Pony Wars and Sands of Sudan - The luck of the cards.....

Sometimes its nice to play on the same side.... Two games in two weeks both along a similar theme with commanders all trying to play together for a common good. The Pony Wars games have a sense of fear as the soldiers in blue head off into the hinterland. Although I am beginning to really resent the homesteaders :-) 

Pony Wars

The cards fell well for the cavalry with limited Sioux appearing on the table, the federal forces were on the look out for gun runners looking to make a quick buck selling guns and whiskey to the Injuns.

Turn one and the Indians are already sending smoke signals to their buddies in the hills, we sent A troop up the high ground to drive them off as a wagon train enters the table and heads for the fort.

Meanwhile hearing that there was a clam bake sale at the church settlers head up the team only to be ambushed by the locals who were armed with bow and arrow, but then who should appear in the clearing but the flaming gun runners. Alas the settlers would not see another sun rise.

Having watched men, women and children butchered the cavalry retreated to one of the homesteads and awaiting reinforcements as the indians with their new repeating rifles took pot shots from afar.

But as luck would have it, the Masked Man and Tonto appeared to save the day, although he was ignored by several Indians which caused hoots of laugher from the rank and file.

Not everyone was laughing through as the Indian Scouts were cut down in the pass before they could get back to the main command.

Just as the cavalry plotted their revenge and drew their sabre's for a ferocious charge (Ok the might have been running low on ammunition) The Lone Ranger persuaded the Indians to leave the table and head back to the reservation. Spoil Sport - But we will take that as a win.

On the other side of the globe a similar encounter was unfolding.

Sands of the Sudan.

A week later and perhaps it was the fact we were British we entered the desert with a sense of purpose surely no savage could stand up to the might of the crown.

Unlike the Sioux the Dervish come on in huge numbers very often watching from afar awaiting for the Emir to give his signal. The occasional HE shell did nothing to change their mood.

Having watched plenty of movies like the Four Feathers the Brits new what was needed and kept a tight formation, the drums started beating and the natives charged getting pretty close to the British lines, with supplies close at hand the Brits and Egyptians poured fire into the Dervish and sent them packing.

With the Dervish attack shattered time to unleash the lancers.... It was a great plan sweep behind the natives and send the packing.....

Right plan but you need to know when to break off, the initial charge failed to break the Fuzzy Wuzzy and they were joined by friends keen to avenge their fallen comrades. The Lancers fled taking their wounded officer with them. That will take some explaining in the mess.

Time to head back to the steamer and the safety of the Nile.

Great games and both with a slightly different feel, you really have to plan ahead and balance you resources, the lancers head the oasis in sight but had to turn back when our of the heat haze came hundreds of Arab riders.... 

Looking forward to playing a few more of these games in the coming months and perhaps an adaption for Starship Troopers just for fun...

Pony Wars - Life is cheap on the plains.

Can it really be the first outing of these rules???

The figures were painted months ago but it wasn't until a club night conversation turned to who had a copy did the nudge occur to read them and get figures on the table. A real gem from the 80's whilst the casualty calculations takes a bit of getting used to, the Indian reaction tables are fantastic and really make the game what it is.

For a change we all played on the same side the fear and dread made us all play nicely together in a single focus of rescuing the homesteaders.... We collectively felt a real need to do the right thing and get the settlers out alive.

Things started so well the column cleared the first pass and came upon the sheep farmers, who instead of coming under orders ignored the boys in boy and decided to hunker down in their farm..... bloody civilians don't they know we were trying to save them.

Elsewhere another group of settlers were set upon by a war party, the white folk grabbed their weapons in an attempt to drive off the hostiles.

Meanwhile the next homestead started to pack up their belongings as they could hear the gunfire from over the hill, a party of scouts raced to help them, just as a wagon train appeared on table, this lot would take some shifting....

The scouts galloped off to help the other settlers but they were too late and the farm was already a blaze and more Indians were appearing from the treelines. The cavalry commander orders the settlers to head for the fort, but they opted to circle the wagons instead..... arrrggghhh.

Elsewhere the main column had run into a problem, looking to push head to the far encampments they rushed to form a firing line as women and children ran for safety with the boys in blue.... The Indians just kept on coming and ammunition was now becoming a problem.

Meanwhile the settlers at the far end of the valley heard the firing and decided not to wait voting to pack up and head to the farm without an escort..... bad news a war party spots them in the open....

As the troopers held back the angry Sioux warriors another settlement is raised to the ground and the settlers killed.

All in all not a good day on patrol for the cavalry, they were forced to beat a hasty retreat to the fort with barely handful of homesteaders. The scouts were left conflicted as they watched the settlers be butchered by the natives.... if they had pressed on they would surely be killed, instead the left them to their fate to ensure others made it home.

The cavalry when kept together were strong but they could not be everywhere at once. But when the ammunition started to run out, they, were forced to strip the civilians of their ammo. That will not look good in the papers back east....

A great fun game, you can see why it stood the test of time and so many people clambered to see if back in print....

You can see why B troop did not make it back.... we must do better next time or their will no one left to protect....

Dispatches from the front XXIX - Small scale actions.

I had every intention of ploughing through the remaining Commonwealth Infantry and Free French but having completed the prep, basing and undercoating the thought of 80 boots, 40 rifles and webbing etc put me off a little. Perhaps next week unless something shiny comes along.

Instead I opted for the assembly line of the last support weapons for the allies and axis forces. Some nice castings from Warlord in shape of AT guns, Mortars and Infantry Guns...

