Reviews of Wild West Wargame Rules

[Ilmarainen]

I wanted to do a post with reviews of our favourite Wild West rules.  I thought about adding this to the Rules thread, but thought it could easily get lost there, and warranted a thread of its own.  I was motivated to do so by there being many sets of rules with no review, or one that just says "I like them".  Hence I have written reviews for all the sets I have (minimum requirement = 3 playings, sometimes through gritted teeth).  I have also added a link for those that I don't have. 

I have put them in order (roughly) of what I like.  RWNN are first as they are my favourite set and in my review I highlight my rationale for why, and the kind of game I enjoy. 

I am very happy for others to add their reviews; you shouldn't need to be as detailed as I have done in terms of the contents of the rulebook and the mechanisms, but please do a decent analytical job as to why they work for you and your gaming friends.  There are a few others I need to do that I will add in due course.  I have not included any that are solely "weird west" (as I don't play them).

Here is a list on BoardGameGeek with the rules, and comments alongside each: https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/246326/wild-west-themed-miniatures-skirmish-wargames

Here are links to each review:

My favourite:
Rules With No Name          https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3556312/a-great-set-of-rules-that-does-it-all-and-does-it

Good rules I enjoy playing:
Ruthless                     https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3548063/review-quick-engaging-and-lots-of-fun
Dead Man's Hand          https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3548596/review-nearly-my-favourite-set-of-wild-west-rules
Gunslinger             https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3555782/review-great-at-what-it-does-but-it-doesnt-do-ever

Not quite as good, but will play if you have these as your favourite:
Six Gun Sound: Blaze of Glory    https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3554886/review-core-system-is-stop-start-but-the-campaign
Fistful of Lead Reloaded       https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3549667/review-a-good-system-for-club-play
Gunfight!                     https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3547310/review-not-a-bad-set-of-rules

I really don't want to spend time playing these:
Tombstones and Tumbleweeds    https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3554548/review-fairly-standard-rules-with-nothing-special
Boot Hill                     https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3552991/review-ok-but-lacks-the-fun-element-and-superseded
Aces and Eights: Showdown    https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3551331/review-has-a-really-teasing-mechanic-but-fails-to
Gunfighter's Ball          https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3548000/review-solid-but-wheres-the-excitement
Once Upon a Time in the West    https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3553471/review-highly-detailed-but-play-slowly-and-lack-th

Hmmm... I think I have another engagement in my calendar:
What a Cowboy                  https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3549710/review-doesnt-quite-work
Tombstone             https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3547327/review-nicely-produced-but-tedious-to-play
Dead by Lead             https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3547404/review-pleasant-enough-but-quite-superficial
Gutshot                     https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3554315/review-ill-written-and-falls-between-two-stools-be

No thanks:
Gunman's Law                  https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3547892/review-a-good-try-but-not-as-good-as-gunslinger
Old West 1816-1900          https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3547454/looking-back-at-an-old-favourite
A Gunslinger's Paradise       https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3547308/review-after-thorough-reading-and-playing
Shootin' Iron             https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3548547/review-free-but-there-are-much-better-options-out
Desperado             https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3556182/review-needs-some-cleaning-up-to-be-worth-consider

Definitely my "bottom of the list" set:
Legends of the old West       https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3550808/review-i-tried-hard-but-they-are-not-a-set-that-i

REVIEWED BY OTHERS
A Good Day to Die          https://deepfriedhappymice.com/html/rd_good_day_to_die-2.html

[fred]

That is a lot of reviews - and therefore a lot of games, especially of rules you weren't keen on.

DMH is our groups current favourite, with FFoL and Dracula's America being popular too.

Interesting to read your take on What a Cowboy - we played What a Tanker once - and had similar problems with the activation dice simply not falling in any meaningful way. The concept is fine, but the execution is flawed, and it seems it very much carries across to WaC.

[Ilmarainen]

Thank you.  I think it says something about my age (and years playing).

But I was interested in your What a Tanker comment.  I don’t aim to be “right” on anything, but when others have seen similar issues then at least I might be pointing people in the right direction. 

Glad you like DMH; it is high on my list.

[fred]

We found What a Tanker played more like wacky races than anything remotely like WW2 tank combat - which was a shame as I'd quite liked the concept. I did wonder if it might make a decent WWI air game.

