INTRODUCTION Three players and an umpire conducted this skirmish game, taking about three hours to play it out. The players were totally unfamiliar with the rules, but were experienced wargamers and caught on quickly. This was due more to the simplicity and clarity of the rules than the skill of the umpire (who wrote this report). The background to this small battle concerns the summer of 1779, in which Barry St. Legere of the British army advanced east towards Albany through the wilderness of New York to link up with General Burgoyne's column, slowly marching south from Fort Ticonderoga. St. Legere was forced to halt and besiege a strong patriot post, Fort Stanwix. The game occurs a day or so after St. Legere arrived at Fort Stanwix. Sergeant Morris of the Queen's Rangers, three Mohawk Indians, and four of the more woodcrafty members of the Royal Regiment of New York, went out to forage a few miles north of the fort. They discovered a small trader's cabin near the junction of two forest paths. Outside this building they saw a hastily built corral of thick brush. Within the corral were four rather scrawny horses and two pack mules. just north of the cabin was a decrepit militia saker, perhaps a veteran of the French and Indian War. The area was not deserted, however. Two sentries walked slowly about the cabin, one in civilian town clothes, the other in well-stained buckskins. From the cabin itself the foraging party could hear an occasional guffaw and voices raised in petty arguing. Perhaps a game of knucklebones was in progress. Sergeant Morris sent the four Royal Regiment men to the east, where there was a low rise. They had orders to cover the cabin and shoot anyone who came out. The Queen's Ranger, along with the three Mohawks, decided to advance from the west across a small knolI and attempt to remove the horses --a precious commodity in the wilderness-from the corral. The game starts as the sentry south of the cabin spots the Royal Regiment privates topping the rise. THE RULES The players and umpire used The Old West (also known as Western Gunfight- ED), Third Edition, by Skirmish Wargames. The rules really cover the period from 1816 through 1910. They include flintlock weapons, however, hence there is no reason they would not work all the way back into the Seventeenth Century. One turn in these rules is about one second, and, in 25mm scale, one yard is one centimeter. One man, of course, is one figure. The rules use percentage dice to determine hits. Weapons have a base chance to hit depending on the range and stance of the target (i.e. running, standing, etc.). Other modifiers such as wounds can also affect the chance to hit. The Results Table for both firing and combat determines not only whether the man scored a hit, but also the location and severity. The greater the chance to hit, the greater the chance for a serious or mortal wound. Movement is simultaneous. Each player writes the action he will perform that turn, such as opening doors, turning about, or loading. Since each turn is such a short time, weapons often take a long time to reload (at least it seems like a long time during a game). A flintlock musket, for example, takes eighteen turns to reload. A bow, on the other hand, takes only two turns to reload. As a special rule, the referee indicated that a man could choose to reload his musket by jamming the butt against the ground rather than ramming the ball with his ramrod. This would force the ball down the barrel more quickly. There would be a danger of breaking the lock, however, rated at 20%. Jamming would cut reloading time in half. Each man has "abilities" in these rules, as well as a general combat experience rating. In this game, three abilities were relevant: Hand-to-Hand, determining fighting skill and general strength, Rifle, or skill with shoulder arms, and Throwing, or skill at throwing things. The Indians also received a Bow ability. Skills for all the men were about average, with the playercharacters getting somewhat above average skills. In addition, there are three experience levels. Novices are men who have never been in a fight before. They tend to be both rash and panicky. Averages are men with some experience who know how to keep their heads. Veterans are basically professional killers. Due to natural selection, veterans tend to have the highest abilities. The rules contain a wealth of information about the Old West period, including about twenty pages of weapons, or "Frontier Hardware". They have such simple basic mechanics and such well-designed results tables that all the necessary rules for most encounters are on a single reference sheet at the back of the rules. This allows the players to get their turns done quickly. THE MAP The map shows the area of the skirmish, a region four feet square. The cabin has two doors, one in the north wall, one in the south wall. It has two windows in the east wall and one in the west wall. The roof is of damp bark shingles. The windows have no glass but heavy wooden shutters. The walls are not loopholed. The doors and shutters are thick enough to stop a musket ball. Each contour represents three feet of elevation, enough to shield a prone man from sight. Movement