The Massacre at Penshurst flats

Catching up on my blogging about some great games in the last month - this was an excellent club night skirmish battle, set in the Blackhawk war of 1832.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_War)

The wonderful table - a real treat to play on

Settlers hoping for some protection from the unruly natives

Club mate Mac was my opponent and supplier of all the lovely terrain bar a few trees from my collection. My Raiding Blackhawks were drawn from my collection of FIW native americans.  Rules were Rebels and Patriots - my second time using these rules. I find them very intuitive if you are familiar with the "Rampant" series.

The Militia enter the field of battle in column as the Sauk infiltrate through the woods

The Scenario was that Captain Walker’s company of the Illinois Militia were to advance and cross the area, covered by some friendly Dakota Indians. The mission was to protect the local settlers from the marauding savages.  The attacking Sauk Indians, led by Sachem “Skwa prefers his dogs”, were after the scalps of the white men stealing their lands.

My second war party used their good mobility in the woods to get the drop on the mounted advance party

The action heating up

The Sharpshooter  and rifles upgrades let my Sauks accurately fire from outside the Militia's range

The Locals take cover behind a barricade but the bloodthirsty Sauk were keen to blood their tomahawks

The Militia were ambushed by Sauk Indians, who I tried to keep mobile throughout to frustrate Mac's efforts to bring massed fire upon me.  In the end the Militia were wiped out, the Sauk Indians retreating only because they could carry no more scalps. Mac was a fantastic sport who rolled an unlikely number of 1s and 2s while my own Indians seemed to have magic bullets that never missed. Nevertheless it was a lovely looking game and I wanted to share the great eye candy.