Wild West Rules - Gutshot - Hawgleg Publishing

I know that this set of rules wasn't on the initial list but I finally got around to ordering it and since it arrived in the mail on Monday I felt like I should include it in the list. So one more post after this one and then its off to the compilation post. I heard about Gutshot on TMP. It seems that every time someone asks which wild west rules are the best Gutshot gets a couple of shout outs. So since the wild west is going to be my focus for a while longer I figured it was about time I picked them up. I have spent a couple of days now pouring through the 175 pages that make up the rulebook but don't let that scare you off, like a lot of these wild west rules its not all rules on those pages. I should mention that Gutshot won the Origins Award in 2006 for Historical Miniatures Game of the Year (interestingly enough I have won an Origins Award as well, way back in the 80's when I did a line of 15mm buildings for Stone Mountain Miniatures). I should also mention that there is a lot of downloadable material on the Hawgleg Publishing website so after you have read this post wander on over to the website and see what kind of support you can get..for free! Gutshot Downloads

Gutshot
Hawgleg Publishing
In Print
8 1/2 x 11, Paperback, Perfect Bound, 175 pages
Original Price: $24.95

Movement: Moved is based on what kind of movement the character is performing and can be found on Table 6.1.1. Basically you can crawl, walk, trot or run during your action (a character will have three actions during the turn, one action each time their name is drawn from the hat, these are referred to as action slips). There is a section for character movement, mounted movement and vehicle movement but the basics can be had in Chapter 2 Quick Start Guide. There are plenty of rules to handle just about anything from jumping through windows, jumping off roofs and picking the lock on a door. All of these are based around the concept of a task. There are free tasks (just do it), fast tasks (combined with movement or an attack) and Full Tasks (these takes the characters full attention) and Multi-Action Tasks (will take more than one action to complete). For a straight up gunfight most actions taken will either be free or fast and the rest are more likely to come into play when called for by a scenario.

Combat: Basically each character and NPC in the game has a target number. If you roll your target number or better on 2D6 you hit your target. Of course there are modifiers to be applied to that based on the actions of the character shooting and his target. Rolling snake eyes (double ones) is a bad thing and you get the pleasure or rolling on Table 10.2 and see what wonderful thing happens to your weapon. If you hit damage is rolled and applied to the target based on the weapon. There are a whole host of other rules that can come into play and are all are described in Chapter 10. But you already have the basics down at this point.
Hand to hand is a bit different. The target number is based on the weapon being used and the defender has a defensive target number as well (but only if they have a free hand to defend with). There is a difference between fisticuffs, melee weapon and improvised weapons so Chapter 11 is a good chapter to read thoroughly. 

Wounds:  So damage is handled a little differently in Gutshot. Each character has 15 hit points. The number of points of damage a character has accumulated (either in one shot or over the course of a game) increase the severity level of the wounds. From 1-5 points of damage is a light wound level, 6-10 is moderate and 11-15 is severe. Different wound levels will have different effects on how well a character can perform actions. A character is dead when more than 15 points have been accumulated. In a campaign setting damage can be healed over time. Even dead characters can come back (referred to as knocking on Heaven's Door in the rules). At the end of the game all "dead" characters are checked to see if they can survive with proper medical attention.

Weapon List: While everything else is handled in extensive detail the weapon list is quite short consisting of; derringers, pistols, rifles shotguns and sawed off shotguns. This is deliberate to get you into the game quickly. It is the game I expected a more extensive list for though. They do recommend "The Knuckleduster Firearms Shop" book by Forrest Harris. Unfortunately that book has been out of print for some time. I have a copy and no I won't sell it to you. [At the time of this writing I do see a number of used and new copies on Amazon all going for at least $40 and 1 copy on the Noble Knight Games site going for $45].

Campaign rules: You can find just about anything in the campaign rules (although the campaign rules from SnS could be incorporated easily and really make an exceptional wild west setting). Like many of the other wild west rules Gutshot suggest tying scenarios together to form the basic outline of a campaign but that a more well thought out campaign will create a better experience for the players and the Game Marshal. I think an excellent resource would be watching episodes of the Wild Wild West and seeing what kind of adventures James West and Artemis Gordon managed to get into. Everything you need to start a campaign like this is present in this section of the rule book, especially on how to handle a mass of NPCs and playing with an unruly mob!

