A few other options for consideration. Each a little different in their approach. I've used all three and have had good games with them. As you would expect, each has a different feel to them so you'll probably prefer one over another.
First,
Six Gun Sound - Blaze of Glory. There have been a few earlier iterations, but it has been revised/updated/improved a few times and if you decide to try this, get the latest version. Like all THW games, their basic mechanics are quite similar so that if you find you like the way it plays you have an advantage in also getting other THW games with a system you already will know. The rules are written in an easy to understand manner and examples of rule mechanics are plentiful.
The rule structure was designed so that they can be used either solo or group play. The mechanics are such that whether you are the solo gamer or the AI opponent, you decide what your guy will be trying to do and based on the die roll, they may or may not succeed in doing that. This takes away the god-like control from the player where they know exactly what they want the individual to do and they always do it. As a solo gamer, I like this. Not all gamers do. Pieces activate based on their level so in a given turn all of the highest level go first, on down. BUT... any action can trigger a reaction such that the lower level ones aren't just sitting ducks.
Your characters will be chosen from a list of several "profession" options, each of which will have plusses and minuses to them. Choices include everything from lawmen, bounty hunter, gunslinger, cowboy (cattle drive/ranch type), Mountain Man, Indian Brave, US Cavalry, Outlaw, Greenhorn, Town People, and others.
If playing other than a one time event game there are campaign rules and the profession will determine what key events will occur for those individuals.
Many sites return on a search for "two hour wargames blaze of glory"
Second,
Combat Patrol I have found this WWII rule set (with many free adaptions provided) to be one of the easiest and quickest to learn or teach. There are websites, FB and YouTube pages for them - search "Surdu Combat Patrol"
Buck also developed Feudal Patrol, as well as the Star Wars adaptation. Other user generated mods include the Wild West version.
I strongly recommend you look at the YouTube short videos as they will explain the mechanics far better than I can. In the mean time, here's an AAR of the gameplay here on LAF:
https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=126100.0;topicseenThird,
The MYTHIC Game Master EmulatorSearch "Mythic Game Master Emulator" for multiple sites of interest.
There are two basic mechanisms that are the primary drivers. You may or may not use both of them during a scenario. Actual game play is generally cinematic. You start off with whatever you decide your scenario will be in terms of situation. Figures are deployed, "chaos level" is decided, questions are asked, and rolled for success. You'll quickly get a feel for how granular you need or want the questions to be. Questions will be asked as if "Yes" is the answer you are seeking. Chaos level will affect whether you'll get more YES or NO answers, as well as modify the scene you are about to play. Example: Scene opens up with a seemingly normal day in town when all of a sudden there is gunfire and masked men are seen running out of the bank. You could have started the scene with the outlaws riding into town, getting set up and spread out, seeing if they were recognized, trying to rob the bank, etc. or you could just do all of that in your head because you know you want the scene to be the immediate aftermath of the robbery. In the scene as they leave the bank the town marshal and deputy have just finished breakfast down the street, see them exit and decide to pursue.
Does the scene progress as stated? You'll roll and get one of three results. One is "scene as planned" and you start from there. Two is an "altered scene" where the scene progresses but with some unplanned differences (determined by dice rolls) which could be good, bad or indifferent. Might be that some cowhands from the Circle C Ranch are entering town from the direction they were planning on going and as the bandits ride out they join the two lawmen in the posse. Three is an "interrupt scene" when what is planned doesn't happen - something else does. Might be that someone recognized the horses of some of the outlaws and quickly alerted the law and several gun toting civilians. Or the bandits get to the bank and it is closed and locked shut. Can't break in during broad daylight, can't hang around.
From that point, everything is handled by Y/N questions. You can ask broadly or with fine granularity. "Do the outlaws manage to quietly get out of town?" is resolved in a single question.
Or you can drill down to the point of you are asking about each outlaw individually, or each outlaw down to whether they hit their targets considering difficulty based on their skill and experience weighed against whether they are dodging incoming fire, are wounded, etc. Whatever the question, you decide (best guess) how likely the result of the question would be based on the inherent difficulty of the item and the ability of the individual. The dice roll will give you a result based on a spread of numbers that will be a Yes, No, Exceptional Yes, or Exceptional No. Yes and no results are self-explanatory. The exceptionals are along the lines of “not only did it happen, it also (did more, did in addition)”. So if you are unarmed, on foot, in the open, and enemy fighters are trying to kill you, your chance of getting out of it alive would seem slim. Yet, Dr. Jones managed to not only get out alive, but shoot down one of the fighters with his umbrella and some sea birds. (Nice dice roll Dr. Jones!) On the flip side an Exceptional No might be "Not only did you not hit your target, your round in your Colt .45 was defective and exploded in the pistol injuring (how badly?) the shooter.
This final recommendation might seem a curious one but I found it worked well. It does require the solo player to use their subjective judgment for things rather than having everything spelled out for them. As a 100% (or nearly so) solo gamer I've found this to be the single most useful and least expensive tool in my decades of gaming. It ISN'T written as a rule set but works exceptionally well for that in addition to everything else it has to offer. You can be as loose or as stringent as you want. You can use or not use any of the other tools in the GME as you go. Since it was designed to support Game Masters for RPGs, some of it won't apply to one shot scenarios. OTOH, as it is just you, you can user it to generate and run "off screen" events, introduce new plot line, meet NPCs and many other things.
Back in the day, a fellow wargamer and I were the first two outsiders to join the MYTHIC GME Yahoo group, with other wargamers following such that it soon was about a fifty / fifty split. He ran an entire NW Frontier campaign following one British Unit and its characters with just the GME. I went the other direction and started a "Magnificent Gunfighters" (unfinished
) where I re-did the Magnificent Seven from before each of the gunfighters arrived. Then for any of them, things might have been different. In the film, Chris never intended to be the leader but just ask around. Vin bet everything he had on the crap table. Britt might have been wounded or killed in the fast draw contest. And so on, where the movie seven might have started differently. Maybe the guys not in the movie would have brought different talents and shortcomings. Calverra? Maybe he'd not have his men starving and desperate. Maybe it wouldn't be just himself, his number two and a bunch of mooks. Maybe twice as many. Maybe the village would have been hit by a different gang by the time the heroes arrived, and Calverra was still coming. Maybe...?
I'd be happy to share more details and answer questions with anyone who decides to check the GME out rather than just picking a "pre-baked" rule set. But whether as an option for this particular rule question or as a tool that could be quite useful for running a scenario with no pre-planning, or a campaign game, I think it is a pretty nifty piece of kit.
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May 13, 2024, 11:16:01 PM
March 14, 2007, 06:47:23 PM