Jackson Gamers' Western Frontier Game, played March 17, 2007
Using Larry Brom's Boots Bugles & Saddles rules set
Raid on Simpson's Mine

Photo by Jim Pitts

Whooping it up, one of the five Indian war parties, under the leadership of Squatting Buffalo, leave the reservation. Scouts report back to Colonel Campbell, who in turn alerts the cavalry for immediate departure from the fort.

The Cavalry's objective was to reach Simpson's mine and safeguard the miners. The miners were armed and could provide some fire support. But they were a small force compared to the indian war band. There were two companies of cavalry with attached scouts.

A few general notes about the game

The Indians were led by the noted chiefs Squatting Buffalo (Jay Stribling), and Young Eagle (Sean Pitts). The cavalry and the miners were led by Colonel Campbell (Jim Pitts).

The groundcloth that we used for the game was tan with green/brown mottle overspray pattern. In the photos this comes out as a very light tan tint. It was darker than it looks

Jim Pitts ran this game which was played at HOBBYTOWN in Flowood Mississippi. Chad Wilson is the owner of Hobbytown and provides this gaming space as a public service. We try to support him by purchasing all of the supplies that we can, such as paint, glue, scenery, structures, and whatever figures that we can through his store.

Comments on the game and the photos are by Jay Stribling. Jim Pitts took all the photos.

Photo by Jim Pitts

The cavalry (shown fuzzily) on the march. Note the indian scout deployed ahead to try to give warning of the indians.

Photo by Jim Pitts

At Simpson's mine, the miners are as ready as they can be. The mine was named after Simpson Whifield, one of the first women miners in this area. She took over a million dollars in silver out of the mine then retired to San Francisco. She sold the mine's equipment to a group of investors from New York City, throwing in the actual excavation for free.

Since not an ounce of silver ever came out of the mine after the sale, the new owners later referred to her largess as "She gave us the shaft!"

Photo by Jim Pitts

Colonel Pitts swings his force right at the first group of indians that he encounters. At this point, we were using the "alternate firing system" that Larry Brom provided in his rules set. This produced few casualties, but the cavalry seemed to be taking most of them.

Photo by Jim Pitts

The other company of cavalry also attacks the Red men, but in line so more firepower can be used. The indians never stood for close combat, falling back and the other war parties shooting at the white men.

Photo by Jim Pitts

Later in the game, after being unsucessful in coming to close combat, the Cavalry is moving towards the mine. They turn and face the tormenting Indians under Young Eagle but in turn are surprised by fire from the hill to their right. Squatting Buffalo has dismounted some of his warriors and moved them into the rough terrain where they pour fire into the cavalry. At this point, we had changed to the Regular firing system but were classifying each indian as to his weapon. We really had too many repeating rifles among the indians and they shot very VERY well. Colonel Campbell watched as his men were decimated. The indians got the first fire cards and had superior numbers.

Photo by Jim Pitts

Two mounted troopers take casualties to the mine. You can see the few survivors in the rear, trying to hold off the Redskins with dismounted fire.

Photo by Jim Pitts

The civilian photographer who was the real cause of the battle. While Colonel Campbell thought that the Indians were out to raid the mine, Chief Squatting Buffalo was after the photographer. Some months previously he had taken photographs of the indian camp and Squatting Buffalo thought that the image of his latest wife was unflattering. He wished to offer the photographer the option to reshoot the photos or be boiled alive.

The Red men never reached the photographer however, and took vengance on the cavalrymen instead.

So - Who was the winner of this struggle for Simpson's mine?

The Indians won. They had too much firepower. About two-thirds of the tribesmen had repeating rifles or Cavalry Carbines. We will cut back on that in the next game. The rules played well, and if we had not continually misinterpreted the fire modifiers, might have not been so bloody.

We ran several test hand-to-hand struggles after the game ended to try the close combat rules. We find that the Cavalry needs to hold the high ground, forcing the redskins to fight uphill. The Cavalry's chances are much improved if they can find some kind of cover to fight behind. You would think that these are simple concepts to grasp - but not for the Jackson Gamers!

Go to our Old West Period Page

Return to the Master Index of Photos and Games

Return to the Jackson Gamers' Homepage

Angelfire - Free Home Pages
Free Web Building Help
Angelfire HTML Library
htmlGEAR - free polls, guestbooks, and more!

Thank you for visiting The Jackson Gamers' pages at Angelfire. Please come back and visit again!