1885 North West Rebellion

 Last weekend, Doug invited Arthur and me over for an 1885 Northwest Rebellion game between Canadian Government forces and a combined army of Métis and Cree riflemen.  Arthur and I took the Government forces while Doug took the Métis and Cree.  The rules for the scenario were Dan Mersey's The Men Who Would Be Kings, with special rules added by Doug.  The main element added was that successful hits add pins to the receiving unit, but each hit only has a one in six chance of causing a casualty. In addition, Métis and Cree had limited ammunition - Doug knew how many shots each of his groups could fire, but the Government forces could only guess based on the amount of fire they were receiving. All figures from Doug's collection.

The North West Mounted Police, who were deployed as mounted infantry. 

Louis Riel, whom the Government forces are trying to apprehend.

Canadian column, with York and Simcoe Battalion, supply wagons and the Gatling Gun and limber.  You can find some photos of the York and Simcoes in 1885, including images of them in their 'home service helmets', at this website: https://greysimcoeforesters.wordpress.com/2016/04/13/york-simcoe-battalion-1885/

Métis sharpshooters open up on the approaching column.

The Gatling gun slowly deploys.  The Gatling was great fun - it took forever to get it in place, by which time it was no longer needed!  Once, I managed to deploy it, only to find it was out of range, so I needed to limber up and move again on the following turn.

Cree warriors fire on the advancing Queen's Own Rifles on the other end of the front.

Undeterred, the QOR continue their advance...

And engage the Cree in close combat.

The way forces were set up, the Government forces were poor shots but had better close combat skills and, importantly, number (generally twice as many men in the Government units as in each warrior group), so there was an incentive to push forward to contact rather than get caught in a firefight.

At the other end of the battlefield, the Yorks and Simcoes capture the Métis rifle pits.

Finally, despite setbacks as many of the Government forces were suppressed by fire from the Métis and Cree, the Mounties apprehend Riel!  This was a great redemption for the Queen's Cowboys as they had fled early in the game but rallied and came back to capture Riel.