Prehistoric Fauna: the Carnivores

Introduction

Last week, I showed my very limited collection of 28mm mammalian (& avian) prehistoric herbivores (excluding the big beasts, which have their own megafauna article).  Well, to complete the series, here are the carnivores.  There are rather more of them than the plant-eaters!

Smilodon

Leaping Smilodon.  I think that this one comes from the long-defunct Amazon miniatures.

Old (out of production?) Smilodon from Steve Barber Models  The new version from the same manufacturer is a much nicer model!

Smilodon is probably the best-known of the sabre tooth cats.  It's often called a "sabre tooth tiger", though this is inaccurate as it isn't a tiger at all.  The species lived in the Americas until about 10,000 years ago and probably specialised in ambushing large herbivores.

Neither of the models above is particularly well-sculpted, though the first one is a more likely size for an adult animal.  There are a number of other versions of 28mm Smilodons; all are quite different from each other!

Megalania

This Megalania model has a very upright stance that may not be accurate?

Megalania is a rare giant monitor lizard that inhabited Australia until about 30,000 years ago.  It's entirely possible that early man encountered these horrors, which have been estimated to grow up to 5.5m (18ft) long!

My version is yet another model from the defunct (but very useful) Amazon Miniatures range.

Dinofelis

The name Dinofelis means, of course, "terrible cat".  However, whilst they were probably a considerable danger to Australopithecus, most varieties were no larger than a modern leopard.  I suppose that's bad enough if you only have stone tools, though.

Actually, Dinofelis died out about 1.2 million years ago - so the Neanderthal hunter in the picture shouldn't really be too worried about meeting one!

This model is from the Dazed range (or DeeZee or DZ, as the range has been variously renamed).  It's still available, from Arcane Scenery.

Thylacine

Thylacine is very unusual for a "prehistoric" animal because they existed right up until the 1930s.  Indeed, there are still occasional sightings claimed, though it would be quite sensational if any of these were verified!  It's a marsupial predator, sometimes referred to as the "Tasmanian Tiger" - although at one time it was widespread across all of Australia and New Guinea.

My thylacine pack is by Steve Barber Models.

"Terror Bird"

There are a number of species of giant birds in the prehistoric environment.  This particular model is one of the earlier figures from Steve Barber and is now retired, I believe (there is a newer giant bird model from the same manufacturer which is very nice!).

I haven't been able to identify the species that this figure represents and so I cannot give you many details about it.  However, given its size I think that the Neanderthal may well be able to drive it away from its nest and take its eggs!

Diatryma Giganticus

Now here's a species worthy of the title "terror bird"!  Diatryma Giganticus (aka Gastornis) inhabited North America and Western Europe  about 45 million years ago and - despite its ferocious-looking beak - may have eaten tough leaves and shoots rather than being a hunter.  However, scientists appear to be split on this, as well as whether related species in China are actually the same creature.

This pair of models come, once again, from the defunct Amazon Miniatures range.

Phorusrhacos

Phorusrhacos is another variety of giant "terror bird".  This species lived in the Americas until maybe 13 million years ago and is believed to be a predator.

Several manufacturers make 28mm models of Phorusrhacos, but again mine comes from Amazon Miniatures (if I remember correctly).

Daedon

Strictly speaking, the world-wide Entelodont family (of which Daedon is a North American species) are omnivores rather than carnivores.  But then, so are bears (and humans)!  They'll eat meat if they can get it, though otherwise they'll live off vegetable matter.

I've put the Entelodonts in this article on predators because their taste for meat and their sheer size would present a considerable threat to any humans they encountered.  Of course, they wouldn't have met any people because Daedon died out about 19 million years ago - long before anything remotely like a human existed!

These models are from the Primaeval Designs range, available from Acheson Creations.  If they seem familiar then that may be because I've used them recently in a game as the fabled, monstrous Calydonian Boar and also (less recently) as "not-targ" in a Klingon Holiday.

