The Shootout at El Ande County - A What a Cowboy AAR
In El Ande county The Watchmen* and the Chartwell Boys* have always been rivals. However, since DM Faultt of the 'Boys took a shine to Carl Walker's girl Kimmie at The Corkin Cheese saloon, things have taken a turn for the worse. At the abandoned homestead of the Hodges family, the two rival gangs decide to shoot it out.
Turn One
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| Starting positions |
Tony LeGrand (Shootist) is first to activate and his Action Dice are 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5. The 1 allows him to moves which he does five inches . At the moment though he can't utilise his other dice so his activation ends.
DM Faultt the Gunslinger leader of the Chartwell Boys, is next rolling Action Dice of 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 4. He uses a 1 dice to move 4 inches and the other 1 dice to move a further two inches. This takes him into a good position hunkered down behind a wagon. At this early stage his other dice can't be used.
It's Boy Freeman's turn to activate. The Shootist rolls an impressive 1, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6. He uses the 1 to move seven inches. Then converting two Aces High 6s he moves a further nine inches to creep along the fence line and take up position. Converting the last 6 to a Spot Dice, he now has line of sight on Paul Wrong. Using his two 5s he shoots and hits with both shots. Paul Wrong is hit by the first shot but going to ground dodges the other. While lying there he realises he's been wounded and loses an Action Dice permanently and one Action Dice is placed in the Shock Pool. (On a post game reading of the rules, I realised that rolling multiple 6s is played differently).
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| Boy Freeman in action. |
It's now the wounded Paul Wrong's turn. The Greenhorn has had a rough start. His reduced Action Dice roll is 2, 5, 6, 6. He converts a 6 to a 1 to remove the Pin marker. He then converts the other 6 to another 1 to move three inches. He uses the 2 to Spot and finally his remaining 5 to Shoot at the Boy Freeman. His shot misses but at least getting a round off made him feel better!
Carl Walker the leader of The Watchmen is activated next. The Gunslinger rolls a good spread of 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6. Playing the two Move dice he gets to move fourteen inches. He then uses the Spot dice to see Boy Freeman. He then uses his 4 to Aim. And finally he converts the 6 to a Shoot dice, but his Shoot roll is unsuccessful.
The final character to activate is Jonesy, the Chartwell Boys Greenhorn. His Action Dice roll is 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6. He uses his two move dice to advance eleven inches to the corner of one of the outbuildings. He then plays his Spot dice to see Carl Walker (who is over 12 inches away). He takes careful aim and then fires twice. He hits with his second shot, but the Watchmen's leader Dodges and dives forward into the cover of the stack of barrels by the building.
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| Jonesy and Faultt, terrors of the county. |
Turn Two
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| Turn Two starting positions |
DM Faultt activates first and rolls 1, 3, 4, 4 ,5, 5. He moves forward five inches, but he doesn't have a Spot dice so can't see Carl Walker hiding behind the barrels where he dived last turn. He can't do much else so that ends his turn.
Jonesy is next with 1, 2, 2, 5, 5, 6. The Move roll let him move forwards four inches. His two Spot dice let him comfortably see Carl Walker. He converts the 6 to an Aim dice to improve his chances and then fires twice with the two 5s. Although hitting twice, Carl Walker makes full use of his cover and Dodges twice, hunkering down behind the barrels.
It's the turn of The Watchmen to get into action with Paul Wrong. Rolling 1, 2, 3, 6, he first Moves seven inches. Using his Spot dice he sees Boy Freeman and then Aims. Converting the Aces High to a Shoot dice he fires but all he does is hit the fence by the Boy.
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| Paul Wrong and Boy Freeman exchange shots. |
It's now Carl Walker's turn. His Action Dice roll gives him 1, 2, 3, 3, 6, 6. He uses the 1 to remove his Pin marker. He changes a 6 to a Move dice and moves towards his arch enemy DM Faultt, He uses the Spot to see him, the two Aim dices to improve his chances and then fires at the Charwell Boys leader, but even with aiming twice he misses.
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| Fearless Carl Walker advances on his foes. |
Tony LeGrand completes the activation for The Watchmen. Having done little thus far, an Action Dice hand of 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 should get him into the action. Converting the 6 to a Move he advances five inches. He needs two Spot dice to see Boy Freeman and he has two. He uses his Aim dice and then unleashes both barrels at Boy. While he is covered in splinters from the fence he is behind, the Boy is otherwise unscathed as both shots miss. Tony will now have to reload his shotgun.
