Quick Draw Western Campaign: Chapter 1
Quick Draw Western Campaign: Chapter 2 and 3
Quick Draw Western Campaign: Chapter 4
Quick Draw Western Campaign: Chapter 5

Last time, the Cowboys ran into trouble on board a Train to Omaha. They are now following the trail left by Fritz as he tries to get away with all the land papers of the miners in Deadwood. I ran this skirmish while on a trip to Fort Leonard Wood, MO. The players divided up with one group running the Cowboys and the other an Indian warband. So, here it is: A Wild West Ambush using the "Pkowboys" rules from Piquet, Inc., by Jeff Grossman.

Chapter 6 Sneaky Injuns

This skirmish finds the cowboys riding two by two into an L-shaped canyon with the hair on the back of their neck standing up.

Riding near the middle of the cowboys' line, next to Richey, Rube says, "Don't get too much in a uproar, but I think we got some Injuns lookin' at us right now."

Richey lets out a long stream of cigar smoke from his lips, then says, loudly, "Ya'll, I think we should spread out a little and not get too close to each other. Even a blind hog finds an acorn, now and then. Fritz and his kin could be close by."

The Indian warband, led by Greg, my network engineer, had gained the initiative. The three cards in his hand were Dirty Varmints, Longgun Reload, and a Handy Cover. So, he started out using a few pips to fire on the Cowboys.

Seconds later, a gunshot sends a plume of dirt into the air and a number of heavy, thick shafted arrows land around the horses. Having missing with all of his opening fire, Greg draws a Layin' Low card, which wastes more pips. Greg decides then to play the Handy Cover card from his hand. Not wanting to push his bad luck any more, he turns the round over to the Cowboys. In front of the Cowboys, a number of Indians are firing arrows from behind rocks. Behind them, there are more rocks with another group of Indians firing arrows and one with a rifle.

The Cowboys have five cards in their hand to model a well led and coordinated gang. As noted above, the Indians have three, simulating an average gang. The cards in the Cowboys hand are Greased Lightnin', Heroic Moment, Longgun Reload, Dodge, and Move in III/IV. Needing to spread out his Cowboys and get them into cover, Bob starts off by playing the Greased Lightnin' card with Richey, James and Rube. Then, he fires on the Indians for more pips.

On hearing the gunshot and seeing the arrows, Richey starts sucking harder on his cigar while turning his horse, Doimed, around so that the he is facing back toward the canyon opening. Looking for cover, Richey draws his revolver and fires three shots at the first two targets that come into his sights. Bang, Bang, BANG! One Indian rolls down the side of the canyon, as Richey shouts, "Got one!"

Not to be outdone, James yanks out his pistol, and begins to ride hard to the left of the attacking Indians. This forces him up the side of the canyon wall. Crossing his mind -- and probably everyone else's -- is the possibility Fritz has found some new friends. Despite the slow going on the slopes, he manages to flank the Indians. He is now able to sees three of them crouched behind the outcropping.

Just as James was ready to fire, Bob -- who is playing the Cowboys -- "busted", passing the round back to Greg. Greg starts off by playing a reload card and fires.

The Injuns are not entirely surprised by James' move. Two of them yank their heavy bows and let fly in James direction. The arrows zip by his face so closely that he feels their wind. Again, Greg misses. He draws another Layin Low card, coming to the end of the deck. We start the next turn with Bob having the initiative.

Juliet begins firing at the Indians that James has outflanked. The shots are well placed, splattering rock pieces into their faces and pinning them down. Meanwhile, Rube has slid off his horse and moves into a crouched firing position. Rube fires his BIG army smoothbore, its sound ringing off the canyon walls like a miniature cannon, and nails one standing Indian. The ball takes Indian in the chest, throwing him back. Rube then goes into the ritual of biting a cartridge, pouring powder, and pulling out the ramrod -- all surprisingly fast -- while moving around!

Still in control on the initiative, Bob has Richey and Zeke move on the same Move in III/IV card as Rube.

While holding his revolver in his left hand, Richey grabs his rifle with his right. He rolls off Doimed while looking for the closest rock to use as cover. Zeke drops from his horse next to Rube. He then raises up on one knee and steadies the rifle on the other. Choosing a target near Rube's last victim, he fires. Strangely, nothing happens -- Zeke's gun misfires!

Bad luck now strikes Bob as he turns over a Jammed Gun card and fails Zeke's skill roll.

