Welcome back to our ongoing game of Plains Indian Wars. This is the fourth round of a 10-12 round game. This round the U.S. player looked to make great gains only to be beaten back in the end. The faction discs are back in the bag and we’re ready to be drawn for Round #4.

Fourth Draw Round

1st Draw – Like last turn, the Purple Enemies token is drawn first and placed on the Token Track.

The Cavalry player places one purple cube (representing the Crow and other enemies of the Sioux) with the purple force adjacent to the Rockies and uses its one move to attack the four NPT (Northern Plains Tribes) cubes in the North with four cubes of his own.

Both sides roll two dice resulting in 1 Enemies hit and one NPT hit. One cube is withdrawn from each force to their respective Casualty Boxes. The players roll again. This time the Enemies player rolls a hit and a blank while the NPT player rolls a blank and a treaty. Another NPT cube is removed and the NPT player loses his nerve deciding to use the blank to retreat a cube to an adjacent region. Players roll a third time. The Cavalry player felt he would easily destroy the remaining single red cube with his opposing three cubes but the dice result in opposing treaty symbols. The hit is ignored and the superior force (the Enemies) relocate the surviving NPT cube to the sole remaining purple region under NPT control. The Enemies Draw phase is over.

2nd Draw – The Brown Settler token is drawn and placed on the Token Track.

The Settler player commits her Civil War Vets card.

The card allows for four cube placement, activation of three groups and movement of up to two regions. She adds four cubes to St. Louis. She then activates St. Louis and both Plains regions adjacent to St. Louis.

She moves both Plains forces west along the trails to engage large Indian forces north and south of the track. In both cases, the cavalry can be moved because she has twice the number of Settler cubes as the Cavalry she is moving. She reinforces both battles with two Settlers each from St. Louis. Then she moves the remaining five settler cubes to the Plains regions adjacent to St. Louis – two north of the tracks and three south of the tracks. She commits to the Northern battle first.

Both sides roll four dice resulting in two Cavalry hits and two Settler hits. The Indians fare poorly with only one hit, two blanks and a treaty. The casualties, three SPT cubes and one NPT cube are removed along with one Settler cube. Both Indian players agree to use their blanks to retreat one cube each, leaving only one cube remaining. The NPT player rolls a single die against four U.S. dice. The U.S. player rolls a hit; the NPT player does not; a resounding U.S. victory.  Let’s see what happens in the south. Again both sides roll four dice each and after the initial roll it appears the Indians are on the ropes. The Cavalry has rolled two hits while all the remaining dice are blanks. One NPT and one SPT cube are removed. After their initial loss, the Indian Players does not feel good about the situation. Controlling two regions north and south of the Union-Pacific railhead means there is little chance of stopping an extension of the railroad if they continue taking heavy casualties. They elect to retreat two cubes each leaving two cubes to fight a holding action. The dice are rolled again and again both sides roll a treaty.

The Settler  player relocates the Indian cubes, discards his card and draws another. The Settler phase has now ended.

3rd  Draw – The Orange Southern Plains Tribe (SPT) token is drawn and placed on the Token Track.

The SPT Player selects her “Big Red Meat” card allowing the addition of three SPT cubes, activation of three groups and movement of up to two regions. She places her reinforcing cubes, one adjacent to the Mississippi and two more in the Denver region . She then activates the force north of the tracks to move south and attack the Santa Fe Trail railhead space. For her second activation she moves her Mississippi force north to attack the settlers adjacent to St. Louis. Her third activation pulls five cubes from the casualty box back to the SPT ready box. She engages the small settler force first. Two SPT dice and two settler dice are rolled. The SPT achieves one hit. The other dice were blanks. The Settlers player removes one cube and retreats the remaining two cubes to St. Louis.

She then addresses the second battle where the U.S. players are outnumbered. Eight dice are rolled. The Indian players do considerably better this time,  with three Indian hits to 1 U.S. hit. Casualties are removed (three Settler cubes and one SPT cube). The U.S. Players use their blanks to retreat two Settler  cubes and one Cavalry cube adjacent to the Mississippi. This leaves a lone cube. It looks bleak for the Cavalry. The final roll finishes off the Cavalry but it goes down fighting with a hit of its own. The final Cavalry cube and one SPT cube are removed as casualties. The SPT player discards her spent card and draws a new one ending her turn.

