Misc., The Wild West, Legends of the Old West, 28mm

The aim of this evening’s game was to try out the rules again, and the match play system, ahead of a big Wild West gaming  weekend at the end of the month. We played two games side by side, each on an adjoining 3×4 foot table. My one was fairly sensible – my Lawmen versus Colin Jack’s Texas Rangers. Honours were fairly even, but the Texans came unstuck on the final turn.On the outskirts of town, a rather quirky scenario pitched Bill Gilchrist’s Mexican peons against a horde of Chinese railway workers. I think the Mexicans won that one, but whichever way it went, the game looked like a bloodbath!Then we rolled up the post game bits and pieces (characters get experience, recover from their wounds, and new posse members can be recruited). After that it was back to the fray, this time with my lawmen defending the town against the rampant Chinese. Rather gamily I made a stand outside the town, hunkering down behind a split-rail fence. It didn’t do me much good – however many you mowed down, more seemed to appear and fill their place. In the end that game was declared a draw when both sides failed their morale test at the same time, and “headed for the hills”.The rules are typical Warhammer – lots of quirks, you roll pointless numbers of dice, and generally the whole thing becomes an exercise in number-crunching. However, the plus side is that the games were fast moving – after all, we got two games in during an evening – the rules are easy to pick up, and above all they’re fairly amusing. I won’t say I’ll necessarily make a habit of playing Wild West games, but once every so often they make for an entertaining evening.Oh, and the figures and scenery are fun – very atmospheric, and with a very Wild Western feel to them. Just look at the picture of the lone gunfighter standing in the middle of the Boot Hill cemetery if you don’t believe me!