Rules Bling: The is nice rule book with a glossy full color cover made from a heavier cardstock and white pages on the inside. It is bit crowded with text and could use some white space to help make things less dense. It has a some really nice drawings and some odd ones that look like some kind of photoshop work. Its in a two column format and its strictly black and white on the inside. There are some nice call outs in the margins (typically the gutter margin) and charts and tables will span both columns on occasion. You will find all the charts and tables in the back of the book for quick reference as well. It has great table of contents as well as an index. I'm not fond of some of the organization but in the end it works especially with the a good ToC. To make the rules even more rule friendly the right hand margin is used to tell you what section you are in, so you can flip through the book and pretty quickly find what you are looking for in a broad sense like; 10. Combat: Firearms (starts on page 95 and runs to page 118).

Unique: Its hard to pinpoint a single thing that makes Gutshot truly unique because there are a number. The one item that really sticks out to me is the retaliation shot. Whether you hit your target or not, they get to make a retaliation shot against you (unless they are out of ammo). Its quite possible that both characters will go down in a blaze of glory just like it happened in so many western movies.

My Thoughts:  This is big book filled with a lot of information and its hard to distill it down into something as short as a blog post. While it can be a bit intimidating an experienced gamer can read Section 2, Quick Start Guide and be able to play Gutshot without much of a problem. Skimming through some of the other chapters for more detail during the your first game will help lock in the concepts established in Chapter 2. Everything else is nice detail that you may or may not need in every single game. So don't be intimidated by the length rules (the longest yet by page count) and just focus on Chapter 2. This is definitely not a posse style game, running one or two characters will give you plenty of things to do during a game. This one definitely shades the line towards an RPG and it definitely has some cross over. For me it really does a good job of bringing you into the old west as its can be so much more than just a running gun battle. Although you can definitely do the running gun battle and not get bogged down.

I'm going to nitpick on one thing, because references to scale can really set me off First let me say that this in no way affects how the game is played or in reference to a specific rule. During the description of buildings and how to dress up your western town there is a reference to Model Train Buildings. It refers to the "less popular O-Scale, which is about 1:64 (1/64) and is just right for Gutshot." My issue is that O scale is definitely not about 1/64 it is (in the US) 1/48 scale and its usually quite precise that is why model railroaders use actual scale as opposed to the gaming companies need to measure things in millimeters. Of course if you have read my blog or any amount of time you know the 1/64 is actually S Scale and its a bit on the small side for our miniatures although there are model railroad items that work quite well for gaming. O scale is a bit on the large size but is also usable. My preferred scale is 1/56 which seems to be the best compromise to match up with most lines of western miniatures. End of rant! Just buy the rules, I think its one of the good ones!

Wild West Rules - Shoot N' Skedaddle - Turnstyle Games

How can I pass up a game that uses cards for just about everything, especially when the rules themselves are free? Shoot N' Skedaddle let's you read the rules first and then decided if you want to buy the rest of it. Something I can appreciate in these days of the $30+ rulebooks that are only about 40 pages long. It really helps that this is a good game on top of that. And if you don't like the game the campaign rules are well worth reading and solve a lot of problems that I have encountered in other wild west campaigns. It takes a little work and someone willing to play referee but I think they are worth the effort.

Shoot N' Skedaddle
Turnstyle Games
Rules In Print
Card Decks Out of Print (being revised)
8 1/2 x 11, PDF, pages 
Original Price: Rules Free, Card Decks $30

Movement: Like most wild west games when a character is activated one or more of the actions available is or includes moving. In SnS movement rates are set and found on the character cards. Most characters move 6" a couple are a bit speedier and move 8". Rates for animals can be found on an animal movement chart.

Combat: SnS is built around the concept of the test. So shooting and hand to hand fighting use a test to see if your character succeeds in hitting. A test requires a 5+ to succeed (or hit in this case). This is when the various character traits and weapons come into play. A shooting test is based on the marksmanship trait. A soldier's marksmanship trait uses a D12, so he rolls a D12 needing a 5+ to hit. If he is using a carbine then he only gets 1D12 if he was using a sixgun then he would roll 2D12s. The marksmanship of the priest character is a D6 and he still needs a 5+ to hit. Modifiers adjust the die rolled if the soldier is shooting at a target in cover then he is -1 and rolls a D8 for marksmanship instead of a D12 (D10s are not used in this game. The same concept works for hand to hand fighting except the scrap trait is used for the test.

Wounds:  If a character is successfully hit then he receives a wound if the wound check is successful (again that's a 5+). The die roll for a wound check is based on the weapon. A sawed off shotgun only rolls a D6 (but it allowed the character 5 "shots"), while a heavy sixgun uses a D12 (but only gets 1 shot). There is no hit location or severity to go along with it. A wound reduces a characters traits so they are less effective. A character is incapacitated if a second wound is received.

