PLAYTEST: “The Mole in the Gang”

[Whiterook]

Intermission in the drum corps show for a few more minutes and I was thinking about something with my playing the game: The past two turns, I’d mentioned at the conclusion, how long it took me to play. Basically, I used my cell phone stopwatch as I thought out moves, moved pieces, calculated fire, and placed admin markers and such on the board and character cards. I would pause it while typing up the action between each characters’ turn here at the forum and any breaks. So it fairly represents actual playing time in-play.

[Whiterook]

PLAY - TURN 6

It’s getting wild a wooly now, Pardners!!! Chances are. Lead will be flying and blood a pourin!

Sheriff Fred activates first, and he decides to move out of the river finally and move over towards the shack (2 spaces) and fire at Billy with careful Aim: 5 Sweat + 1 Wounds + 4 Distance +2 Cover -2 Aim = Calculated Hit # of 10; 2d6 = 7 MISS.

Outlaw Ron is next and with only 3 APs rolled and the big boulder on the other side of the river blocking LOS, he moves over one into the brush and up into the river, and fires at Deputy Henry with his Winchester: 3 Sweat + 3 Distance = Calculated Hit # of 6; 2d6 = 6 = HIT. Deputy Henry is dead.

Deputy Alex is up next. I had a tough call with him… I thought of moving him through the shack for a next-turn jump through the window and unload 2 bullets with his revolver if the gang Boss is still there; instead, he bolts out of the shack for the cover of bushes near the bridge and unloads 2 bullets at Billy: 4 Sweat + 3 Distance 1 Billy in Cover = Calculated Hit # of 8; 2d6 = 10, 3 = 1 MISS/1 HIT. Billy is dead.

Mole Miguel activates and gets a good AP roll for four! He reloads five bullets in his right hand revolver (cost 3 AP) and goes into Ambush, in case the varmint at the corner of the building tries to sneak up on the window.

Deputy Todd is up next and only got 2 APs, but he’s still on horseback, so he flies over the bridge, vaults the roadblock and o pulls up in back of Deputy Alex. He’s in good position to help deal with the outlaws, Will or Clint, and even in riding distance to deal with Ron. Keeping his mount beneath him was a bit of good luck as a player.

The outlaw Boss, Sugar activates. Not a lot of options for her, even with a great AP roll for 4. She figures she can either slip in front of the window to her right and lie in Ambush in case Miguel grows a pair, or move into the back of the range shack… she chooses the second option. Again, another super tough decision as a player!

Deputy Jack is up next and seeing reinforcements at the bridge to cover that outer side of the shack, he runs out of the storage room and dives through the window into the range shack’s kitchen, joining Miguel.

Outlaw Will activates. He can see things are desperate for the gang by this point, hearing his comrades names called out as hit and down, he knows options are narrowing. Moving up to the front corner of the shack is in the path or deadly fire if he pops out in the open; the Boss is at least safe for the moment in the shack with a window to shoot out of; or he can sneak around and in front of the window to the back bedroom and be able to jump in himself (next turn). He opts for the last option, but is shocked to see Deputy Jack getting walking around a kitchen table, and so Will unloads his shotgun through the window: 4 Sweat + 2 Distance + 2 Cover = Calculated Hit # of 8; 2d6 = 4 MISS.

Deputy Carmen is next and she chooses the bold move, out around the outhouse and into some brush; she fires at Clint with her Winchester: 4 Sweat + 1 Wounds + 5 Distance + 1 Cover = Calculated Hit # of 11; 2d6 = 10= MISS and Close Call marked.

Outlaw Clint is next and after that rifle bullet just missing him narrowly, he rushes across to his right and takes a shot at the Sheriff with two shells from his shotgun: 4 Sweat + 1 Wounds + 3 Distance = Calculated Hit # of 8; 2d6 = 6 = MISS! What bad luck for the outlaws today!!! It was a calculated risk, as things are super desperate.

RESULT

Lead was flying everywhere! Deputy Henry and outlaw Billy met their demise. Outlaws Ron, Will, and Clint are outnumbered but not necessarily outgunned; the outlaw Boss is in desperate shape but holed up in Ambush; and the law is by no means holding the upper hand at this point. This is a tough one to bet on at this point. The Sheriff is in a pretty precarious situation right now, with a healthy Ron and a battered Clint menacing him… as a Prime Target (and Victory Condition for outlaws gunning him down!), he’ll have to likely enter preservation mode, unless Clint can be disposed of quickly, and Ron neutralized. For the outlaws, killing the Sheriff is their top goal, as the wounded Boss will never make it off the map on foot, and the scenario doesn’t give the option for horses to be captured (…though even if it did, that would be pretty cowardly of the Boss to run for the hills!).

Will the next turn change things dramatically one way or the other? Tune in!

End of Turn SITREP:







This turn took 17 minutes to play out. With 3 or 8 outlaws, and 2 of 7 Deputies dead, there’s less characters to activate (10 vs 15), so it’s a tad speedier.

[Whiterook]

PLAY - TURN 7

Sheriff Fred activates and he switches weapons, slinging his Winchester on his back and drawing his revolver… it’s almost max distance but he decides to throw two bullets at Clint with his revolver, rather than one bullet from his Winchester: 5 Sweat + 3 Distance + 1 Wound + 1 Clint in Cover - 2 careful Aim = Calculated Hit # of 8; 2d6 = 8, 10 = 2 HITS. Clint is dead. That was actually a bit of a tough decision to make, as Fred would have loved to have unloaded four bullets from his revolver, but he only rolled 3 AP, so he could switch weapons, take aim and fire…luckily, he scored two hits to put Clint down.