4th  Draw – The Red Northern Plains Tribes (NPT) token is drawn and placed on the Token Track.

The NPT player commits his Dull Knife card allowing placement of four cubes, activation of three groups and movement of up to two regions.  The NPT Player spreads his reinforcing cubes, one each, in three western regions. By drawing these cubes he has emptied his ready box so his first activation is to transfer eight red cubes from his Casualty Box to his NPT Ready Box. Next he activates four cubes south of the black hills to engage the sole U.S. railhead region. He uses his third activation to reinforce his attack from the south with four more cubes. The battle is on. Eight dice are rolled. The U.S. Players desperately want peace rolling two treaties and no hits. The Indian Players roll two hits. Two settler cubes are removed. No one retreats and players enter a second round of battle. Dice are rolled. This time both sides roll one hit. All the other dice are blanks. The U.S. Players have a dilemma. If they retreat and the RR disk is drawn before the Cavalry disk they will be unable to build more track on the Union Pacific Railroad. If they stay and are defeated they are less likely to retake the space for want of Settler cues when the Cavalry disk is drawn. Discretion being the better part of valor, they remove another Settler cube, retreat one cavalry and two Settler cubes, leaving one of each behind. The Indian Players remove an NPT cube The U.S. players roll only two dice now, the Indians roll four. This next battle round results in one Indian and one U.S. hit. A Settler cube and an NPT cube are removed. The players roll once again, this time the U.S. player rolls a single die. The Indian dice show three hits. But again, the sole Cavalry cube goes down fighting with a hit of its own. The Cavalry cube and yet another NPT cube are removed to their respective Casualty Boxes. The Indian Players have regained their lost railhead regions. A lot now rides on whether the Cavalry or the RR disk is drawn next. The NPT player discards and draws a new card. His NPT phase is over.

5th  Draw – The Black Railroad (RR) token is drawn and placed on the Token Track.

The Settler player’s luck did not hold. She is unable to expand the Union Pacific Railroad because the Indians now hold both Railhead regions (Regions adjacent to the last track section that has been built). She crosses her fingers and rolls for building in the Rockies … but no symbols  – again no luck. No track building this turn. The Rail phase of this draw turn is over.

6th  Draw – The Blue Cavalry token is drawn and placed on the Token Track.

The Cavalry player selects two cards, choosing Fort Buford which allows three reinforcing cubes, activation of two groups and movement of up to two regions. He also plays Plenty Coups which when applied to a battle in a Northern region allows the Cavalry player to ignore Treaty symbols and restrict the Indian players to rolling only a single die. He draws three cubes from his Ready Box, placing one in Sacramento and the remaining two in St. Louis. He then activates the two Cavalry cubes and two Settler cubes in St. Louis to attack the three NPT and two SPT Indian force in the Northern railhead space. He reinforces it with three Cavalry cubes from the north with his second activation. In the first round of battle he rolls four dice while the Indian players are allowed only one because of the Plenty Coups card – a decided disadvantage. The U.S. players roll one hit. The Indian player rolls a blank. An NPT cube is removed and one retreats. Players roll a second time.

This result is the same. An NPT cube is removed and an SPT cube retreats. Due to the Plenty Coups Card, the previous two NPT casualty cubes are not removed to the Casualty Box but are removed from the game. This leaves one SPT cube. Players roll a third time. The U.S. Players roll three hits finishing off the Indian force. The Indian roll is a blank and the SPT cube is removed to the Casualty Box. The Cavalry Player has retaken the Railhead region without a loss, but too late to make a difference this draw turn. The Cavalry player discards his two cards and draws two new ones. His turn is now over.

7th  Draw – The Yellow Wagons token is drawn and placed on the Token Track.

The final draw is the Wagon disk. All wagons advance one region along the trails.  The two wagons in St. Louis advance into the adjacent regions north and south of the Union Pacific Railroad. Finally two new Wagon cubes are placed in St. Louis. This phase and draw turn has ended. The draw disks are replaced in the draw bag.

Overall it turned out to be a better Indian turn than expected … despite some wicked losses.

See you next time – on the Plains!

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