A couple of Scenarios for LotOW

[Court Jester]

I spent some time this evening porting over a couple of old Necromunda scenarios into Legends of the Old West. I wanted some scenarios that didn't involve the entire posse and allowed smaller groups of fighters to play against larger posses without being swept off the table.

I apologise if someone has already done this sort of thing...

THE SHOOT OUT
In this scenario fighters from two rival posses meet in the dusty town streets. The situation is tense because neither side wants to be seen breaking the peace. The locals hide behind closed doors, fearful that a firefight may develop. Meanwhile the fighters converge from opposite ends of town. As they catch sight of each other they prepare to stand their ground, neither willing to give way, but not wishing to be seen drawing a weapon first. Soon they stand almost face to face, hands hovering above guns, eyes fixed intently upon their targets.

The objective of the Shoot-out scenario is not to draw a weapon before your enemy. At the same time you must entice your rival to draw first and then drive him out of town with your return fire.

TERRAIN
The terrain represents a town street. The board and scenery are set up as per the rules in the High Noon Scenario.

THE POSSES
Each player rolls a D6 to see how many of his posse are present for the shoot-out:

1 = 2 fighters
2-4 = 3 fighters
5-6 = 4 fighters.

These fighters are randomly selected from the posse – the player cannot choose which of his fighters are involved in the shoot-out. The two posses are set up 16" apart and in a position where they are in full view of each other. Roll a dice to decide which side sets up first. Each posse must set up in a small group with no model more than 1" away from any other model.

All fighters are assumed to have their weapons holstered or slung at the start of the game. Until a weapon is drawn a special build-up and fast draw sequence of play is used.

THE BUILD-UP
The build-up to a shoot-out is a tense affair. To recreate the tense atmosphere at the start of a shootout a special series of turns called the build-up is used. Each turn of build-up has its own sequence of play.

First both sides move, then both sides test to keep their nerve as described below. If both sides pass this test then proceed to the next turn, and so on, until one side loses its nerve, at which point the shooting starts!

During the build-up both posses move at the same time rather than one after the other. The fighters walk slowly and deliberately towards each other until somebody’s nerve fails and guns are drawn. To represent this, fighters may move up to 1" per turn. Fighters must move towards the enemy and may not move into cover. Once models are within 4"
of the enemy they stop. Players take it in turn to move one fighter, starting with the player that has the most.

After both sides have moved each player must make a Nerve roll. Each player rolls a D6 and writes down the score. At the end of the next move each player makes another Nerve roll, and adds it to their previous turn’s score. Both players keep on rolling a dice at the end of each move and adding it to their score until one player’s total score goes over 15.

IMPORTANT: A roll of ‘6’ counts as ‘0’ when making a nerve roll, so if you roll a 6 your score stays the same as it was on the previous turn.

Once a player’s score goes over 15 his posse’s nerve has cracked and they go for their guns (see The Fast Draw below). If both players’ scores go over 15 on the same turn then the player who has the highest total score is the one that is assumed to have gone for his guns first. If both players have exactly the same score, then they both go for their guns at the same moment!

Assuming that one posse drew first, then each of the opposing fighters gets 1 Experience point to represent the fact that they have held their nerve in the face of great danger.

THE FAST DRAW
Once a fighter goes for his gun everyone draws their weapons and the shooting starts. For a second or two all hell breaks loose as guns are drawn and shots fired. This is called the fast draw. During the fast draw neither side is allowed to move but both sides are allowed to shoot. In the fast draw both sides can shoot but the order in which individual models shoot is determined separately.

To decide the firing order you must work out each fighters Fast Draw score. To do this roll a D6 for each model and add the following modifiers:

Drawing a Sixgun, Saturday Night Special or Throwing Weapon +4
Drawing any other Pistol +3
Drawing any Longarm or Shotgun +1
Drawing Second +1
Has the Fast Draw Skill +2

Work out the Fast Draw score for each fighter, Hero's may spend Fame points as normal to add to their dice roll for their Fast Draw score – the fighter with the highest score shoots first.

Work out the shot exactly as you would normally except models armed with Sixgun's may not Fan them. Once the first model has shot the next highest score shoots, then the next, and so on. In the case of a tie, any pistol will shoot before a Longarm or Shotgun, but otherwise shots are assumed to be simultaneous. This means that it is possible for two fighters to shoot each other at the same time!

Fighters do not have to take dive for cover tests during the Fast Draw. Fighters who are taken out of action before they get to fire lose their shot. No Heroic Actions may be called during the Fast Draw. Once all fighters have shot the normal sequence of play kicks in, each player rolls a D6 to determine 'The Drop' for turn 1.

ENDING THE GAME
The game ends if one side fails a 'Head for the Hills' roll. The other side automatically wins the shoot-out and the other side loses. Roll a D6.

EXPERIENCE
Fighters who take part in the shoot-out earn Experience points as noted below.

Nerve: Each surviving fighter of the side that held their nerve the longest earns 1 experience point.
Survival: If the fighter survives the battle then 1 point is earned. Even fighters who are taken out of action receive experience for taking part as long as they survive to fight another day.
Kills: A fighter earns 1 points for each enemy fighter he personally takes out of action during the game.
Winning: Each surviving fighter on the winning side earns 1 extra experience point.

