Oh crap. I think I'm toying with the idea of….. historicals…..

[blinky465 17028xp 2]

I’ve always had a fascination with the Wild West. Mostly to do with being allowed to stay up late watching Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns as a kid I reckon. But I took a real interest after the release of Young Guns in the late 80s. The grotesque distorting, not just of the story but of the characters, in the telling of the story of Billy the Kid made me want to find out more – and the more I found out, the more fascinated with “The Wild West” I became.

It was also interesting to watch this week’s video discussion on the blurring of board games, tabletop wargames and skirmish-level RPGs (personally, I’m much more of a small-table, skirmish/RPG fan than those massive 8ft “rank and flank” games). And then I found this video, which discussed a novel mechanic I’ve not seen anywhere else:

It’s a bunch of guys playing out a series of linked, historical, scenarios, on a small, 2ft x 2ft board. Each game has just 4-5 characters per side, is a fast play, over-in-an-hour, focus-on-a-single-objective RPG. But the mechanic that had me intrigued was the “hidden victory condition” – players play the game more like an RPG, moving miniatures “in character” but each scenario has conditions that, if met, can either grant or cost players victory points (in the video they explain that the Earp gang showing mercy to a fleeing cowboy – counterintuitively – gained them VPs, whereas their natural inclination might be to “wipe out the enemy” to “score more points”).

The video caught my attention because it was about the Wild West. But the game mechanics used to link multiple, small scenarios – that allowed for a much smaller playing area –  really appealed to me. Decisions made by players in one scenario directly influence how the next plays out.

Rather more worryingly though, after watching the video, it made me want to delve into a load of research and play a series of historically-based Wild West games. It feels like the thin edge of a very big wedge!

 

[scribbs 14509xp 1]

More bad news, LWTV are making a starter box for the Wild West. I’d recommend checking it out on their website. I think pre-orders will be live soon. The box will have a few 18mm figures by Blue Moon (you can find them at Old Glory UK), cardboard buildings, rules etc. It looks to be a good deal, although I have no idea whether the shipping costs to the UK might be.

Here’s a link, which also takes you to where you can download the ‘Ruthless’ rules used in some of the scenarios in the video.

https://www.littlewarstv.com/tombstone-tinderbox.html

[ninjillyParticipant 11673xp 0]

Yeah, I saw this video and did the same! @grimwolfuk has a project on the go at the moment playing around with the Ruthless rulset: https://www.beastsofwar.com/project/1561333/?order=asc

I had been looking at western models for a video game to tabletop conversion for after lockdown but watching the Little Wars videos has really reignited my love of the movies. Watched Tombstone, Pale Rider and Outlaw Josey Wales in the last two weeks.

[wurzzelParticipant 2734xp 1]

Of course if you are desperate not to fall down the rabbit hole that is historicals (believe me it won’t stop at just one period) there’s always Alternative Armies frontear range of fantasy wild west

Frontear the Skirmish

[limburger 21704xp 2]

Don’t forget Black Scorpion and their Tombstone rules.
The minis are full of character and not oversized heroic scale

Tombstone.

[ninjillyParticipant 11673xp 1]

Black Scorpion have some lovely minis. I bookmarked them back when they were an Indie of the Week but I don’t think I ever looked at the rules. Have you played it @limburger?

[blinky465 17028xp 1]

I have a few of the Black Scorpion western miniatures – they look great! I painted a few, years ago, when I first discovered the “quickshade + edge highlight” method that has basically become my signature painting style. Their Billy The Kid and Pat Garrett characters are really nice. I cringe when I see the googly eyes on them now, but I can’t bring myself to repaint them! But some great looking minis.

[limburger 21704xp 1]

@ninjilly it’s somewhere on my big stack of kickstarter gold … so no I haven’t played it.
Technically all that’s missing is time to paint them and some terrain making it item number whatever on my list of potential spring cleaning projects 😉
The rules did look like fun at the time though, which was one of the reasons I backed it.

It probably is more like spaghetti western than actual historically correct.

[ninjillyParticipant 11673xp 0]

Yeah, after watching the video I can see why they’d be fun. I think I’d start with Ruthless for my group – I don’t know how interested any of them would be in a Western setting but if the rules are only two pages and the games are quick, it’ll be easier to tempt them in.

The terrain side of things is pretty much the reason I’m finally committing to a 3d printer in the next few months. As it looks like most gaming will be at home instead of clubs, it’s time to build a collection

[grimwolfuk 10506xp 0]

Thanks for the mention and just saw today that Disney + has Tombstone on their service now

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