Outlaw Ron is next and rolls low for 1 AP, so he moves one water space to his left into the nook of the boulders. He can try and move up in the river next turn to get a bead on the Sheriff.

Deputy Alex activates and he moves down to the bushes opposite Billy…carrying only a revolver and knife, he wants to snag Billy’s Winchester (next turn) as soon as he can.

Miguel is up next and the Ambush marker comes off; he moves closer to the door, out of sight from the window and reloads three bullets in his revolvers… he now has two fully loaded six shooters.

Deputy Todd is next and he must make a split second decision on one of two directions to head (…rolling 4 APs helps!): He can ride for the west corner of the range shack to pressure anyone in or in back of the shack; or he can ride towards Alex and the Sheriff. He opts for the latter, figuring it relieves the need for the Sheriff to cover the boulder/river area where a known gunman is milling about, while also having LOS to the east, back corner of the shack. He drives his horse at top speed, makes his destination and dismounts, shooing his trusty horse away to safety.

Outlaw Boss Sugar activates, the Ambush marker comes off, she moves to the next room and out the window into the bushes. She’s got limited options, but she has cover where she is, and can maybe jump back through the window if she has to… but she’s also seeing a possible run to the river, north of her!

Deputy Jack is up and he moves next to the windows and fires both revolvers, two bullets each at a time, shooting twice for a total of eight bullets at the outlaw, Will: 4 Sweat + 1 Distance + 1 two revolvers = Calculated Hit # of 6; 2d6 = 2, 9, 6, 8, 4, 6, 11, 4 = 3 MISS/5 HIT. Will is dead.

Carmen activates and gets 3 instead of 4 APs due to the last turns’ Close Call. Does she provide cover and assistance to the Sheriff by the river, or head to her right (west) to cover anyone running from the shack. She thinks most of the outlaws are down and things are desperate for whatever of them are left, so she opts for plan B and heads to her right. Ultimately, she’d have preferred to go over the bridge and guard against any deserters from the outlaw gang getting away, but the roadblock is just too big and the river too wild (too much time needed to ford it one space at a time, and around boulders).

RESULT

The outlaws are in a heap or trouble! …Ron is on his own and penned in, and the Boss is desperate, basically surrounded; she’ll have to run for it! 

End of Turn SITREP:







Note: It took 17 minutes to play out this turn in actual play time (not including writing this post).

[Whiterook]

PLAY - TURN 8

Sheriff Fred activates and he moves to Henry’s position and fires off two bullets at Ron and retreats back to his covered position he started from: 5 Sweat + 1 Wounds + 3 Distance = Calculated Hit # of 9; 2d6 = 10, 6 = 1 HIT/ 1 MISS. The Sheriff is out of ammo in his six shooter so he’ll have to reload next turn or switch back to his Winchester.

Ron is next and he tempts fate, knowing his days may well be numbered in minutes now, and preferring not to be taken prisoner, the scoundrel moves uo one space and fires his Winchester (he only got 2 AP so he can’t switch to his revolver): 3 Sweat + 1 Wounds +3 Distance = Calculated Hit # of 7; 2d6 = 8= HIT.

Deputy Alex activates and runs past Todd, and by the Sheriff and unloads 4 bullets with his revolver at Ron: 4 Sweat + 2 Distance = Calculated Hit # of 6; 2d6 = 10, 8, 11, 11 = 4 HITS, Ron is dead.

Miguel is up next and he runs out the door and into the bushes above Carmen.

Deputy Todd activates and runs over to Billy body and picks up his Winchester as he drops his revolver… he figures he may need the extra range to fire at the gang Boss, as he believes she’s the sole survivor of the gang.

The Boss, “Growling Bear” is in a pickle… her gang is dead all around her and she knows the noose is waiting for her, so her only recourse is to run for it and hope she can cross te river and slip away into the forest beyond. She (having a lucky roll for 4 APs) runs for the river! [NOTE: Yeah she would have liked to run to the cover of the bushes towards the river and fire at Miguel, praying for a lucky shot, but with her 5 Sweat, 3 Wounds and at a distance of 2, that would have needed a roll of 11 or 12, and not great odds. The thing is, she’s gonna have to hold up a turn in that river, so moving the extra space gives her cover from Miguel and Carmen shooting at her without them moving, so she has maybe, better odds to hope they both roll low for a 1 AP and hope.]

Deputy Jack is up next and he has the misfortune of only having two short range revolvers (Range 4). He could have tried to hop out the back window and around the southwest corner of the range shack, but he opts to run out the door and cozy up in the bushes on the other side of Carmen…he can perhaps make it to the river next turn and close on the outlaw Boss.

Deputy Carmen is up last and she has a tough decision, too! She can move one space into firing LOS a space over and fire three times (she has 4 APs to spend), and needing a 9+ to roll? …move two spaces and aim and fire 6+ on one shot? That was a tough decision, but she opted for the latter: 4 Sweat + 1 Wounds + 2 Distance + 1 Cover - 2 Aim = Calculated Hit # of 6; 2d6 = 7= HIT!!! Sugar is dead. The Growling Bear gang went out shootin’, but all 7 members wound up dead, but not without taking two deputies down with them. For those wondering, I had to see what would have happened had she chose the Forrest option, and her first shot would have missed, but the other two would have hit on rolls of 9 and 9, so the Boss was dead either way.

RESULT

Endgame on the eighth turn: They fought the law, but the law won!!! This last turn took 14 minutes and it was exciting right up to the bitter end of the Growling Bear Gang.

End Turn SITREP: