Mad Trapper at Trumpeter Salute (long post, loads of photos!)

For the Trumpeter Salute 2026 gaming convention, Arthur and I updated our Hunt for the Mad Trapper game from last August.  This included getting more models dressed in winter gear, and we also playtested the scenarios multiple times.  Thanks to all the people who tolerated the playtests, including Craig, Doug, Kevin & Peter, and to our gamers on the day, Brian, Corey, Mike and Nick.

As described on my earlier post, Arthur and I originally became interested in the story of the mad trapper during our Epic Arctic Adventure of Epicness last summer (July 2025), when we drove all the way to Tuktoyaktuk, NWT.  Fortunately, Dan Mersey had written a great article in Wargames Illustrated in January 2025, which formed the basis for our game.  We used Jaye Wiley's Fistful of Lead to play these scenarios.

Reference materials provided for anyone interested including the handout that I wrote for the game, plus Dan Mersey's WI article and one of reference books we used.

Unusually for me, I created character cards for each of the figures.  This was important as the photo on the card helps the players identify which model represents each character!

The dogsled and the airplane had no particular role in the game, but I like having them on the table.  The dogsled is from Copplestone Castings and the airplane is a generic pulp aircraft model from Sarissa Precision that I painted with the call sign of Wop May's Bellanca CH300 Pacemaker.

                                        

Scenario 1 started with RCMP Inspector Eames and his party preparing to apprehend the man known as Albert Johnson (whether that was the trapper's real name has never been confirmed).  After Johnson had shot and nearly killed Constable King, Eames gathered a group of RCMP, special constables and local trappers to assist in arresting the trapper.

                                        

Here's Johnson's cabin in the woods.The RCMP advance toward the cabin.

Shock marker placed on the cabin - but it looks as if there it is smoke from the fireplace :)

Knut Lang had two dynamite bundles.  The first failed to damage the cabin but the second had a partial effect, collapsing one side of the cabin and reducing the value of the cover.

Johnson injured a couple of the attackers, which caused them to retreat.  When the RCMP party returned the next day, Johnson had already fled into the wild.

In scenario 2, Johnson is on the run, when a small group of RCMP catch Johnson as he is breaking camp.

Sergeant Riddell of the Royal Canadian Signal Corps has a radio, which he uses to call for reinforcements.  This didn't happen in real history, I added this to allow an excuse to give the signallers to use their skills and equipment in the game!  For his trouble, Johnson then took out Riddell with a shot from his rifle. :(

Other party members kept up the rifle fire on Johnson.

Johnson's sharpshooting however was more effective, and he also took down trapper Gardlund.

And then he killed RCMP Constable Edgar Millen, the only person who was killed in the real-life encounter that inspired Scenario 2.

Injured but still on his feet, Johnson then fled before the remaining posse members could catch him.

The third and final scenario starts with Johnson moving through the wild.  He has been on the run for weeks, living off of small game, unable to start anything more than a small fire.  Wop May has been flying overhead, looking for signs of the trapper and guiding the Mounties on the ground toward the fugitive.  Finally on February 17th, 1932, the pursuers catch up with Johnson as he moves along the frozen Eagle River in Yukon Territory.

Right off the start there is a shootout between Johnson and RCSC Sergeant Hersey.  Hersey injures the trapper, but is taken out by a precise shot from Johnson.

Before he can escape, more pursuers approach from behind.

As more and more pursuers appear, the weight of firepower is too much.  Johnson takes a third wound and goes down.

A good run by Johnson.  Our fictional trapper was deadlier than the historical one, as he killed or gravely injured six of his pursuers, versus two by the real Johnson.

Here is the handout I prepared for the game, including some background and descriptions of the scenarios.

The Hunt for the Mad Trapper of Rat River

January-February 1932.  Northwest Territory, Canada

A set of three linked wargame scenarios for Fistful of Lead

In December 1931, First Nations trappers complained to the RCMP detachment in Arctic Red River (now known as Tsiigehtchic, NWT) that their traplines had been torn out.  This was serious for the trappers, as their livelihood depended on them. 

Tsiigehtchic in summer 2025

The available evidence pointed to a white trapper, Albert Johnson, who had arrived in the region the previous summer.  Constable King and Special Constable Joe Bernard were dispatched to Johnson's cabin on the Rat River to find out more. Johnson refused to speak to the constables, so they went to Aklavik, NWT and obtained a warrant from RCMP Inspector Alexander Eames.  The patrol was increased to four men - Constables King and McDowell plus Special Constables Joe Bernard and Lazarus Sittichiulis. When Constable King approached the cabin this time, Johnson fired through the door, seriously wounding the constable. Special Constable Bernard dragged King to safety, and the patrol rushed him back to the hospital in Aklavik, where Dr Urquhart found that the bullet barely missed King's heart.

The Mounties now had a much more serious matter to deal with than vandalism of traplines.  Inspector Eames organised a patrol to arrest Albert Johnson, consisting of himself and Constables Millen and McDowell; Special Constables Bernard and Sittichiuli; as well as trappers Knute Lang, Ernest Sutherland and Karl Gardlund; and First Nations guide Charlie Rat.  The game begins as the patrol approaches Johnson’s cabin...

