Shootout at the Moore Lodge

Game night, 2/20/14.

Not my usual night to host, but with my buddy Kenny unavailable, I took the opportunity to host a 'bonus' game for the month. Jon Mark, Terry, Greg and myself made up the crew playing for the night...

Since my hosting was short notice, I threw down a game that I always have handy: Western gunfight.  I use the fantastically easy to play and always a great time rule set, Fistful of Lead (FoL).  For those interested, it's an inexpensive set of rules that is well worth its price.  It can be found at Wargame Downloads as a PDF for well under $10.

Anyway, I have a rather large Ertl log cabin that I've been raring to use with these rules.  Too large and rustic to use in a western town scenario, the cabin/lodge/ranch works perfectly as the only or main building on the board.

Here is the initial set-up from afar.

Front door.

Back door.

 

Left side.

Right side.

Main corral.

 

The scenario was simple:  Greg's gang was in the lodge, which in this game was a trading post on the frontier.  There was something in the post that everyone in the area wanted (gold, supplies, etc), as it was the only such 'thing' for hundreds of miles.  Think the briefcase in the movie Pulp Fiction and you've got the idea.  To keep the scenario from being Greg vs. the World, I added in that certain gangs hated other gangs and extra victory points (VP) could be earned for eliminating 'hated' gang members.

From the get-go, everyone zeroed in on the building.  Greg, for his part, did what he was supposed to do...kill us!  Jon Mark's Mexican crew rushed in from the rear of the building and faced Greg's fire first, to deadly results for one amigo.  The rest kept getting pinned down, unable to move.

By that time, my Indians were sneaking in from the left, trying to use any cover available.  They were mainly armed with hand weapons, which always make me think of the saying "never bring a knife to a gun fight".  So true, so very true.

It wasn't long before I was taking fire as well.  My first casualty was the brave that rushed into the trading post with his hatchet and knife.  He engaged in melee, only to be killed by a well-placed rifle butt in his skull.  Soon after, my chief was killed hiding behind an outhouse.  How does one spin a tale of valor for a fallen leader when he dies in such a place?

Terry's Irish gang was in the mix now, attacking the front of the post.  Greg was holding his own, killing Terry's leader with his own boss.  As they fought back and forth, I moved a couple of braves over to attack Terry's flank.  A whirlwind of death ensued in the front of the building, as both Terry's and my men fell to gunfire and melee.  Greg also lost a hombre or two, but since he was inside the building, it was hard for us to tell how many were down and where his remaining men were located.

Side note - FoL usually has one area that winds up being the 'death alley' of the board.  While a little more dispersed in this scenario, for tonight's game it was the front side of the trading post. 

As our forces dwindled, the action came faster and faster.  My Indians were finally all killed; the last while he was trying to crawl away after being wounded and knocked down.  Terry's Irish crew was the next to die, leaving Jon Mark's Mexicans and Greg's gang with only a couple of guys each. 


Building front.  Note there's one Irishman on the ground and one making a brave entry into the trading post.  Neither lasted long...

Front/side. You can see Jon Mark's Mexican sidling closer to the action as Greg's preoccupied with Terry.

The inside of the trading post.  The tables and barrels were originally neatly arranged.  You can see in the bottom left doorway where my initial brave met his untimely death, followed later by the man who killed him.

A different angle.

A couple of lucky card draws and die rolls later and Greg reigned victorious with a single cowboy left standing.

The 'thing' turned out to be a cask of very good whiskey and the illustrious "Camel-Faced" Sally, known for her bedroom abilities and the only such person with said abilities to be found for many miles.

A fun night!  Thanks everyone for making it such a good time!