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Author Topic: Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities project (rule available!)  (Read 5086 times)

Offline mikedemana

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The cover of my new gang warfare rules, drawn by one of my students

About a year and a half ago, I sat down and pondered which of two potential projects to undertake. I chose a 28mm gang warfare project, mostly inspired by the 1979 cult movie classic, The Warriors. Originally, I was going to use a commercial rules set for the games, but as I checked out various options, I decided none of them really worked for the style of events I like to run at conventions and for my weekly gaming group. So, I decided to write my own rules.


The back cover uses a photograph of my miniatures and terrain -- done by a photographer friend of mine

Six months later, I had written the basic rules. Playtesting began in August of 2019, and wrapped up at a local gaming convention this past March, Cincycon 2020. The rules are meant to be easy to learn and fast playing. Twenty minutes should suffice to teach a group of new players the basics and get them started rolling dice. It is a skirmish game, so each player will control a gang of individually-based gang members. For my games involving 4-8 players, I tend to go with about a half dozen figures per player. Gangs are given missions which will entice them to roam the 28mm urban cityscape to accomplish their goals and earn victory points. By design, they will bump into other gangs and the resulting rumbles will be the heart of the game.


The Linden Daos patrol their gang's turf - note the spray-painted "tag," which includes Jack & Benny's Old Time Diner

I'm celebrating tonight with this post here because the proofreading was completed, today. Woohoo!! Tomorrow, I plan on uploading the rules to Lulu's website for them to print a proof copy. Once I receive and check over it, I will make any corrections and put the rules up for sale. The planned price will be US $20 print through Lulu, $10 PDF through Wargame Vault and Lulu. They will be marketed through First Command Wargames -- the gaming company started a few years back by me and some friends. I wanted to share here some of the figures and terrain I have created over the last year and a half. I'll update this thread every week or so with other gangs I painted, and some of the cool Sarissa Precision MDF city buildings I've constructed for this period, as well as various other fun urban terrain pieces.


My first painted gang for this project - the Linden Daos

It makes sense to start out the thread with the first gang I painted specifically for this project -- the Linden Daos. This was loosely based on the Gramercy Riffs from The Warriors movie. It is an African-American, martial arts gang -- thus the "Daos" as a name. I am setting my games in my own home town of Columbus, Ohio. Linden is one of the neighborhoods just north of downtown. Each gang I paint up will be given a home turf, a distinctive name, and a colorful uniform, of sorts.


I used 28mm Mega Miniatures for most of the Linden Daos - note the gang symbol on their uniforms

The models are 28mm Mega Miniatures "Kung Fu Fighters." I had painted a bunch of these up earlier for a cult in my pulp games. Luckily, I had quite a few leftover unpainted, so no new purchase was needed for this first gang. I chose purple and yellow as the gang colors, partially because I thought the yellow would contrast nicely with their skin color, and purple seems so 1970s-80s-ish. Groovy...can you dig it?


Closeup of the gang leaders of the Daos -- from Pulp Miniatures (I think)

I used a black and white Yin-Yang symbol as the gang's logo. I decided I also needed a few figures to stand out as leaders, so scoured my figure boxes and found a few Pulp Miniatures figures that I thought would do the trick. Or at least I think they're all from Pulp Miniatures! One or two of them may have been picked up at flea markets and removed from their packaging for storage in ziploc bags in my unpainted lead bin.


Don't mess with the Linden Daos - at least that's what they'll tell you!

The Daos definitely fit in the spirit of the movie, which features an incredible array of costumes for the various gangs. It was a good start to the project. Stay tuned for more updates!

Mike Demana
« Last Edit: June 21, 2020, 04:38:17 AM by mikedemana »

Offline oabee

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Re: Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities project
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2020, 01:45:17 AM »
This looks great, Mike! Keep us posted on the rollout. Love the idea of different missions for the gangs.  :D
I was talking aloud to myself. A habit of the old: they choose the wisest person present to speak to; the long explanations needed by the young are wearying.
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Offline mikedemana

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The Bexley Blockwatch, middle-aged men who were fed up with the young punks trying to take over their neighborhood!

When I started this project, I dug through my unpainted lead pile and sorted them into prospective gangs. I have a lot of unpainted Pulp figures, some bought at flea markets at conventions, but many from the bins that Iron Wind Metals brings to shows. These are tubs full of Ral Partha 25mm figures sorted by ranges. There's a visceral pleasure in digging through a mound of figures, looking for the gems that'll be perfect to add to your collection!  lol


The Blockwatch brings whatever improvised weapons they have at hand to rumble -- pool cues, golf clubs -- you name it!