Weapon List: The weapon list in SnS is fairly extensive! It even includes a weapon card for a lasso. My only knock against it is there is still no difference between a single action or a double action pistol.

Campaign rules: The campaign rules are extensive and quite well thought out. Since the rules are free anyway I recommend that you just download them and read them for yourself. They include how to set up the campaign and characters gaining or losing dice for traits as they progress through the campaign.

Rules Bling: This is a step up from the plane jane rules. Since they are only available as a pdf the author didn't need to worry costs. Its in a single column format with the main rules in black and white and colored boxes for examples and commentary. There are pictures but no drawings (probably not a bad thing). There is a nice table of contents and the layout is quite clean. This is really my preferred formatting for a set of miniature rules.

Unique: Somewhat in a different vein from other wild west rules SnS's unique characteristics has nothing to do with the card deck although it does have something to do with cards. Each character in the game is drawn from the character deck, the deck will consist of lawmen, bad guys and neutrals. The first player to draw a lawman or a bad guy takes that side in game. Neutrals can be on either side and make up the majority of the deck. A scenario will state how big a posse will be for the game and players take turns keep drawing till their posse's are full. The card contains all the traits for that character. You will find the equipment he starts with, any special rules that pertain to him and then his traits defined by the type of die that is rolled to make the appropriate "test". For instance "the Drifter" gets to draw two weapon cards, gets to add a joker to the activation deck and activates when the joker is drawn in addition to his normal activation card (King of Clubs in this case). His move is 6", Str D12, Agility D8, Scrap D12, Marksmanship D20 and his Guts is also a D20. A pretty nasty individual. In a campaign situation he could be added to your posse for 75 gold. Each character also tells you what player card the character will activate on. Use two identical decks and pull out the necessary cards to make the activation deck. With the drifter in play you need to start with the King of Clubs (x2), a soldier activates on the Six of Clubs (x2) and the Priest on the Ten of Clubs (x2). So every character in a posse will activate twice during a turn with the drifter getting three activations because he gets to add the joker. So, by design, you are likely playing with unbalanced posse's and a varied mix of weaponry. Remaining neutral characters might enter the game based on the special activation cards (add 0-4 aces to the deck if desired).

My Thoughts:  I enjoy the random aspect of posse creation in SnS. You can play the same scenario at a convention or at home a number of times in a day and have it always be different because of the random nature of the posse's. Using different dice to reflect the character's traits is also fun and reminds me of playing the Deadlands RPG. At first glance it appears quite complex but all you really need to remember is that every test in the game requires a 5+. If you keep that in mind then everything really does fall into place. Its nice that the rules are free, you have a chance to read them before laying out any money for the card decks. I do see that the card decks are no long appearing on thegamecrafter.com. I believe that there are some revisions being made to the decks (like adding pictures of painted miniatures to them) and he didn't want anyone to purchase old decks. If you contact the author directly through his web page he might be willing to send out templates so you can get started. This is another fast and furious game!

Since the rules are PDF and don't really feature a cover I thought I would take a picture of the box cover for the card decks. These were produced on demand from thegamecrafter.com.

Now that's a weapon deck!

Here you can see some of the weapon cards, showing the range, the number of dice to roll (i.e. shots) and the die type needed to wound, along with any special rules and, of course, the cost of the weapon in a campaign

The "special" decks. You only draw from here when an ace comes up in the activation deck

The character cards, there aren't to many good guys or bad guys but there are a whole bunch of neutral guys. You can populate an entire town with these!

Wild West Rules - The Rules with No Name - Foundry Publications

This is the first set of rules I purchased when I began the search for a rule set for my town of Calamity. I added it to an order of western miniatures during one of Foundry's periodic sales. Its the only hardcover wild west rulebook that I own at this point. In fact I'm not sure if there are any other rules published in hardback for the wild west (okay Aces and Eights but that's I consider that much more of an RPG for Wild West rather than a set of miniature rules). Probably because most of Wild West rules are pretty short and it would be hard to justify a hardback book for them. However, as you can see from the page count below, and like Legends in the Old West, this is another big book of rules and more! I'll do my best to distill this one down a bit. While the rulebook is big the basic rules to get you going are only about 14 pages long which is pretty close to some of the other rule sets I have taken a look at and should have you diving into your first game right away.

The Rules with No Name or "A Fistful of Dice"
Foundry Publications
In Print
Large Format (A4+?), Hardcover, 133 pages 
Original Price £25

Movement: Like many of the other western rules this one is based on characters taking actions when their turn (when their card is drawn from the fate deck) comes. In TRwNN how fast your character moves when they use a move action is random. A character simply moving gets to roll 3D6 for their movement. A character moving and shooting gets to roll 2D6 for their movement. Pretty straight forward with the possibility of you not quite getting to cover.

