat for mine.

A raiding party from the Neutrals tribe is surprised and strung out by an unexpected ambush by Erie hunters

Other battles raging at the pizzeria included a bloody clash across a creek between the Seneca and Kickapoo. The Kickapoo continued their run of success, winning their last three engagements. They notched a major victory, 12-6. The Miami tribe finally recorded their first win of the campaign. They fought against the Honniasont "All Youth" force. Bruce, our newest player, has been trying out new tactics. This one saw one veteran chieftain leading a force of 16 Youths. The Miami were outnumbered, and despaired of being able to kill enough of their enemy to force a morale check (where Youths are at a disadvantage). It took more than two hours -- which is actually a long game for thees size battles -- but eventually the persistent Honniasont fell below 50% losses. Within a turn, all their troops had fled the field. The exhausted Miami howled in triumph, victorious 19-10.

Warriors from the Neutrals tribe fearlessly close with my Erie warparty

One of the rescheduled battles pitted the Susquehannock against the Shawnee. Joe, who has not lost a battle yet, has a completely different strategy than Keith -- whose Neutrals are in first place. Joe uses his upgrade points to make his warriors Marksman, and tries to gun down his opponents at range. Keith's Neutrals have settled in on the opposite strategy -- upgrading his warriors to Strong so that they are +1 in melee. Doubtless, the two will clash again before the end of the campaign. However, in this battle, Joe managed to win more of the melees against the Susquehannock. The battle was fairly even, with each player taking out one of the opponents on each of their bounds for several turns in a row. On one disastrous bound, though, Steve's Susquehannocks engaged in three melees -- all of them at an advantage. Two of his three braves fell to adverse die rolls, though. After that point, the Shawnee began to steadily grind their opponents down until they began to take morale checks and withdraw from the field.

This hero of the Neutral tribe would fight off all three of my Erie warriors who surrounded him -- even when he'd been knocked to the ground!

My "bonus battle" saw my Erie warriors ambushing the scout leading a Mohawk raid on one of our villages. Dave's troops were strung out and relatively vulnerable, according to the scenario deployment. I concentrated on the forward end of his column, but my activation rolls failed me and he was able to regroup without any losses. In fact, his warriors shot and killed two of my Youths who had unwisely advanced to the forefront of my force. The Mohawk strategy in the Beaver Wars campaign has been to use Hunt cards as opposed to War cards. In six turns, he has played only Hunt cards. The effect is that he leads the tribes in the number of Beaver pelts obtained over the course of the campaign. This translates directly into the number of figures you can upgrade from Bow to Matchlock. With this turn, Dave reached the point where all nine figures in his force (he took a Chieftain and all Warriors, no Youths) carry a Matchlock. This is a major advantage, and one he made good use of in our game. I was able to kill three of his Mohawk and force a tight battle, but once things began to collapse, my Warriors and Youths were falling left and right. The end result was yet another Major Defeat for the Erie.

Tribe	Place	Victory Points
Neutrals	1st	26 points
Shawnee	2nd	23 points
Mohawk	3rd	22.5 points
Kickapoo	4th	17.5 points
Seneca	5th	13 points
Miami	6th	11 points
Susqehannock	7th	10 points
Erie	8th	9 points
Honniasont	9th	3 points

Our top two stay in the same place, but the Mohawk make a jump into 3rd place

It is a source of amusement for my friends that I wrote the rules, but have a long history of struggling to win games with them. I point to the fact that my dice rolling is notoriously bad. Witness the three consecutive losses with a +4 to +1 advantage against Keith. In fact, my first attack against one of Dave's Mohawk that I had knocked down -- another +4 to +1 roll -- saw me come up short again! I joke that I'm not supposed to win my own campaign playtest, so having a tribe at the bottom of the standings doesn't bother me. Plus, you could always say I am just being a gracious game master, and letting my players win the laurels of victory. However, I know the truth is I DO try to win. It is just those little incidents in the game that inevitable turn the tide of battle against me.

Tribe	Prestige Points (PPs)
Neutrals (Keith Finn)	16 (5 MajV, 1 MinD)
Shawnee (Joe Merz)	15 (3 MajV, 3 MinV)
Kickapoo (Andy Swingle)	10 (3 MajV, 1 MinD)
Mohawk (Dave Welch)	10 (3 MajV, 1 MinD)
Seneca (Mike Stelzer)	9 (1 MajV, 3 MinV)
Erie (Mike Demana)	5 (1 MajV, 2 MinD)
Miami (Jenny Torbett)	5 (2 MinV, 1 MinD)
Susquehannock (Steve Phallen)	4 (1 MajV, 1 MinD)
Honniasont (Bruce Adamczak)	1 (1 MinD)

 
Still, everyone continues to have fun with the Beaver Wars playtest. The scenarios continue to provide new and interesting challenges to the players. I scrupulously ask players for feedback on every scenario, and we are making tweaks to each as we agree are needed. I'm particularly happy that no major changes in the campaign rules have been required. This second "reboot" of the campaign rules seems to working like a charm. I will probably try to have a post-game session soon, though, and if no changes appear to be needed, begin putting the rules into the publication process.

Tribe	Scenario Victory Points (SVPs)
Neutrals (Keith Finn)	97
Shawnee (Joe Merz)	86
Mohawk (Dave Welch)	61
Seneca (Mike Stelzer)	60
Kickapoo (Andy Swingle)	59
Miami (Jenny Torbett)	55
Susquehannock (Steve Phallen)	45
Erie (Mike Demana)	38
Honniasont (Bruce Adamczak)	15

Tribe	Beaver Pelts
Mohawk (Dave Welch)	41
Neutrals (Keith Finn)	33
Shawnee (Joe Merz)	32
Kickapoo (Andy Swingle)	29
Susquehannock (Steve Phallen)	25
Miami (Jenny Torbett)	22
Erie (Mike Demana)	22
Seneca (Mike Stelzer)	20
Honniasont (Bruce Adamczak)	19