David Bickley's Wargames Blog

The occasional ramblings of an average gamer, journeyman painter, indifferent modeller, games designer, sometime writer for Wargames Illustrated and host of games in GHQ.



Thursday 13 March 2014

"Dusst you were..."

Phil, Jon and I recently played a Western Gunfight game here in GHQ; a three handed game in which the bad guys ~ Phil and Jon ~ tried to intercept and make off with a mysterious 'shipment' due into New Paddock City. No one was quite sure what it was, but if it was 'mysterious' it was bound to be valuable they thought. I took the part of the forces of right and justice in the form of the Sheriff and his trusted deputies...
The peaceful town of New Paddock City


















The Dusst clan, lead by their patriarch Jedediah Dusst rode into town, skirting Main Street and moving behind the buildings to take advantage of the cover provided. Perhaps unfortunately Jed had not got his bearings and ended the move right behind the Sheriff's Office! The card draw did not favour him and he found the Sheriff and one of his Deputies overlooking him from an adjacent window. While the Sheriff's shooting can be glossed over, the Deputy hit his target, leaving Ol' Jed with 4 wounds...
Jed and the Boys take shelter from the hail of lead

















Meanwhile, El Blanco and his Bandidos has dismounted behind the Liberty Bell and made straight for the establishment of Madame Moustache. The building's balcony gave a good view over Main Street towards the jail and bank.
El Blanco and his men overlook the Noon Stage



















As in all good Gunfight games there was much lead flying and bodies dropping all over as the game developed. While Jed's boys fought it out with El Blanco's henchmen and the dwindling band of lawmen, Jed entered the bank by the rear door...
Sadly for Jed, El Blanco had beaten him to it!



















Jed had used two actions to enter the bank, meaning he could not shoot straight away. In a tense draw of the turn cards El Blanco came out next! Two shots saw Jed gunned down! While mayhem reigned on Mani Street and lawmen and the bad guys were carried off to Boot Hill, El Blanco calmly made his exit with the strongbox from the bank's safe and rode away into the sunset...
"...and to dust you shall return."


















We use Astounding Tales for our gunfight games, with some in house additions. I made the turn cards myself using mostly period images I found from the net ~
The Turn Cards
























My figures are mostly Dixon Miniatures and early Foundry figures, with some from Pass of the North which I bought a long time ago at Historicon. The buildings are all bar one by Battleflag, the exception being a Herb Gunht wooden kit I received for a present one Christmas from Dave Paddock. Some extras are by Gamecraft. In all the game lasted 17 turns and was a great exercise in fun and tension with Jon running out a close winner, Phil coming a close second and myself, well, we'll draw a veil over that I think for now...

5 comments:

  1. The Ballad Of Jed Dusst (with apologies to Billy Joel)

    From a town known as Howardsville, West Virginia
    Rode a man with a six-gun in his hand
    And his daring life of crime
    Made him a legend in his time
    East and west of the Rio Grande

    Well, he never traveled heavy
    With his brothers he always rode
    And he soon put many other guns to shame
    And he never had a sweetheart
    And he never had an abode
    But the cowboy and the rancher knew his name

    Well, he robbed his way from Utah to Oklahoma
    And the law just could not seem to track him down
    And it served his legend well
    For the folks, they'd love to tell
    'Bout when Jed Dusst came to town

    Well, he never traveled heavy
    With his brothers he always rode
    And he soon put many other guns to shame
    And he never had a sweetheart
    But he finally found an abode
    Underneath the boothill grave that bears his name

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely report and pics, David. The photos of the inside of the bank almost looks like a still from "The Shootist"!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Giles! I enjoyed messing around with the Front Line resin pieces to make an interior for the buildings. The Saloon, in an earlier post, is my favourite piece.

      Delete