Combat: In the basic rules the only combat is shooting. Characters need a six to hit their target and potentially cause a wound. You get to roll multiple dice to get that six, it depends on the type of weapon and the range to the target. For example a character with pistol at close range (between 2" and 6") gets to roll 3D6. Modifiers are applied as well but instead of a + or - to the roll you add or subtract dice. If you are firing at at target in cover you are -1D6. You still need a six to hit you just have fewer dice to use.
Hand to Hand fighting is actually an optional rule. The attacker rolls dice based on his weapon as indicated on the fighting chart (a Fist is 3D6 a pistol is 2D6). The defender also gets to roll a number of D6 based on his weapon (A fist in defense is 4D6 while a pistol is still 2D6). Which ever side rolls the most sixes gets to roll for an "effect" (or wound) based on the weapon they were using. Again modifiers are applied just like for shooting and adjust the number of dice that are thrown.

Wounds:  For shooting the player rolls 1D6 for the location and then another 1D6 for the Effect. Wounds will run from a graze to dead! Fighting has its own chart as mentioned above. This game is not quite a bloody as some of the others but the use of a D6 does keep the range of possible results quite low and deadly. There are modifiers to a character's ability to take actions based on the type of wound they have taken

Weapon List: The weapon list, again is very short, just pistols and rifles in the basic rules and shotguns and hand to hand weapons in the optional rules

Campaign rules: There really isn't a set of campaign rules for TRwNN but there is a section for improving a characters class and adding skills. There is definitely an RPG component here there is even a gamemaster section in the back that allows someone to run a game and really customize the citizens (NPCs) and create a town with personalities that could be the ongoing location for all a gaming group's wild west interests.

Rules Bling: This is a pretty heavy bling book. Its hardback with lots of excellent pictures (featuring Wargames Foundry miniatures of course) and some nice drawings (that I think are basically clip art or old drawings that are no longer under copyright). Its in a two column format with pictures, drawings and charts/tables spreading across the page as needed. The table of contents is extensive and it includes and an index & reference page which is good because I don't find the book particularly well organized. I found the use of basic rules and then everything else being optional a little perplexing. Going with an advanced set of rules to ease players into some of the new stuff would have made more sense to me. There is an extensive section in the back that gives you everything you need to create your own fate deck (I would suggest scanning these cards) along with some extras that would let you skip the dice like; shooting chits, skill chits and even event cards for bystanders (event cards are part of the fate deck normally). And in the very back are the quick reference sheets!

Unique: These rules have a couple of unique aspects to them. As you can tell from the shooting and fighting section the number of dice based on the weapon approach is definitely unusual and I like that. I find it quick and fun to deal with. 
And then their is the fate deck. It has some similarities to a couple of other games (notably Fistful of Lead) as it uses cards to determine when character gets to take an action. The difference here is that there are also "Fate" or action cards in the deck along with a joker. If the card turned over is a character then that character takes its action. If an action card is drawn it will be placed face up next to the deck. It will have a level on it and only a character with a level equal to or higher than the one listed is flipped over the player can pick up and use the action card. When the joker is drawn then all the cards in the discard pile are shuffled back in. Action cards have to be played or discarded to the deck when this happens as well. In other words the joker really resets the entire deck. Makes for some nerve racking terms and really adds tension to the game. 

My Thoughts:  Don't be overwhelmed by the size of the rule book. While its extensive as far as rules go there are a lot of sections that some people may never use. While I have a problem with how the optional rules are presented you aren't in anyway required to use them. I still would have preferred and advanced rule section as some of those rules, like hand to hand, I don't really consider optional. There are rules for challenges and horses and dynamite in there so take some time and read through them and see what tickles your fancy. There is a painting section by Dallimore that I would view as required reading as well as a whole section on building your own buildings along with signage to go along with them. For those with a more military pent you will find sections for both Soldiers and Indians. This book really does cover a lot of material and even if you don't decide to use it for your rules its a wonderful reference for your library.

Wild West Rules - Legends of the Old West - Warhammer Historical

I'm quite nostalgic about this set of rules because they are the ones that got me back into Wild West games after my Boot Hill days. If you are a Warhammer player then this system is going to feel very familiar to you. It uses the typical Warhammer characteristics that you find in Warhammer, Warhammer 40K and Lord of the Rings. In fact if you are a Lord of the Rings player then this system will be very familiar as it serves as the base rules for Legends of the Old West. This is one of the more rules oriented games out there (as should be evidenced by the 135 pages!). Unlike most Wild West games here a player moves all his miniatures and then his opponents take their turn (IgoUgo sequence).