Andrewsarchus

This is possibly the largest land-dwelling, carnivorous mammal of all time.  A fully-grown Andrewsarchus has been estimated to weigh 1 ton or even more.  With a 3 foot long jaw, it would have had a ferocious bite, though it isn't really known whether it was primarily a hunter or a scavenger.  Fortunately for the Neanderthal in the picture, Andrewsarchus lived in Mongolia some 36 million years ago, long before humans!

Good luck with finding a 28mm model of this beast!  Mine came from the long-defunct Amazon miniatures; I've never heard of another manufacturer attempting to make this creature.

Cave Bear

Now here's an animal which most certainly would have encountered Neanderthals!  The cave bear lived in Europe until 27,500 years ago - well within the timeframe for cavemen.  Given its huge size (a male could weigh 0.5 tons), they must have been quite a threat to stone age people!

This is a resin model that I thought came from Steve Barber Models as it's based in the same manner as my other "Prehistoric Settlement" game models.  However if it is from there than it must be an earlier sculpt; the current catalogue shows nothing like it.

Dire Wolves

Dire wolves are slightly larger than a modern grey wolf, but had a rather heavier build.  They existed in the Americas until maybe 10,000 years ago - well within the timespan for early humans.  I imagine that even primitive men were reasonably safe from them - unless the wolves were in an overwhelmingly large pack, were starving or otherwise motivated to attack!

This pack comes from the Dazed/DeeZee/DZ range and is still available from Arcane Scenery.  They were the stars in one of my most successful "offbeat" battle reports: The Howling!

Conclusion

There are many more prehistoric predators in model form than there are herbivores!  Indeed, a lot of the creatures that I have described above can be found in 3 or more different ranges of miniatures.  For example, Phorusrhacos (or something very like it) is/was made by Amazon Miniatures, Dragonblood Miniatures, HLBS, Ral Partha, Steve Barber and Reaper Miniatures.

I've noticed whilst making this list that much of my collection are older models, many of which are no longer available.  It's very tempting to start buying some of the more recent sculpts as well, to fill gaps or perhaps just for fun!

28mm Prehistoric Fauna: the Herbivores

Introduction

A long time ago (in 2012, no less), I showed some of my collection of 28mm Prehistoric animals: the Megafauna.  Not all mammals from prehistory are so big, though!  I also have a reasonable collection of smaller creatures that I'd like to record and publish.  Since there are really too many of them for a single article, I thought that I'd start with the subgroup of herbivores.  Even though these would have been numerous in real life, I find than I don't have many such models, so this might be quite a short post.

As with the Megafauna article, I've included a figure of a 28mm Neanderthal hunter, for scale purposes.  Note however that most of these creatures were removed a very long way in time and space from such a hunter.  They'd only meet in some strange, Hollywood-inspired Lost World setting for a game - and who would ever have the imagination to do that?!  Something like this, perhaps?

Diprotodon

Diprotodon is (roughly speaking) a giant wombat.  They were the largest marsupial ever to have lived.  Diprotodons lived in Australia and died out maybe 46,000 years ago.  I suppose that contact with very early humans was just about possible, though I'm not an anthropologist and don't know this with any certainty.

Actually, this model must be either a female or an immature youngster.  The fully-grown male would have been 3m (9.8 ft) long and have weighed 2.7 tons.

The model is (I think) from Mega Miniatures.  Although it was sold as a 25/28mm model, I can't help wondering if the sculptor intended it to match 15mm figures instead.

Chalicotherium

Chalicotheres are very strange-looking animals.  They were widespread across Europe, Asia and Africa for many millions of years.  Sadly for our Neanderthal hunter, Chalicotheres seem to have died out about 3.6 million years ago; that's long before any humans were around!

Once again, this is a Mega Miniatures model and (like the Diprotodon) it's about half the size that it should be!  A fully-grown Chalicothere stood around 2.5m (8 ft) tall at the shoulders, whereas this creature is no higher than the man.

Doedicurus

Doedicurus is one of the best-known Glyptodonts; it ranged across the Americas (North and South) and finally became extinct about 11,000 years ago.  This puts it very definitely in the period for early humans, though it wouldn't have met our Neanderthal (he's a European, after all).

