The sleepy little border town of Aqua Verde...

[Arundel]

Must say you've got my attention, Harry. Maybe I should just try them instead of endlessly searching. Love that photo, btw. I don't think I mentioned it, but my Old West project is in 54mm, so those figures and the buildings are right up my alley. Do you game in 54? I'd love to see more photos for general eye candy, so if you have a blog or can direct me to other threads, I'd be most grateful!

Elbows, are you the designer of Shoot and Skedaddle? That's yet another set I've been tempted by. As for what I'm looking for, let's see:

1.) High on fun, low on record keeping
2.) Able to handle a dozen or so figures a side at a pinch; most of my games will not be that big, but one of my real aspirations is to run a Magnificent Seven game. The bandit player would have all 40 or so bandits in his "pool," though he could only bring on a dozen or so at a time. The game would be broken up into waves, so the seven and the villagers could recuperate a little between attacks. Just like the film (and The Seven Samurai before it). Most games break down with this sort of number of figure per side. Ironically, of those sets I named, FFoL could probably this best.
3.) Fun activation systems is huge. The best on this score is probably TRwNN - really keeps players guessing (or so I hear). FFoL does have that great card set, however.
4.) Fast playing, which is probably clear from the above.
5.) Any game that uses playing cards or poker chips definitely has a good foot in the stirrup.

So, have any recommendations? Again, sorry if this is hijacking the thread!

[Harry Faversham]

Sorry, no blog, but a quick scoot an' skedaddle here...

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=98773.0

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=90571.0

 

[Elbows]

Well, Arundel, from the look of it, you could go with a couple different systems.  I wouldn't recommend SnS as it's probably clunky with 12 figures under a player's control, and while I'm planning on a "henchmen" style rule for games like you mention - it doesn't currently exist.

The nice thing is that you could add card activation to almost any game with minimal work.  So if you have one you like a lot, but has poor activation rules, that's a simple tweak.  I know Desperado is common for large convention games, because it can handle a lot of miniatures with minimal paper work.  I don't know of many games beyond Gutshot (more of a tabletop RPG sometimes) which might require real paperwork (perhaps LoToW might need some before/after games).  Most games will make due with the occasional wound marker, etc.

Fast playing really depends on the size of the table, the comfortableness with the rules, and the people playing.  I don't find any OW too chunky to play really.

[Arundel]

I appreciate both your responses. Elbows, I think you are perfectly correct: blending a good activation system to just about any combat engine would be quite simple (not, by the way, that there is anything inherently wrong with TRwNN's system). As I said earlier, I may end out using Boot Hill, of all things, for my basic shooting and fighting - I'm of an age that I think rolling percentile dice is especially fun. This is probably from too much Runequest as a youth.

As for mooks, or henchmen, or the banditos we really don't care about - and who are expected to die rapidly - I've thought about simply rolling a d6 every time one is hit: 1-3 they duck for cover (a TRwNN duck back), 4-6 they drop to the ground dramatically, plunging off the side of buildings if they happen to be standing within ten feet or so of a roof edge. Voila, no record keeping, and we could handle the figures needed. Again, this won't be a normal thing. Most of the games I'm dreaming of would involve more normal numbers, say, 4-6 figures per side.

Harry, thanks very much for those thread links. Some deep inspiration there, no question. Who makes your plastic buildings? They look like Timpo, though my learning curve is still steep and I may be wrong. If they are, are they relatively robust, or have they become brittle like the figures over time? (I'm still recovering from one of my biggest blunders ever hobby-wise: bought about $350 worth of Timpo figures only to find they are so brittle you almost can't handle them. Ugh.) If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I'd also love to hear who makes that Dead Man's Gulch sign of yours; the civilians as well, if you can remember. Civilians have proved a bit of a poser in this scale.

Thank you both again for the inspiration.

[Harry Faversham]

Arundel, the sign is made by Britains, they come up fairly regular on evilbay...



The civilians came in a group of figures nothing to do with the Wild West, about the only one that really 'fits' is the proprietress of the 'Silver Dollar', Dolores Trollop, best little whore in the Gulch...





As to the buildings, both Britains and Timpo made the ready coloured Wild West buildings, you can still get 'em but some are a tad costly. I would say that 90% of my Britains and Timpo models/figures are OK. But I have had some that the tails have fallen off the horses, and the Cowboys have lost their guns and sometimes their hands too! 

[Arundel]

You know, I think I've met that Dolores Trollop before.

Thank you for the leads! Now off to try and find them...

[Harry Faversham]

You know, I think I've met that Dolores Trollop before.

Met her... I bleedin'n married her... that's mi' wife yer talking about...
small world, innit?
 

[Arundel]