Wicky-Wicky-Wah-Wah! A dozen ways to make a Wild West town.

I’m a sucker for a good Western.  The dry winds carrying the acrid tang of gunsmoke across the rutted dirt of street, as an outlaw falls, his blood soaking into the dry earth, a sixgun still clutched in his hand, the sunlight gleaming off of the tin star worn by his killer, all set to he music of a badly-tuned piano issuing from a nearby saloon.

Sure it’s all fabrications by dime novels and Hollywood, but heck if I don’t want that phony version on my tabletop.  Whether I’m playing a skirmish game, reenacting shootouts between outlaws and Pinkertons, or running a full Western-themed RPG campaign (with vampires, sorcery, and steampunk inventions, naturally,) I always knew I would need a Wild West town in 28mm scale.

But unlike fantasy buildings, where one can easily and cheaply lay ahold of a reasonably-priced pack of cheap cardstock buildings, with enough to fill a table of ready structures, The sort of building one sees in an old Western town were more of a niche item.

Sure, today you can find any number of cheap and effective options for such buildings and terrain, but back when I started gathering you had to be a bit more creative to get a town together.  So I thought it might be fun and informative to go over the many different ways I gathered my saloons, sheriff’s offices, general stores, and whatnot, with an eye towards helping those who may also wish to transform their tabletops in the dusty streets of Tombstone, Laredo, or their own fictional frontier towns.

So join me as I recount all the various ways I have assembled buildings for my 28mm Wild West town.

Yee Haw.