Guess what?  This is from Mega Miniatures and it's a lot smaller than it should be for a 28mm model!  An adult Doedicurus could reach about 4m (12 ft) in length, so once again this figure would make more sense with 15mm humans.

Miohippus

Horses have been growing bigger for many millions of years, from the very small ancestors such as Eohippus (60cm / 2 ft long) to our current animals.  The prehistoric species differed mainly from modern horses in being smaller and in having separate toes rather than fused hooves (but who's going to notice that or care in such a small model).  However, the basic form of the animal remained similar, whatever the size of the species. 

This being so, I decided to create my Miohippus herd by using models that were designed for 15mm.  Rather than using 15mm horse figures, I chose to use donkeys - though zebras or wild asses would probably have a more accurate body shape.  Still, these are good enough for me, especially when painted with a spotted coat.  I think the models came fro Lancashire Games, but I could be mistaken about that.

Miohippus lived in North America and died out about 25 million years ago, so once again our hunter is completely anachronistic!

Dodo

Now here's a real oddity!  Dodos were flightless birds that lived on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean until they encountered modern European sailors; they were last seen in 1662 (the dodos, that is - not the Dutch and Portuguese sailors).  Once again, our poor hunter wouldn't have encountered dodos, if only because they existed in such an isolated location.

Unlike the earlier models in this article, these figures are too large.  A dodo should be about 1m (3.3 ft) tall, whereas these birds are much bigger than that.  The sculpts also have a rather strange body shape and are missing the very distinctive upright plume of tail feathers.  Still, I don't know of any other dodo models in this scale, so I'm quite happy to have a small flock!

These dodos are from Black Cat Bases, home of some of the most intriguing and bizarre miniatures on the internet!

Conclusion

If you exclude dinosaurs, there aren't many models of the smaller (i.e. less than a mammoth or wooly rhinoceros) prehistoric herbivores in any scale, though most of those which do exist are scaled for 28mm figures.

Here are some herbivores that I don't have (yet!) and which I believe to be still available:

• Steve Barber Models make an alternate Diprotodon and the unusual Macrauchenia
• Eureka Miniatures make a herd of Aurochs.

As ever, the best source of information on this subject is Steve Pugh's Very True Things site, which is an absolutely invaluable resource!

Lost World: the Lucid Eye Simians

Introduction

It's been a long while since I posted anything about my Lost World collection.  It's a genre which hasn't had much coverage on my blog.  Indeed, it's been 2 1/2 years since I wrote about the large beasties (megafauna).  That doesn't mean that I've given up on it, though.

A couple of recent events have reawakened my interest in the Lost World setting.  Firstly, Steve Barber Models has announced a reworking of the old Prehistoric Settlement game; there will be a nice range of cavemen and Ice Age beasties to support this.  Secondly, the well-known figure sculptor Steve Saleh has created the Lucid Eye range of figures, currently available from Arcane Scenery.  These are specifically aimed at Lost World/Hollow Earth scenarios and the range already has such curios as Atlanteans, Neanderthals and Amazons.  However, the figures that immediately caught my eye were the simians.

Lucid Eye Simians

I've been looking for figures that I could use as early hominids for almost as long as I've been collecting prehistoric figures.  They have to be more than apes, but not as advanced as (or recognisable as) early humans.  As soon as I saw the Lucid Eye simians, I knew that they would do nicely!  They might or might not be based more on fiction than on palaeontology (I'm not an expert on this), but for my purposes that doesn't matter at all.

From the left, "Kobo", "Hurkey", "Skeech" and "Zaius"

 There are 2 packs of simian figures in the range at the moment.  Firstly we have a set of 4 ape men in assorted poses.  They all have weapons; 2 of them have well-made flint spears whilst the other pair have a tree branch and a large bone.  Are they intelligent and skilled enough to have created the spears themselves?  Or did they pinch them from some nearby humans?  I'm not sure and I think I would have preferred less advanced tools - perhaps a simple sharpened stick or a handy-sized rock instead.  Oddly, it only occurred to me after painting these models that I could have converted them very easily.  D'oh!

