Samuel Brown grits his teeth and aims his musket. On a good day he can snap off five musket shots a minute, but this is not a good day: His hands are chapped from the dry winter air, his shoulder numb from the recoil, and it’s so cold that his fingers keep sticking to the ramrod when he reloads.

He fires, coughing as the sooty blackpowder adds another streak to his grimy face. And still the British keep coming.

Samuel can feel exhaustion setting in. He got up before dawn along with the rest of the 4th Massachusetts Regiment and marched for ten hours to the front lines, carrying all 45 pounds of his kit—musket, knapsack, haversack, tin cup, bowl, spoon, canteen, shot, powder, scabbard, and bayonet…

But now his shot is almost expended, his powder nearly spent. Grimly, he fixes his bayonet and reminds himself why he’s here. Why he fights. The British occupation of Boston, his city. The redshirts forcibly quartered in his family’s inn. That horrible Monday in 1770 when the streets ran red with his countrymen’s blood.

“Come on boys!” he shouts. “Let’s give these lobsterbacks something to write home about!” He’s up and over the barricades before the words leave his lips, rushing headlong for the British line. He barely registers the musket ball that hits him in the arm before he’s among them, stabbing with his bayonet and clubbing with his musket butt. As he brings his gun down on another redshirt, he locks eyes on a British officer—and the pistol in his hand. Its flash is blinding.

Gingerly, Samuel opens his eyes. The snowy field of battle has been replaced by a strange stone chamber, lit by an otherworldly light. If I’m dead, he thinks, this is nothing like any afterlife I’ve ever heard of. Besides, my arm really hurts.

“Greetings, my brave friend,” booms a voice from behind him. He turns to see a giant of a man, with angelic wings sprouting from his back and a majestic golden helm. The figure extends a hand. “Welcome to Valhalla.”

Samuel Brown is available as the Organized Play Promotional Figure for October 2026. Get him by participating in events at your local game store!