With the introduction of a new line of figures for the Roaring 20's, I was asked to covert a set of rules for a friend to use to run games at conventions and such. Well, I tried several sets and came up with the following conversions from Desperado, and my own sets published by Old Glory called Sons of the Desert and Warpaint. The basic movement, morale and hand-to-hand combat systems only needed changes to the names and simplification of weapons types, but the Shooting Chart had to change and I needed to add vehicles, so I set to work. I wanted to keep both simple and playable, but with a modicum of uncertainty left in them. After some work, i came up with the following charts I added the .45 Colt Automatic Pistol, a separate line for the sawn-off shotgun, and the Tommy Gun and the BAR (a favorite of the State Police in several states, as well as local police, G-Men, and even Clyde Barrow, "Bonnie and Clyde" notwithstanding), Note in Sons of the Syndicate, that although the Tommy Gun can fire a truly deadly fusilade of shots, it is limited to a 6" spread (3" to either side of a central target figure). As for vehicles, I broke them down into several general types-- getaway cars/G-Men cars are late model, big, have well kept engines and are well driven. Police cars are not as well kept up and have generally got more miles and not quite as good maintenance. Jallopies are the "bit o' this, and bit o' than" cars of kids and young fellows, often well driven but of dubious staying power. Older cars or Model A and Model T's, generally driven hard and by older folks or farmers. Pick up trucks are just that, solid and durable. Delivery trucks would be step vans and such, but would also include "armored cards" for the transport of large sums of money from place to place. Driver skill is used for making turns when Flooring It, or in OffFoad Driving, and when a I is rolled for movement. Remember, the roads in this era are poor, even in larger cities, where cobblestone is the most common surface, Mix a rolling gun battle and a high speed chase and its truly a deadly mix. Well, that's the spiel. If any questions arise, just get out your set of the rules I use as the base for the set and check what is in them. God bless and Good Gaming to all. SONS OF THE SYNDICATE SEQUENCE OF PLAY 1 . Dice for first move: high roll moves first (use Q-die of leader), 2. Declare vehicle speeds and Loading Up or Piling Out 3. Spotting phase: roll to spot hidden figures. 4. First fire phase - all non-moving figures may fire. 5. Normal movement takes place. Load Up or Pile Out of vehicles. 6. Second fire phase - any figures which have not fired may fire. 7. Vehicle Floor It movement phase. Roll for any driver or parts. 8. Normal melee phase - all ongoing melee combat is fought 9. Check major morale. MOVEMENT Movement Normal Ground Rough Ground Marshy/Rugged G-Men/Mobsters d6+4" d6+1" d6-1"* Moonshiners d6+6" d6+3 d6-2"* Heavy Weapons d6+2" d6-1"* d6-2"* Mounted Figures d6+10" 2d6" d6-1"* Negative numbers indicate NO MOVEMENT! Modifiers to Movement Gallop, run x 2 Cross ditch, stream, or hedge -d6" Turn mounted 90 degrees -d6" Mounted jump ditch/hedge/wall-d6" Climb flight of stairs -2" RANGED COMBAT Weapon Shots Close Effective Long Pistol 2 0-2" 2-4" 4-6" .45 Colt 1/2 0-5" 5-10" 10-24" Muzzleloader 1 0-10" 10-20" 20-30" Bolt-action 2 0-12" 12-24" 24-36" Tommy gun (6" spread) 2d6+3 0-10" 10-20" 20-24" BAR d6+2 0-12" 12-24" 24-36" Modifiers to the die roll to hit FIRER IS: Stationary +1 Running/Galloping -3 Resting Long Gun +1 Marksman +1 Mounted -1 Firing up or down -1 TARGET IS Stationary +1 Running/Galloping -2 Obscured -1 Behind soft cover -2 Behind hard cover -3 Mounted +1 Out of Ammo: If a 1 is rolled on a to hit: G-men/Cops 6 Outlaws 5+ Others 4+ HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT Modifiers to the die roll: Enemy is below you * +1 You are G-man or Pugilist +1 Enemy is above you * -1 You are wounded -1 Your morale is bad -1 Hand-to-hand combat results: Roll a 1 (without modifications): Your