PONY WARS v PEONY WARS

The Umpires have long been discussing "a masses of Red cavalry game"...vast quantities of Communist horsemen, "Lara's Theme" blaring in the background, bloodied sabres rising and falling, HM Government rear areas being targeted and supply columns being chopped up, swirling movement and desperate defenders, you get the general idea. Well, to be honest, we exchange a couple of emails about it annually, and then we move on to more realistically achievable ideas for the next "Big Game". The problem is always the amount of the figures. And then there's the rules. But at least the last issue has been solved, for:  

That classic convention game and rule set, "Pony Wars", has been republished !

Pete Berry of Baccus Miniatures has republished the ruleset (plus a full set of chance cards) unchanged from the original rules (Tabletop Games) but with much enhanced production values, together with a full range of 6mm figures to go with it!

Republished Pony Wars ruleset (Baccus)

For those unfamiliar with this classic convention game of the 1980s, an excerpt from the introduction (by the late Ian S. Beck) will provide a flavour:

"...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'. We used it quite a lot before wargaming became serious......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 US army). Your opponent, the Sioux nation, will look after themselves...."

The original (Tabletop Games) ruleset

"Pony Wars" seems to have been unique for its time, in that it introduced the concept of the opponents in the wargame (in this case, the Sioux) being generated and managed by a "Babbage Engine" (as later rule sets would have it) i.e. pre-generated reaction tables and chance cards. Such matters were of concern only to the Umpires, leaving the players (in this case, the cowboys, 7th Cavalry and general Western types) to concentrate on their game (and the inevitable surprises, together with masses of Indians, thrown up by the "Babbage Engine").

"Pony Wars" was set in the American West (as interpreted by golden-age 'Hollywood') but proved easily adaptable to other genres. Peter Gilder adapted a version of the rules for his classic "Pony Wars" games at the Wargames Holiday Centre (itself a compliment to the quality of the rules - See his set-up HERE) and then, when that was done, used the Pony Wars reaction tables for his famous Sudan games: 

Peter Gilder's plucky Brits march out (under player control)

Maaa-hdists! Fahsends of 'em! And all of 'em 'Babbage generated'!

In his "Wargames World" magazine series on his Sudan games, Peter Gilder freely acknowledged his debt to the "Pony Wars" system, which he first encountered at a wargames show:

“[It was]…a game devised to allow public participation with basically a very simple, but clever, format. The players controlled the cavalry and settlers and the Indians were controlled by dice throws and a reaction table, so they became somewhat unpredictable. Everyone seemed to enjoy the game and went away having had some fun…”

and:

“…[for the Sudan] I use the reaction table for the Madhists almost straight from [the Pony Wars rules] I’ve gone into a quicker and simpler combat system using factors and the fire table from Newbury Rules. The result is a fascinating and totally gripping game…..”

and of greatest relevance to the VBCW:

“…Having successfully adapted this for the Sudan, there is no reason why the system cannot be adapted for any game in any period where you have a regular army confronted by a barbarian one: a Roman column marching to relieve a fort being attacked by Ancient Britons; Huns attacking a later Roman supply column. How you actually fight the game mechanics is not important. It’s the way the barbarian moves that’s the important factor…”

Whaddyamean, barbarians?

Quite what the Comrade Professor Winter's Communists would think of being labelled "barbarians" is anybody's guess (although it is a point of strong agreement amongst HM Government, the BUF, the Anglicans, the Bromyard Republicans, Sir Gilbert Hill and pretty much everyone else) - perhaps it might be better to say "regulars vs irregulars" - and, of course, there are many of the latter type in the HerefordVBCW!

Nevertheless, with Peter G's distinguished encouragement, "Pony Wars" certainly suggested a set of rules for the long - mooted "Red Cavalry" game, which rules seemed (or could be stretched) to fit the Umpires' "design parameters", i.e. (1). individually based 28mm figures (2). no extensive "re-learning of rules" (new rules would be dealt with solely by the Umpires, not the players) (3). adaptable to the VBCW and Herefordshire and, of course, (4). the indispensable element of Fun (otherwise known as "the spirit of the VBCW").

