The Cowboy and Indian Project

 I was recently gifted a large group of miniatures from an old friend who had come into them as by-products of other sales and trades. His focus has recently shifted and I was fortunate enough to benefit.

I have recently started some 'cowboy' posses, including Texas rangers and 'desperadoes' for skirmish games like Legends of the Old West and Dead Man's Hand, already with his help securing some great models from KnuckleDuster and a few others. But these guys open up whole new possibilities and one that was not in the original plans. Here in the US, I am of an age where we grew up playing 'cowboys and indians', half of TV shows and probably a good quarter to a third of Hollywood movies were still westerns when I was a kid. (I don't really know; I 'm guessing, but there were a lot.) Even sitcoms like F-Troop were based on westerns or western themed.

So, these old minis will fill a few niches, not just 'western'. It's always fun to bring old models back to life and I wish I had done the same sort of blog report(s) last year when I restored 55 Ral Partha LotR Riders of Rohan to their former glory. That was fun and pretty simple. Liberal use of some Army Painter washes and then highlights can be a real face-lift for guys like these.

Like homework in Middle School, I'll start with the most difficult subjects first: the cavalry. Most of the horses are painted one color with very little to no detail picked out. The Native American horses have been attempted to have markings painted on them. Kudos to the anonymous original painter, but... they will need re-done. A quick (1 minute) Google search found several sites where Native American horse markings, their color, placement and meaning are explained. While this entire project is intended to be quick and simple, I am really looking forward to spending a little extra time on the horses.

I have enough metal Game Accessory bases to mount all the horses. I will not spend extra time doing too much for the bases; it *is* a reclamation project after all. But I have enough and the first step will be to start gluing riders to horses and horses to bases. Also, finding the right rules set is in order. I've a few leads but literally *finding* copies may prove more difficult.

I'm thinking several posts ought to do it and hopefully you will find it interesting enough to follow along and watch the process. 

Dismounted Cavalry. Not terrible; just not something I personally would bring to the table as is.

The NA are in a little worse shape. Probably because there was no 'uniform' like their white counterparts. These will need some work to be presentable.

Many broken arms and missing weapons. This can be fixed.

Again, not terrible.

Nice guidon. It's modeled on aluminum foil. The lettering is actually well done. When I re-do old models, I always try to leave some parts as is as a sort of homage to their original paint jobs. Even with a few mars, I will leave this guidon as is.  I may try to create one myself. I'll need an 'F-Troop' right?

I have no idea who the maker is but the poses are pretty good. There are some real dynamic shooting poses and many good riding poses.

Important historical note: it is my understanding that not just the 'chiefs' wore the big war bonnets but actually any battle proven warrior had the right to do so. At least that's what I learned back in college. They will be fun to paint, I hope.

Should be enough overall models for a pretty fair sized game allowing for both the 'cavalry coming to the rescue' theme *and* enough NA for a real ambush to be sprung.

Stay tuned and feel free to comment.

Pig Wars: Tired of Cold Mutton

Our recent King Con included a whopping 7 player game of Pig Wars. Though it shows it's age in some respects, Pig Wars remains an excellent game after 30 years, especially for a quick, convention style, donnybrook. No dice, just a deck of regular playing cards each and after a turn or two, everyone knew how to play with minimal rules questions.

The situation was an Saxon raid on a Romano-British settlement. The Saxons rode the river to it's source and unloaded to wreak havoc. The residents of the village sent to the local magistrate for help and help they did, mostly themselves.

There were three each Saxon and Romano-British players while I took the role of the villagers; no more than a speed bump. Though the players had two 'sides', each had their own secret Victory Conditions, which may or may not award them for attacking their allies. 'Regular' VC applied as well, points for exiting with livestock and/or supplies. (Chickens, ducks, sheep, goats, horses, barrels of foodstuffs.)

A view of the whole table. The villagers are spread out, doing their chores and minding their own business.

Paddocks in the center of town.

The church with it's priest and a few locals. The Saxons, as a team, can earn victory points for burning it down.

Just minding their own business...

The local magistrate has answered the call! Romans start emerging from the forests around town.

Take that!

Holy shit! There's a bunch of them. There's going to be a fight!

Must be important, they're on horses and stuff.

Meanwhile, the Saxons are going to have something to say about all this.

Armed with swords, they mean to kill quickly, and with little patience.

In rules terms, edged weapons are better than spears, two handed weapons, like axes, are more powerful still.

Horns blaring, the game is afoot!

The Saxon ship. The Romans can also earn team points by firing it. Neither side got near to their 'burning' goal, a fault of the game designer: me. Next time. I'll modify the rules.

Nice picture except for the damn tape measure.

Have you noticed I have an obsessive compulsion to write a caption for every picture?

The mad rush of a hungry Saxon war-band.

But the locals aren't totally unprepared. Their militia farmers form a shield wall in the middle of town.

Light troops skirmish in front of the heavy Legionares.

The undisciplined ardor of the Saxons is ironically mocked by the formed and trained Romans in the background.

Great shot of the swirling melee in town, horses and sheep are prized and blood is spilled over the taking of them.

These guys quelled the only attempt by the Saxons to fire the church.

One beserker would rather single handedly attack the Roman shield wall rather than return home to his nagging wife. 

I love this shot; prolly my fave.

Back to the ship!!!

No! Get 'em!!!

A good shot of the massive melees all around the board.. It was fun to watch it unfold.

Two shield walls clash.

The locals decide to form up in the paddock to protect the valuable horse.

A view from the drone.

Now we know who owned the Sutton Hoo helmet.

15 guys for each player in their war-band. each had a slightly different make-up. Some more shooty, some more blades... You get the picture.

It's all fun until someone draws a heart from the deck and puts an arrow in your ass.

The church is safe.

Saxons are mean.

The locals decide to engage while the Saxons were taunting them.

Unfortunately, both sides were fighting with fungo bats and neither side could cause a wound.

Random shot of some of the local action.

All in all, I think we all had a pretty good time. The score ended up very close but no one was really too concerned. It was a good looking game and we enjoyed ourselves. Pig Wars is a great convention style game: it's fast, easy and, most importantly, fun!

The End.