Wild West Weirdos

Over the past few weeks I've been looking for rules I can use for my Wild West figures which would allow a quick simple solo game at home. Ruthless is a great set, for example, but relies on a hidden card hand for each player. What A Cowboy plays OK solo, but you need a sheet for each combatant so it takes up a fair bit of table-space. 

The other week I tried out One Hour Skirmish Wargames for teh first time, and got a reasonable game as documented HERE. It gave a fun game, but I felt it needed more figures. I was looking for something that would allow me to use around 3-6 figures a side. 

Then fate intervened. A couple of years ago we played Sword Weirdos at the club and, off the back of that, I'd joined the Facebook group for it. So I sometimes see posts on my feed. Maybe teh algorithm had picked up on some of my online browsing for Wild West rules, but the other day someone posted about using the related game, Space Weirdos, for Wild West games. Realising that it uses a small board, a small number of figures and is solo-friendly I thought that it was worth getting Space Weirdos and giving it a try.

So I did.

Today I played a game.

I ran two 75 point gangs, based on the previous game, with 'Scar' Johnson leading his outlaws against Sheriff Collins and the forces of the Law. On the board were three objectives (marked with white counters in this photo only - a mine-shaft, a cistern/well and a woodpile (maybe with something hidden in it). Whoever controlled the most objectives at the end of four or five turns would win. 

The Outlaws. From left to right they are Donal McTeague, Ella Carfax, 'Scar' Johnson, Isabella Gonzalez and Buck Carfax. I won't post their stats here (something future me will curse current me for in a few years time), but basically 'Scar' was the leader and Donal McTeague (green jacket) his competent sidekick. The other three were pretty basic. 'Scar' had a heavy pistol, McTeague regular pistols and the others (left to right) a pistol, a rifle and a shotgun.

(Most of the sci-fi weapons of Space Weirdos translate to the Wild West - an auto-pistol is a regular revolver, a heavy pistol is a heavier revolver, the auto-rifle does for a regular rifle with the option of a heavy rifle for something meatier. And even the sniper rifle would work for a buffalo gun. There's a shotgun which works exactly as written for shotguns.)

The Law. Left to right they are Gerard, Martha Bischoff, Sheriff Collins, Betsy Collins and Webster. Sheriff Collins was the leader, and is fairly competent, with Betsy Collins as the main gunfighter in the group. Martha is moderately competent and the other two are filler. They have the same mix of weapons as the outlaws - Gerard has a rifle, Martha a heavy pistol, Sheriff Collins a shotgun, Betsy a revolver and Webster a revolver. 

The first actions centred around the woodpile, with Gerard taking a shot at McTeague who has taken up position in the cover of the objective. 

On the other side of the board Webster had moved to cover the mineshaft (mostly out of shot to the left). Three outlaws moved in on him. Ella Carfax was sent scurrying for cover though. 

She came back but ended up ducking for cover again when Martha (out of the picture to the left) provided covering fire. 

'Scar' fired a couple of long-range shots at Webster, causing him to staggered ...

... and then knocking him down.

Isabella Gonzalez rushed in to finish him off, but was staggered by a shot from  Martha. 

On the other side of the board McTeague cooly shot Gerard stone-dead. 

Betsy and Sheriff Collins started firing at the ruthless outlaw, but couldn't hit him. 

I think this was an overview at the end of the second turn. At the top pf the picture three outlaws are moving in on Webster and Martha. Meanwhile McTeague is holding off the Sheriff and his daughter, whilst 'Scar' is coming up in support. 

McTeague moved to better cover, but then shot Sheriff Collins, putting him down and staggered. 

He moved to the cover of the woodpile (since having figures near the objective was the goal), but Betsy moved up and shot him dead. 

Buck Carfax outflanked Martha, but then missed when he shot at her. 

She didn't miss him, leaving him staggered and on the ground.

Meanwhile 'Scar', who up to now had been providing long-range fire support, moved up to the wood-pile. 

He killed Betsy!

He then moved to engage Sheriff Collins, who had got up and was moving in with his shotgun. He missed. 

On the other side of the board things were hotting up. Ella Carfax, Martha and Buck were all down. Webster had moved back from the mine-shaft, whilst Isabella had moved to claim it. We were heading into a potential last turn, so control of objectives was important. 

'Scar' moved to cover his objective, but Sheriff Collins shot him down as he got there. The fighting on this side of the table had been particularly deadly. 

In a burst of 'last turn syndrome' everyone rushed the mineshaft. There was some firing, but a couple of the figures simply moved up to be close. The last turn ended with two figures from each side in control of it. 

Buck Carfax was within control range of the cistern, whilst sheriff Collins controlled the woodpile. So the fight was a draw. 

The outlaws lost Donal McTeague and 'Scar' Johnson. 

The Law lost Betsy Collins and Gerard. 

So even the losses were even. However the Outlaws did lose their leader, so if we're looking for tie-breaks I think the Law had a very slight claim to a winning draw. 

I really enjoyed this game. The only tricky decision as a solo player was when to use the two precious command points each side had for special actions or boosts. Sometimes it seemed obvious, and other times I used a 4-6 or 5-6 D6 roll (based on likelihood) to see if someone would take a possible response. It worked OK. 

I made a few minor mistakes, and did have some questions for the group, but otherwise the game ran very smoothly and was a lot of fun. 

Do you know what? I will post the stats! Here they are:

Outlaws
'Scar' Johnson (Leader) - S3, D2d8, F2d10, P2d8, W2d10 - Heavy Pistol, Melee Weapon
Donal McTeague - S3, D2d8, F2d10, P2d8, W2d8 - Pistol, Melee Weapon
Isabella Gonzalez - S2, D2d6, F2d8, P2dD6, W2d8 - Rifle
Buck Carfax - S2, D2d6, F2d8, P2d6, W2d6 - Shotgun, Melee Weapon
Ella Carfax - S2, D2d6, F2d8, P2d6, W2d6 - Pistol

The Law
Sheriff Collins (Leader) - S2, D2d10, F2d8, P2d6, W2d8 - Shotgun
Betsy Collins - S3, D2d8, F2d10, P2d8, W2d10 - Pistol
Martha Bischoff  - S2, D2d8, F2d10, P2d8, W2d6 - Heavy Pistol
Webster - S2, D2d6, F2d8, P2d6, W2d6 - Pistol
Gerard - S2, D2d6, F2dD8, P2d6, W2d6 - Rifle

I didn't use the optional Leader/Warband traits. A lot of them don't really have a Wild West vibe.