With the launch of High Noon
it seemed appropriate to share a large game we played loosely based
on the battle of Fort Ridgely in the Dakota War of 1862. I have
long wanted to build and play a wargame campaign for this conflict,
and have even loosely based my All Quiet on the MartianFront games on the campaign.
However, I have not really had a chance to put it high enough on my
Hobby to do list to actually get it on the table. I have a few
sketched out drafts for core rules, and a basic idea of the campaign
flow, but that is about it. If I can't play a full fledged campaign,
I can at least play a game loosely based on the events.
In
the history, after a flare up of hostilities between the Dakota and
white settlers in Minnesota; a local war broke out. There were the
typical massacres, some battles between local militia and Indian
tribes, that eventually culminated in the Dakota attacking Fort
Ridgely. Fort Ridgely was a wall-less fort similar to many forts on
the prairie frontier and during the Indian wars in America. It was
composed of only a few buildings, and had a relatively small
garrison. The Dakota were attempting to drive the white settlers
out, and by attacking the fort they hoped to force better terms from
the Europeans.
High Noon
is part of my series on Dexterity Combat along with Green Army Men: Plastic Men, Steel Resolve and Total CARnage. Therefore, there are no
dice rolls, rulers, templates, etc. Everything is resolved as
WYSIWYG, coin flips, coin flicks, or hand based templates. This is a
very family and non-wargamer friendly game.
Forces
Forces
were selected by taking every Indian figure I had and giving it to
the Dakota. I then took all the Cowboys with Rifles standing up that
I had and put them on the opposite side. I added a couple of pistol
packing dudes as Officers.
Fort
Ridgely Defenders:
2 Dual Pistols
3 Pistols
10 Lever-Action Rifles
Dakota
Tribe:
5
Long Rifles
2
Shotguns
2
Knives and Shields
10
with Spears
The
actual defense of Fort Ridgely feature the use of some artillery
pieces, but I don't have any of those so I skipped them for this.
Set Up
The table is a 6
x4 table covered with a brown desert mat. I placed four boxes in a
rough square in the center which corresponds roughly with the lay-out
of the fort. I then placed some rocky outcroppings near the edges
for some cover. Fort Ridgely is actually in a clearing of woods and
has a small gully beside it and tall grass in the “dead zones”.
Not too much like what I set-up here, but that's why it is “based”
on that battle and not that battle.
Mission
We discussed
playing a specific mission, but my players really wanted to just do a
Last Man Standing type of scenario. The Indians had the advantage in
numbers, but the defenders had the advantage in firepower and move OR
shoot weapons. Therefore, the battle was roughly balanced.
The Dakota were
scattered around the edges of the board in groups of 3-5 figures.
Each group had at least 1 rifleman for cover, and a spearmen or two.
The defenders were mostly concerned about the template firing
shotgunners, but they started in cover to help protect them from long
range fire.
The Defenders were
placed along the insides of the boxes, facing the center of the
board. This was to represent them leaving the shelter of the
buildings at the surprise Dakota attack.
The Game
I did not take
detailed notes during game play on a figure by figure basis.
Therefore, the below is a high level overview of the battle. The
defenders won the Coin Flip to activate a figure first. All actions
are alternate activations.
The Defenders got
to go first, and opted to try and stay within the fort, and move to
the edges and try to use long range shooting on their foes. The
Dakota pressed towards the edges, moving and shooting whenever
possible. The Dakota rifleman tried to clear the way with a barrage
of fire, before the Dakota spearmen moved up to mop up exposed
defenders. The initial Dakota sally towards the North side of the
building was repulsed by the defenders with firepower. The Dakota
attacking from the open took particularly heavy casualties on the
North East corner.
 |
| Never bring a knife to a gunfight.... |
Despite the
success in the North, the Southwest corner was left vulnerable, and
the Dakota moved in. Their numbers advantage allowed them to move
forward with relatively light resistance. Only a pair of officers
tried to hold them back with pistol fire.
The Dakota
advantage in numbers became clear once the spearmen were able to get
in cover behind the forts buildings. The close range firefight that
broke out forced the defenders to move to get firing positions, which
limited their firepower.
 |
| .... the Knife worked! |
In addition, one of the Indian shotgunners
was able to move up and blast the officers defending the Southwestern
edge of the fort. This left a large breach for the defenders to try
to plug.
 |
| This is my boomstick! |
Ultimately, once
the Dakota managed to get to the perimeter of the fort, their numbers
were able to turn the tide and the last of the defenders were killed
by spears. It was a costly victory as the Dakota were reduced to
only a handful of warriors.
 |
| Oh the humanity! |
Conclusion
That did not go
anything like the battle of Fort Ridgely. However, it was a close
fought and exciting game with some cinematic moments and amazing
flicks, both good and bad. One defender as killed by a misfire, as
I flicked it so poorly that he took himself out! One of the Shotgun
Dakota was killed by his own allies due to a bad flick. An Officer
with a pistol took out two Dakota warriors with a single shot. All
good times.
The game took
about 1 hour to play, including set-up, and brief rundown of the
rules. This was a rather large engagement. Most have fewer figures
to start with. Plus, we had 4 players instead of 2. However, none
of these factors bogged the game down and it went at a brisk pace.
There were no rules disputes and after the initial rules brief very
few follow up questions. We were focused on playing the game,
hootin' and hollerin', and having a good ol' time.
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