I think your style of review with giving an overview of the core game mechanisms helps give the reader a view of how the game plays before it gets into the more subjective part of the review. I find it helpful that you have said what you like in a game - as that gives a good context for the reviews. It lets me know how similar your approach it to mine.

I have found with rules that there are many pieces of prior art, and rulesets tend to grow on a base set of expectations often around movement or activation. And knowing this does help to give an idea if you might like a ruleset.

[SteveBurt]

Thanks for this. You have put a lot of work in, and it’s great that you give a rationale for all your likes and dislikes. I’ve played Dead Man’s Hand (our current favourite, but we rather like the card play as it mixes stuff up a bit), What a Cowboy (fiddly - my criticisms are much like yours), Legends of the Old West (very vanilla, but I didn’t dislike it as much as you do), and Gunslinger (of which I have terrible memories; more like an exercise in book-keeping than a game). I’m not a big fan of rules which track hit location; just seems like a bit too much detail for little reward, but that’s very much a personal thing, and the reason I’ve read Rules with No Name but never played them.

[italwars]

Interesting review
May I add the classic old school one  from Skirmish Wargames series ..not as faster as the  rules we play to day (that I cannot stand with their wonky abstractions , boring activation phases and unnecessary use of cards)   but enjoyable even just to read, well researched and good to play..despite the title there are good infos and data also for setting skirmishes between cavalry and Indians ..useful as a reference in case  you do not like the old fashion game sythems (percentage dices, a lot of paper work)

[Ilmarainen]

I agree.  I have the review here:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3547454/looking-back-at-an-old-favourite

[traveller]

Interesting post! We looked at several of the ones reviewed here but cam to the conclusion that we stay with One-Hour Skirmish Wargames (OHSW), though with a Wild West twist. We added an injury rule, the use of factions, an extensive weapons table etc. I uploaded this to the fb group. The mechanics and versatility of OHSW is just great and it is easy to adapt to different historic periods.

[ced1106]

My own favorite, of course, are the rules I came up with.

Ya Got Me, Partner! : A Quick and Dirty Western Game to play while you're waiting for the other varmints to show up!

Each player starts with a hand of cards. Smaller hands are more lethal, resulting in shorter games (not that games aren't already short!). All miniatures start one card's length (long side, diagonal, not sure) from each other. Each miniature corresponds to a card in the deck (not all cards are used).

Offensive player plays a red card to either fire, move, move and attack, or move and perform an objective. His miniature matching the card automatically hits an opponent up to one card's length of the card and in LOS (firing a gun). Or the figure can move the length of the card. Or the figure can move the short length of a card and attack a figure in base-to-base contact (melee knife or punch). Or the figure can move the short length of a card and perform an objective (eg. place dynamite). Discard the card played. (Hand wave that bullets are flying, but the card represents the bullet that hit!)

Defensive player plays a black card that has to match the miniature attacked. If not, knock it over! Those bullets sure hurt, huh? If he can play a matching card, the miniature isn't hit and may move the short length of the card (taking cover!). Discard the card played.

At the end of his turn, the offensive player may play a matching red card on a miniature in his posse to stand up. If all miniatures of a side are knocked out, game over! Each player then draws a card (or more than one for longer games).

You can easily add objectives and terrain, such as having to place the dynamite at the bank's safe.

You can add a Joker to the deck, representing events, such as a stage coach that comes into town!

[Inkpaduta]

I have a fondest in my heart for Bott Hill. Have had my copy for 45 yrs or so.
Still play it. Also, I have written a supplement to use them for Horror Old West.

[Ilmarainen]

Added one more:  Fistful of Lead: Reloaded, 2nd Edition:  https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3562465/review-second-edition-is-more-polished-than-the-fi

[Ilmarainen]

Through gritted teeth I played three games of Wild West Chronicles and then wrote a review: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3563017/review-a-set-of-wwii-rules-that-has-been-poorly-po

[bc99]

These reviews are very helpful, thank you. And I agree about Boot Hill. I had the rules which are long gone. Had some fun with the game.

[Harry Faversham]

I play FFofL solo. The randomness of cards and dice, more than makes up for having to play on your own.
 

[Jeffers]

I’m glad you reviewed Once Upon A Time… I played them at college in the early 80s and on average we got about three turns if the whole group chipped in! We eventually switched to the simple set they included (I still have them) and found they worked a treat for a Thursday lunchtime.

WRT WaC, sounds like WaT which was the worst gaming experience I have ever had.