Beaver Wars Campaign Rules & Scenario Book by Mike Demana for Song of Drums and Tomahawks Rules
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
An Algonquin palisaded village from the late 16th or 17th centuries. The drawing is based off an English colonist’s sketch, and is courtesy of Dover Publications, Inc. Sample file Beaver Wars Campaign Rules & Scenario Book by Mike Demana for Song of Drums and Tomahawks rules The Beaver Wars Campaign Rules and Scenario Book are designed to be used with Song of Drums and Tomahawks skirmish rules. The campaign rules can be easily adapted to any man- to-man skirmish system. The scenarios will also work for any 17th-18th century game. This book was produced by First Command Wargames and also contains historical information on the time period that will be useful to the wargamer or casual reader. 2 Campaign rules written and designed by Mike Demana Published by First Command Wargames www.fi rstcommandwargames.com © 2017, Lulu, Mike Demana. All rights reserved. ISBN 978-1-365-90455-4 Available in print or PDF download from Lulu.com and WargameVault.com. Also available on the Ganesha Games website: www.ganeshagames.net Cover photo: Jan Gross Cover Design: Mike Demana Graphic design by Mike Demana The author and First Command Wargames would like to thank Dover Publications, Inc., for use of its line art from its excellent series of historical coloring books. We would also like to thank Jan Gross and James Ablett for use of their photographs of painted 28mm miniatures. Other photos are from the collection of the author. Additional artwork comes from the American Revolution Bicentennial Advisory Commission. Sample file For more information or updates to Beaver Wars, see the First Command Wargames website: www.fi rstcommandwargames.com. Or check us out on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/groups/312605638895971/ No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means -- for example, electronic, photocopy, recording -- without the prior written permission of the author. The only exceptions are brief quotations in printed reviews, copies of the scenario maps that a game master is using to set up his table, and reproduction of the charts into a format that assists the players for their games. We would also like to thank the following playtesters in alphabetical order: Bruce Adamczak, Keith Finn, Tom Graves, Joe Merz, Steve Phallen, Allen Sams, Joel Sams, Mike Stelzer, Andy Swingle, Jenny Torbett, Steve Verdoliva, and Dave Welch. Special thanks to Taranto’s Pizzeria in Lewis Center, OH, for providing us with space for our playtest -- plus lots of delicious pizza and sandwiches! 3 Table of Contents Prologue..................................................4 Introduction............................................5 4 CAMPAIGNS..................................39-53 Iroquois Thunder.........................39-43 CAMPAIGN RULES.............................6-15 Into the Ohio Valley......................44-47 Objectives...........................................6 Great Wars on the Great Lakes.....47-50 War and Hunt Cards...........................7 The Vacuum.................................50-53 Order of Card Play..............................8 Declaring Attacks...............................8 TRIBAL HISTORIES.........................54-68 Creating a Troop List..........................9 Delaware...........................................54 Deployment.......................................11 Erie...................................................55 The Battle..........................................12 Illinois...............................................56 Post-Battle....................................13-15 Iroquois............................................56 Awarding Points.............................13 Kickapoo...........................................58 Reward Cards.................................14 Miami................................................59 Awarding Beaver Pelts....................15 Mingo................................................60 Neutrals.............................................61 SCENARIOS......................................16-38 Ojibwa...............................................62 Introduction to the Scenarios................16 Ottawa...............................................63 Scenarios Chart.....................................17 Potawatomi.......................................64 Effects of Terrain...................................17 Shawnee............................................65 War vs. War Scenarios.................18-23 Susquehannock.................................66 War vs. Hunt Scenarios................24-31 Wyandot............................................67 Hunt vs. Hunt Scenarios..............32-38 Bibliography..........................................69 Card Templates.................................70-75 Sample file Around the Council Fires of the Iroquois Confederation, sachems, shamans, and chiefs debate whether to take the path of war. 28mm miniatures from the author’s collection -- mostly Conquest Miniatures, but with some Flint & Feather and Old Glory mixed in. Painted by the author. 