Great looking town and an interesting fight report. Looks like it should be a show stopper. 
I only read through it once so may have missed it but do the citizens do anything except run away? I wondered if someone might have defended themselves,.
How did the 2 main protagonists have an arrest warrent for each other?
Cheers
Thanks! Once the shooting starts in earnest, the civilians usually try to get into the buildings and out of the way. But it takes a turn or 2 for them to see (and hear) what's going on before they do so. In certain circumstances (like when a Baldwin-Felts "Gun Thug" enters a room they are in, for example), I roll randomly to see if the actively interfere. They've (wisely) not chosen to do so yet...
As for the warrants, Sid Hatfield's warrants for the Felts brothers were signed by a local Justice of the Peace. The Felts brothers' warrant for Mr. Hatfield was signed by a judge from a different county. There were (and still are) some questions about the legitimacy of any of those warrants...
And now for the report on Playtest #2 yesterday (Saturday the 26th)! We had 6 players, so we used the
Fistful of Lead Core Rules (which worked out just fine!). Some of the Ohio crew came up to play, as did my regular gaming group. Mike S, his son Jason, and Jenny T (LAFs own mikedemana's SO) played Chief Hatfield, Mayor Testerman, and the Coal Miners. Here is their info sheet:
Ted, Gene, and Mike D played the Baldwin-Felts fellas. Here is their info sheet:
I acted as GM and Umpire. I also ran the afore-mentioned civilians. Here are the Scenario Special Rules, which covers the civilians (as well as "arresting" a figure):
Just as a reminder, here are a few shots of the scene of the crime. First up is a view looking west down Railroad Street:
Next is a view looking east down that street:
These next 2 are looking south toward the storefronts along Railroad Street from the area around the train station.
The Battle ReportThe coal miners set up first. Chief Hatfield and Mayor Testerman milled around in front of Chambers Hardware, while another 9 armed coal miners and townsfolk set up on various rooftops, in upper floor windows, out on the sidewalk along Railroad Street, and near the train station. They were all waiting for those Baldwin-Felts Agents to come around the east end of Railroad Street. Everyone in town knew that they were up at the Buskirk Building having dinner, but that they would be heading down to the train station to catch the 5:00pm train to Bluefield any minute now. About 4:00pm, the 11 Baldwin-Felts detective Agents, led by Lee and Albert Felts (there were 13 of them altogether) came walking around the corner at the east end of Railroad Street. They saw Hatfield and Testerman down the street, and began heading down Railroad Street toward them.
A few miners, who were on the sidewalk not far from Hatfield and Testerman started moving toward the agents.
That's when it all started. Shots rang out from the rooftops and upper floor windows, and an agent went down on the sidewalk in from of the tire store. It looked like the miners weren't about to let any of those agents near Chief Hatfield, if they could help it. The detective agents started to spread out...the innocent bystanders along Railroad Street and at the train station stood there in stunned disbelief...
Some of the agents moved along the storefronts, trying to stay in what cover the could find, while other moved across the track toward the station. A miner on the upper floor of the train station dropped another agent with his trusty Winchester lever gun. But it wouldn't go all the miners' way. An agent moved up to the northeast corner of the train station, and put a load of buckshot into a miner there, dropping him. And by now, with some if the gunfire getting way too close for comfort, the civilians had all ducked into their nearest buildings, trying to get out of the line of fire.
But the miners had the advantage of position. There were some with rifles on the roofs overlooking the street.
They kept up their fire on the agents. A couple more agents went down out the street. But several agents worked their way around back of the train station...
Meanwhile, Chief Hatfield had made his way over to the train station, followed by a miner. And Mayor Testerman ducked into Chambers Hardware, and went up to the upper floor to shout encouragement from a front window.
Miners moved to contest the rear of the train station. More miners were coming on the scene, having been alerted by the sounds of gunfire.
Things took a turn for the worse for the miners at this point. While several agents were down along Railroad Street, one shot and wounded Chief Hatfield, and dropped a miner, on the platform of the train station.
Albert Felts saw his opportunity. He rushed to Chief Hatfield and took him into custody...
...dragged Hatfield into the train station, where another agent was waiting. The bystanders who had gathered in that room considered intervening, thought better of it, and retreated into the next room. Out of the way...but the miner with the lever gun upstairs heard the ruckus, and came charging downstairs. Only to be shot and wounded for his trouble.
Outside, more miners came on scene, and were getting the upper hand out there.
Inside the station, Chief Hatfield fought for his life. He was able to wound another agent, but Albert regained control of Hatfield...the civilians cowered in the next room...
Out on Railroad Street, A woman came up the tracks from the east, and unceremoniously gunned down Lee Felts with her rifle. And some miners had a couple agents cornered in the tobacco store and the tire shop. Those agents didn't last long...
Those miners then headed across the tracks to help Chief Hatfield. They were indeed able to shoot down Albert Felts and rescue a very injured Chief Hatfield.
The Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency was running out of men in fighting condition in Matewan. The last one standing was taking cover behind the automobile at the east end of the train station, but was about to be surrounded by miners. He threw down his gun and threw up his hands in surrender.
EpilogueAnd it was over. When the shooting stopped, 11 of the 13 Baldwin-Felts Detective Agents were down, including both Felts Brothers. A 12th had already fled the scene, and the 13th had surrendered. But 6 coal miners were down (a 7th - the woman - bugged out after shooting Felts), and Sid Hatfield was badly wounded. The miners had won, but at a cost...
After discussing the fight, I think the only other tweak I plan to make to the scenario will be to randomize where the coal miner reinforcements show up. This will (possibly) prevent the miners from always showing up at the most convenient places...but other than that, I think the scenario is ready to go...
And mikedemana told me he plans to post his version of events, as well...
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April 27, 2024, 12:11:46 PM
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