Springtime, Blood Gulch Texas, late 1800's. Blood Gulch is one of the most lawless towns anywhere in the great state of Texas. Heck, they've gone through so many sheriffs that the coroner has got a whole hat box full of stars with holes in them. Nobody in their right mind would want to try to tame this town. It's no wonder though, Blood Gulch is isolated from much of the world. It takes the country doctor a week to get here, if'n he don't get himself killed on the way. But what really sets this little place apart from other towns is the fact that it sits right smack dab on top of a boomin' silver mine. This mine produces some of the purest grade silver ever come across by man or beast. Blood Gulch gets its name for the stream of blood that flows through the streets into the gully at the end of town. This gully pours into the gulch where the mine is located. Every spring, outlaws, robbers, and cutthroats ride into Blood Gulch and fight over which one of 'em can gain control of the town so's they can mine the ore an' get rich. The last one still left alive takes what he can and rides off, leaving the townsfolk the rest. If you think you're man enough to tackle some off the roughest, toughest hombres this side of the Pecos, then ride on 'in and pull up a chair to the poker table partner. It promises to be one rip roarin' good time! THE LAYOUT Blood Gulch could be designed however you think an old west town should look like. The more buildings you have will give the players more obstacles to duck behind and move around. A horse corral full of horses could lend itself to a particularly interesting situation if one of the cowboys were to open the gate and stampede the horses down main street. Train tracks with a locomotive and water tower could give the players a high advantage point. It is completely up to you and your imagination on how the town looks. CHARACTER SET-UP The game is designed so that every player has three figures to start the game, however, only one figure may be in play at one time. To start the game every player rolls 1D6 and 1D8 (since our table is a 6'x 8', we use a D6 and D8). Pick one corner of the table as a starting point The results of the die rolls denotes the distance from the comer in feet as to where to place the figure for the first turn. If a tie is rolled, roll a tie breaker, the loser rolling again for placement. Every player starts out at in Average skill. Roll dice for player sequence in the turn. Whenever you kill an opponent, your skill level goes up one level. Such that with one score you will become a Veteran and with two scores you will become Elite. One player will be a lawman that just blew into town, this can be determined by a die roll between the players. All the other players are the worst bandits and roughnecks you can think of. To add some color to the game try giving your figures names. Whenever your figure dies, leave him in the street. Pick out one of the two remaining figures you have and determine its starting point as before. When all of your figures are gone, you are out of the game. Each new figure will start out as an Average character. HIGH NOON It is high noon on a Saturday, all the Fast Guns are in town. Each is looking to "plug" the next guy that crosses their path. By games end, the player who has the last figure on the table gains control of the mine. However, if more than one figure is left a gunfight must be fought. This is a quick way to end the game and even though it doesn't require a lot of game savvy, it is suspenseful. Each player draws one card from the deck for each experience level of the figure, an Average draws one, Veteran draws two, and Elite draws three. Whoever holds the highest cards Win. If a tie should occur, you'll have to "draw" again. Back to Table of Contents Penny Whistle #26 Back to Penny Whistle List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1997 by Lion's Den Publications. 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