through the streams is at half speed. Any speed above a walk (11/2 cm per turn) has a chance to cause a slip in the water . . . bad news for those with black powder weapons. There is no advantage to crossing a stream at one of the paths. The ponds contained water of an unknown depth, and the chance to cross the muddy swamp area was also unknown. Besides the two sentries, the patriot player had four other men inside the cabin: Samuel "Grisly" Adams and three troopers of the Fifth Continental Light Dragoons. For simplicity, there was no hidden movement, but men in the cabin would be out of sight unless spotted through a window or door. The numbers on the map show the starting positions and general actions of each man during the skirmish. See the section "The Characters" to see which number relates to which man. THE CHARACTERS A. Loyalists Sgt. Robert Morris, Queen's Rangers. (Played by Ralph Morrison). He is a veteran woodsman with high abilities. He carries a musket, bayonet, and dagger. ID= 10 Weetamo, Mohawk Indian. An average woodsman. He has a bow and a dagger. I D = 8 Metasset, Mohawk Indian. An average woodsman. He has a trade musket only. I D = 7 Ojamos, Mohawk Indian. A veteran woodsman. He has a trade musket and tomahawk. I D = 6 Sgt. Henry Hedlan, Royal Regt. of N.Y. (Played by Chris Day). An average soldier. He has a musket, bayonet, and hatchet. I D = 3 Private James Harley, Royal Regt. of N.Y. An average soldier with a musket, bayonet, and dagger. ID=9 Private Charles Davis, Royal Regt. of N.Y. An average soldier with musket, bayonet, and dagger. ID=5 Private Ephraim Jerboa, Royal Regt. of N.Y. An average soldier with a musket, bayonet, and hatchet. ID=4 B. The Patriots Samuel "Grisly" Adams. (Played by Chris Manka). A veteran woodsman and Indian trader of widespread (but dubious) reputation. He carries a musket and hatchet. ID=20 Henry Darvane. Also a backwoodsman, likewise with a musket and hatchet. I D = 21 Frank Garvey. A settler, average skills. He has a musket and dagger. I D = 22 Private Frank Rogers, Fifth Cont. Lt. Dragoons. An average soldier with a musket and bayonet. ID=23 Private John Alquist, Fifth Cont. Lt. Dragoons. An average soldier with a musket and bayonet. I D=24 Private Hans Nymeer, Fifth Cont. Lt. Dragoons. A novice soldier with musket and bayonet. I D = 25 THE COURSE OF THE ENCOUNTER This skirmish divided itself into two fronts. The first was Hedley's advance on the cabin. He and his men were generally successful here. The other was Morris' attempt to gain the corral, where the patriots stopped him, but at heavy cost to themselves. The final victory went to the loyalists. The narrative will describe first Hedley's advance, then Morris'. The point of view will be that of the loyalists, since they generally had a better view of the action. Sgt. Hedlan spread his men and himself in a sparse line along the low rise. (See the map, starting positions.) As they crossed the crest, they spotted a sentry in a brown coat (Garvey), walking between the stream and the cabin. Jerboa aimed his musket and fired without preamble, causing the man a light leg wound. While Jerboa halted to reload, the other three advanced at a deliberate walk. Movement is by centimeters. Speeds for men vary from half a centimeter for limping to four centimeters for "rushing". Most men can only rush ten times during a game, but woodsmen can rush indefinitely, as can Indians. All men may run at three centimeters indefinitely. A few second later Hedlan saw two things. First, the cabin door opened about halfway, and he spotted shadowy movement inside. Second, he noted a light dragoon (Rogers) and a woodsman (Darvane) rushing between the north side of the cabin and the corral. Hedlan fired at the trooper but missed. But the next instant came a shot from the cabin door, hitting Hedlan and inflicting a light wound in the leg. Darvane doubled back to the cabin and out of sight. Rogers continued toward the stream. The wounded sentry crawled behind a nearby tree. Harley and Davis continued to walk forward while Hedlan recovered from his wound. As Hedlan got back to his feet, he observed another woodsman (Adams) also rush between the cabin and the corral. Hedlan started to reload, risking his lock by jamming the butt rather than ramming. From his left he heard a cry, "We're at the knoll!" from Morris. Suddenly Harley and Davis raised their weapons at once and fired. Hedlan heard a gratifying scream from the east wall of the cabin. The privates had seen a second trooper rushing from the cabin toward the cover of a tree (it was Alquist). One of their shots downed him with a serious body wound. Harley reloaded, also jamming, but Davis kept walking forward, fixing his bayonet. Several musket shots cracked from the area of the corral, and Indian war whoops echoed. Someone screamed. Things seemed to be heating up near the knoll. When a man receives a wound, he must suffer an enforced "no action" period, during which he is basically helpless. This varies from two turns for a light leg wound to ten turns for a serious body wound. In addition, the "impact" of a weapon affects wounds. Light impact weapons halve the no-action times. The times are normal