LOOT
Roll a D6. On a roll of 1-3 the loosing posse does not get the basic 1D6 dollars following the fight (although heros may still earn loot) – their contacts are reluctant to deal with such troublemakers. On a 4-6 the posse that lost it's nerve and drew first (wheither they won or lost) does not get the basic 1D6 dollars following the fight.

[Court Jester]

HIT AND RUN
The Hit and Run scenario represents a daring but unplanned attack by a small group of fighters upon a rival posse. The hit and run doesn’t aim to kill everyone in a massive showdown, just to cause a bit of damage and remind rivals that your posse is very much a force to be reckoned with.

TERRAIN
In this scenario the player who picked the scenario is the attacker and the other player is the defender.

Mark a road running the length of the board with 1-2 side streets. Starting with the defender, each player takes it in turn to place a building or other town scenery piece alongside the road. It is suggested that the terrain is set up within an area 4' x 4' or thereabouts and that 8=10 buildings are placed.

Once the terrain is set up the defender places a Loot counter to represent a hoard which the posse has collected ready to trade or spend. The defender must also nominate a building as 'relevant to his interests'. The defender can place the loot anywhere he likes on the tabletop and he can nominate any building on the tabletop.  He must place the loot at least 8" apart from the building.

These are not necessarily going to play an important part in the game. The building is only of special significance in the Blitz mission, whilst the loot is used in the Stick Up mission, as explained below.

THE MISSION
The Hit and Run scenario can be played with any of the mission objectives described below. The attacker rolls a D6 to determine which mission he undertakes once the scenery has been set up.

1 Blitz
The attackers try to wreck the building that is 'relevant to the defender's interests'. They win if they cause substantial damage to the building. The building has a Grit of 6 and is damaged if it sustains 1 or more ‘wounds’.
2 Bushwhack
The raiders try to gun down the opposing posse's leader. They win if they take the opposing leader out of action.
3 Scrag
The attackers aim to ambush and ‘scrag’ an enemy fighter who they have a personal grudge against. The target fighter is chosen randomly before the attackers are set up. The raiders win by putting the target fighter out of action in hand-to-hand combat.
4 Shoot Up
The raiders plan to make a pass through the area, firing weapons in the air, whooping and yelling, and  generally scaring the hell out of everyone. They win by setting up within 4" of one table edge and exiting at least one model from the opposite edge.
5 Stick Up
The raiders try and steal the opposing gang’s loot. They win if a raider model leaves the table with the loot. The Loot counter can be picked up and moved exactly as described in the Bank Robbery scenario. If successful the raiders gain 2D6 to add to their loot roll after the battle, and the loser’s income is reduced by the same amount.
6 Choose
The attacker can choose any of the five missions described above.

POSSES
The defender sets up first. He deploys up to D6 of his posse to represent fighters in the immediate area. The defender chooses which fighters he wishes to deploy. Defenders may be placed anywhere on the table but must be placed at
least 8" away from a table edge.

The attacker then deploys his posse anywhere on the table but not within 8" of an enemy fighter. However, note that in the Shoot Up mission attackers must be placed within 4" of one table edge as described above. The attacker has a randomly determined number of gang fighters taking part in the Hit and Run. Roll a D6:

1-2 = 4 fighters
3-4 = 5 fighters
5-6 = 6 fighters

The remaining fighters are not available for the hasty attack. The attacker may choose which of his fighters are available for the hit and run.

THE DROP
The attacker has the drop on the first turn of the game.

DEFENDER REINFORCEMENTS
At the start of each of his turns after his first the defender may bring further gang fighters onto the table. Roll a D6 at the start of each turn after the first:

1-3 = up to 1 fighter
4-5 = up to 2 fighters
6 = up to 3 fighters

The reinforcements all arrive on the same table edge. Randomly determine which edge they arrive at. Defenders arriving at the start of the turn may move and fight normally that turn.

ENDING THE GAME
The game ends once the mission objective is met.

The game also ends if all the attackers are down or taken out of action or if the attacker Heads for the Hills. As the attackers have so few raiders and because they are hyped up for the attack, the posse can re-roll failed Head for the Hills tests. The defender is protecting his family, friends or vital possessions, and so doesn’t have to take Head for the Hills tests at all and cannot Head for the Hills voluntarily.

EXPERIENCE
Fighters who take part in the Hit and Run scenario earn Experience points as noted below.

Survival: If the fighter survives the battle then 1 point is earned. Even fighters who are taken out of action receive experience for taking part as long as they survive to fight another day.
Kills: A fighter earns 1 points for each enemy fighter he personally takes out of action during the game.
Winning: Each surviving attacker earns 1 extra experience point.

[Smokeyrone]

Well done.

[Court Jester]

I have been thinking about the shootout scenario...

Instead of the current random method I think it should be tweaked slightly to balance the number of heroes in the shoot out specifically for LotOW (obviously not an issue for other rules sets).

1 = 2 fighters (1 hero and 1 henchman)
2-4 = 3 fighters (1 hero and 2 henchmen)
5-6 = 4 fighters (1 hero and 3 henchmen)

No hired guns may take part in a shoot out, they aren't stupid enough to tangled up in such fights.

[ancientsociety]

Nice port from Necromunda!

[m4jumbo]

Great idea.  Additional scenario options are always appreciated.

[Onebigriver]

Look promising, cheers for that.