The terrain of Sudrose Wells is still very WIP but I will be posting some shots later. In the meantime I wanted to test out the scenario so I mocked up the stagecoach station and we ran the game.
The game as it looked at the start.
The station employees were holed up in the buildings and had been reinforced by half troop of cavalry who occupied the corral. The Indian forces emerged from the east and north at dawn - 7 bands of Sioux led by Warchief Two Dogs supported by Medicine Man Crazy Calf.
The redskins swept forward towards the corral, undaunted by the fire of the troopers who emptied many a saddle but were slowly whittled down by repeated charges by the braves. A final charge by a band of Youndbloods sealed their fate and the corral had been taken.
However the settlers in the house had held off the other half of the redskins forces and the rest of the cavalry arrived (in the nick of time?).
C Troop charged the redskins around the corall driving them back, whilst B Troop dismounted and kept at bay the Akacita driving them back across the river.
However B Troop had not reckoned on the intervention of Medicine Man Crazy Calf. On the drawing of the 'Hoka Hey' card he managed to successfully inspire 3 bands on successive turns enabling them to re-enter the fight and destroy most of B Troop leaving a small section in a 'Last Stand' which was overrun by a concerted charge of Braves and Youngbloods. However this had cost them badly with many an empty saddle in their bands.
Meanwhile C Troop, supported by the fire from the cabin had seen off the right wing of the redskins and could now mount up and move forward. The remaining redskins who by now had lost many warriors were not strong enough to hold them back and Two Dogs realising that he could not prevail gave the order for the bands to break off the attack. Sudrose Wells had been saved.
After the game we reviewed the rules and made some minor tweaks to the rules regarding Redskin charges but overall we were happy with the results. The game re-emphasised the importance of long range fire by the dismounted cavalry, whilst the Indians benefitted from getting into hand to hand contact. It also emphasised the importance to the Indian player of having his bands in control as they failed to charge home on the cabin once they had cleared the corral of the troopers, which might have won them the game.
Overall another great game, with the advantage switching from side to side as the game played out.
16 March 2012, 07:34:39 PM