for normal impact weapons. For high impact weapons all light wounds become serious wounds and no-action times are doubled. In this game all the weapons were normal impact. As Hedlan finished his reloading, he saw Davis splash confidently across the shallow stream. He was about to shout to the rash private to remember his orders when Alquist, still prone, pointed his piece and fired. The range was very short, and, despite his own weakness, he hit the provincial, causing a serious wound to the body. Davis toppled over just on the other side of the stream, downed by his own victim. Alquist began slowly dragging himself toward the cabin. More Indian yells sounded from south of the corral, and Hedlan guessed from their exultant timbre that the enemy sentry would cause him no trouble. Harley now took careful aim at the wounded Alquist and shot him dead a yard or so before he reached safety. (The referee ruled that two serious wounds equalled death.) Harley began to reload his third round. Taking Davis' fate to heart, he no longer advanced. Morris shouted again, in a rather panicky voice. "Get down here!" Perhaps things were not going so well at the corral after all. Hedlan waved Harley forward. Harley trotted to the stream and finished reloading there. Jerboa, however, was moving unaccountably left. He seemed to be trying to spot something through the trees. There was considerable splashing from the stream west of the corral. Darvane reappeared, aiming into the corral itself. He fired and an Indian yelped. Hedlan raised his musket at Darvane, but discovered to his intense disgust that his lock had broken. Grimley he fixed his bayonet and ran toward the corral. Morris was still calling for help above the sound of more splashing. Hedlan hoped the Ranger would still be alive when he arrived. Back near the cabin, Harley crossed the stream and joined Davis, who had finally struggled back to his feet. Davis had also reloaded. They decided to force their way into the cabin. The door facing them was still halfway open, and it appeared the cabin might be empty. But just as they reached the door it slammed shut in their faces. They could hear the bar drop into place and a loud sigh of relief. With a shrug, Davis hefted his musket and readied it to fire at anyone who opened the door. Harley ran to the west corner of the cabin to see how the action was proceeding near the corral. He heard a single musket shot from Jerboa on the rise, a scream, and then silence but for the rushing of water in the stream. Footsteps thudded as the woodsman Darvane ran around the far corner toward him, hatchet ready for combat. It appeared he could not remember if Harley's musket was loaded or not. At six yards range Harley fired and Darvane collapsed with a serious body wound. Harley ran back to join Davis, who called to him frantically. They could both hear the bar rise inside the door. Harley fixed his bayonet grimly while Davis aimed, finger tense on the trigger. Someone inside kicked the door open, and Hans Nymeer appeared. His face was white, either from loss of blood from the wound in his side, or from terror. Davis fired in a panic but missed. As the ball crashed into the door next to Nymeer's face, the patriot trooper staggered suddenly forward and pitched headlong at Davis' feet. But the two provincials ignored him as Adams himself leapt through the door with his hatchet ready. As Nymeer crawled away in a daze the other three fought for a brief instant. Then Harley inflicted a serious wound on Adams with his bayonet. Adams fell atop Nymeer, gasping for breath. Harley and Davis cautiously looked inside the cabin. It was empty. just then came Hedlan's voice. "It's all over! " "Here, too," sang out Davis, and the fight had ended. The skirmish was rather less successful for the loyalists in their attempt to capture the corral. Morris and his trio of Mohawks stumbled through the stream in front of them safely, then started toward their objective. Morris and Ojamos chose to climb the knoll to gain a height advantage, while Weetamoo and Metasset rushed along between the knoll and the stream on their right. Weetamoo had seen Garvey fall, and was anxious to finish him off. Metasset followed. As Morris and Ojamos were topping the small hill, Metasset saw Garvey, who had regained his feet, aiming at Weetamoo through the fork of a tree. The Indian fired hastily. His musket ball thudded into the tree instead of the sentry, but Garvey dropped to the ground in an enforced reaction to a near miss. Both Indians sent out war cries. Weetamoo reached the stream and let an arrow fly at Garvey, but missed. In anger, the Mohawk warrior lept into the stream, drawing his dagger. But in his haste he slipped and fell full length in the cold water. Metasset screeched with delight at his comrade's misfortune, but it changed to a yelp of pain as a ball from an enemy musket near the corral tore through his calf, a light wound. Metasset dropped behind a bush to recover. As it turned out, Weetamoo's slip saved him. It was Rogers who fired, and Weetamoo had been his original target. When Weetamoo slipped, Rogers shifted his aim to Metasset. Morris and Ojamos were now descending the knoll. They