The SCT32 pack of 4 simians is currently retailing for £7.49, plus postage of course.

I'll call him "Caesar"

 Next, we have the alpha simian.  He's much the same size as the other creatures, but has perhaps a more thoughtful (yet still challenging) stare rather than the raw aggression of the other members of the tribe.  Alpha also has a flint spear, though again it would have been very easy to replace it with a tree branch or some other type of tool.

SCT31 Alpha Simian costs £2.99, thus making him almost twice as expensive (ape for ape) as any of the grunts (and I use that term intentionally!).

 Here's the entire tribe, all together.  It would be very nice if another set or two of simians were to be produced (perhaps some females or adolescents?), but this isn't really necessary.  I could easily build quite a large troop from the models already available, especially with some conversions of their weapons and some different painting (darker for the leaders, grey for the older hominids, perhaps?)

These hominids are actually quite small models.  I've mounted them on 20mm washers, rather than my normal 25mm bases.  They're definitely not in the "giant killer ape" category (unless used with 15mm figures), but then there are plenty of models of gorillas or yetis to fill that niche already.  No, these will do just fine as early hominids in my games.

I can also see them being used as Tarzan's ape family in a more Victorian setting, or even as hostile natives in a remote part of any Pulp world.  Finally, these models are very reminiscent of the chimps and other simians in the "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" film.  They could easily be used in a modern setting as hyper-intelligent laboratory animals bent on escaping from their slavery - change their flint spears for stolen pool cues or cattle prods.  Now there's an idea for a game!

Lost Lands: Mamut and Ogrom

Introduction

I run a lot of games at the Helensburgh club.  Roughly speaking, this is 1 game per week during school term times, so something like 30 sessions per year.  Each of these has a cunningly contrived and balanced scenario that's designed to stimulate and interest all the players.  None of my games are ever get thrown together at the last minute, just because real-life pressures mean that I haven't thought about it until the day before, no sirree!

Well, OK - that last bit is not totally true.  Sometimes a scenario is underdeveloped and doesn't play out the way I'd hoped at all.  This is not frequent, but here is an example; this didn't really work well in my view (though the players seemed happy enough, for all that).  Note that I'm not trying to railroad my players into certain courses of action when I set up a game.  However, it's important that both/all sides feel they have (a) something to do and (b) a reasonable chance of achieving their goals.

The Scenario

We're back in the Lost Lands this week.  A group of explorers have established a base camp, from where small parties intend to set out to gather specimens for science, meat for the pot and trophies for the ancestral home.

However, before they can achieve these goals the camp is raided in the night by a couple of large bull mammoths ("Mamut" and "Ogrom").  Amongst other destruction, the crate containing all the bottles of gin is smashed.  Swearing revenge, Sir Reginald Utterly-Barking leads a small band to hunt down the animals, unaware that they are crossing the territory of a local tribe of ape-men to whom the mammoths are sacred!

So, this is a 3-way battle (the mammoths are a player side as well as the explorers and the "ape-men"):

Forces

• Explorers: 2 white men (1 with .577 express elephant gun and 1 with .303 rifle), 1 askari (with .303 rifle) and 4 native porters.
• Mammoths: 2 wooly mammoths ("Mamut" and "Ogrom")
• "Ape-men": 5 Neanderthal warriors with flint-tipped spears.

Objectives

Note that these objectives were secret and known only to the appropriate faction:

• Explorers: kill the mammoths!  For extra credit, collect trophies and use the native porters to carry them back to base camp.
• Mammoths: Each mammoth must drive off or kill all intruders who approach within 12" or who shoot at it.  Otherwise, a mammoth won't itself move closer than 12" to models from other factions.
• Neanderthals: Drive off or kill the explorers!  If the mammoths get in the way then by all means dispose of them (they aren't that sacred).  But note that it'll take considerable luck for only 5 of you to hurt a mammoth...

