Working on some new rules prior to my re-launch of the Chaos in Cochise County Kickstarter and figured I'd share the playtest with you folks. Enjoy!
Scenario: Mexican Standoff
Warbands: Regulators and US Marshals
Playtesters: Jim Viell & Nancy Ott
Since I was introducing the game to two players who had never played a Chaos In Action or Goalsytem Engine-based game in the past, we decided to limit the warbands to those featuring only humans with no supernatural models or elements so as to concentrate on the basic rules. Jim chose the Regulators and Nancy the US Marshals.
OPENING DUEL
The scenario opened with two models, one from each warband, facing each other in the center of town, ready to duel. In today’s fight, US Deputy Marshal Cannon is facing off against the Regulator’s Gun Thug, Kydd Wynters. The duelists’ allies waited at either end of town, ready to rush in when the firing commenced.
The duel is conducted by removing a complete suit (from Ace through King) from a standard deck of playing cards, shuffling them and setting them to one side. This is the Duel Deck. The players each draw one card from the remaining deck and secretly note its value. The GM begins flipping the Duel Deck cards one at a time and when a player’s card is revealed, he or she activates their respective duelist. In today’s game, as soon as the first card from the Duel Deck was flipped, revealing a Queen, Jim revealed his Queen card and started the duel! Apparently Wynters was eager to fight!
Wynters fired and did little more than put a hole in Cannon’s hat. Cannon, not at all amused to have his hat blown off, revealing his prematurely balding hairline, returned fire, causing Wynters to suffer the loss of 2 Vitality points, seriously wounding him.
TURN 1
Play proceeded in the usual manner with the two players determining Initiative. Jim won the roll and got to act first. He wisely chose to activate Wynters, moving the Gun Thug into a nearby store and taking cover.
Nancy took her first turn, activating her Henchmen Group of US Cavalrymen. They advanced at the gallop down the Main Street, taking up position in the middle of the first block.
Play then proceeded with Jim activating his next model and then Nancy activating one of hers and so on until all models from both warbands completed their individual turns. The first turn ended with both warbands advancing cautiously into the town and staying out of range of each other’s guns.
TURN 2
The second turn opened with the Regulators again winning the Initiative roll. Early in the turn, Jim’s Henchmen group, The Boys, spurred their horses forward and took aim at the fleeing Deputy Cannon. The final result after a lot of Fate dice being expended to try and negate the damage, resulted in Cannon being shot down in the street.
The remaining members of both warbands advanced further into town, attempting a few long-range shots but causing no damage. Even Lonesome Charley, the Regulator’s eagle-eyed, ex Confederate sharpshooter, was distressed to find his crack shooting stymied when he blasted the Marshal’s Pinkerton ally, Shady Pete. Despite Pete losing all of his Vitality to this deadly Buffalo Gun shot, he passed the test to resist Knock Out and rose from the ground, brushing dust from his clothing to continue his advance!
Lonesome Charley
Shady Pete the Pinkerton
TURN 3
Once again the Regulators won the Initiative and the third turn found some of the combatants within effective range of each other with the firing now growing hotter. Wynters blasted away at Shady Pete from the window of the gun store in which he was hiding but missed. Pete, already angry after being shot by Charley, leveled his shotgun and yelled, “Enough of this!” and gave Wynters both barrels, taking the wily outlaw out of action!
The only other significant action this round was Lonesome Charley again displaying his skill, forcing Chief Deputy Marshal Silas Caine to lose a Vitality point in spite of his excellent cover inside a nearby doorway.
The Boys switch their attention to the US Cavalry squad and letting out a whoop, send some lead down the street. The Cavalry lose a man and suffer Pinning, leaving them shaken and disordered.
TURN 4
Jim once again won the Initiative round (It seemed to be a habit with him) and took the chance to send one of his sneakier men, Dastardly Dave, along the backside of the street in an effort to get him closer to the enemy while avoiding their gunfire.
Dastardly Doug managed to sneak undetected through the town and drew close enough to Deputy Marshal Kolchak where he would be more easily able to practice his knife-fighting abilities. First, however, he chanced a snap shot at Kolchak using his sawed-off shotgun. This resulted in a lot of damage to a nearby wall but none to the Deputy Marshal. Fortunately for Doug, Kolchak’s pistol shot did the same to another building.
Meanwhile, the Regulators’ employer, the Cattle Baron Colonel Caldwell, took up station in the gun store alongside his fallen ally. Caldwell took careful aim through the window and blasted Shady Pete out of existence before the deadly Pinkerton Agent could do the same to him!
Deputy Marshal Muldaur, armed with his crossbow (a weapon he finds brutally effective against some of the supernatural opponents he’s faced!) proves its use against less fearsome foes as well, taking out a hapless Regulator cowboy.
In the Main Street, the depleted US Cavalrymen reordered their lines and charged the Regulators’ rough-riding cowhands. The charge was only semi-successful, The Boys standing the charge and only losing one of their own. The Boys activated next and hacked and stabbed their way into the hapless cavalry squadron, reducing it to a single, desperate man!
TURN 5
The fifth turn opened with…you guessed it…Jim winning Initiative. The battle raging in the Main Street finds the lone US Cavalry Soldier desperately fighting for survival, taking out another one of the Boys before being overwhelmed and taken down.
Colonel Caldwell, not at all rattled by the gunfire striking the window frame behind which he was covered, returned fire and took Caine out of action with a particularly accurate shot! Three brave US Marshals lay wounded in the street the locals will come to nickname Bloody Alley!
Deputy Muldaur again displays his skill with his archaic weapon, planting a bolt painfully into Lonesome Charley and erasing 2 of Charley’s Vitality points!
Marshal Kolchak is the unfortunate victim of Dastardly Dave’s expertise with bladed weapons.
Dave charges and slashes away a Vitality point. Kolchak defends himself with a half-hearted swipe that Dave easily blocks.
END GAME
At this point and before Initiative is rolled for the next round, Nancy decides it would be better for the Marshals to preserve what strength they have left for another day and call off the fight, retreating with their wounded.
The Regulators commemorate their victory by taking over the local saloon and celebrating well into the night.
All in all a good fight but the Marshals, despite enjoying good luck early in the game, found themselves quickly out-maneuvered and shot up. But they’ll re-group and come back to clean up the town!
Welcome, Guest. Please 
April 28, 2024, 08:10:25 AM
May 01, 2007, 12:53:34 PM
