Advice for a new guy?

[The Hooded Claw]

Hey all,

I am gearing up for Old West minis gaming in 28mm and though I have a few ideas about what I want, I thought I'd take a moment to try to enlist the expertise of the those of you wh have been at it a while. First off, a bit about the setting I have planned.

My wife has named our town Dustswallow and we are wanting to put it in New Mexico somewhere in the latter half of the 19th century. We want to be able to have miners, railroad, farmers and the like all involved. Is there a way to work ranchers in in this part of the world? We also want it far enough south that Mexicans are also a concern.

Now for the questions.

What all would you say are the absolute basics that one must have to make Old West gaming work?

Are there things that I should get first before others?

Any misteps to try to avoid?

Thanks,

[Athelwulf]

Anywhere there is water you would find smaller ranches in that area. They did not get many head per acre but they would raise cows. My grand dad had a ranch in some of the worst land down there.

[leadfool]

Have your town in a valley, ie near mountains, then the miners can come down from the mountains.  If you have a railroad then cattle men and farmers will want to come into the town to sell there produce to the railroad or to ship it back east and that will in turn give your town a reason and a way to have the wealth to attact the bank robbers and cattle rustlers.  If you make it a county seat then you can have both a county sheriff and a town marshall.  Maybe put in a federal court so you can have a Federal Marshall as well.  The Railroad can also bring in those pesky Pinkerton boys, as well as some foreign elements.  All of these factions can lead to some real fun gaming possibilities.   

The railroad tracks can also divide the town so you can have two styles of buildings, one on each side of the tracks.  If you put in a water course, then you can have the town divided into quarters and have 3or 4 styles of buildings, ie brick , adobe, wood, canvas. 

Don't forget outhouses, sheds, awnings, hitching posts etc.  They make the town really look "lived in." 

I have used a lot of Arnica Real Estate buildings in my town, as well as some scratch built stuff.  You might also check out the ERTL brand of toys, they made a western town set that gives you several useful buildings, that while very shiny plastic, will weather up nicely.

You can also watch lots of western movies now as "research"

Good luck and glad to hear your wife is involved.

[The Hooded Claw]

Thank you for the solid advice. It does mirror other responses I've had elsewhere so I think I have a plan.

As for architecture, I am considering having modern false front buildings along main street with adobe construction on the side streets and edges of town.

How common were outhouses in "downtown" areas? I imagine bed pans and the like might be in use in hotels but were outhouses attached, built-in "water closets" or were they still seperate from the main building, even in the middle of town?

Thanks,

[Cory]

Outhouses were a must, at least up until the late 1870's, even for the most high end buildings. In the downtown areas many outhouses will be raised up a foot or two on a stone or wood foundation so that they may be emptied on a regular basis.  The warmer the climate the further away the outhouse can be though, and 3 or 4 stores may share just one.

As leadfool said it is the little things that make the place look lived in as well as providing cover during gunfights.

Woodpiles are also frequent, even in hotter places where wood was still used for cooking.

[The Hooded Claw]

Thanks for that clarification. I was curious about the placement of the outhouses and such and you answered that. I realize they were unavoidable, but as I haven't seen to many references of "outhouse placement" I was just wondering where to put them.