Pony Wars

"B Troop Ain't Coming Back"

review by Paul Koch

Pony Wars by Ina S. Beck is something at once quite new and very old in miniature wargaming. First it is designed to be a "just plain fun" game to play- that's the old part. The new part is that PONY WARS is essentially a group solo system of play. That is, if the two of us play PONY WARS then we both command the same side. The gamers all compete against the rules themselves, hence no winners and no losers. A novel idea well suited to the setting of PONY WARS which is the Old West as it should have been.

PONY WARS covers the American experience campaigning against the warlike tribes of Sioux, Apache and all those in between. It is war the way we saw it when watching John Wayne in the "trooper Tyree trilogy" of director John Ford.

The writing is splashy, cheerful and fun. They're fun for the reason of the built-in "Indian reaction Table." The Indians always move on dice rolls tied to the situation of what they see and by the reaction table. PONY WARS should be purchased by gamers if for no other reason than to study this chart. It is invaluable. For one thing it may be lifted out and applied to any other period of civilized soldiers fighting barbarians. I tried it in a THE SWORD & THE FLAME game for Zulus and it worked great. Peter Gilder uses it for his "Sudan" games in England. The rules are cumbersome in spots and require up to 700 or 800 Indians alone (though a high figure ratio and roster for the Indians would help), but for $6.00 it remains a good value and covers a great, though neglected period. Maybe you can do better with the 7th than did "Yellow Hair". Available from Soldier World.

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