4 Prologue Yes, it is a funny name, and no, the beavers set off a gold rush of over-trapping that began to themselves weren’t doing the fighting. From the deplete tribal lands within decades. Traditions of mid-1600s into the 1700s, Native American tribes sustainable hunting were cast aside as each tribe fought the most devastating wars in their history. raced each other to obtain goods they were com- They were fighting over exactly what these wars ing to depend upon more and more. The fact that are named after — those semi-aquatic mammals it was an arms race, too, led to a sense of despera- bearing perhaps the most magnificent fur on the tion among the Indians. When they believed their North American continent. At least, it was mag- tribe’s survival at stake, they were willing to cast nificent to the Europeans — where, across the sea aside long-held habits and beliefs about hunting. — the going rate for beaver pelts spiraled up- Also abandoned was the centuries-old system wards and upwards. This made venturing into the of limited raiding warfare that seldom led to the dangerous Eastern Woodlands worth great risks destruction of tribal groups. and expense. Historians agree that the Five Nations of Beaver pelts were the organic gold that Eu- the Iroquois Confederation were the aggressors ropean nations entered the woodlands to mine. who sparked this series of wars. A century or so Their willing miners were the Native American earlier, the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, tribes, who hunted and trapped the animals the and Mohawk tribes had formed an ingenious con- Europeans sought. Each spring, Indians would federation to end tribal fighting and allow them bring bundles of pelts to European encampments to cooperate against common foes. Later, the Iro- in return for those wondrous trade goods brought quois Confederation was quick to trade with the from overseas: copper kettles, steel tools, cloth, Dutch when they arrived at Fort Orange (Albany), and of course, firearms. Once the Indians real- and later the English, when they replaced them. ized the extent of the European desire for pelts, it The Dutch were happy to trade firearms with the Confederation as long as the Iroquois kept the furs coming. Sample fileIt wasn’t long before beaver began disap- pearing from the Iroquois’ upstate New York homeland, though. The problem for the Con- federation was they felt boxed in on all sides by hostile nations — the Huron Confederation to the north, Mahican to the East, Susquehannock to the south, and Erie to the West. Seeing no alter- native for their survival, they began raiding Hu- ron canoe convoys paddling towards New France. Emboldened by success, the Confederation de- cided upon warfare to achieve their economic and territorial needs. This warfare eventually engulfed the Ohio Valley, the entire Great Lakes area, and much of the Eastern seaboard from Delaware to Maine. It raged west to the Mississippi River, bordering the Great Plains. Through it all, the Ohio Valley was seen by the Iroquois as the ultimate prize. It was a virgin hunting ground where they could hunt and trap to their heart’s desire — once they’d driven off all the tribes inhabiting it! 5 The Beaver Wars played out in a number by the violence of the Beaver Wars. Competition of phases. There was the initial Iroquois explo- among these new and old neighbors was stirred sion against their neighbors. Tribe after tribe by infighting amongst the Europeans themselves. surrounding them was crushed and driven fleeing Britain and France each sought to control Ohio. from ancestral lands. The Confederation followed They knew control of the territory depended upon up its victories over rivals until they found them- alliances with the Indian tribes, and worked back- selves raiding into what is now modern Illinois room deals to pit tribe against tribe. Once again, and Wisconsin. Another phase of the Beaver war came to the Ohio Valley, the last chapter of Wars saw the Great Lakes tribes teaming up the Beaver Wars. with the French to hurl the Iroquois back. They This campaign and scenario book gives smashed Iroquois war parties and pursed them players a chance to recreate this clash of tribes all the way back to Seneca homelands on the from long ago. Players will take on the role of a shores of Lake Ontario. The reeling Confederacy Native American tribe seeking to establish control sued for peace, closing the book on what Histori- of this crucial territory. European powers are in-