Black Tuesday in Estevan - 29 September 1931

 As I described in my post earlier in the week, the most recent Bonsor club night for the Trumpeters was May 1st, International Workers' Day.  This allowed me to bring together multiple concepts:  shining a light on an event in Canadian history, putting my brand new Pulp Figures construction workers and strikers onto the gaming table, more generally putting my diverse interwar civilian figures into a game.  After initially looking at the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, I determined that the Black Tuesday events of 29 September 1931 in Estevan, Saskatchewan would make the basis for the game.  The Bienfait strikers came to town with the intention of holding a parade and a rally to inform the townsfolk of Estevan of their issues.  They were met by a combined force of Town of Estevan police and RCMP intent on stopping the parade.

The toolbox of ideas from Fistful of Lead once again formed the basis for the scenario. One of the key concepts was how to present the conflict between the strikers and the police without leading straight to violence.  I decided to use Shock as a measure of the strikers' enthusiasm for sticking around.  Each individual miner or group of miners or their families will need to roll higher than the number of shock points they have at the start of each turn or else disperse.  So the next step was to give the police player some options to inflict shock.  

Firstly, the police player can speak to the crowd.  I based this on a cause fear effect from FFoL's Tales of Horror.  This is a contested roll, similar to close combat.  If the police character rolls higher, they end up adding a number of shock points based on their degree of success.

In the actual event, the Estevan police co-opted the use of the Estevan Fire Department's fire engine.  I didn't have a fire engine in my collection, so I quickly acquired a 1:48 scale WWII-era deuce and a half USAAF fuel truck and painted it red!  (check the link for what the real fire engine looks like!)

A police officer may attempt to hose down strikers.  He'll need to pass a skill test, then he'll have a chance to impose shock on any strikers under the template.  I also included an option for police to fire their weapons over the heads of the strikers to add a bit more shock.  To offset the shock imposed on the strikers, I assigned union organiser Annie Buller the Encouraging trait, which allows her to rally shock off of her allies.

Enough background, on to the game!  Kevin declared that as a former shop steward, he wanted to play the strikers, and Colin joined him.  Arthur took the police, and I took the role of a moderately biased GM.  The objective of the miners was to reach the cenotaph, and the goal of the police was to stop them.  Arthur and I made a very quick and easy representation of the cenotaph from a paper obelisk model.

The police got the fire department to park the fire engine at the intersection of 4th Street and Souris Avenue, and formed a line to confront the marchers.  Chief McCutcheon and Constable McKay of the Town of Estevan Police Department in blue, and the RCMP in their khaki service tunics.  The shopkeeper can be seen keeping a wary eye on the coming events.  I had some ideas for bystanders getting drawn into the events, but as the game played, the townsfolk stayed out of the action.

Strikers advancing down 4th Street.

Aerial shot of the pending confrontation.  Not an exact representation of Estevan, just what I was able to assemble from my existing terrain collection!

Chief McCutcheon's words didn't dissuade any of the marchers, so the RCMP turned on the fire hose and Annie Buller goes down wounded!  (the intent of the fire hose is primarily to inflict shock but I left a small chance that an injury could result - didn't expect it to happen on the first use!)

Undismayed, the kids' mob pushed forward, as some of the men attempted a flanking maneuver.  Kevin and Colin joked about the Horns of the Buffalo.  I didn't expect the strikers to draw inspiration from Shaka!

Chief McCutcheon yelled at the kids, and caused them to fall back.  Meanwhile, the women got angry at the treatment of Annie Buller and surged forward!  Small blue dice were used to track shock on each figure or mob base.

Some action on the south flank.  The mob base has multiple blue dice to show differing levels of shock after they charged the police line and were pushed back.

The mob of strikers rally off their shock, and push back into the police line, knocking down a mountie.  "Which Side Are You On" knocks down another mountie.  When the third mountie tries to shoot WSAYO, he rolls a '1'.  Out of ammo!

Mayor Bannetyne, in the blue suit, is starting to get worried as the mob base puts the boots to the downed mountie.

The gloves are off (not that they were ever really on...) and the police start shooting into the strikers.  The raging granny and WSAYO are knocked out.

Another mob of miners enters the fray, full of righteous anger at the cops for shooting the women.

The police line breaks as the strikers surge forward.

