Mathias Skipton was troubled. Morning had come in silence, and Mathias was troubled. No chirping from the feathered chorus of the new England woodlands. Not one forest creature was to be seen or heard. His own animals were restive, ears pricked, heads furtively droppinq to snatch a mouthful of grass to munch. Even old Bo, the hound dog was uneasy, hackles raised, teeth bared. Yes, Mathias Skipton was troubled and Angela Skipton knew it. Ten years of marriage had taught Angela much about her man. Stalwart, single-minded, hard-working and seemingly indefatigable, Mathias Skipton spoke little and carried few worries beyond his own world. He was Angela's opposite, but they worked well together and love had grown between them: even when he chose to come to this wilderness. The land was beautiful, but overpowering in its dark forests and strange red-skinned inhabitants. But Mathias and Angela had carved a new farm, a home, from the land and the first crop was ripe in the fields this fine, but silent morning. When the dreaded Iroquois broke from the surrounding forest, Anqela had completed her preparations. The shotgun, all three muskets and both pistols were loaded. Additional shot lay ready on the table and the fire was stoked high to prevent entry down the chimney. The shutters were closed and barred. As Mathias rushed through the door, closed and barred it, Angela slowed his pursuers by firing the shotgun through a firing slit and quietly settled back to reload for her husband in the calm assurance of her God, her man and her home. Stand Around Screaming In colonial games based in North America, women are normally given the purpose of standing around (probably screaming, or swooning) until grabbed by an Indian and carried off into slavery, or worse. This is a poor view of these hardy pioneers, who generally stood fast alongside their spouses in defense of their homes and families. American pioneer women were often trained in the use of firearms (remember, the Eastern woods contained bears, deadly snakes and an occasional panther or two) and all were taught to load. The family unit was often the entire force available against marauding Indians, so no one could be spared from battle duties. These women were not the screaming, fainting debutantes of most movies. They were closer to the old widow in Drums Across the Mohawk. We should try to incorporate these women into our own games, for they contributed in an unheralded, but vital way to the conquest of North America. To add these stalwarts to our games, I suggest the following: any woman can load muskets. If the settlers are defending a homestead, or a small fort (with no soldiers in garrison) there would usually be extra quns available, resultinq in a more steady fire being sustained by the women loading. Roll one 6d (six-sided die) for this with the following results: Roll Result 1,2,3 50% of men have 1 extra musket 4,5 75% of men have 1 extra musket 6 100% of men have 1 extra musket These muskets may be loaded by woman available and fired by them in desperate situations (such as Indians assaulting the walls). There should be a modifier applied to the women firing due to their relative lack of traininq and lesser experience. Women also should be permitted to enter melee if they are attacked (also if their child and/or spouse are attacked). Their combat capability would be considerable due to desperation, defense of their home and family and a relative surprise in offering resistance to their savage attacker. The other factor to remember was the number of women on the frontier. Not every woman was cut-out for frontier life. A good approximation would be 50% of the adult males. There would be several children for each woman with most males over the age of twelve able to use a musket. The addition of frontier women and children to our games will give an added dimension to the frontier game, and another step toward historicity. Especially if they are not screaming, fainting, or stand around figures to be captured for victory points. We should honor thosr brave women, who stood along side our forefathers as they carved a new home from the American wilderness against great odds and hardship. Back to MWAN #53 Table of Contents © Copyright 1991 Hal Thinglum 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