I am afraid to say, that I was introduced to western gunfight rules in the UK. They have their own set of rules (Old West Gunfight), and they stand very tall, as playable, quick to learn and much, much fun. Having read the game report in THE COURIER (VOL I #1) using these rules, I thought I might pass on three game scenarios that we use to teach the rules. The basic game is SHOOT-OUT. Divide the players into two teams with equal playing ability. Hence, if you have two who have played before -- split them, one on each team. Each team is then placed in a group at diagonally opposite ends of town (Fig. 1 -- A & B). The winner will be the team who still has a player able to stand, when the other team has been wiped out. This will teach beginners how to move, shoot, take cover, etc. The fun is in trying to survive rather than doing what you are told, as in a usual game. Next is PLOTS-IN-A-HAT. The town is set up and all the buildings named. Each player is given 3 small pieces of paper on which he can write 3 small "tasks". These should be adventurous, and could be such things as: "shoot man on left", "rob store" and "get $10,000 owed you by player on your right". These papers are then folded and put into "the hat" from which each player picks one "in the blind". The playing pieces are randomly distributed by dice roll. A possible distribution is shown in fig 1 (numbers). Players then attempt to carry out their task. Since one must also get off the board after completing his tasks it often leads to lots of firing as one attempts to run away from town. Here we have a game that has each participant playing independently. He must cope with a situation where other players may be after him or with him; where he may get his own plot back and more. For sheer action, gun play and independent gaming we recommend STRANGERS-ON-A-TRAIN. The train is usually made out of "pocketbooks" or card cutouts placed on the table which, with imagination, becomes a train chugging along (fig 2). Once again, we get out small pieces of paper and write down 2X each job as listed below: Train Robber (Avg) Rob passengers, jump from train Well Known Thief (pro)Rob train safe, jump from train Bounty Hunter (pro) Look for well known thief Sheriff (Avg) Keep law & order Innocent Bystander (nov) Survive train trip Jewelry Salesman (Avg) Have $20,000 in gold in box under your seat Cattleman (Avg) Cause embarrassment to train as it runs through your land. You have 2 sticks of dynamite NOTES 1) At any time any player's piece may come up to another's and ask "Do I know you". If the respondent is the "well known thief" he must say so, otherwise the answer is "no". 2) All players have a single action Colt with 5 rounds loaded and a complete ammo belt. No other weapons unless stated. Hence, we have 2 bounty hunters, 2 innocent bystanders, 2 well known bandits, etc. Again the slips are placed in a hat and the fun begins. Opposite the names in the list are the tasks needed to win. Since all players start seated next to each other, through random dice throws (sample numbers - Fig 2), things can happen very fast. This time one must worry about his fellow passengers and what they are doing. You play by yourself and can plot your own course of action. The smaller the town, the better -- as the plots could get too spread apart in space. Hence, a small town and lots of players usually get a great game going. All the games are short, with an average playing time of 30 minutes and fall, as they should into the realm of "Fun" games. I use them to introduce novices into the world of miniatures. They are not as specialized as D&D, can be learned with just one game, and then can lead to other miniature games such as ACW or NAPOLEONICS. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. 2 #1 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1980 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com