Mammalian Mayhem is a set of miniature rules that allows one to recreate big game hunting in the late nineteenth century. It is published by HLBS Company and is the sequel to their dinosaur hunting game Saurian Safari now in its second edition. In Saurian Safari players were confined to the role of hunters and the dinosaurs responded to their actions in ways predetermined by the rules as befit their less evolved intelligence. In Mammalian Mayhem, in contrast, players may assume the roles of either hunter or prey though the actions of the latter are limited in the interest of realism by an innovative card system.

From the hunter’s perspective the game has a skirmish feel with some role-playing elements thrown in. The hunters each have four characteristics (including awareness, shooting skill, strength, and agility) whose values are diced for at the beginning of the game. Additionally, the player is allowed to choose one special ability that confers on his hunter some unique advantage (for example: one ability entitled “Trained on the Playing Fields of Eton” allows the hunter to run further than normal; another called “Beloved Master” ensures that gun bearers won’t leave the hunter’s side during an animal charge). Various weapons are described, ranging from spears to the .577” double-barreled breechloader “Express.” The various firearms are differentiated by their reload rate, accuracy, percent chance of misfire, and “stopping power.” The turn sequence begins with the hunter either observing, moving, or shooting in any order.

This is followed by the animal’s actions, which are dictated by the cards held by their player. At the beginning of each turn the animal player is allowed to hold 4 cards dealt him from a 52-card deck. Some cards permit the animal to hide, others to move varying distances, and some to attack. The player may play any or all of the cards each turn and at the end of the turn draw new cards to replace them. If the animal is wounded, their player is entitled to progressively fewer cards depending on the wound severity (thus a “seriously wounded” animal for example is entitled to only two cards per turn).

This card system allows the animals to be controlled by players without (as the author describes it) “being unrealistically human in their behavior.” In practice the system works quite well and is perhaps the most fun aspect of the game. In one of our first games, for example, a player was controlling two lions, which were waiting in ambush for a party of hunters. Ideally, the player’s desire was for both lions to charge the party simultaneously when they were within a short distance from the lion’s cover. In practice however, the player lacked an “attack card” for one of the lions and consequently had to use movement cards (of which he had an abundance) to retreat before the advancing hunters. Though frustrating for the player (who at one point was observed to mutter “Stupid lion!” in his best Homer Simpson voice) it provided great fun for the GM (myself) and ultimately proved beneficial for the player as well as the pursuing hunters were led straight past the second lion who DID have an attack card!

Attacks are not always forgone conclusions. If the charging animal is within the hunters line-of-sight, then the hunter will be able to get off a hasty shot or perhaps dodge the beast at the last second. If all else fails, they can always hope the animal will redirect his charge and pursue a panicked gunbearer!

The last part of the rules describes the various animals and this makes interesting reading for anyone who has previously only equated hunting with the search for a discontinued figure range in a dealers room. One learns, foe example, the basic arguments for why lions are more dangerous than tigers and vice versa (the gist of the argument is that lions are less efficient killers but tend to hunt in groups and are less dissuaded by gunfire from pressing a charge home than are tigers). In addition to modern animals such as lions, tigers, and elephants, the rules also describe creatures belonging to prehistoric and cryptozoological categories (the later includes such beasts as Yetis and Kenya’s Nandi Bear).

The greatest weakness of the rules lies in the limitations the subject matter imposes on play. Each game is essentially about one or more animals attempting to ambush a hunter. While initially fun, this unvaried theme becomes stale over time. In contrast, most conventional miniature wargames allow one to recreate not only ambushes, but set-piece battles, rear-guard actions, raids, etc. For this reason, the rules are perhaps most useful when incorporated into a larger scenario in which the presence of say, a notorious man-eating lion, is but a part. Darkest Africa scenarios in particular lend themselves well to use of the rules in this manner.

Expedition Scenario