figure is disarmed Beat your foe by 1 or 2: Foe is wounded Beat his roll by 3 or more: Foe is killed outright Two wounds equals a kill. Wounded figures fight as d6 Quality die. Wounded figures may not run, and have a penalty of two to any horsemanship or driver skill rolls. MORALE Roll Q-die of leader. G-men pass on 4+, others pass on 5+. Test whenever: A figure is wounded, or a group sustains casualties. A figure or group comes under fire from a Tommy gun or BAR. A unit is surrounded or cut off from their escape route. A group reaches 20%, 30% or 50% losses. Any one attempting to close into hand-to-hand combat. Modifiers to the Base Number Low on Ammo -1 Group is cut off or surrounded -1 Each casualty +1 Getaway car crashed -2 Losses exceed 25% +1 Outlaws defending a solid structure -2 Losses exceed 50% +2 Civilians entering hand-to-hand +1 Unit is outnumbered +1 Results of a morale failure: 1. Seek cover further back, Move to the rear one move. 2. Run for cover. Full move away until no longer fired upon. 3. Figure panics and will fire as d6 man next round. 4 Unit retreats as full speed until rallied. 5. Does not close with enemy. DYNAMITE One figure can light one dynamite fuse or bundle per turn. Roll a d6 as follows: 1-4 ignites the explosives, 5 all lit but roll for dud, 6 fuses won't light, try again next turn, To throw the dynamite: use hand-to-hand Q-die +2" for distance. Explosive effect: Each explosive charge starts with 3" radius. A two stick bundle is 4", a three stick bundle is 5" and a four stick bundle is 6"+ Roll d12 to hit as small arms fire/close for all in radius. Dud! Roll a d6 as follows: 1-5 = dud, 6 = short fuse, explodes early: 1/2 distance thrown or with lighter only 2d6" away! Structures vs TNT: Roll a d 12 to equal or beat the following numbers. Structure Blow a hole Destroy Wooden structure 3 6 Small brick or stone structure 4 7 Stone or brick house 4 8 Large stone or brick structure 5 10 +1 for each stick after the first. HAND GRENADES Throw Q-die +2" for distance. Roll of 1 is a PROBLEM. Burst radius is 2". 6+ on d10 for wound. 9+ is a kill. +1 to the roll if grenade explodes inside a building+ Collapses wooden building on a roll of 10+ PROBLEM: Roll a d6, 1-5 = dud. 6 - dropped, explodes 1" from thrower. SONS OF THE SYNDICATE Gang Record Character name: Skills: Pistol Type Long gun Type: Handgun/Throw: Ammo Low/Out Long gun skill: Ammo Low/Out Hand-to-hand: Driver skill: Wounds: L L = S L L = S L L = Dead Mortal Wounds Groin Chest Femoral Morale (Guts): No handgun/no long gun Vehicle: Parts: Cars of the Roaring 20's Vehicles Basic Floored* Offf-road * Driver (3+) Parts (3+) Getaway cars d6+8" 24+2d6" 3d6" d12 d12 Police cars d6+8" 20+2d6" 3d6" d10 d10 G-man cars d6+8" 21+2d6" 3d6" d12 d12 Jalopies d6+6" 20+2d6" 3d6" d10 d6 Old model cars 2d6" 12+2d6" 2d6" d8 d8 New model cars d6+8" 18+2d6" 3d6" d8 d10 Pick-up trucks d6+6" 16+2d6" 3d6" d10 d12 Delivery trucks d6+6" 12+2d6" 2d6" d6 d10 Any time a roll of 1 (s) comes up, that vehicle must roll on the Driver Parts Chart. If the roll is equal to or higher than the number listed, no problems. If the roll is lower, the vehicle rolls against the appropriate chart. The first 1 is driver, the second 1 is parts, and three 1's are rolled, subtract one from each die roll, including the roll.for any failures! Driver failures: 1 . Car crashes and rolls over. All occupants roll on crash chart. 2. Car crashes. All occupants make a roll on crash chart. 3. Driver loses control. Lose half speed and roll against driver next turn. 4. Driver loses control. Lose half speed. 5. Swerve, lose 2d6" speed 6. Swerve, lose 2d6" speed Parts failures: 1. Tire blown. Car crashes. All occupants roll on crash chart. 2. Steering damaged, Roll against driver each turn except for basic speed 3. Bent rod. No floored speed. Roll on parts if moving off road. 4. Overheating! -d6" and roll on Parts each turn. 5. Swerve, lose 2d6" speed 6. Swerve, lose 2d6" speed Crash Chart: 1 D-E-A-D, Dead! 2. Severely injured, no movement, stunned. 