Version Notes
1.3 Revised time and distance scale handling for the Widow Davis and the placement of the homestead and church on the tabletop; the action is now aligned conceptually for two action-packed minutes. 3/23/1999.
1.2 Addressed morale checks during tree trunk movement and added scenery notes. 3/19/1999.
1.11 Added public domain picture of typical locomotive. 3/19/1999.
1.1 Added map, notes on scale of trains, specified dismounted troopers, changed Federals to infantry only (ie, not dismounted cavalry), improved tree handling procedure. 3/18/1999.
1.0 Original created on 3/17/1999.

1. Positions at Start At start, the band of sympathizers, led by the impetuous Smith are placed surrounding the woodpile, facing INWARD (because they have just finished heaving tree trunks into place). The Federal forces enter together on a board edge selected by a 1D6 as follows: Players assign 1 through 4 to edges, 5 the Rebels pick the edge, and 6 the Federals pick the edge. Place THREE 8" tree trunks across the tracks in the center. Use activation method number 1 with TWO cards per unit along with one shuffle-the-deck card.
2. The Widow Davis Place the Widow Davis on the porch of her ancient homestead. At no time during play may she be detained, injured, persuaded, coerced, blocked, secured, trammeled, or treated in an ungentlemanly manner. Her sole activity is to walk with pious gravity from the porch of her homestead to the church to ring the noontime bell. She walks at the dignified speed of 2" per action (she is successful by definition with exp=6). When she gets fully inside the church door, follow the noontime bell instructions directly below.
3. Fate (Bells and Whistles) Prepare 12 cards for the noontime bell and 3 cards for the whistle of the oncoming supply train. Shuffle these cards well. Once the Widow Davis enters the church, at the next shuffle of the action deck, include three of these cards into the action deck, reshuffle the action deck well but do not include the "shuffle-the-deck" card since everyone is desperate and highly motivated regarding the impending arrival of the train. Whenever one of these cards (bells and whistles) is played, remove it permanently from play. Each time the action deck is exhausted, include three more cards from this special deck. This way the bell will toll 12 times (in one minute, the second full minute of the scenario action).
4. Rebel Comeback A small, roving Rebel troop, headed by the dandy Major Howell, has quietly billeted the previous night at a barn near the outskirts of town, having been on the run for weeks. Sorely in need of rest and out of horses, the men have slept the morning away, but the sound of gunfire in town has stirred the blood, and to battle they come. The arrival of the two groups of Rebel reinforcements occurs at the first stroke of the noontime bell. The Rebel player chooses which board edge his force enters.
5. Trunk Hostling Moving a tree trunk takes manpower, the more the better. An entire group of men (must be at least two) is required to move one trunk at all. Here is the procedure which uses a special set of group orders.
   • At least two group members must touch the pile of trunks at some point. Only those in the group touching one of the trunks can participate.
   • The group leader must activate successfully (and may be butt-kicked by a better leader if necessary). Once activated, he issues the group command "ready ho". This commits the men in question to finding a grip around the trunk. Other men may join the group before the next command is issued. The men are committed to hostling the tree trunk until the "drop ho" group order is given (see below).
   • Next group activation, if the leader passes, he issues the group order "heave ho", and the trunk is hoisted.
   • Next activation, if the leader passes, he issues the group order "move ho," and the trunk can finally move! The trunk moves 2" (sideways) for each man contributing to the movement (+1" for each Pennsylvanian involved).
   • Repeat the previous step as long as desired. To be considered safely removed from the track, the trunk may touch neither rail nor ties.
   • One more activation is needed to drop the trunk. The order is "drop ho." The order to drop must be issued before the men can be released to perform any other action.
   • The normal morale check rules apply with the proviso that as long as at least two men involved with tree trunk movement pass the required morale check, the movement can continue. The instant only one man remains involved actively moving the tree trunk, it is dropped in place, and movement may only start again using the movement procedure from the very beginning. Special note: for morale checks during tree trunk movement only, a -1 DR modifier applies for each Pennsylvanian involved, that is, if 3 Pennsylvanians are hauling a trunk, each one receives a -3 modifier on his own morale DR due to this condition.
6. The Train The train is represented by a locomotive, a tender, and baggage cars. The number of bagage cars should be sufficient to equal the width of the playing area (their purpose is solely to serve as the final scenic block at the fateful moment). Once the locomotive is placed on board, the remaining cars are placed as soon as there is room for them. The train arrives either upon the sounding of the third whistle or the 12th stroke of the church bell (noon). The train moves at a rate of 6" per action card flipped from the action deck.
7. End of Game Once the train arrives, the Federals win if the locomotive and tender pass safely through the scene without derailing or if at least one of the two driving the train do not suffer a crippling wound. Otherwise, the Rebels wins.
   • If no tree trunks remain, the train will pass safely; but the game continues while the locomotive is still on scene. The rebels may try to kill the engineer/fireman as they pass by (moving target, snap shot, total armor, solid target, etc). Both must suffer crippling wounds before the locomotive leaves the scene (making the train uncontrollable).
   • If tree trunks remain, a D12 is rolled by the Rebels, and the To Hit number (for derailing) is determined by adding +3 for each trunk still on the track to a base value of 0, and a successful derailment occurs by rolling less than or equal to the To Hit number.