I recently had a hankering for some wild west action so I headed to eBay to get some cheap figures and started looking for a good set of rules. I was surprised to find a very good set of rules available for free on the Internet. The Rules With No Name (TRWNN, http://www.icenter.net/~gisby/RWNN.htm), written by Bryan Ansell of Guernsey Foundry, are designed to be fast and fun. They are intended for each player to run just a few figures, best organized as competing factions. Each figure has a rating that ranges from “citizen” to “legend” and may have a few skills to add a little flavor.

The tempo is set by the Fate Deck which includes one card for each player, and a few extra cards designed to give the higher rated figures extra actions. The charts are simple with a small number of modifiers. Shooting is done by rolling a number 6-siders.The game is great fun, and not to be taken too seriously. Just about everything you’ve seen in the movies is covered, including: Indians, dynamite, stampedes, doctorin’, and fast draws. Some additions to the rules have appeared in MWAN.

On the down side the rules for mounted figures look too complicated and I’ve avoided them. Including a “Shuffle” card in the Fate Deck adds some suspense, but can be frustrating to players that find themselves waiting a long time between turns. The Wound Deck seems a bit too mild and leads to characters fighting on despite 7 or 8 minor wounds. There are provisions in the rules for morale checks (“test of nerve”) which may cure this problem. Overall, I highly recommend these rules for anyone that wants to bring their favorite Western movie to the tabletop.