What a Mountie!

[Will Bailie]

I received my copy of What a Cowboy, so immediately rounded up the gang for a quick game.  We played the "Rescue" scenario, with a group of mad trappers trying to break their buddy out of the NWMP lockup, somewhere in the Yukon.

Full write up on my blog:  https://willstoysoldiers.blogspot.com/2023/05/what-mountie.html

Unfortunately, camera work for the game was a lower priority, so my game photos are not great.  End result was two dead trappers, and the rule of law prevailed. 


We really enjoyed the game, and all three other gamers immediately placed orders to get their own copies of the rules.  We had a bit of debate about spotting, and more specifically about losing spotting.  One character retreated into the woods (area cover), but as he had already been spotted and line of sight hadn't been broken, his opponent didn't need to re-spot him.  Was this correct?  How much area cover would require that the spotting be repeated - each time the 4" increment of area cover increases?  Any comments appreciated!

[Legionnaire]

Great stuff!

The Spot stays until either the spotter or the target has moved. By that point it resets and you need to Spot again.

For each 4" or part of intervening terrain you need +1 Spot. So a 6" wide patch of rye, +2 Spot Die.

[john_savage_uk]

Great write-up and glad you are enjoying the rules.

With regard to spotting once a target has been spotted they will remain spotted until they move out of sight. It’s not the moving itself, it’s the fact that the line of sight is broken by either the target or the spotter moving!

Looking forward to more battle reports 😊

[sjwalker51]

John, what happens if the LOS is not broken but the target moves to a point where the number of Spot dice is increased?

For example, I Spot ‘Big Matt Slade” when he’s 16” away and in the open (needs 1 Spot Dice).

In his activation, he moves 9” directly away from me, staying in the open - he’s now at 25”, which requires 2 Spot Dice because of the distance. Do I have to Spot him again, and how many dice are needed?

[FramFramson]

I suspect that means a new spot is required, as john mentioned that if either the spotter or the spotted move they need to be re-spotted.

[Will Bailie]

Thanks, John for the comments!  We played it rules as written, and the character remained spotted.  As he was retreating into woods, we may decide that next time we'll define the woods as blocking LoS at the 4" increment.

Per sjwalker's comment, another possibility may be to apply the rule for dodging into cover - if a character dodges into cover, then a spot die must be spent.  So maybe if a character voluntarily moves deeper into area cover (say, by another 4" increment) then another spotting die must be spent to keep the spot. 

This was the only major issue that came up in our first play through, so don't want to get too hung up on it.

Cheers,

Will