spotted a woodsman (Adams) at the near corner of the corral. They halted and hid behind trees. Morris could not get a good shot at Adams, so he aimed carefully at Garvey, whom he could see full length behind his tree below. The Ranger's shot went home into Garvey's back, a serious body wound. At the same time, Ojamos shot at and seriously wounded Trooper Nymeer in the side. Nymeer had also exited the cabin, and was standing between the cabin and the corral, aiming at Weetamoo, who had crossed the stream at last. Adams shot at Ojamos, who had revealed himself to fire, but missed. As the enemy had either exhausted his shots or been knocked out of the fight for the present, Morris and Ojamos charged down at Adams. Adams yelled for Rogers to help him and met Ojamos, who was exceptionally large and strong, in the stream. Morris was a few paces behind. On the first round neither man hit. Adams had his hatchet and Ojamos his musket, clubbed. For the sake of speed, the players struck once every turn, although the rules say a more "realistic" rate is one strike every three turns. The next round both Morris and Rogers joined the melee. Ojamos, Adams, and Morris all missed, but Rogers gave Ojamos a serious arm wound with his musket butt. As Ojamos fell, Morris ran away down the stream, calling out "Get down here!" to the provincials on the rise. Rogers chased him, waving his musket. Adams crushed Ojamos' skull with his hatchet and ran like a madman back toward the cabin. While this had been happening, Weetamoo reached the helpless Garvey and slit his throat with his dagger, then halted to scalp his victim. While he was shouldering the sentry's musket, Metasset limped across the stream and joined him. Both Indians now began forcing their way through the brush wall of the corral. They would have to spend two turns doing this. Darvane appeared from behind the cabin. He shot Weetamoo at close range, giving the Mohawk a serious wound. Nymeer, who had recovered, fired at Metasset but missed. His shot did, however, panic the two mules, who charged into Metasset and knocked him down. Nymeer hobbled back into the cabin behind the frantically rushing Adams. Adams reached the south door a pace ahead of the provincials near the cabin and shut it in their faces. Metasset got up and ran to the stricken Weetamoo, grabbing his bow. He did not have time to get at the still loaded musket slung over his friend's shoulder, for hewanted tofireat Rogers, whowas chasing Morris wildly along the stream. Metasset limped as fast as he could to the corral wall near the stream and fired at Rogers but missed. It appeared that neither Indian was much of a bowman. Rogers, however, climbed out of the stream and met Metasset in combat. Metasset was above Rogers and had a higher Hand-to-Hand ability (7 to 6), but his light wound hampered him. Rogers got lucky and gave Metasset a serious arm wound with his musket. Now Morris regained his courage and turned about. Rogers flung his musket at the Ranger but it missed and went sailing into the stream. Rogers drew his bayonet and met Morris, who had his dagger out, in mid-stream. Again Rogers was victorious, causing a serious body wound to Morris, who fell into the water. But even as Rogers stooped over Morris to end his life, a musket cracked and the patriot staggered back with a serious body wound of his own. Jerboa had remained on the rise, and by moving left had had a clear view down the stream. Acting as the "reserve", he had acted just in time. Morris was lucky, too; the referee ruled that any hits to Rogers' legs would hit Morris instead. A few seconds later Hedlan ran over to the stream and dragged Morris from the water. Seeing no other enemies, he called out "It's all over!" and the encounter had finished. CONCLUSION The overall victory went to the loyalists. They seemed to have won as much due to the rashness of the patriots as their own good moves. Darvane's and Adams' final attacks in particular seem to have been rather risky. The two might have done better to remain in the cabin and shoot out at the enemy as they took away the horses. In any event, Darvane, Nymeer, Rogers, and Adams were captured and led back to St. Legere's force. Rogers and Nymeer died of their wounds a few days later, as did Metasset. Nymeer insisted stoutly that Adams had flung the cabin door open and thrown him out to draw the enemy's fire. Adams denied this hotly, claiming he had intended to go out first, but Nymeer pushed past him and tripped. As there were no witnesses in the cabin, the truth must remain a matter of conjecture. It should be noted that the Queen's Ranger were not part of St. Legere's expedition. The referee assumed that Morris had been sent as a courier to St. Legere. The Royal Regiment of New York, or "Johnson's Royal Greens", were tory refugees who formed a regiment in Canada. I was part of St. Legere's force. Its greatest strength was perhaps one hundred fifty men, mostly townsmen rather than woodsmen. The Fifth Continental Light Dragoons is a fictitious unit. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. V #5 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1984 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com