Legends of the Old West
Warhammer Historical 1st Edition
Out of Print
Standard US, softcover, perfect bound, 135 pages 
Original Price $35.95 

Movement: This game uses set movement rates for the type of character or creature; people move 6", mules move 8" and horses move 10". Anything else will have its movement rate defined in its description. The movement section covers all kinds of things from getting over obstacles to horses running wild.

Combat: Your ability to shoot and to fight are based on the characteristics of the model. The characteristics are: Shootin', Fightin', Strength, Grit, Attacks, Wounds, and Pluck. Each character may have some special abilities as well. You need to roll your Shootin' value or better to hit with a gun or other long ranged weapon. There are no modifiers to hit as such but you might have an additional roll to make if you hit the target if they are behind cover. The Fightin' works in a similar manner. Both combatants roll a number of D6 equal to their Attacks value (typically 1) high score wins! If there is a tie then the character with the higher Fightin' wins. If its still a tie then roll 1D6 on a 1-3 one side wins on a 4-6 the other side wins (you have to figure out which is which I suppose).

Wounds:  So you have managed to hit your target either by Shootin' or Fightin'. For Shootin' consult the wound chart and compare the target's Grit to the Weapon's Strength to determine if the character is wounded or not. Cross referencing the results gives a number, roll 1D6 and if the score is equal to or higher then the target is wounded. There are some other possible effects based on the dice score as well. A wound from Fightin' is similar but its the target's Grit vs the attacker's Str to determine the number required to wound. Again there are a lot of situations covered in the rules for both Shootin' and Fightin'.

Weapon List: Legends has a list of weapons that makes me smile. While not huge it is a lot more than other wild west games out there. It does bring out one detail though, the rules state that any revolver can be "fanned" and this is incorrect. You can really only fan a single action revolver, you are going to damage the cylinder if you try an fan a double action revolver. Again there is a difference between the two types and I think its worth the effort to note the difference and what you can and cannot do.

Campaign rules: There are two components to the campaign rules. First you "gather" your posse. You pick a list to work from and a set number of points and build a posse from that list. You might build a posse from the "Cowboy" list which means you would have a Trail Boss supported by Greenhorns, Buckaroos, Cowpokes and Wranglers or you might build a posse from the "Lawman" list lead by a Sheriff supported by Deputies, Upstanding Citizens and Vigilantes. From there you play through scenarios gain experience and deal with injuries. Its pretty straight forward and easy to use.

Rules Bling: Warhammer Historical is a subsidiary or Games Workshop so as you might think this book is filled with a lot of bling. On the other hand they have a lot of experience working with rulebooks and I find it clean and well layed out. Its done in a two column format with lots of pictures, drawings (good ones), diagrams, charts and tables. Sometimes restricted to the column width sometimes spanning the whole page. It has an excellent table of contents which is a must have for a book this size. There is a short section on terrain and painting and all of the charts and templates and counters are at the back of the book. Although they are a little hard to scan because of the perfect binding used to hold everything together.

Unique: The campaign system is what really makes Legends of the Old West standout. While the concept of a list to build from is classic Games Workshop going back to many of their specialist games like Mordheim and Necromunda. What truly makes it standout though is the continued growth of your posse, gaining skills, acquiring "Hired Guns" buying equipment etc. If you really want a campaign this one really lays it out in a lot of detail (please note that there are certainly wild west rules that have campaign systems that I'm not familiar with).

Supplements: Frontier Blood on the Plains - Primarily this volume adds optional rules, expands the weapons available and adds "gangs" for the US Cavalry, Texas Rangers and Indians (there are a number of variant lists for each). Out of Print, Original price $29.95
I don't own either of the two supplements that were written:
The Alamo - Mostly rules, equipment and scenarios for larger actions. It adds three new "gangs"; Mountain Men, Bandidos and Comancheros
Showdown - Adds the Chinese Tong but mostly campaign rules and possible cross overs to other timer periods. I really need to hunt this one down and add it to the collection especially with the emphasis on campaigns.

My Thoughts:  Legends of the Old West is really the LoTR skirmish system transplanted to the Wild West, but it works, works well and its fun. Because of this there are a lot of rules and even when you remove the non rule sections there are still a lot of rules. This isn't bad its the result of not being built from scratch and having the benefit of what amounts to a lot of playtesting. The campaign aspect can make it very exciting and that certainly makes it unique from its LoTR heritage. The issue is that its quite possible for some posses to really outstrip the competition and start stepping all over their opponents, this was also an issue with Mordheim as well. It takes a bit of play balancing if a campaign is going to survive for an extended amount of time.