3. Injured, -1 to shooting and hand-to-hand, no running. stunned. 4. Injured, -1 to hand-to-hand, -1 to shooting (except pistols), 5. Stunned. 6. Stunned. Desperado Modifications The following charts are for the Sons of the Syndicate version of the Desparadoes rules. Movement (6 sider) Crawling 1d6" Walking 2d6" Running 3d6" Trot [Mtd.] 3d6" Gallop [Mtd] 5d6" Modifiers to Movement: Mount/Dismount -1 Reload pistol 1 turn Window/Door -1 Reload rifle 2 turns Jump fence/low wall - 1 Encumbered - 1/2 turn Light wound - 1 Brokelegs crawl Take careful aim -2" Shot dead no move Hand-to-Hand Combat: Modifiers: Edged Weapon +2 Clubbing +1 Jump down on foe +1 Unconscious - 3 Lightly wounded -1 Moderately wounded -2 Badly wounded -3 Final Die Roll : Effect 0-1 Run Away 2 No effect, fight on 3 Knocked back 2" (2DP) 4 Knocked down (2DP) 5 Knocked out (5DP) 6 Knocked out/bad (10DP) 7+ Killed Protected: When a target is in hard cover (i.e., a wall, window, or doorway), all shots which would strike a body part in cover ore No Effect, as follows: WALL - only head, shoulder, chest, and arms/hand hits count. WINDOW - only head, shoulder, and hand/arm hits count DOORWAY - only head, arm/hand (and exposed side of body count if using a rifle or shotgun). Opportunity Fire: A character may withhold fire as follows 1. The character must not have moved or fired this turn. 2. The target must be to the character's frontal view (180 degrees). 3. The character's card must already be drawn and opportunity fire declared. 4. No aimed or multiple shots (except Tommy gun on auto). Firing Weapons (Rds) Up & C Short Medium Long Extreme Pistols (2) 1"/80% 6"/60% 12"/40% 18"/30% 24"/10% .45 Auto (4) 1"/80% 6"/60% 12"/35% 18"/25% 24"/5% Greener(2) 1"/120% 3"/90% 6"/50% 9"/10% - Sawn-off (2) 1"/90% 7"/70% 10"/40% 15"/20% - Tommy Gun (single shot) (2) 1"/85% 6"/75% 10"/40% 18"/20% 36"/10% Tommy Gun (auto) (9) 1"/80% 6"/70% 10"/35% 18"/15% - Rifle (2) 1"/75% 15"/65% 30"/50% 35"/40% 60"/10% Knife (1) 1"/80% 3"/50% 5"/30% 8"/5% - Tommy gun split: 2", Autofire: -20% Shotguns split: 2", Greener split: -3" Modifiers to Hit: FIRER Moving x50% Mounted x50% Bad wound x50% TARGET IS prone x25% Light cover x25% hard cover Spcl. Revenuer +10% MULTIPLE SHOTS Second shot -10% Third shot -20% Fourth shot -30% .45 CAL HITS Knocked down AIMED SHOT: +/- 5% on results Fire Effect Chart: Red die =10's, white die = 1's Die Roll Hit is to: Wound Pts Effects 1-5% Head Fatal All Eat lead, G-man! 6-10% Rt Arm Light 1/2 roll Ya rurnt my shirt! 11-15% Chest Bad Full* Dat's fer Guido 16-20% Groin Bad Full* Singin' soprano 21-25% Left leg Broke Full Crawl only, copper 26-30% L. shoulder Light 1/2 roll Close but no cigar 31-35% Left arm Broke Full Knocked down 36-40% Stomach Bad Full* Gut shot, Ma! 41-45% Head Grazed 5 pts Da next Scarface 46-50% Chest Fatal All Drilled 'em, Ness! 51-53% Left foot Light 1/2 roll Gimp (1/2 move) 54-55% Right foot Light 1/2 roll Four-toed Eddy (1/2 move) 56-60% Right leg Broke Full Crawl only, cockroach 61-65% Side Graze 5 Pts Out of uniform 66-70% Left leg Light 1/2 roll No running, ya scum 71-75% Right arm Broke Full Knocked down again 76-80% Chest Graze 5 Pts Dented badge of courage 81-85% Right leg Light 1/2 roll No running, ya bum 86-88% Left hand Graze 5 Pts Drop yer weapon 89-90% Right hand Graze 5 Pts Drop yer weapon 91-95% Left arm Light 1/2 roll . Edgar'll replace it 96-97% Side Bad Full* Just lie dere and wait 98-00% Weapon Broke None Weapon damaged beyond repair! *Bleeding/Full % every turn intil gone. Character Chart Revolver 0000000000 Shotgun 0000000000 Rifle 0000000000 0000000000 BAR 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 Thompson 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 Body Points: 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 0000000000 000000000 0000000000 Broken: RA LA RL LL No Run 1/2 Movement Crawl Only Bleeding Immobile Back to MWAN #106 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2000 Hal Thinglum 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