Smaller scale cowboy games

[mellis1644]

I've long wanted to do some cowboy games and although I have in the unpainted lead mountain some in 28mm including some buildings, the storage, transport and cost of getting a nice town is a limiting factor for club nights.

So I dug out some of the 18mm blue moon stuff I bought years ago with some of the buildings I got at the time and have started painting those up. They will allow me to take the game anywhere (within reason) even via the bus/streetcar (if the Mrs has the car for the night) to the local gaming stores and play decent games.

I thought I'd share a few photo's, as I have been adding them to my blog in prep for the first multi-player game later this month. I plan on using a fist full of lead rules which should be simple enough for this reduced scale but with enough details to be fun for all players.

These are not to the glorious level of painting of some of you here (yes I'm envious of your skills) but they look ok to me.  This is the start of my wild west work. But I thought I'd share what I have done so far. Advice and painting suggestions always welcome as well.

The black hat gang:


The white hat gang:


The trench coat gang:


A shot of a few of the buildings I have done:


You can see more pics on my blog here: https://mellis1644.wordpress.com/. Thanks for looking.

[Mason]

Very nice and a very sensible idea for differentiating between gangs at a small scale.
 

[Harry Faversham]

More than sensible, perfectly realistic too... everybody know the goodies wear white 'ats and the baddies wear black ones!

 

[hentzau]

More than sensible, perfectly realistic too... everybody know the goodies wear white 'ats and the baddies wear black ones!

 

It's the guys in the grey hats that make me nervous...

[mellis1644]

We had a 5 player game of Fist full of lead last night using these and more to a local gaming store. I'll post some pics on my blog and a quick review of the game soon but it worked like a charm. Everyone had loads of fun - laughs, wild turns of fate and tactics all in play.

[Tom Reed]

As to fighting in buildings, you could make small floor plans of each and put the figures on them when they are inside.

[mellis1644]

What we did was put the figure on a white marker and have their outside the building but near the location - so by the window/door etc. This worked visually as a reminder that they were there yet was simple and effective. Not as great as lift of roofs but for the scale of the game it seemed to work well.

[Harry Faversham]

It's the guys in the grey hats that make me nervous...

  Always be wary of the men in grey 'ats... 

[FifteensAway]

Like the figures just fine.  And my scale, too.  I do think the buildings are too bright in your color choices but that just may your personal preference.  So, if you wanted to change anything, I'd subdue - dramatically - the brighter and more vibrant colored buildings.  Those colors, if they appeared at all, would be limited to trim at most.  Unlikely such colors would have been available and, if they had been, they would have been cost prohibitive to use for a whole structure.  But, again, its your game and you can do it as you choose.

But, mostly, I just like seeing figures in this scale.  There is more to gaming than 28 mm!  Just ask me.   

[mellis1644]

Thanks. I did the buildings bright colours to stand out but I completely agree with you that in reality they would likely not have been painted. Likely much more of a 50's Hollywood look than reality. I just did not want all the buildings to look alike so was creative vs. historical.

The game we played worked out great and everyone enjoyed it. There was no impact to playing in 18m vs. 28mm other than the figs and buildings it being smaller. So we'll be having more games of smaller scale cowboys in the future and I'm continuing to paint for the project.