Pony Wars or 'B' Troop Ain't Coming Back

The grizzled sergeant turns to the young rookie, “Listen”! The rookie cocks his head to one side “I can’t hear anything, Sarge”. “That’s just it” came the reply, “its quiet, too damn quiet”. THUNK! The arrow comes hurtling out of the dark and the sergeant is bowled over backwards by the impact.

But don’t worry folks! The arrow is usually stopped by the sergeants pocket book/Water canteen or photograph of his mother. This is surely the stuff that the Hollywood western is made of - and we hope that this is what ‘Pony Wars’ is also made of!

Forget Realism! Throw accuracy to the four winds! We’re not playing ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ now! Just put on yar yellow neckerchief, mossey out in yer yellow stripped trousers, boot yer Winchester and climb into the saddle. Raise yar hand and bring it down, pointing forward, at the same time yelling;— “Column of Two’s — Forward, Yo!” The entire 7th. cavalry will ride out of Fort Laramie behind you. (Probably to the strains of ‘Gary Owen’.)

This is Hollywood! Everyones a hero and there’s legends to be made. The Sioux are on the warpath and there’s white folks out there! As our grizzled sergeant would say: “The only good injun’s a dead injun”.

If your idea of a wargame is to spend time choosing a suitably ‘rigged’ army and playing with a set of rules which you can corrupt, by pointing out the intricacies of the grammar , with the intention of winning at all costs then, please, put this volume back where you found it and go and find a nice national convention somewhere.
This game is intended for ‘FUN’ (remember the word? We used it quite a lot before wargaming became serious). The rules are not legally binding, merely suggestions and you won’t find every single situation that may occur in this volume. You may have to make a few decisions yourself. If you don’t like the result the rules are giving then change them — we don’t mind. The idea is to enjoy yourself — do what you will.

The basic concept behind the game is to allow an unspecified number of wargamers (from one upwards) to fight a battle WITH ALL THE WARGAMERS BEING ON THE SAME SIDE (as officers of the U.S. army). Your opponents, the Sioux nation, will look after themselves. The game is ideally suitable for use at a convention where experienced players can teach the rookies (either gamers or the public) the basic rules without any concealed motives — they’re on the same side! Each new command arriving should be allocated to a person picked from the observers, that person taking the name end rank as appropriate to the command. If the character is killed, the player leaves the game. Thus a continually varying clientele is established.

Alternatively, a small group of wargamers can have a great game. Each takes the name and rank of a number of officers. Any new coming commands are either given to new players (if available) or allocated to one of the existing players. There again, ‘Pony Wars’ makes a great SOLO GAME! We provide suggestions — you do what you want!

The game is designed for an eight foot by six foot table and uses 15mm. figures. There is no reason what so ever why the game should not be adapted for a different size of table.