Wild West Rules - Fistful of Lead; Reloaded - Wiley Games

Jaye Wiley at Wily Games used Kickstarter to launch a new edition of Fistful of Lead. I believe the rewards for this were finished up in May of this year. I'm going to call this a 2nd edition of the rules, since its updated with a few new rules but primarily its the same game as the original with the campaign system added. If you missed the Kickstarter you may only be able to get these rules digitally now. If I see a website pop up for Wiley Games I'll update this post.

Fistful of Lead; Reloaded
Wiley Games, 2nd Edition
In Print (Digital only)(http://www.wargamedownloads.com/item.php?item=1436&Site=KS)
Comic Size, softcover, 41 pages 
Original Price $10 

Movement: This game uses a set movement rate depending on your action. Each character receives two actions which can be used for a variety of fun things including moving, aiming and shooting.

Combat: Shooting is simple. At close range you need a 5+ on a 1D10, at long range you need an 8+. Of course there are modifiers that are applied to this. You only get to shoot once per action you take, but its considered a volley of lead rather than a single shot. You are only out of ammo and need to reload on a 1. A hit forces a player to make a wound roll.
Hand to hand combat is deadly to say the least. Both characters roll 1D10, high die roll wins and the loser takes the difference in wounds. So if you lose by 2 you have to make 2 wound rolls.

Wounds:  Wounds are rolled on using 1D10 per wound inflicted. You can be pinned, wounded or dead (that should tell you just how deadly hand to hand fighting really is).

Weapon List: I guess I just have to be happy with small generic weapon lists because that's what's in FFoLR as well. You can have a derringer, pistol, rifle, shotgun, throwing axe, knife, spear or bow.

Campaign rules: The concept behind printing a new edition of Fistful of Lead was really to add the campaign system (and clear up the rules a bit). You start by building your "gang" (just a generic term, you could just as easily call it a "posse") similar to what we see in Legends of the Old West. But FfoL takes that a few steps farther along the trail and really lets you customize your "gang". Each member can have up to two positive traits and two negative traits. When you first start out only two members can have traits at all and traits are randomly drawn. Pull a card and look it up on either the positive or negative trait list. Then its off to the races to play a series of campaign scenarios and see how much renown you can earn for your gang. I think the replay value of the campaign is quite high as the scenarios are randomly determined by a card draw.

Rules Bling: This is a plain Jane style rule book which for the most part I prefer. It is printed in a comic book style format (6 3/4 x 10 1/4) with a full color cover made from a light card stock with heavyweight paper interior pages printed in B&W. It is in a two column format and for the most part charts and pictures are contained within the columns spilling over into the other column when necessary. I actually feel like everything is a bit crowded together. There is a table of contents and I think that its well organized. The Basic rules only take up the first 13 or so pages, its a quick game to get started with. There are markers, record sheets and a quick reference sheet in the back of the book (I would recommend scanning them rather than cutting them out, the comic book format makes scanning pretty easy). The quick reference sheet is on the inside of the back cover so its quite handy. I have a separate one that came as part of my Kickstarter rewards.

Unique: While the concept of using a playing card deck is certainly not unique, how FfoL does it is. The deck is primarily used for initiative but there is a bit of a twist here. At the beginning of each turn the player is dealt one card for each of his active characters. Once all the cards are dealt you work down from Kings (highest card) to Deuce (lowest card), Aces are wild cards and can be played at anytime although the "real" card takes precedence (i.e. If a player uses the King of Spades you can play an Ace as the King of Spades but the real King of Spades would still go first, an Ace does not trump but it does receive the special effect of a card if it has one). When a card is called that is in your hand you play it and determine which of your un-activated characters is going to use it. Characters can only be activated once per turn. If two players have the same card then order is determined by suit (Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs). But some of the cards have additional effects that can be used when they are played. This adds quite a bit of tension to the game.

Supplements: For a Fistful More: Scenarios fro Fistuful of Lead. I particularly like the "Revenge of Boothill", I'll let your mind work on that a bit. This was available as a hard copy in the comic book format as part of the Kickstarter and is now available as a download from wargamedownloads.com

My Thoughts:  I have played FfoL for 3 or 4 years now and the rules didn't need to change much, mostly just a little clean up. Its a fast and furious game an a lot of fun to play. I was really hoping for a bit of an expanded weapon list. I really enjoy the campaign system that has been added. I picked up mine through the Kickstarter mostly to be sure to get everything so I have laser cut wood game markers and printed versions of the the rule book and the scenario book as well as a custom deck of cards that includes the special effects listed when that card is used during the initiative phase. This one should definitely be in your rules library.