Looking at some of these, I thought they'd be easy to modify, adding in clubs or chains or whatever. Many had guns in outstretched hands that could be snipped off, as my games are going to be mostly firearms free (like The Warriors). It gave me the idea for the Bexley Blockwatch. This is an older gang -- middle-aged men who were fed up with these young punks trying to take over their neighborhood. So, they grabbed pool cues and other weapons and thus the Bexley Blockwatch was born! Bexley is a wealthier suburb entirely surrounded by poorer neighborhoods on Columbus' near East side.


Allen, on the left, on his way home from work as an architect

Most of these figures are Ral Partha / Iron Wind Metals. At least one is a Reaper -- Odd Job, I believe -- from the James Bond movies. I had a great time converting the guy carrying the briefcase and pool cue into looking like my gaming friend Allen, who actually lives in Bexley. Naturally, this is Allen's gang of choice when we play on Sunday nights!


The Blockwatch patrolling the Sunday morning market, making sure all is well

In an interesting bit of "realism" provided by the dice, the old men of the Blockwatch have NOT fared well in our games of Mean Streets. They have taken it on the chin from the other younger (and tougher?) gangs -- especially their nemesis the Linden Daos, played by Keith...who is a tad bloodthirsty at times in games.  lol


A couple members of the Blockwatch are jumped by the Linden Daos in one of our games of Means Streets

Stay tuned for more gangs and images of my cityscape!


My friend Allen moving the Blockwatch in one of our games while his brother Joel laughs at the old men trying to rumble


« Last Edit: June 02, 2020, 03:07:18 PM by mikedemana »

Offline Jerm

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Re: Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities project
« Reply #3 on: June 04, 2020, 01:44:18 PM »
I appreciate the enthusiasm of this project. I have to admit I can never get over the inherent silliness of the Warriors movie, but I think embracing it might be good fun. I can imagine the vaudeville gang (think 3 stooges, marx bros, and wc fields in a gang!), the burlesque high-kickers chorus girl gang, etc. I believe back-in-the-day Roger Ebert's review of the Warriors film questioned why so few of the gang members looked like gang members, but instead looked like male models, which makes me think a zoolanderesque gang of male models (the blue steels?) would be pretty good. I shall follow this thread with interest - good luck and good gaming.

Offline mikedemana

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Re: Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities project
« Reply #4 on: June 04, 2020, 02:41:05 PM »
Thanks! I didn't realize until I bought the directors cut DVD that the storyline was patterned after Xenephon's March of the Ten Thousand. Then the parallels, like Cyrus and Ajax, started showing up. But as for the campiness, yes, it is deliberately over the top, at times.  lol

Mike Demana

Offline mikedemana

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Re: Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities project
« Reply #5 on: June 09, 2020, 04:42:56 PM »

The Eastmoor Kings raise some Hell at a local motel

In the beginning, I was doing my utmost to source figures for this project through unpainted lead I already own or could get inexpensively. Eventually, I began to order new miniatures that are commercially available. This gang is an example of my favorites I've found -- the Assault Group's rioters (https://theassaultgroup.co.uk/).


Two of the leaders of the Eastmoor Kings

This fictional gang I called the Eastmoor Kings. They are an African-American gang from the East side of Columbus. I really like how the miniatures are armed with a variety of hand weapons. I wasn't 100% crazy about the ones holding the Molotov cocktails, though the Warriors do use one in the movie which inspired this project! My color schemes are trying to evoke that "groovy" 1970s feels, so the black and bright green seemed to fit.


The pub seems like a good place to break into to gets some brews!

Some of the gangs I created for my games have an obvious theme -- such as the earlier Linden Daos, who are a martial arts gang. The Kings are meant to be a standard street gang. Nothing special.


I gave one of the guys a scarlet and gray knit cap, that being the colors of the local university football team, Ohio State University Buckeyes. Of course, that gang member is called "Archie" -- after a famous Eastmoor High School graduate who played for the Buckeyes!

This tends to be the gang I play in our games with our Sunday night group. I step in and run a gang when we have an odd number or need an extra player. I really like the gang logo that I created - a stylized crown for Kings, with a capital "E".


The Kings rumble with some punks from Columbus' West side, the Hilltop Highlanders

The Assault Group packs mix well together, so I ordered a variety. I split the figures up to create two new gangs, one of them the Kings. I've started making the gangs smaller, usually painting up 7-8 figures per gang instead of a dozen. We tend to have big turnouts at our Sunday gaming nights, so smaller gangs make that game go faster.


The rest of the kings...the bandanas over the face are a nice design touch

Stay tuned for more gangs and my urban scenary!



