Splattergutz County Chronicles - Sunday's game photos and link to AAR on page 2

[FifteensAway]

edit 12/21 - renamed the thread since I will try to use this thread for my Old West updates and AAR going forward

THE SAGA OF JAKOB GIESSEN “S”.

You will find that Jakob’s full last name, not just his initial of his last name, will be revealed by the end of this piece, and is the reason, at least in many ways, for what you are reading.  His middle name comes from his mother’s lineage.  His last name is part of why he grew up as tough a man as he did.  Oh, yes, we cannot forget.  It seems in Germany there is one “s” in Giesen but it translated to two on this side of the Atlantic.  Your correspondent has been unable to locate any explanation for this.

Giesen is a region within Hesse, one of the many German states at the time - and where Jakob started his life in 1816.  He was conscripted at 14, being quite big for his age, into the local prince’s army, from which he promptly deserted at the earliest opportunity and managed to find his way to the shores of England.  Still being penniless, he again found himself in the army and wearing red again.  And he was promptly shipped out to participate in the sixth Xhosa war where he was rather badly wounded and came under the not particularly tender care of one Lieutenant Flashbottom, heir to a minor fortune.  The lieutenant decided that the air on a hunting trip to the plains of North America would do Jakob well in his recovery - and be his valet.  And, indeed, he recovered completely.  The trip was not so kind to Flashbottom who was captured by the Arapahoes, given over to and treated unspeakably by the Crow, and then taken during a raid, scalped, and killed by the Lakota.

Jakob managed to escape the massacre and capture of the rest of the party and so he cast his lot with the mountain trappers that came along to pick over the remainders and found him.  As a mountain man, he earned a remarkable reputation for wrestling wild grizzly bears - and bore rather horrific scars to show the truth of his tales.  Well, his grizzly bear tales; some of his other tales were a little harder to believe.  Such tall tales is the way of those rugged individualists. 

After a few years and having grown to full manhood and said to be the strongest man in a thousand miles in any direction, his restless spirit was arrested by a Nez Perce maiden, by the name of Owl’s Feather, of extraordinary beauty.  He had to fight off many of her people’s suitors and several mountain men - sometimes savagely - before word got out that she wanted him as much as he wanted her and she would mutilate any other man that touched her.  Most men understood exactly what she meant.  There was one man who didn’t quite get it who thought he was tougher than Jakob and that Owl’s Feather must want him more than Jakob.  He speaks in falsetto now, in a whisper since she almost severed his wind pipe as well as, well, some other body part.  He also lives on the east side of the Atlantic after he heard what Jakob intended to do to him - though Owl’s Feather insisted she came to no harm.

Jakob and Owl’s Feather decided to raise a family and settled on the western bank of the Yeepeekayay River a bit south of where the mighty Misery River flowed in from the west and set up a ferry for hauling wagons across the river.  He built them a nice cabin and with the increasing traffic westward, it looked like the two of them would have a nice life on the shore of the river.  Then January ’48 happened and that lead to the ‘49ers making their way west with some less than reputable scoundrels included.


Unfortunately, a party of rogues without the ability to pay the fare ended up ending both Jakob - and the very pregnant Owl’s Feather’s - life.  Not realizing just who Jakob was, they lingered a bit too long and before the last of his life force drained from his body he managed to kill all five of the men, two he literally ripped their heads off, one he broke his back so that he died a horrible, lingering death; the other two tried to ride away but Jakob was able to shoot them both off their horses and they drowned in the river.  He died holding onto Owl’s Feather and sobbing like a baby, such was his love for her.

All of the above seems a sad and tragic tale and, of course, it is.  But Jakob was the first permanent white resident in what became the largest county in the very large territory west of the Mississippi Mountains and east of the mighty Sierra River: Joetanazona Territory.

Those who came later learned of Jakob and Owl’s Feather’s fate as pieced together by several of Jakob’s mountain man friends who heard of his passing and set out to figure what happened - many of those same men later served as scouts for the United States Army and guided wagon trains of settlers to the western settlements.

It was those mountain men who regaled other pilgrims of the tale and Jakob became a certified legend locally so that when it came time to name the largest county in the territory, it was quickly - though not entirely peaceably - settled that the county had to be named for its first white resident.  And so that is how the town’s courthouse got Jakob’s last name emblazoned on it and how a rather obscure German, turned mountain man, turned husband, turned ferryman, modest of means, stamped the county with his name as well.