In order to make this set of scenarios work, Johnson has been given several traits to keep him from being too easily taken out.  Traits include:

• Nine Lives, so he can't be taken out by a lucky shot early in the game.
• Steady, so he can ignore penalties for shooting from shock or wounds.
• Stealthy, so he is harder to hit.
• Loads of ammo - he won't lose a turn of shooting if he rolls a '1'.
• Armour save (varies by scenario).

Scenario 1 - Johnson's Cabin

Albert Johnson starts inside his tiny, 8’x10’ cabin, as Inspector Eames and his group start surrounding the cabin.  The cabin is in a small clearing in the forest, 12” open space to the front and sides, 8” to the rear.

Johnson's cabin is loopholed.  He can fire out in any direction without moving.  The cabin gives him a 6+ armour save and also counts as heavy cover, so attackers have a -2 on their rolls to shoot him.

Lang also has two charges of dynamite.  The dynamite charges are thrown as grenades.  If the centre of the blast lands on the cabin, make a wound roll.  On a shaken result, the cabin shakes but remains intact.  On a wound, cover is reduced from heavy to light (and Johnson's save is reduced from 6+ to 8+).  On an 'out of action' result, the cabin is destroyed and there is a wound roll for Johnson.  If the template only touches the wall of the cabin, then on a wound or out of action roll, cover is reduced only on that side of the cabin.

Inspector Eames and his men arrived at the cabin on 7 January, 1932.  Temperatures had dropped to -40C. To reflect the limited time that the men could work in the cold temperatures, the game is limited to 8 turns, after which the police will withdraw to warm up.  I added another consideration - the police are not fanatics, and this is not a 'do or die' military solution.  The police rate their own lives and those of their colleagues.  To measure this, every turn after the police have taken casualties (including wounds but not shock), the leader must roll a d6.  If the number is equal to or less than the number of casualties, the police will withdraw to tend to their casualties.

After regrouping, the Mounties returned to the cabin, but found it deserted.  This was the beginning of the manhunt.  Johnson was a very experienced woodsman, and tracking him in the dead of winter was very difficult.  The RCMP posse was joined by Quartermaster Sergeant R.F.Riddell and Staff Sergeant Earl Hersey of the Royal Canadian Signal Corps outpost at Aklavik.  These men brought their radios - marking the first time that the RCMP used radios to coordinate a manhunt.

Scenario 2 - In the Wilderness

McKenzie River near Inuvik, NWT

After weeks of tracking Johnson through the wilderness, the next encounter with him happened on 30 January, when Constable Millen, Carl Gardlund, Noel Verville and Sgt Riddell came across Johnson's camp.  The camp was hidden among boulders and fallen trees, allowing Johnson an 8+ save as long as he remains in the camp.  Another special rule is that Johnson must stay in the area for 4 turns before fleeing (this is a bit arbitrary, to give the Mounties a chance to engage Johnson and not just have him leave the table on the first turn!). 

One more special rule is that Sgt Riddell has his radio.  Each time he activates, he can attempt to call for reinforcements.  Due to the cold, the radio is unreliable, so he needs to pass a normal (5+) test to get a message through.  If he succeeds, then in the following turn, Sgt Hersey and Special Constable Sittichiulis will enter the table.

Historical note – this represents the encounter where Johnston shot and killed Constable Millen.

Scenario 3 - Shootout on the Eagle River

After the encounter with Constable Millen and his team, Johnson disappeared back into the wilds.  Canada's most famous bush pilot, Wop May, was recruited to provide air support, another first for the RCMP. He flew his Bellanca CH300 Pacemaker, assisting the hunt by looking for signs of Johnson's movement through the snow. as well as ferrying supplies and men back and forth from Aklavik, Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchik to the team in the field.  Finally, on 17 February 1932, the hunt caught up with Johnson on the Eagle River in Yukon Territory, approximately 145 km west of his cabin on the Rat River. He had covered the entire distance on foot in the dead of winter, in temperatures below -40C, with almost no supplies, living on small game, unable to light more than the smallest fire in case it was seen by his pursuers.

For Scenario 3, Johnson starts in the middle of the Eagle River, without cover.  He can move full speed on the ice, but must pass a normal test (5+) to climb the banks, which he needs to do to exit into the woods away from his pursuers.  He retains his 8+ cover save, without any particular justification, except that he needs any advantage he can get in order to have a chance!

There is no turn limit.  Either Johnson leaves the table or he is killed or captured by the Mounties.  The pursuers arrive in different turns throughout the game.  In turn 1, Sgt Hersey arrives on one of the river table edges.  In turn 2, Trapper Noel Verville and RCMP Constable Sidney May enter on the opposite river table edge.  No new arrivals in turn 3, then in Turn 4 Special Constable Sittichiulis, Trappers Gardlund, Lang and Sutherland arrive on one of the riverbanks (roll to determine which bank).  Turn 5 sees Inspector Eames, Sgt Riddell, Special Constable Bernard, Trapper Constant Ethier (a former RCMP constable) on the other riverbank.  Finally, on turn 6 Constable McDowell arrives on the river, on the same table edge as Hersey.

 

Memorial to the NWMP Lost Patrol of 1912 at St Matthew’s Church in Fort McPherson, NWT