After some head scratching and a perhaps excitable exchange of emails, we even came up with a name for a HerefordVBCW variant of "Pony Wars" - with a nod to Herefordshire's agricultural/horticultural tradition - "Peony Wars, Guerilla Warfare in the Wye Valley" (thank you to Alan and Roo): 

Peony Wars. Not quite the Wars of the Roses. Very VBCW.

So we had the rules ready for adaption, a game title, enthusiasm, one or two verbal gags...and then we checked the number of figures required for "Pony Wars" - gulp!

"Pony Wars" requires the following troops:

US Troops

5 full troops of US Cavalry (5 x 20 figs)

1 half troop of US Cavalry (10 figs)

2 sections of US Cavalry (2 x 5 figs)

80 (approx) dismounted US Cavalry horseholders with horses (80 figs)

2 full batteries (4 guns) of 12 pdrs and crews 

1 full battery (2 guns) of Gatling guns and crews

4 limbers for the above

4 sections of Indian Scouts (4 x 5 figs)

4 sections of Volunteer Scouts (4 x 5 figs)

2 regiments of US Infantry (2 x 20 figs)

3 Ammunition wagons

2 gun crews and 10 infantry "for the Fort"

1 'Dando' figure (Wild West hero)

Civilian Troops

3 full wagon trains (each of 3 wagons drawn by 4 mules, oxen or horses)

5 homesteaders wagons (each drawn by 2 mules, oxen or horses)

70 (approx) dismounted civilians (both sexes, all ages)

20 (approx) mounted civilians (may double as scouts)

1 Gun-Runners Wagon

1 Stagecoach

1 War Wagon

1 x Lone Ranger, 1 x Tonto

30 Longhorn Cattle

Indians

600 mounted braves

100 dismounted braves

50 assorted squaws, old men, children etc.

2 model smoke signals

30 Buffalo 

After the Umpires recovered from totting up the total number of figures required (this took a week or two, and at least the same number of bottles of vodka liberated from Comrade Colonel Winter's stores), it was time to look on the bright side:

(1). we did have cows. In fact, we already had lots of agricultural animals to replace the required "longhorns" and "buffalo". The Communists could, of course, be defending their herd of world famous Hereford cattle - perhaps HMG had a plan to replace them with sheep?

(2). the "wagon trains", "gun-runners wagon", "stagecoach" and "homesteaders wagons" could all be replaced by Lledo and Matchbox Yesteryear "corporate vehicles" and the like, of which we already had plenty (Cadbury's, Fyffes, Oxo, etc.). Possibly, for a bit of variety, the "homesteaders wagons" could be replaced by "refugee wagons" available from Colonel Bills;

(3). the "war wagon" could be replaced by an Armoured Car. We already had a suitable police version;

(4). the US artillery guns, machine guns and ammunition wagons could be replaced with our VBCW "Big Guns", machine guns and suitable vehicles, and would be manageable, with a bit of planning, by combining existing VBCW collections;

(5). the "US horse holders" could be replaced by simply bases of the right size - because nobody, but nobody, was going to build and paint 80 horse holders;

(6). the required number of "civilians", BUF and Royalist infantry (standing in for the US, obviously) could again be found by combining existing VBCW collections;

(7). we had plentiful character figures to replace "Dando", the "Lone Ranger" and "Tonto" with something VBCW appropriate.

So - that left only the problem of replacing the US cavalry (120 figures) - and especially replacing the Indians with "Red Cavalry" (600 figures!?!). This might be "A Project Too Far"....

Channelling Lord Dowding/Laurence Olivier's famous line in"The Battle of Britain",
Comrade I.V. Knockisblokov's Command Staff assess the problem....

Notes:

(1). There's now an open Facebook group for the republished Pony Wars. There's also a dedicated website HERE

(2). Some years ago, Carlo Pagano undertook in-depth research on Peter Gilder's Sudan rules and republished them under the title "Sands of the Sudan". His notes on the rules' requirements are HERE, together with his extensively illustrated blog.