I did sneak in a small order to Northstar with an extra HMG above, but really for some of their Africa Korps casualties which will make up pin markers for future games - I have hunted high and low for allied casualties and have drawn a blank, which was a surprise as almost every other range of figures across history seems to have them in all scales....

On the subject of purchases, Fred over at Two Send Fred is working on a small wadi for me, I was after a connector for my larger purchase, this is the draft mock up. This will be great for future games, more on that in a separate post.

Plans are afoot to finally give the Pony Wars rules an actual run out at the club. I wanted to be clear on the rules, hosting several players in one go, nothing frustrates me more than agreeing to host a game and not know the rules or spending valuable game time reading them while everyone looks on.

Whilst most definitely of there time the reaction tables really do make for interesting command decisions and they Indians numbers can get out of hand really quickly....

Over at the Wyre Forest Club I gave Bolt Action Modern a run out with my North Koreans facing off against the South Koreans with support from a British/UN modern contingent. Much like the news from Ukraine it turns out that T55's don't last long against more modern dug in armour.

The village of Fooket with dug in Dragon Teams and LAW's lining the walls.

The NK armour rushes forward with closed up armour and infantry in support.

The Brits lie in wait on the tree line.

Kim's forces burn in the field as the M60's take there toll.

A fun encounter if you were western backed forces, not much fun for the Koreans from the north.

You till next time....

Hammerhead 2022 - The Fetterman Massacre 1866.

After two years, wonderful to get back on the show circuit and a visit to Hammerhead at the Newark show ground yesterday. Hammerhead is a great show, every game is participation game which makes for a really friendly atmosphere, it was great to catch up with loads of old friends and find out how many new projects they have been working on over the lockdown period.

For our part the Wyvern's took the 6mm Pony Wars on our travels with a refight of the Fetterman Massacre 1866. Players played the part of Fetterman's command fighting for their lives to escape Red Cloud's trap?

Captain Fetterman believed with 80 men he could ride through the Sioux nation, Red Cloud and Crazy Horse had other ideas. 

Once again the Wood Train coming out of Fort Phil Kearny was under attack by the Sioux, Fetterman led the relief party.

Spotting a group of native horsemen he ignored orders not to pursue the Indians over the ridge and was ambushed by over 2000 warriors.

Could players escape the trap and get back over the ridge before the Indians over ran his tiny command or hold out long enough for his own relief to arrive?

Fort Phil Kearny and Captain Eyck relief force mustering to response to the sound of battle.

Unfortunately I was far to busy to take any photo's of the game in play but needless to say it was not a good day for Fetterman who went down in history for all of the wrong reasons.

What a great days gaming, plenty of interest in how Sharp Practice can be converted into 6mm and how the adaptions work for gaming the native Americans.

The prep for Hammerhead gave me the push to finish the last of the terrain pieces, excellent castings from Leven Miniatures. The fort is a wonderful piece of kit, I left the buildings to allow me to move them around within the command.

The bell tents allow me to expand the fort compound or set up base camp for the cavalry on campaign and at £3.00 a pack great value for money.

The last couple of pieces useful for loads of scenario's. A log cabin or traders post and a church bringing religion to the prairie lands.

Until next time.....

US Artillery - Pony Wars.

The last of the bare metal for the Pony Wars Project

A couple of items to even up the forces, these were from the Baccus ACV Range and with 4 pieces and limbers to a pack enough for most encounters.

With Hammerhead now only a few weeks away, a final push to get the buildings finished, but it's quite a pleasant feeling knowing that there is no spare metal knocking around.

Next up...... Constructions old and new......

Yet more Sioux - Baccus Pony Wars.

I do hate painting horses... Another 100 Sioux clear the paint table.

These were a real a grind, but two colours a night and over 2 weeks they are finished and game table ready.

Great castings from Baccus, on closer inspection this bag of Sioux have less War Bonnets and has more native warriors. when blended with the first purchase now gives me a good mix with the existing painted horsemen. 

Looking over the requirements of the original Pony Wars rules, I am still another 300 warriors short, but for the Sharp Practice variant I am hoping another 10 groups will be enough, this latest batch also have an additional 5 big men to help shepherd the war parties.

The entire warband rides out to war....

A Coy 3rd Cavalry may have bitten off more than they can chew.

That's the Indian's complete.

A couple of odds and ends to complete but finally nearing the end of this project.

Blood on the Plains #2 - Supply Run

An evening encounter and another run through of the Plains Wars adaption for Sharp Practice and a chance to get some of the new toys on the table.

A detachment of Cavalry with a wagon mounted Infantry company have been tasked with escorting a wagon of supplies, reaching the ford at the creek an Indian village was spotted blocking the passage of the column. 

The Indian's could be anywhere on the table so the army and their crow scouts would need to be cautious. They had the fire power but the Cheyanne and Sioux were swift.

The Crow scouts spotted a group of Sioux who fired from the tree line and scuttled back through the stand of trees. 

The cavalry sections swept the wooded areas and rises looking to spot any of the hostiles. The wagon train pressed.

Cresting the largest hill the cavalry spotted a hidden warband who with a war whoop who rushed towards the cavalry who headed back to the safety of the column.

At the base of the valley a further group of horsemen broke cover from behind a stand of trees and headed for the cavalry troop.

The Crow could only stand and watch as the Sioux poured down the hillside.

The hostiles caught the retreating cavalry, they broke and ran.

As with many an encounter with the Sioux they held the advantage but instead of closing on the column and the wagon they turned and headed across the creek taking their dead and wounded with them.

A good encounter ironing out a couple of kinks in the rules around low ammunition and evade rules.

A few more pieces to get off the paint table before a formal roll out at Hammerhead in March.