Not only is Anachronism, the former Jakob’s Ferry, fully settled as the county seat, there are some who think it is likely to be the seat of government for the whole territory, a ‘capital’ capital city.  The presence of the territorial governor and his party and their ladies in town lends much credence to that likelihood though it is not yet certain so our readers are cautioned to restrain their enthusiasm until confirmation is available.

Before we leave off this tale, it has created quite a stir as to who the new presiding federal judge will be: the famous - more likely infamous - Judge Ralph Garbanzo, the man who thinks Judge Roy Bean goes far too easy on those who traipse against the laws of the land.  He has already got a double, maybe triple, scaffold going up outside the courthouse.  Expectation is that it will be very well used.  We have yet to confirm the fantastical rumor that a Lady Guillotine may make an appearance in Anachronism.  Several thoroughly disreputable ‘defense’ lawyers have been crying that using such a machine would violate the United States Constitution.  We expect the town to get a bit exciting as time moves along.

As to the imposing edifice, it is one of the most impressive buildings anywhere on the frontier, great expense expended to get the hardest of hard stones to build it, that of course being the local brimstone.  The nature of some of Anachronism’s denizens forestalls the debt collectors, despite their entirely legal claims to getting paid, from pressing very hard about the debts due for its construction.  There is some hope in those eastern financier drawing rooms that things will get better with Judge Garbanzo installed in office.  This may be true if he can put a significant dent in the rife fraud and other unsavory shenanigans in the territory - and even in the streets and alleyways of Anachronism itself.  It will take some time, and perhaps some untoward events, to make a complete determination.

And now for the revelation, though certainly you local residents of any length will of course have guessed it.  Our esteemed county shall henceforth bear the moniker of:

SPLATTERGUTZ COUNTY

In honor of the late Jakob Giessen Splattergutz.  And, naturally, the courthouse shall be emblazoned with:

Splattergutz County Courthouse

Festivities to commence at noon on Saturday next.  Expectations are high for a roaring time.
---

First Old West game this coming Saturday.  I was hoping to publish the above when the courthouse was finished but it is taking longer than expected and I want to use the county name in the write up, so here it is.

For those about to get out your maps, please forestall - it is all speculative fiction or outright silliness, take your pick! 

[syrinx0]

Speculative fiction or just silly, it was a fun read. 

[Legionnaire]

For those about to get out your maps, please forestall - it is all speculative fiction or outright silliness, take your pick! 

Speculative fiction! Silliness! My Word! What's the world coming to? I am expecting nothing short of 100% historically correct accounts and taking matters very serious on here! It's almost like you're only playing a game 

[FifteensAway]

Just a few quick shots from first game of Fistful of Lead, fuller after action report awaits some responses from the players.



The game about to begin - with the passenger train way up at the top of the photo.  The passenger station is just above the water tank near the bottom of the photo.  Those barns near the stockyard are loading grain onto the four nearby wagons.  Chuck wagon on its way from water tower towards those barns.  The main ranch house is at the end of the long road on the left and picnic is underway with lots of guests.



Closer shot as the passenger train advances closer to the station.  Can also see the stockyard and train loading cattle better.  In the top right you can just make out a couple of figures - the local prospectors.



Once the train stopped, it became a focal point of a lot of action - but so did the stockyard. 

And, typical of many games, some of the "best" figures on the table were taken out during the game though, technically, this was the first game for just about everything on the table - certainly all of the figures, only exception being a few of the buildings that had appeared in ACW games years ago.

Definitely, as the game master, there were some 'lessons learned'.  More later.

[Freddy]

This table looks really cool, I especially like the rail system!

[FifteensAway]

Here is a link to the full after action report, such as it is: https://whiskeyhills.blogspot.com

As you will read, some lessons learned.  And those lessons will be applied to lots more games in the future.  I've ordered some additional items, civilians for my unarmed Chinese, some more standing and dead horses.  And just received yesterday and sorted out the US Cavalry for single basing and the Lakota for same.  I have plenty of figures for multi-based Pony Wars but wanted some singles for FFOL Reloaded, most Pony Wars will either be FFOL Bigger Battles or perhaps Rank and File.