The last character to activate is the Boy Freeman. He's rode his luck having been shot at by two of The Watchmen he's avoided any harm. The Boy's luck is with him as he rolls 4, 4, 6, 6, 6, 6. Converting two of the 6s to Spot dices enables him to see Tony LeGrand. Readying his Winchester, he converts the remaining pair of 6s to Aim dice. Finally he Shoots at the shotgun wielding Watchman. His dice are terrible and he misses with both shots.
Turn Three
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| Turn Three starting positions |
Jonesy gets a decent spread of 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 6 on his Action Dice roll. Electing not to use the Move dice, he doesn't need the Spot dice, but uses his two Aim dice to take a bead on Carl Walker. With the last two rounds in his Colt he lets rip but misses.
Carl Walker's card is drawn next. Rolls of 1, 1, 3, 6, 6, 6 give him a few options. He fearlessly (or stupidly) Moves straight towards DM Faultt and Jonesy. He then changes the other Move dice to Spot dice. He uses the Aim dice with his bonus for using a handgun within 4" he rolls a modified 7. DM Faultt manages to Dodge, picking up a Pin marker. With his remaining 6s, Walker changes target and uses one as a Spot dice and one as a Shoot dice and fires at Jonesy, but a roll of 4 sees him miss.
Paul Wrong of The Watchmen is next. Scoring 1,1, 2, 4 he moves five inches to close on the Boy Freeman. He is so close he doesn't need a Spot dice so goes straight onto Shooting, Gaining a +1 for being up close and personal, he gets a modified roll of 6. The Boy stumbles trying to Dodge moving a die into his Shock Pool. He's wounded losing an Action Die permanently and another into his Shock Pool. Ouch!
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| Paul Wrong up close and personal with Boy Freeman |
Time for DM Faultt to do something. 2, 3, 3, 4, 5 ,6 gives him some options. As a Gunslinger he changes the Spot (2) to be a Move, enabling him to remover the Pin marker. He then uses the two Aim dice to carefully draw a bead on Carl Walker. Finally he looses a round. He gets a modified 7. Carl Walker fails to Dodge and suffers a Critical Wound. A 6 is rolled on the Critical Wounds table and the leader of The Watchmen is off to Boot Hill.
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| The deadly shooting of DM Faultt |
Tony LeGrand is up next with an Action Dice roll of 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6. He converts the 6 into a Move dice which allows him to move up to where Carl Walker was slain. He uses his Spot dice to see DM Faultt. He then calmly uses two of his 4s to Reload his shotgun. Slamming shut the breech, he takes Aim and Shoots but misses. Darn it!
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| Tony LeGrand blasts with his shotgun. |
The Boy Freeman is the final character to activate. With his much reduced Action Die pool he rolls a 1, 3, 5. He doesn't need to Move so disregards the 1. He takes Aim and Shoots at Paul Wrong. Scoring a 5, the Greenhorn Watchman fails to Dodge and suffers a loss of die into the Shock Pool.
The Watchmen now need to take a Ride or Die Test. No 6's are rolled and they fail the test. Tony LeGrand signals to Paul Wrong and they hightail it out of there leaving their poor leader lying in the mud. DM Faultt and the Chartwell Boys triumph.
Summary
What a thoroughly enjoyable game that was! I absolutely loved these rules.
This was my first time using them and also my first time playing with any of the Too Fat Lardies rules. I've built up quite a collection over the years but never got round to playing any, so I thought I'd start with something quite straightforward. I got a few things wrong (such as what happens when you throw multiple 6's with your Action Dice), but overall I think I picked it up quickly. I also forgot to use the Desperado cards and Bonanza tokens, but as a learning game it was more important to learn the core rule mechanics.
*The background setting and the Chartwell Boys are inspired by the time and friends I made at one of my previous employers. The Watchmen should be obvious to anyone with a knowledge of British Goth.
I think 'What a Tanker' - which is the mother of this game, plays better, you should try it!
ReplyDelete'What a Tanker' is one of the few TFL rule sets I don't have! It's inevitable though, it does look a lot of fun.
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