Developing A Scenario (part six)

MY opponent is my usual wargames opponent, and as the guest he will have choice of sides. As usual I will write up the game as we go along.
He has chosen to be the cowboys.
TURN ONE
The wagon enters from the east. Although it can normally move three squares when on Pitchfork Way, it has to stop at the ford because the ford is rough terrain, requiring two movement points to enter, and the wagon only has one left after covering the first two squares.

The situation after the wagon arrives at the ford

I immediately notice that my opponent, who is calling himself Ricky the Kid, is using a pistol-armed cowboy as the driver. Riding shotgun is Ricky's co-rancher.

Close-up of the wagon at the ford

A quick count of the cowboys in the ranch tells me there must be two other cowboys hidden in the back of the wagon. Ricky has placed his mounted cowboys out of range of my my Indian on horseback that has a bow, presumably because the Indians get to start the game-proper. But note that the same Indian is within the longer range of the rifle-armed mounted cowboy.
I have placed the maximum six Indians, including the rifle-armed chief, in the wood, as Ricky can work out by counting the number of Indians left in the village. There are four of them, including the spear-armed chief who represents me, and they are waiting in the canoes ready to launch themselves as soon as the ambush is sprung.

Poised in the village

I have decided to wait for the wagon to draw alongside the wood before leaping into action. An interesting alternative strategy, however, might be to send the whole tribe in the direction of the wagon from turn one, although this would give the cowboys in the back of the wagon time to remove the tarpaulin and be ready to open fire.
TURN TWO
The wagon crosses the ford, and I have a bit of a think. Should my braves open fire from the wood now, when the wagon still has some way to reach the ranch?

Now?

Or should I wait for the wagon to pull parallel with the wood? This will maximise my shooting, but the wagon will be much nearer the ranch.
I decide to wait.
TURN THREE
The wagon trundles along and my Indians spring into action, with the mounted warriors charging down to join their brothers who emerge from their hiding places in the wood. Meanwhile the Indians back in the village launch their canoes, landing on the far bank one square further south. That requires one movement point, and they use their other point to climb out of the canoes.

Ambush!

The two rifle-armed Indians in the part of the wood nearest Pitchfork Way fire at the front of the wagon. The range is two squares (in the Portable Wargame, distances are always measured through the sides of squares, never the corners), meaning they need a 3 to score a hit, but they have a -1 modifier because they moved from their hiding places. Only one succeeds in scoring a hit, and a further roll shows this is on a horse, reducing the wagon's speed to two movement points.Of the four Indians further back in the wood, two do not have line of sight as they are obstructed by the trees immediately to their front. But the other two, one armed with a rifle and one with a bow, fire at the front of the wagon. Again the range is two squares: the rifleman needs a 3, the bowman a 5; both have a -1 modifier. Surprisingly, while the rifleman misses, the Indian with a bow, no doubt happy to be using a traditional weapon rather than a new-fangled paleface invention, scores a hit. This turns out to be on the rancher riding shotgun, who is killed.
My mounted Indian with a bow is effectively unable to fire this turn as he has two -1 modifiers: one for moving and one for being mounted.
TURN FOUR
The cowboys in the back of the wagon pull off the tarpaulin as the wagon continues along Pitchfork Way. The wagon, thanks to one of the horses being injured, it is now only able to cover two squares. The men in the ranch rush through the gate and over the fence, and the cowboys on horseback also do their best to gallop to the wagoners' rescue.

Counter-ambush! The tarpaulin has been ripped off the wagon

One of Ricky's riflemen in the wagon fires at the mounted Indian with a bow, hitting his horse and forcing a one-square retreat (he has to fallback diagonally to the only empty square available). My mounted rifleman then fires at the same Indian but a roll of 4, which would normally suffice at a range of three squares, is nowhere near enough as there are -1 modifiers for moving and for being mounted. The two men from the ranch armed with rifles - one is myself, the other a cowboy - also fire at this Indian, but neither scores a hit. Two other cowboys armed with pistols are within extreme range (four squares) of the same brave, but cannot not fire as they need a 6 and they have a -1 modifier for moving. Finally, the second rifle-armed cowboy in the wagon fires at the same Indian but again misses, meaning the warrior has survived five shots.

View from the wagon at the end of turn four