And obligatory additional teaser photo:

[FifteensAway]

I await only some standing horses and some appropriate dead horses for the Lakota and then I can start prepping my single based US Cavalry and Lakota warriors for Fistful of Lead (figures already in the mail to me from a couple of sources).

Hopefully no one will be offended by what follows below - the native names follow, at least as intended, the Lakota way of humor being of great value and not to any way impugn the character of such warriors.  The cavalry names are all taken from various Old West movie characters.

Bold names are better quality, italics lesser quality.  Many of the native names came from a name generator though some I creatively adjusted and one or two or so are my own invention but in keeping with the generator name.

And here they all are, designed for each player to have six figures to run:


Company F, Fourth of a Fifth Regiment, US Cavalry (18)

Captain Slater      Trumpeter Cobbs      Trooper Benton

Trooper Collins       Trooper Duddleson      Trooper Emery


Lt. Carter         Cpl. Agarn         Trooper Heinze,

Trooper Lasky      Trooper Moss      Trooper Murray


Sgt. Hochbauer   Trooper Pendleton      Trooper Riorty

Trooper Schwabacker   Trooper Tucker         Trooper Vanderbilt


The Lakota Warriors (36)

The Zuya Sunka War Party of the Winyan Wowapĩ Warrior Society of the Fuh-qahr-wii sept of the Lakota nation:

Six bands of six warriors each to honor the six sacred directions of the Lakota - other tribes being absent, the Northern Cheyenne fill in the sixth band (if anyone has definitive knowledge of how the directions should be assigned, I'd be glad to adjust to fit - just point me to the supporting documentation)

Blackfeet - north
Brave Knees       Laughing Loon      Napping Bear

Orenda         Runs From Bees      Afraid of Rabbits


Brule - east
Howling Wolf       Coyote Chuckles      Hugging Bears      

Lizard Laughing      Rumbling Raccoon      Snoring Snake   
   

Hunkpapa - west
Laughing Lynx       Catches Pinecones       Hopping Frog      

Moose Rider         Sneezing Buffalo      Dancing Deer


Northern Cheyenne - down
Smiling Hawk      Chasing Rabbits      Jumping Squirrel   

Leaping Lizards      Running Brook       Winking Owl


Oglala - south
Takoda         Buffalo Knapper      Dancing Bear

Laughing Wolf      Stinking Farts       Willow Tall Tree


Sans Arc - up
Whistling Wind      Beaver Eater         Giggling Grizzly   

Rabbit Runs         Sneaky Fox         Puzzled Panther

***
Apache pending, possibly

[FifteensAway]

And, while I'm at it, here is a list of all of the other named 'primary' characters.  There are some individually based named characters as unarmed folk and some armed folk in the pipeline with a few painted but they are not listed here.  All of the named characters below are already painted except for the last two legends which I need to prep and paint and the Mexicans who are in process of getting painted for me.  And all, except as noted, have a mounted, on foot, and dead version - the others have just the foot and dead version with a few having an accompanying pack mule.  Again, six figures per player - though unlikely to have them all on the table for the same game.  And, naturally, their assignments as listed here can change from scenario to scenario if needed - or as the result of prior scenarios perhaps.

The Legends

George “The Dude” van Vittles    Jake “Spawn” McGregor   

Clark Twilight            Johnny “Forest” Blue         

Sammy “Shotgun” Mcgillicuddy   Daniel “Deadeye” Wastrelson


The Demi-Legends (no mounted versions)

Annie Oakley      Calamity Jane      Belle Starr

The Wanderers (no mounted versions)   

Pete Luster    - “Prospector Pete”   Patrick Luster - “Little Brother”
Pack Mule - Minty                       Pack Mule - Woody

Sister Veronica aka Veronica Voluptuous
Pack Mule - Clinty


The Good Ranchers

Wayne Morris         “Fondles” Henryman

Stew Jameson         Coop Garrulous

Ford Glenburg         Lance Burtman


Innocent Farmers

Livy Landsalot         ‘Jingles’ Smith

Eldred Gregory         Vint Bradley

Newbie Pauls         “Shank” Williams


Gunmen on the Right Side

Eli Samuels         Willie Chiller

Marvin Leafie         Picky Slim

Macquarie “Mac” Stevens   Bren Walters


The Upstanding Mexicans

Manuelisimo de Granillo*   Dakota Cruz
*El Guberdenadores de las Siete Ciudad de Oro (full title - self-anointed)

