Western battlerep - Assault on the School for Wayward Girls

I wanted to test one ruleset from the classic magazine The Courier called Showdown (n. 71, 1996). These Western skirmish rules were designed by Samuel D. Campbell and, in short, they are amazing. More on how they work after the battlerep.

Father Morrison and Miss Brodie, the schoolmaster, flank one
of the most 'advanced' pupils, Tress Hollister.
They have rushed to the entrance arms in hand.

The school is next to the ruins of and old hacienda

This evening they sense something ominous out there

Three ne'er-do-wells are near the grounds.
'Graybear', 'Whitebeard' and 'The Deserter'

Do they intend to drag the girls back to the darkness of Saloons?

In this game I just control Tress Hollister.
The other figures, friends and foes, are
managed by the rules solo system

Miss Brodie, though severely wounded, kills Graybeard.
No one messes with her protegees.

Tress is behind cover, but she is rushed by The Deserter

He fires point blank and wounds her

Father and the Schoolmaster train their weapons on the assaulter.
But they do not dare to open fire since Tress
has gotten up and they are now confounded in melee.

Tress manages to limp to the protection of a stone oven.
She distracts The Deserter long enough for Father to close in

Emerging from the Hacienda, Whitebeard tries to intervene.
Father Morrisson, Bible in hand, ends the assault.

The school has been saved!
And morality too (at least for now)

RECAP

These rules are very fun, fast and work well. They are ideal for coop and solo since they include a well thought out solo system for NPC, friends or foes. Combat resolution is simple, based on poker cards. In a way they remind me of the recent One-hour Skirmish Wargames.

What I find truly original is that there is no turn sequence. The player writes the actions for each figure in the coming two phases and then the turn is resolved simultaneously in a fun Hollywoodsque fashion. Simultaneous systems can be a mess, but this one works because the turn is played out in two steps. Sometimes you find yourself shooting at dust because the foe has moved to cover. Nevertheless, a low-figure count is recommended, 3 or 4 per side, since it is better to write what each intends to do and then hit 'play' and see what happens in the turn. To include in four pages a full ruleset plus a solo system is fabulous and a good reminder of how good magazines like The Courier or MWAN were.

Comments

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