Zeke looks at the gun and tries to yank open the breech. It does not yield easily as it should -- it is jammed! Rube has reloaded and fired the loud smoothbore again, but it is hard to tell if he hit anything.

Greg regains the initiative and starts firing away, since he has a reload card in his hand.

Still more arrows rain down from above -- maybe fired from well behind the rocks, indirectly and inaccurately. Still, to the Cowboys, it seems rather hairy. Richey moves quickly to the rear, looking for cover. It's a bit of a jaunt before he can find any. Looking back, he realizes that he has traveled far, but the Indians haven't seemed to notice him, yet. Because of the bend on the road, the other Indians can no longer see him, either. Richey examines the Indians he has flanked. There are three of them still alive, including one Richey had originally hit, on the ground and not looking in too good of shape. Finally, they notice Richey as he takes cover in the rocks to their right. One is armed with a repeating rifle, and he aims and fires at Richey. A plume of dusty rock particles flies into the air, the bullet screaming away. The Indian snaps his hand back and forth on the reloading lever, ready to fire again. At this point, the two other Injuns jump up from behind the rocks, shooting arrows down into the gully at the remaining cowboys.

Bob again gains the initiative and starts by playing a Heroic Moment, then draws a Giddeyap, followed by a Foot move in Open. Then he has the cowboys shoot.

The Cowboys in the canyon are running all over the place. Juliet has raced toward the Indians in front, riding hard and following James. She draws another long barreled revolver, looking like an avenging angel. Following closely behind, Harlan races forward in what can only be called a heroic charge -- revolver blasting and cavalry sword drawn. James sees that there are three Indians left standing and that they are retreating uphill towards the edge of the canyon. James sees they have exposed themselves on open ground and he can simply ride them down. They are right in front of him, and they surely can't run faster than his horse, he feels! Back at the other end of the canyon, Richey is taking long hard pulls on his cigar while running as fast as his wounded leg allows. After getting behind what cover he could find, Richey ducks down as a plume of rock particles fly into the air. Peeking up, again, he exhales a stream of smoke and shoots at the Indian with the repeating rifle.

Just then, Bob busts his hand, and Greg has the Initiative. He reloads, moves and then shoots.

One of the retreating Indians, in what seems like an afterthought, lets an arrow fly toward Juliet -- nailing her square in her upper thigh. Juliet lets out a small "Peep!" and grabs her leg. She lets her horse ride right on by the retreating Indians, who look as if they are going to make good a fighting withdrawal.

Just as the Indians started hitting the Cowboys, Greg turns the last card in the deck. Greg gained the initiative only to draw Gang Skedaddle card. A number of Indians have lost their morale and are now retreating as fast as they can from the table. Greg then busts, returning the initiative to Bob.

Rube looks at Zeke, "I think you better give up on that rifle -- use yer handgun! Hell, looks like there goin' to skedaddle --pesky Redskins!" Beside him, Zeke swears at the misshapen round that jammed his rifle. He looks up at the retreating Indians and decides to remount. Gathering up Il-Sufre's reins, he leaps into the saddle and removes his shotgun from the rifle boot, replacing it with the jammed weapon. Digging in with his heels, he heads towards the retreating Injuns. With the retreat, the shooting has started to dwindle. The Indian with the rifle keeps firing as he runs up the hill, though none of his shots hit any of the Cowboys. Richey, after gauging the situation, decides that the most effective thing to do is to take a long pull on his cigar. That being done, there is still the matter of the Indians. He sees what is left of them running up the hill. Rube is getting ready to fire at those who are going up the slope to the rear. Even though Richey is a good shot, he knows this is a difficult one. The Indians are running and actively trying NOT to get hit. Nevertheless, he fires three times at the fleeing group. At first, does not see any effect on them. A mere second or so later, one falters, but another quickly helps him. Meanwhile, Harlan opted for elan with a real old fashioned cavalry charge. Between him and James, they bare down on their quarry like two riders of the Apocalypse. The Indians attempt to scatter, but only one of them is likely to get away, as James and Harlan catch up. Harlan cleaves one's skull in half with a swooping motion of his sword. James does not even have to use a bullet as the man he was chasing falls in front of his horse and is trampled. The last of the three seizes the opportunity to bolt for the top of the canyon, and takes off. The Indians end the game literally heading for the hills.

Quick Draw Western Campaign

Chapter 1
Chapters 2 and 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6