Game 1: Ambush!

As is often the case with my games of Lost Lands, we had time to run the scenario several times in our 2 hours of club time.  This is what happened the first time around:

The explorers advanced until they passed the clump of trees where Mamut was feeding.  On taking the In Sight test, the mammoth decided that he really didn't like the look of these strangers, so he charged!
The native porters fled immediately, but the 2 white men and the askari all fired at the rapidly-approaching beast.  Their hasty shots went wild...

...so Mamut stomped on Professor Contender before spinning round to gore Sir Reginald.

Bakhari decided that he wasn't going to do the white mens' work any more; he fled for the trees, hoping to be able to evade the victorious beast in the thicket.

Result: the explorers were obliterated.  The Neanderthals hadn't even managed to cross the river (they're slower than average), so they slipped away quietly and left the field to the trumpeting mammoths.

Game 2: The Power of 3

This time, the explorers (their force bolstered by a second white man with elephant gun) climbed the hill on their baseline and refused to move from it!

 Again, the Neanderthals made slow progress and didn't manage to get close to the action.

Ogrom and several PEFs (Possible Enemy Forces) approached the explorers, taking care to remain hidden by a clump of fir trees whilst doing so.

One of the PEFs advanced past the trees and was resolved as a small pack of dire wolves.  However, the explorers were waiting for just such an event...

First one wolf was shot down, then another.  The last remnants of the pack fled in disarray before they could reach the humans, terrified by the sudden death of their fellows.

Mamut and Ogrom both moved forward to investigate the strange noise and were joined by a 3rd mammoth, as one of the PEFs just happened to resolve as a mammoth.  The stunned explorers didn't react initially (the group threw a double-6 for their "in sight" test, then rolled a further 6 for their leader dice!).  When the men finally came to their senses, they decided to make a hasty strategic withdrawal - they ran away!

Result: no casualties to any player forces, but the mammoths held the field (the Neanderthals withdrew as quietly as possible without even seeing either the mammoths or the humans).

Game 3: A Friend in Need...

For the third game, I started the Neanderthals half-way along one edge of the table, rather than at the far end.  With their slow movement rate, this might allow them to be part of the action!

Almost immediately, they encountered a PEF; this was resolved as a Smilodon (sabretooth).  It looked as if the beast would attack the Neanderthals, but the explorers could also see it and one of them fired at the animal.  Warily, the animal turned to face the humans instead.

The Neanderthals had a good run of initiative rolls and silently approached the big cat from behind.  This was too good an opportunity to miss and they fell upon it, stabbing with their flint spears.  In the initial rush, they knocked the Smilodon down and wounded it.  However, the predator wasn't badly hurt; it quickly regained its feet and turned on its attackers!

This was too much excitement for the nearby explorers.  They couldn't resist "trying to help" and started to fire volley after volley into the melee!

By the time the smoke had cleared, Crug, Brun and the smilodon were all dead from gunfire.  The remaining Neanderthals were defiant and angry.  This puzzled Sir Reginald: he thought they should be grateful to the explorers for having helped to slay the sabretooth.  He was even prepared to let the cavemen have the pelt as a sign of goodwill!

Result: Another cultural misunderstanding that ended in a massacre.  That seems to happen a lot in my games of Lost Lands, though in no way had I planned such an event.  In this game, the mammoths just stayed where they were, grazing and letting the noisy humans fight it out.

Conclusion

This was designed as a 3-player scenario.  However, in all of the games we played only 2 forces had any contact; the 3rd side might as well have not been there.  That's not what I had intended at all.

I'm also a little unhappy with the one-sided results, particularly of the first 2 games.  It's always difficult to balance a game where the technologies, resilience and abilities of each force are radically different from each other.  This is very apparent when fielding rifle-armed hunters against large wild animals.  At range, the hunters will almost always win, whilst in melee the mega-fauna cannot really lose.  It's one of gaming's great perennial problems and if you have any solutions then I'd be delighted to hear them!

