Produktbeschreibung
Indian Wars of the Am. West - Vol. I
by Michael Taylor
The Battle of Abode Walls. Also known as the First Battle of Adobe Walls (November 25, 1864), it was one of the largest battles between U.S. and Great Plains Indians. Kit Carson was given command of the US forces, and his mission was to find the Comanche and Kiowa winter camps and eliminate this threat to the settlers that were moving into and through this area of the Texas panhandle.
Adobe Walls shares many similarities with Little Bighorn. The battle features a famous US leader in Kit Carson, attacking a large Indian camp along a river with a much smaller US force. He is also temporarily separated from the pack train, and the size of the Indian force was greatly underestimated. Adobe Walls adds a new weapon to the series, the Mountain Howitzer. Although short in range it was a very powerful weapon and it had a huge psychological impact on the Indian warriors who faced it.
The Indian Wars of the American West series is the result of my long standing interest in the Indian Wars. Although there have been several games published on this subject, most were strategic in nature. The issue of play balance has been a major factor in the lack of tactical level Indian Wars games.
When designing this series I wanted a system that was tactical in nature, covered the areas that I wanted to emphasize, and yet remain small and manageable. The cavalry’s base unit was the company, so the system had to be designed around the company level scale, with turns anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour each. Since the historical battle lasted less than a day I decided to opt for the 20 minute turn. 30 minute turns made the movement rates too high for the map size, and 15 minute turns had too much shooting and would make the ammunition rules too involved. This, along with my map size restriction, dictated the final ground scale.
I wanted to emphasize several things within the game’s system. Horse management is extremely important for both sides, and this had to be a major aspect of the system. This is often overlooked or purposely omitted because either it was deemed too complicated or designers felt that players would not want to be burdened with such “trivial” issues. This is very similar to how players view logistics. When to mount or dismount, and the protection of the horses are some of the key decisions players will have to make.
Equally important was ammunition management and ammunition was one of the deciding factors in the outcome of the battles. Related to this is the protection of the pack trains. They are vital to the command because it carries all the supplies and ammunition for the column. The game has two different systems for ammunition. For those that do not like tracking ammunition expenditure on paper the game has a basic model. The optional version is much more realistic but does require some paperwork.
Players may find that the fire combat model is a bit unconventional. Units fire individually at individual targets. Companies fighting in skirmish order (spread out), against a very illusive and skillful enemy, did not fire in unison with other companies in compact, tight formations. Company commanders controlled the fire of their company (or by platoons). Indian fire was also not formally coordinated above the warrior band level. I wanted to show this individual fire in the game, which is why I do not allow fire to be combined. By shooting in this style players may also better manage their ammunition expenditure. However, companies were organized into battalions for command and control purposes, and so it was possible to direct overall fire. The game does allow this as well by permitting other units to fire at the same targets if the player opts to do so.
Morale is also a major component of the system, and could have more of an effect on the player’s forces than battle casualties. Broken units are very vulnerable and can be easily exploited by your opponent, with the possible result of a sudden defeat. Players will have to be very careful when it comes to close combat (melee), as the casualties can be very high and quickly accumulate. The victory conditions are designed to make it very difficult to gain more than a minor victory if casualties continue to mount. Keep in mind that this is the old west and skirmish warfare. Players should avoid getting into a melee slugfest, using maneuver and fire combat instead until the conditions are right for a melee. It may take a while, similar to a close chess match, until you can isolate a vulnerable unit or two to strike suddenly in melee and overrun. If a player can do this once or twice in a game the payoff will be very rewarding. The key to victory is to keep your casualties very low.
It may take a game or two to get used to the tactics and to figure out what works best. My intent was to present a game on an often overlooked and yet so decisive a battle in our nation’s history. Games on the Indian Wars are few and far between but they can be done and they can also be competitive.
Enjoy - Mike Taylor - 2007
Indian Wars of the American West Series:
Vol. I - The Battle of Adobe Walls - Vol. II - Battle of the Rosebud - Vol. III - Battle of the Little Bighorn |
