Tracunhaem Disaster - Old School Wargame 1

"During the period of colonization of Brazil, in the year 1534, there was an incident known as “Tragédia de Tracunhaém,” in which Indians killed all the residents of a mill called Tracunhaém in Pernambuco. The justification for this attack was due to the “kidnapping”, followed by the disappearance of the chief Iniguassu’s daughter, after marrying a Mamluk adventurer. It was a requirement that both of them, after the wedding, remains in the Indian village, but this did not happen. Iniguassu’s first step was to send two of his sons to Olinda, in Pernambuco, to claim justice. Fortunately, they met on a visit to Pernambuco, the governor of Brazil, Antônio Salema, who ordered the beautiful Indian to return to her father’s house immediately. On the way back, they had to spend the night at Engenho Tracunhaém, by Diogo Dias. When dawn dawned, India disappeared, possibly hidden by Diogo Dias. His brothers complained a lot but did nothing and returned home without his sister.

Taking advantage of this, the French stationed in Paraíba instigated the Potiguares to revenge, and soon a contingent two thousand Indians of diverse Potiguares tribes marched against the mill. The Indians surrounded the fortified mill and used an unusual tactic: only a few Indians let themselves be seen to make it believe that it was the action of a small group. When the plantation’s defenders went out to counterattack, they were attacked by a crowd of Indians. The mill was burned, and it appears that only two family members survived because they were not at the mill. After this episode, other Itamaracá mills were also attacked, resulting in 614 deaths. This episode generalized the fear in the Portuguese settlers of the region.

It caused the king of Portugal to extinguish the captaincy of Itamaracá and create the captaincy of Paraíba, with limits from the mouth of the Popoca river to the Bay of Traição. In this way, it would protect the sugar industry, expelling the French, and expand the domain to the north of the Northeast region."

“The Bellum Brasilis series was originally produced by the extinct Riachuelo Games and was directed to games at the tactical level, covering several episodes in the history of Brazil. This module presents one of the first scenarios we want you to be in touch with our players. In future modules, we will expand the rules and bring new challenges for you. This wargame is the first in the Voxelhouse Old School Wargames series.”

The game consists of the following components:

1 Rules Booklet
20 counters representing Brazilian Indians
2 counters representing Portuguese
4 counters representing African Slaves
10 Disoriented and 10 Immobilized counters
1 table sheet