What a Cowboy game July 12th

 

The attackers advanced along the top of the table from left to right

So, our regularly scheduled game day was cancelled as the venue was still drying out from the Canada Day floods. As a result I decided to try and get a What a Cowboy game played at my place. While four people initially said yes, by game day we were down to 2 players and me as ref. Thankfully the players were from different factions so that part of it worked out.

The game was set up and prepped for the ambush scenario. The attackers had to get a mule across the table, the defenders had to stop them. A note about all our games, I tend to set a time limit of six turns on the games. At the end of six turns we roll a die, if a six is rolled the game ends if not then another turn is played. At the end of this 'extra' turn we roll again and the game ends if a  five or six is rolled. We keep rolling and keep increasing the result range. The idea is that it inspires players not to waste time but to get on with the mission. The variable nature of the last turn adds some tension.

The defenders made certain to place a sniper high up guarding the 'north' passage.

The attackers move in force along the northern edge the defenders have a henchmen gang and one other defender on the ground

Tuco pushed past a fellow gang member to try and stop the attackers

Meanwhile one of the deployed defenders desperately tried to get across town to join the fight

Things do not look good for the attackers as the defenders move to cut off their escape route

But good shooting by the attackers pin a number of defenders and drop one of their number

The sniper failed to halt the attackers, and they manage to advance the mule almost off the table 

More defenders fall

In the end it was a very near run thing. The mule was left untended but the defenders failed their morale test

It was a very good game that went right down to the wire. The defenders were whittled down and forced to flee, but had they stood they may yet have prevailed as they had more men around the mule.

The next couple of games are going tough for the gang that were the defenders. The attacking gang has managed to gain enough experience to raise most of not all of their members to Gunslinger status. I see a lot of henchmen in the defenders future.