Urias Garcia         Jose Reyes

Rodrigo Asturia the Priest   Stony Aguilar


The Mean Spirited Ranchers

Flint Haymaker         Cord Dexter

Mitch Roberts         Hoss Wagner

Bron Carlitos         “Lash” Whitman


The Drifters

Cheyenne Hill         “Rowdy” Tosser

“Bronco” Stang         “Skinny” Michaels

Heck Knowles         Quincy Jackson


Gunmen on the Wrong Side

Cob Burnjim         Elm Jackeye

Duvall Bobman         Wynn Keen

Arney Jimmer         Boon Dixon


The Mexican Desperadoes

Rafael Castillo         Festus Morales

Cisco Lopez         “Pecos” Perez

Pancho Hernandez      Tagg Estrada


Former Slaves turned Cowboys

Caesar Julius         Gil Kingsley

Buck Epps            Kit Mulligan

“Red” Barbarossa      Israel Francois

I haven't decided on final count of unarmed civilians I will paint (or have painted) but the goal is for each figure to be a unique sculpt which should be relatively easy for the men, a bit more of a challenge for the women, and even more of a challenge for the children.  I will paint dead to go with them but not at one-to-one as with the primary characters.

There will be a bunch of armed foot only civilians as well, male and female, which will get the one dead per figure.

I also need to sort out some scouts to go with US Army in the post above, and they should be mounted/foot/dead.

And I need my Anachronism Free Militia (think Denver Free Militia from the movie Hallelujah Trail) and probably some mountain men.  And, as mentioned, some Apache.  Latter two need to be mounted/foot/dead but the AFM can all be on foot.

There are LOTS more wagons to paint and scores of buildings to get painted for the various towns in the county: Anachronism, Lodgepole Creek, Muleskinner Canyon, Alkali Wells, Mescalarilla - and Dolt's Claim, a gold and silver mining camp as well as Bull's Butt, a copper mine.  Various ranches, farms, stage stations, trading posts will also be scattered about.  And not to forget, there will be Fort Discourage.

There is one Great Hazard as I get more and more Old West (and Pony Wars) items painted and game ready: all those other periods I have may languish! 
      

         

[FifteensAway]

I must have become infected with a bout of sanity because lately I am focusing on how to - greatly - reduce the number of Old West figures to get painted.  And this despite a few recent orders - for those dead horses and more standing horses, some Chinese, and some Mexican civilians and some armed white civilian men and women.

So, even though there are some additions (one package arrived today), my current goal is revisiting the Old West (and Pony Wars) to get more 'reasonable' in numbers.  A lot of this relates to my rules of choice being Fistful of Lead as a primary set for the era, though bigger games will use Rank and File.  When taking into account just how much I have for the Old West, I think this is a Really Good Plan.  Now, just need to have a plan for the excess figures once I get it all sorted out!

[Legionnaire]

I must have become infected with a bout of sanity because lately I am focusing on how to - greatly - reduce the number of Old West figures to get painted.

When taking into account just how much I have for the Old West, I think this is a Really Good Plan.  Now, just need to have a plan for the excess figures once I get it all sorted out!

I hope you are getting well Fifteensaway! A bout of sanity is not something to be taken lightly  .

A Really Good Plan, I like the sound of that  .

[FifteensAway]

"1291 people, 831 men, 329 women, 131 children, 344 armed, 213 dead" < and that is just the civilians on foot and before a few additions.  I think we can safely say that is more than is needed for virtually any game.  Stumbled there in a miasma of disoriented enthusiasm.  But now that painting of Old West is well in hand, stark realization of just how absurd that is.  Fun getting there, now the fun is getting 'out of there'!   

Now, not saying I'm going to back down all the way to being "reasonable" but definitely going for a considerably smaller number to paint.  Plan is taking shape.  And not just for civilians on foot but all the other components of the collection - still need to dive into the Indians. 