Treasure Hunt, Central America, 1883

Introduction

At this week's club meeting, I thought that I'd host a game similar to the scenario I designed for a Pulp competition a few months ago: Terror on Tapu Island.  However, this would have to be adapted somewhat, as I don't have the necessary Pulp figures or tropical island scenery.  Also, I felt that it might need to be scaled down a bit, to ensure it could be played out in the time available.

So, here's the story: somewhere in central America, in the late 19th century, a delirious, feverish man in ragged clothes stumbles into a frontier town.  He rambles about a lost land, strange idols and treasure before dying from the combined effects of exhaustion and some interesting tropical disease.

Several armed bands of adventurers set out soon after in the direction from which the stranger came.  Each group discovers a passage through the mountains that has been unblocked by a recent earthquake and uses this to enter The Land that Time Couldn't Quite Remember.

The Forces

Originally, I had intended to use a group of Neanderthals as locals who didn't want their sacred lands to be invaded.  However, I discovered at the club that I'd forgotten to pack the right models, so instead I just used 3 parties of treasure seekers:

• The Jolly Good Chaps
  
  
  
• The Eccentrics
  
  
  
• The Rogues
  
  
  

The Board

The land was green and fertile, with a stream running through the middle and plenty of small hills and trees.  In the centre of the table stood a couple of odd statues, possibly part of an ancient temple.  Here was where the explorers could search for treasure - if the other teams would let them!

Game 1: Standing in the Open

The Rogues advanced quickly and forded the stream.  Their plan was to split up: Henry and the servant would head for the statues while Piet (the marksman) would hold off the other groups with long-range sniping.

Seeing this, the Jolly Good Chaps advanced steadily.  They took a pot-shot at Piet as he stood in the river, but only achieved near misses.

As the Jolly Good Chaps passed the wood, a 9' tall Phorusrhacos came bounding out of the cover.  It charged them, moving at an incredible speed

The sight was too much for Professor Contender and Bakhari; they turned and ran for their lives.  However, Sir Reginald was made of sterner stuff (or perhaps the family name of Utterly-Barking wasn't given in error).  He stood his ground and fired a hasty shot from his elephant gun.  Although he missed, the giant bird was confused and puzzled by the smoke and noise; it stopped just short of the man, raised its head and screeched loudly in defiance.

By this time, Piet Rood had used the distraction to crawl out of the stream.  He fired once at the large bird, but missed.  Like lightning, the Phorusrhacos spun round and charged towards this new threat.  However, the old Boer was too experienced to be bothered by this.  He took careful aim, allowing for the range, wind speed and target movement, and shot the creature dead long before it could reach him.

Sir Reginald, believing that he had a tacit alliance with the Rogues, ran back to rally the fleeing members of his own party.  However, Piet didn't plan on letting the Jolly Good Chaps regroup.  Although it was at extreme range, the marksman managed to shoot Sir Reginald in the back.

Before the surprised Chaps could react, Piet took aim again and shot Bakhari dead.  Standing still in the open made them easy targets, even at long range.

Professor Contender exclaimed "I say!" and fired back hastily.  He was lucky; the Boer was also not in cover and the Professor's shot hit him in the chest, killing the Rogue instantly.  Within just a few moments, almost all the people on the left side of the board were dead!

Meanwhile...

The Eccentrics had barely moved from their starting positions (ferociously bad luck when rolling for initiative!), but the other 2 members of the Rogues were now examining the statues in the centre of the valley.  Henry Orme started digging out treasure with both hands, just as fast as he could.  While he was doing this, the pair were stalked by a PEF (Possible Enemy Force), which approached as close as it could while still under cover.  The PEF ended up just on the other side of one of the statues!  Hearing a rustling noise, Henry looked up at his servant and said "Be a good chap and find out what's going on round there.  Off you go!"

With some trepidation, Gouvimale peered round the corner.  He was right to be nervous, for facing him was an enormous cave bear.  This was too much for the man; he fled, screaming!