Chief McCutcheon decides that discretion is the better part of valour, and legs it.

Mayor Bannetyne goes down to the strikers.

The miners catch up to the Chief.  He gives a good accounting for himself, holding off the attackers for several turns. His ability with a billy club was greater than his public speaking skill!

But in the end, numbers carried the day and the Chief went down under the combined wieght of the miners.

In the end, 5 of the initial 7 cops, plus the mayor, were taken out of action, versus 4 of the protesters.  In addition, one of the police was captured by the strikers, while RCMP Constable McKay of the Estevan Police escaped off the board. 

After the game, Arthur checked the campaign rules to see how many of the downed cops would be available for a future game. The results were:

• Alex McCutcheon - Town of Estevan police chief:  lightly injured.
• Constable McKay - Town of Estevan police:  prisoner
• RCMP Constable Sutherland:  medium injury
• RCMP Constable Palmer: medium injury
• RCMP Sgt Molyneux:  serious injury
• RCMP Constable King:  medium injury
• RCMP Detective Sergeant Mortimer:  Got away!
• Mayor Bannetyne:  killed.

For the miners, we had:

• Miner Peter Markunas (WSAYO): insignificant injury (just winged me!)
• Raging granny:  minor injury
• Mustard shirt and shovel: insignificant/just winged me
• Hands up:  minor injury.

Note that we only checked for those taken out, not just wounded.

This game was just a one-off to commemorate May Day, so I don't know if I will host it again, but it was fun to play around with some new game mechanics.  As an improvised setting, I was just guessing about how to balance the numbers on each side.  To be honest, the size of the strikers' parade was largely driven by my desire to get as many models on the table as I could!  

I'd like to play a bit further with the idea of people in authority (e.g, the cops) using their presence to dominate a crowd and encourage them to disperse.  This game took some ideas I'd tried for crowd control in Jamjhar last summer and developed them further.  It will likely take a bit of playtesting and analysis to fine tune the results to get something playable.

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, Nick and Vitor.

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

 

 

A Bad Day for the IRA

For our Tuesday game night with Oliver and Tyler, Arthur came up with an Irish War of Independence ambush scenario.  We used our go-to ruleset, Fistful of Lead.

Arthur was inspired by IRA  ambushes from the war, where the IRA would shoot up a unit of British army or Royal Irish Constabulary and then escape before reinforcements arrived.  That's not exactly what happened today, though!  For those who missed out on the twentieth century, the IRA is the Irish Republican Army. 

There were two groups of IRA and two units of British Army soldiers. Arthur selected figures for the IRA from our collection of WWII partisans, gangsters, revolutionaries and other mid-twentieth figures, and used WWI British for the British Army soldiers.

First group of British soldiers, who appear riding in the truck, led by their sergeant.

The second group of Brits, who will arrive on the turn after the Joker is played.  The Joker acts as an Ace for the player to whom it is dealt.

First group of IRA.

Second group of IRA, including an enthusiastic fellow with a bundle of TNT.

Here's the table.  British objective is simply to drive on the road to the far end of the table.  IRA are allowed to deploy hidden anywhere they want.

The IRA set up a roadblock.  The truck wasn't allowed to leave the road, so the Brits needed to clear the roadblock in order to proceed.

British truck comes on the table carrying the first unit of soldiers.

The truck stops at the roadblock and the IRA initiate the ambush.  The dynamite man throws his explosive bundle, and fails to clear the wall.  Then the IRA leader opens fire with his revolver, and immediately runs out of ammo!  Then the Brits gunned down the dynamite man. Not a great start for the rebels.

Undaunted, the IRA opened fire on the truck, trying to eliminate the soldiers before they could dismount.  The IRA fire was inconsistent, causing some wounds but also many rebels running out of ammunition and needing to reload.

The firefight continued with the IRA unable to get the upper hand despite outnumbering the soldiers.

Finally the joker is dealt, and the British reinforcements start to come onto the table.  Time for the IRA to skedaddle!

Meanwhile at the farm, the chaos deepens.

The reinforcements continue to advance.  Note that the IRA are not skedaddling.

Finally, having inflicted only two British casualties (including the British sergeant) whilst taking seven of their own, the IRA "leader" escapes.

Overall a great scenario by Arthur, based on his own research and his understanding of FFoL and scenario design. Good job Arthur!