[Legionnaire]

"1291 people, 831 men, 329 women, 131 children, 344 armed, 213 dead" < and that is just the civilians on foot and before a few additions.  I think we can safely say that is more than is needed for virtually any game.  Stumbled there in a miasma of disoriented enthusiasm.  But now that painting of Old West is well in hand, stark realization of just how absurd that is.  Fun getting there, now the fun is getting 'out of there'!   

Now, not saying I'm going to back down all the way to being "reasonable" but definitely going for a considerably smaller number to paint.  Plan is taking shape.  And not just for civilians on foot but all the other components of the collection - still need to dive into the Indians.

 

That's almost as much as you need to populate the wild west, state by state, by your lonesome 

[FifteensAway]

Nah, that isn't even a single 'standard' boom town - which could balloon to 30,000 pretty easily.  But it is A LOT!  And to think when I started on the journey, I figured 150 or so figures would be more than enough for the Old West, some thirty years ago.  I'm still going to have way more than I really need - just not quite so certifiable in the "funny white coat"* sort of way, just slightly off kilter.  Off kilter is just another way to say 'creative'.   

* that would be a straight jacket for those unfamiliar 

And, yeah, it took a while to get around to painting them.  Why hurry?   

[Legionnaire]

Indeed, why hurry? It's all about the journey and the experience  .

I wasn't even aware of this thing called wargaming until 2007, and when I asked: "so you could play ANYTHING? Wild west, is that an option?" the answer was yes, you can, so that was my first ever minis bought (28mm mind you) and painted (horribly  ).

I am definitely a skirmish gamer, I don't have a lot of space nor time/ energy for the hobby, most of my wild west buildings are stored at my local gaming club.

FfoL Reloaded 2nd edition is now my go-to ruleset. I've had two successful enjoyable participation games/ short campaigns run at the club, where all participants have enjoyed themselves, which is the most important part. To actually having fun.

I think your table looks absolutely ace, with lots of eye candy and attention to detail  .

[FifteensAway]

Beyond what is discussed above, I have 324 mounted/foot/dead plus standing horses that I plan to reorganize and generate several groups that may or may not work depending on figure compatibility (okay if in different groups but not in same group if too large or small).  Currently in 27 groups of 12; could, if it works out, get to 18 groups of 18 figures.  But trying, hard, to reduce to well below that number.  If I cut all the groups in half, then I would have 162 figures but I might try to go to closer to quartering the total which would be 81 figures.  That would be more reasonable, in a relative sense - though probably make 84.  Add that to 60 currently in process and I'd have 144 figures to choose from in mounted/foot/dead versions.  Plenty of standing horses but might be short a lot of dead horses.  Rather than buy and paint more horses I'm more likely to make it one dead horse for six figures rather than three.   That would only require 14 dead horses - will have to see after a certain order arrives if I will have enough to do that.  Probably leave the current 60 at 1 dead horse for 3 figures. 

The extra figures, at least some, likely to go to a nephew if he has the interest. 

Hmm, seven groups of twelve figures might just work.  Have to give some thought to that.

edit: after further thought over a few hours, a preliminary listing:

Down from 27 sets of 12 to these 8 groups of 18-

Lawmen, Scouts & Pinkertons-18          6,6,6      4.4.4
Army, Scouts & Rangers-18.                 12,3,3.   8,2,2
Mountain Men-18.                                just 18.  12
Gun Hands, Regulators-18                     9,9.        6,6
Outlaws, Rustlers-18                            9,9.        6,6
Gunmen-18                                         just 18.   12
Federales, Presidios-18                         9,9.        6,6
Comancheros, Banditos, Caballeros-18.  6,6,6.     4,4,4

144 mounted /144 horses, 144 on foot, 48 dead, 24 standing horses, 24 dead horses = 528 pieces. (And here is the best part: 1404 - 528 = 876 piece reduction) <but adds those 24 dead into that 528 so larger reduction but net at 876>. 684-144=540 remaining mounted/foot/dead figures

And, yes, I know that is a lot larger than the 84 above but if I go with the far right numbers and make it eight groups of 12 figures then only 96

96 mounted men / 96 horses, 96 on foot, 32 dead (1 for 3), 16 standing horses and 16 dead horses (1 for 6) = 352 pieces (1,052 redutction)

Still tinkering, won't finalize until I spend several hours going through the actual figures.

Much closer on the civilians but, again, need to spend that time with the actual figures.

Oh, the difficulties of bouts of sanity!