The bear pursued, but immediately came across Henry Orme.  He was still loading a sack with treasure and didn't notice the monster approach until he felt its hot breath on his back.  Although he resisted briefly, the bear was too much for him and Henry was quickly slain.

Professor Contender, in the distance, then made the mistake of shooting first at  Gouvimale as he ran past and then at the bear as it prepared to eat Henry Orme.  The Professor missed the last of the Rogues, but he hit and wounded the bear.  This merely angered the beast; it immediately set off in pursuit of the annoying ape.  The Professor was last seen running off the board, trying to catch up with Gouvimale (so that the bear would kill him instead, thus leaving the Professor a clean getaway).

By the time the Eccentrics cautiously approached the statues, they found a dead man surrounded by golden bowls and idols.  No other people or animals were anywhere in the vicinity, so they took their time to collect all the treasure.  The Eccentrics would be very rich men indeed when they returned to civilisation!

Game 2: Sniping!

Since we'd played the fist game in about an hour, we had time to reset and play the scenario again.  This time, all 3 groups immediately headed for cover.  The Rogues to the south and the Jolly Good Chaps in the north-west both went for (separate) small groups of trees, while the Eccentrics in the north east made approached behind the ridge line of some hills.

As the Jolly Good Chaps came through their small forest, however, they came face to face with a PEF, which turned out to be another band of adventurers (the Mixed Doubles).  Hard words were spoken and the Chaps were told in no uncertain terms to go back the way they had come.

However, Sir Reginald wasn't going to be ordered about like that!  Figuring that the other side was just a bunch of girls, he went for his gun.  Sadly for Sir Reginald, his heavy elephant rifle was too unwieldy and the enemy leader beat him to it.  By the time the smoke had cleared, Sir Reginald and the Professor were lying dead and Bakhari had run away and hid behind a tree.  Henry Morton, the leader of the Mixed Doubles, was also down (hmm - I've got too many characters named 'Henry'.  Must think about renaming some of them!).

While this altercation was playing out, the Rogues had reached an ideal sniping position, sheltered by some trees on a hill that overlooked the other teams and the statues.

The Rogue's marksman, Piet Rood, immediately made good use of this vantage point by shooting Marion Allen in the back and sending the remaining 2 members of the Mixed Doubles scurrying for cover.

Piet also spotted that Kasiturah, the Eccentrics' gun bearer, was not under cover.  He quickly shot him dead, too.

A sniping match then developed between the Rogues (foreground) and the Mixed Doubles (in the further trees).  The Mixed Doubles had the better of the exchange; they shot Gouvimale and with the volume of return fire, both the other 2 Rogues ran out of ammunition.  Meanwhile, the Eccentrics used the distraction of this firefight to run up behind the statues in the middle.

Animals

The Eccentrics hadn't counted on the statues being occupied though!  There was a PEF between the stones; this turned out to be a gigantic Glyptodon which was happily browsing for food.  The animal ignored the humans until Richard Lillewhite fired his pistol at it.  Although he failed to injure the creature, it backed off in confusion.

Another PEF appeared and approached the Rogues very rapidly from their blind side.  This turned out to be a hungry, bad-tempered cave bear.  Yet again, Henry Orme was caught from behind and killed before he could react!

Piet Rood fled from the carnage towards the other humans, but the bear pursued.  However, the Mixed Doubles weren't in a very forgiving mood and so they shot this last of the Rogues just as he was crossing the river.  He fell, badly wounded and presumably either drowned, bled to death or was mauled by the bear.  Or maybe all 3.

This left just 2 members of the Mixed Doubles hiding in the woods and the last 2 Eccentrics in amongst the statues.  Time ran out and we had to pack away before we could bring the game to a conclusion.  Would the 2 teams fight it out to the bitter end, with maybe only 1 man (or woman) left standing?  Or perhaps they'd agree to share the treasure instead?  Would the bear attack the glyptodon, or the glyptodon attack the bear, or either animal attack one of the groups of humans?  Or maybe they'd just wander off, having lost interest?  We'll never know...