The scenario book. I believe this was only available in hard copy to the Kickstarter backers. It is available as a download at wargamedownloads as well.

The Kickstarer Quick Reference Sheet

The Kickstarter card deck. I don't know if these will be available in the future or not so I made sure to get the deck in my rewards.

You can see that the deuce is a special card with its effect printed right on it. This deck could certainly be used for other Wild West games as well.

Game markers and my Sheriff's badge from the Kickstarter. Again I wasn't sure if these were going to be available or not so I got them. They should be useful for other wild west games too.

Wild West Rules - Desperado - Knuckleduster Miniatures

Knuckleduster Miniatures enters the Wild West genre with Desperado. I'm listing these as third edition rules although I'm not sure that's really correct. As stated these are all the rules from Desperado I and II (which I do not own) along with the house rules that are used at Knuckleduster (I'm assuming Forrest Harris' house rules). However, Monday Knight Productions has a set of Desperado Rules that are specifically listed as 3rd edition but the author is not listed. I'm not sure if the two sets of rules are related or not. The original author of Desperado is Tom Kelly and Desperado I and II are credited to him with additional material by Forrest Harris. None of which actually affects game play or anything like that, I just find it interesting.

Desperado
Knuckleduster Miniatures 3rd Edition ?
In Print
Standard US (8 1/2" x 11"), softcover, 59 pages 
Original Price $30

Movement: A "random" element is used for movement in Desperado. A character can crawl, walk or run. Crawling allows you to use 1D6, Walking 2D6 and Running 3D6. There are also dice rolled for mounted movement and wagons. You can only run for two consecutive cards (see the unique section for more on this) and then a character must spend a card to rest. Not my favorite style of movement but it gets the job done and certainly adds an element of risk when you are moving a character. Maybe you will make it into the Saloon and maybe you will be stuck in the street the door just out of reach.

Combat: Shooting and Hand to Hand combat are handled in two separate ways. Shooting is done using percentile dice with the percentage chance of a hit based on the weapon, the distance along with other modifiers. Generally modifiers will be a percentage change like -1/2% (or reduce the % to hit by 50% or halved). If you are shooting at a lawyer you get to add 10%. Hand to hand combat each character rolls a 1D6 and adds the appropriate modifiers with the highest modified die roll be declared the winner that round and the effect is applied to the "loser".

Wounds:  Wounds are definitely interesting. This is a deadly game! Each character has 100 damage points. When you hit 100 points the character is dead. First a roll is made on the wound chart. This determines the hit location and the severity of the wound. Then damage is rolled based on the wound severity. There are some additional effects that are applied as well. There are straight out kill shots (100 points damage), grazes (5 points of damage), heavy wounds (Full % roll with the number rolled being the damage dealt) and light wounds (1/2 % roll). There are more than a few unpleasant results on the table. Fun!

Weapon List: Another very small weapon list (which surprises me coming from Knuckleduster). There is only a pistol, rifle, shotgun and knife. As I have mentioned before there is a lot of difference firing a single action revolver and a double action revolver, although I admit that caliber is irrelevant based on the wound table.

Campaign rules: There are no campaign rules as such. Characters that survive a game are usually just given an additional card in the deck (see the unique section).

Rules Bling: This is another heavy bling book from my perspective. Heavy gloss covers, full color, heavy, matte, interior pages. It should be take a little abuse. Its a single column format with pictures, drawings (good ones) and charts inserted as needed. I find it a little to busy for my tastes and not as well organized as I would like, but then its not a terribly long book either.

Unique: Desperado uses a character deck to determine the movement order of the various characters and NPCs involved in a given scenario. A regular towns person will have two cards in the deck, a tenderfoot (where most characters start) gets three cards, a lawman gets 4 cards and a professional gets 5 cards. All these cards are used to create the "deck". A turn ends when all the cards have been played. It does create a lot of tension in the game, especially if you rolled badly when moving and are stuck out in the open. Will your card come back up so you can get to cover before some one shoots you down? Its recommended that you just use a 3x5 notecard cut into thirds to make the deck with or get some cheap plastic poker cards from the dollar store.

My Thoughts:  There is a theme through out the book that this is the "Most Beloved Old West Wargame of all Time". I find that a bit difficult to swallow and the remark is made on every chapter page in the book. Once would be fine and I realize its kind of stupid to even let it bother me. It probably comes from being an old Boot Hill player which predates Desperado I by 17 years. On the other hand this is a fun game, and its the only one that has a full set of rules (optional) for various wild animals. Its definitely meant to be a fun, good time game. You are only running a couple of characters (unlike the "posse" or "gang" style western games). It also has a nice section, but basic, on painting minis and buildings. While many of the pictures feature buildings from their line of plywood kits, Forrest does a good job of not making it into a huge advertisement for his products.There is a full set of quick reference sheets in the back and I suspect you can probably download these sheets right off the Knuckleduster Miniature website.