Offline BillK

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Re: Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities project
« Reply #6 on: June 12, 2020, 05:43:06 PM »
Mike,

Did you see that Battle Valor Games has picked up and is re-releasing the old Sgt Majors stuff? (Mentioned in some LAF threads and on main page over at that other T_P site.) Lots of civilian and rioter figure codes in that range that would work for your rules.

Cheers,
Bill

Offline mikedemana

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Re: Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities project
« Reply #7 on: June 13, 2020, 02:10:09 PM »
I love that line of minis! I was so bummed when they went out of business. Thanks, Bill! Here's the link, for others interested: http://www.battlevalorgames.com/28mmscifipulpandfantasy.aspx

Mike Demana

Offline mikedemana

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Re: Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities project (rule available!)
« Reply #8 on: June 21, 2020, 04:42:47 AM »

Hi everyone! The rules are now available either in PDF through Wargame Vault or print/PDF through Lulu.com. The links are on the First Command Wargames website: http://www.firstcommandwargames.com/mean-streets.html


Feel free to ask any questions you might have about the rules.



Mike Demana

Offline nervisfr

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Re: Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities project (rule available!)
« Reply #9 on: July 31, 2020, 10:49:17 AM »
Hello mike,
Well done.
Could you give us some informations about the rules mechanisms used for this set... ;)

Thanks
Eric
Frenchy Eric, aka Ch'ti Eric or Re-Animator
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Offline Doug ex-em4

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Re: Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities project (rule available!)
« Reply #10 on: July 31, 2020, 11:32:35 AM »
Glad I popped in having missed the topic earlier (how does that happen? I don’t know, but it does). Anyway, I’m here now and appreciating the fun EXCEPT I’m very unhappy about the fortunes of the Blockwatch gang as I feel a certain affinity for them. I also think they’re not trying hard enough; I mean, they’re
Quote
middle-aged....!
. So, from where I’m standing, that means practically adolescent. Time to up your game, Blockwatch.

I agree about the pleasure of trawling through the lead pile to find suitable figures for a project although I still find it impossible not to buy those absolutely vital figures you really need for a project.

Keep up the good work.

Doug

Offline Easy E

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Re: Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities project (rule available!)
« Reply #11 on: July 31, 2020, 05:31:28 PM »
Great project and I love the theme of the Warriors.  I had flirted with the idea myself, but now there is no further need!

Great board and I love the Linden Daos tag on the side of the diner!
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Offline mikedemana

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Re: Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities project (rule available!)
« Reply #12 on: July 31, 2020, 06:22:12 PM »
Thanks for the kind words, everyone!

The mechanics are fairly simple. Essentially, you roll 1d6 per member of the gang and assign each die to a figure. If your gang members are within a certain range of their leader(s), you get to roll those dice together and assign who gets which die. If a gang member is off by himself, you point to him, roll, and that's what he gets. If the die assigned to a certain gang member has a 1-3 on it, they can perform one action. If it has a 4-5, two actions. With a 6, they get three.

Combat is an opposed 1d6 rolloff, with modifiers for type (4: Gang Boss, Warchief, Punk, Wimp) and tactical situation. Beating another figure in combat gives them a wound, doubling gives two wounds, tripling is out of action. Wounds are a cumulative -1 to combat, so take enough wounds and you'll eventually get tripled and knocked out. Weapon special bonuses also come into play -- chains, clubs, knives, and fists being the melee weapons that can affect combat.

There are multitude of primary and secondary missions in the rules to assign to gangs. Ideally, each gang has one primary mission to accomplish in the scenario and 1-2 secondary ones. The crux of rules that I write is I want to make players make decisions, and for those decisions to affect the course of the game. Who should get this "6" that I rolled? Who can get by with one action? Should I split my gang up to accomplish more than one mission, or should we stay together in case we get jumped in force by another gang?

Feel free to ask more questions about the rules. The "engine" of the rules is something I plan to use for future rules sets, as well. We've playtested it for French & Indian War skirmish and for Pulp "Indiana Jones" style games, as well.

Thanks again for your interest, everyone!  Click on the link below if you're interested in buying print or PDF versions of Mean Streets: http://www.firstcommandwargames.com/mean-streets.html

Mike Demana

Offline Neldoreth

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Re: Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities project (rule available!)
« Reply #13 on: July 31, 2020, 11:32:47 PM »
This project is very cool, excellent stuff here :D

Thanks
n

Offline nervisfr

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Re: Mean Streets: War in Gang-infested Cities project (rule available!)
« Reply #14 on: August 07, 2020, 07:19:10 AM »
Thank you Mike for all the informations about the rules system.
Great project indeed !
 ;)

 

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