I ran my Mean Streets gang warfare game twice at this past weekend's Drums at the Rapids convention at Fort Meigs in Perrysburg, OH. I couldn't have had two more different games. In the first, I joked with the players that it seemed I was running a game of Gaslands. Nearly all the gangs decided to carjack vehicles and use them to try to run down rival gang members. It has happened from time to time in the past, but never on the scale as in this game! I'm definitely going to have come up with more detailed rules for vehicles than the off-the-cuff die rolls I've been using to gauge player's success. In the second game, I left most of the vehicles off the table and it was a more standard street rumble.
The scenario is a nod to the 45th anniversary of the release of the movie, The Warriors, which is my inspiration for the game. My Eastmoor Kings stand in for the role of the Warriors, and have been lured to a bogus parley with other gangs. When no one else shows up, they have to hoof it home, and know they're in for a fight crossing the turf of rival gangs. The game is set for six players -- two controlling the Kings and four controlling a gang each that has their own agendas but are not happy with the arrival of a new gang on their turf!
Each player controlled five gang members -- a Gang Boss (the toughest dude), Warchief, and three punks. I standardized the traits that each gang member possessed. In the first running of the scenario at Cincycon 2024, I gave the Kings one more gang member and more traits. I was worried that the other four would call a truce and pounce on them. In three runnings, that has yet to happen -- even when the four other players ostensibly agree to a truce. Someone is always unable to resist punching a rival gang member!
I think in future runnings of the game I need to dwell more on explaining the traits that each gang member has. Each leader has a powerful one, whether Blackbelt (can do one attack per action), Intimidate (can spend an action to make rival gang members -1 or their own +1), or Scary Mutha (punks and Warchiefs have to test morale to enter melee). The only ability that came into play during both games was Blackbelt. So, I either have to take the time to explain the traits more, or standardize it further for convention games and just give all the leaders that trait. The game felt more balanced this time with all players have more similar forces.
Both games moved very quickly with six players and were completed it under three hours. To me, that is the gold standard for a convention game. The days of me wanting to play (or GM) an eight hour game are long since passed. I don't mind a four hour game, but ideally if it can normally be completed it three, you have a little insurance against slower players that could cause you not to finish. I think it takes an active GM, though, to ensure this for Mean Streets. The sequence of play sees gangs dicing for initiative, and then moving all of their figures when it is their turn. Waiting for five other players to finish before it is your turn could make it slow, but I keep an eye on who's next up in the order. If they're not going to affect the currently moving faction then I have them get started. This tends to move things along a lot quicker.
The goal of the Kings was relatively simple. They were to cross the 5' length of the board and get onto the bridge at the far end of the table. The surviving gang members are to board the bus and once on board, are safely on their way home to their turf. They are encouraged to "tag" buildings and let folks know they were there. They are also admonished not to back down from a fight and run like a bunch of sissies. The other four gangs are encouraged to punish the Kings for trespassing on their turf. However, each also had a secret mission, such as to steal some beer or snacks for tonight's party. In addition, each gang owed "payback" on another rival gang. Everyone gets points for knocking out members of rival gangs, but each of the other four got bonus points for taking out a specified rival. All gangs get points for tagging buildings in their rival's turf (who then lose points for having their turf tagged by an opponent).
All of the various victory conditions add up to a game that is more chaotic and free wheeling than a simple 2 vs. 4 that it might be otherwise. In our first carjacking-heavy game, the clown-masked Franklinton Flippos came out on top. Had we played for an extra 45 minutes, it was very likely the Kings would have done much better than their last place finish. Five of them were in a stolen car and headed towards the bridge. The cops were on the table and would be in pursuit. In addition, the Santanas and Daos were waiting for the arrival of the Kings, smacking their fists in anticipation of a beat-down on the newcomers. All of the other gangs (and the police) did a great job of slowing the Kings down so that -- at game's end -- none were on the bridge waiting for the bus.
Speaking of the police, what I do at a convention is to have any player who's been reduced to a single figure or less take control of a police car next turn. It arrives with two cops (who count as Warchiefs), and the player can choose which street table edge it arrives on. That allows them to exact a little revenge on the gang that beat them down or frustrate the intentions of any front runners. Friday's nights cops, controlled by the Daos player, arrived just in time to cut off the two vehicles loaded with Kings that were attempting to enter the intersection in the center of the table. The Kings tried ramming the police car, but the driver locked the wheels down with his brakes and they were unable to move it. His partner got out and shot the driver of one of the Kings vehicles, knocking him out of action (it would go on the police report as "self-defense"...after all, it WAS attempted vehicular homicide, wasn't it?).
In the second game, no cars were jacked and the Kings looked like they would be allowed to pass through the gauntlet of the Flippos and Indianola Mohawks unmolested. However, as soon as the bulk of the Kings passed by, those two gangs pounced on the rear of the column. A furious melee ensued with four gangs pounding on each other in the streets. When there was a pause in the fighting, and the two Kings factions won initiative to move first and second, they decided to sprint across the center of the board, unfortunately leaving one or two of their gang members behind who were locked in melee. At the other end of the board where they were headed, the Santanas and the Daos had been clobbering each other from the start of the game. Each sent an end run of their warchief and a punk to accomplish their side missions, but that meant when the Kings did arrive, they were in no shape to contest their passage.
I could have given one of the two a police car to even things up. However, they hadn't lost that many gang members. The Daos were down to three, and the Santanas had four. So, technically they hadn't been beat down enough to qualify. At the start of Saturday's game, I thought for sure the Mohawks would be first to be given a police car. Abbi, who was controlling them, ended up fighting all five of the other gangs at one point in the game. By turn two, she was fighting against both Kings players, the Flippos, and the Daos. However, at the end of the game, I was shocked to see she hadn't lost a single gang member!
The winner in Saturday's game was the Eastmoor Kings. I take each of the Kings players victory points, add them together, then divide by two. With getting roughly three quarters of the combined gang onto the bridge, that gave them enough to score 13 points. However, both the Flippos and Mohawks scored 12 each. So, it was a narrow victory. Their tactic of pouncing on the King's column while knocking out a good handful of rival gang members brought them very close to victory. It was a chaotic, fun game, with all six players involved in the fighting. The winning Kings had to make some tough choices, but correctly kept the bulk of their gang moving so that they could reach the bridge. It was actually the first time in three games that any Kings members actually made it to the bridge!
My game filled up both Friday and Saturday, and my players all seemed to have a good time. In fact, two of my Saturday players were repeats. They had such a good time Friday evening that they wanted to try it again controlling different gangs. Everyone had their successes, and no one took it on the chin so much that they might have become discouraged with the game. I'm definitely calling the scenario a success, and look forward to running it again this June in Columbus at Origins Game Fair. I will run it six times over the course of the con, twice on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in the mornings and evenings.
Interestingly, the inspiration for the scenario -- the Warriors trying to make it back to their home turf after a gang parley gone wrong -- was also being run in Portland, Maine, this very same weekend. Another big fan of The Warriors (Cat O'Mighty on Facebook) has built a New York City setting for a very similar scenario. She has painted up many of the gangs from the movie, including the Warriors, Orphans, Riffs, etc. I am looking forward to her after-action report on her games from the Huzzah convention and will come back and post the link here when she publishes it.
Between our two games, The Warriors was definitely honored this weekend. I look forward to adding a couple more wrinkles to my games at Origins. So, if you want to "come out and play," you know where to find a good rumble! Thanks in advance for any comments...
Mike Demana
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April 27, 2025, 11:59:46 PM
March 11, 2010, 01:53:25 PM