Wild West Rules - Dead Man's Hand - Great Escape Games

Boot Hill was published in 1975 and now we move a lot further forward to a more recent addition to my library of wild west rules, Dead Man's Hand. I was first introduced to Dead Man's Hand (DMH) by an announcement on the Lead Adventure Forum and picked it up as soon as it was available.

Dead Man's Hand
Great Escape Games, 2013 1st Edition 
In Print
A4, softcover, 44 pages 
Original Price £20 (includes the DMH card deck)

Movement: Dead Man's Hand uses a set movement rate so all "characters" move at the same rate. When a character takes its turn it can take three actions as part of its move but all three actions being taken must be stated first  before they are executed. There are also some extra actions that can be taken as part of movement like dramatically leaping over a fence.

Combat: Shooting is handled using a D20 and applying the appropriate modifiers for the shooter and his target. Hand to Hand combat is handled using a D10 and applying the appropriate modifiers.

Wounds: In some ways Dead Man's Hand is less "deadly" than other wild west rules. Characters are either missed, under fire, under fire with a nerve (morale) test, or out of action. Odds are that members of your posse are going to run away rather than be put out of action (which requires a 19+ on a D20). Under fire markers are accumulated but can be recovered as part of character's actions and they do have an affect on action's taken.

Weapon List: Very generic and very short. You are either armed with a pistol, a rifle, a repeater, or a shotgun. I'm not sure why there is a difference between a rifle and a repeater. I don't own either of the two available supplements so I don't know if the weapon list has been expanded or not.

Campaign rules: There are no "campaign" rules as such in the DMH rulebook. However, it uses the concept of scenes (like in a movie) to mimic what amounts to a small campaign.

Rules Bling: This is a heavy bling book for me for much in line with the current generation of miniature rule books. It is in the English A4 format with a stapled binding, to be expected with a short book, with a nice glossy cover. Interior pages are a heavy gloss paper and should hold up well to repeated reference. Despite the size it uses a single column format with pictures and artwork inserted. Its pretty straight forward in its presentation so you won't have any problems finding things and there is a table of contents if you are really desperate (no index though, its a little short for that). I find the layout a bit distracting at times and I consider the artwork to be on the poor side and the "thought bubbles" are a bit dark for my tastes. The pictures are excellent and the charts and tables work are easy to understand. There are quick reference "charts" on the inside front and back covers (not removable, I suggest you scan them.  There is also a page of markers that can be scanned or photocopied to use during a game. There is a download section on the Great Escape Games webpage where you can download the charts, markers and a couple of other extras. So a nice rulebook. It appears to be a bit expensive when you consider its size but it does come with a set of DMH cards so you are ready to play at soon as it hits your door.

Unique: There are a number of wild west games that use playing card decks, but DMH adds a few twists to the concept. Cards are used to determine a couple of things:
1) Who goes when as part of the initiative. You get to turn the first card over in your deck and assign that to the character of your choice, then the rest of your characters are dealt a card. So you at least have a chance to make sure your best character (for that turn) gets a chance to take actions. 
2) You also get a hand of cards to use. Each card has a specific action that it can be used for or you can use it to trump a card used by your opponent if the numbers match (i.e. he plays a 5, you can trump it with your 5). Its a neat system and adds a lot of interest and drama to the game.

Supplements:  
The Legend of Dead Man's Hand (includes a card deck)
Dead Man's Hand Down Under (includes a card deck)

My Thoughts: I enjoy this game and it has received a lot of positive press on some of the forums that I frequent. It does carry a big price tag for a small book, but you have to temper that with the fact that it comes with its own custom card deck as well. This is very much a "Hollywood" style game with an emphasis on the "scene" and dramatic action. While there will be plenty of gunfire and fights breaking out its definitely a less bloody game than other sets of western rules. Characters aren't killed out right they are just out of action or have run away and in true Hollywood form will be ready for their next scene on the table. Fast and Fun it has all the elements I want in a set of western rules except for the very, very generic weapon list, I would prefer something at least on par with the list in Boot Hill, there really is a difference between a single action and double action revolver. Now this list may have been expanded in one or both of the supplements which I don't own yet. I also need to figure where I stashed my DMH deck of cards! I'll update the pictures when I find them.

Save me from poor artwork!