Back to the "old place" for Old West Miniatures

    The balcony of Andy's MDF Saloon was where Mike W's "Gamblers" set up to gun down all comers

It had been awhile since we did miniatures gaming on Sunday night at our regular spot (which I call Wallace's Brewpub). With Covid dialing down, host Mike W felt good about us gaming in persons again at his place. His basement is spacious, well-lit and includes two of his home brews on tap -- so, I missed gaming there for more reasons than the camaraderie! 

    Joel's gang set up a couple doors down from the saloon in Andy's Old Western town

The game for the night was Old West miniatures, run by Andy S. He's been collecting buildings for 28mm Old West and has a good selection of miniatures already painted up. We kind of nudged him into running a bit earlier than he was planning. Keith promised he'd bring along terrain to supplement what Andy had so far, so the slight arm twist worked. Andy set up a very intro level scenario with each of us controlling three figures from a faction -- townsfolk, in my case. Mike W played the Gamblers (or as Joel called them, the professional assassins!), and Mike S the Ranchers. Now that I am writing my report, I don't remember what Joel and Keith's factions were called! Andy had given figures the weapons the miniature had cast on and a skill for one or two of the miniatures in the faction. Everyone was basically equal, though.

    The last mistake Mike S's Rancher made was peeking around the door to shoot at the Gamblers!

We talked about it and decided to have Andy secretly write who each faction had a score to settle with. Two of the other four opponents were written on your roster, and my Townsfolk were supposed to go after Mike S's Ranchers and Mike W's Gamblers. This didn't necessarily mean they were out to get me, though. We had no idea who was gunning for who. In the end, the only other faction I ended up shooting at was Keith's because it seemed obvious to me that he was coming after me. Mike S's faction wasn't deployed far from mine, but he went out of the other entrance of the barn onto the main street, fairly far away from Ma, Pa, and Jeb's house my figures were deployed in (I felt I had to name them!).

    Another dead Rancher - this one the lone figure killed by accumulating three wounds

The main street was the location of the Swingle Saloon (yes, Andy had the MDF sign made for him!). Upstairs, the Gamblers were deployed and immediately stepped out onto the balcony and began blazing away at Mike S's Ranchers. Mike earned his "assassin" nickname honestly, quickly taking out two of Mike S's figures. Andy was running Fistful of Lead rules, which are a fast, beer and pretzels set. When you hit an opponent's figure with a shot, you roll another 1d10. On a 1-5, you pin the enemy (which they have to roll to recover from on their turn). On a 6-8 you wound them (three wounds and you're dead). On a 9-10, they're killed immediately. Want to guess what Mike W was rolling a LOT of...??

    Jeb peers around the family home sensing trouble as furtive shapes are seen moving his way

I thought the rules worked out well, but I was a little bothered by the high amount of insta-kills that we had. What's the point of having a rules mechanic where you take three wounds if all but one of the figures gunned down were killed by a roll of 9-10? I think the rules show good potential for a quick skirmish, but I was a tad concerned whether this was a die rolling anomaly for the evening or how most games of Fistful of Lead progress. Ever the wiseacre, Keith replied to my comment that it was an anomaly, kind of like the way I roll dice but in reverse!

    Poor Ma...she spent the entire game dashing around trying to draw a bead on someone but never did

On my turns, I sent Jeb and Ma to sneak alongside or through the buildings to get an eyeball on the action in the main street. By the time we got close, most of the Ranchers lay bleeding in the street and the Gamblers had pulled back inside the building from the balcony. Two of Keith's figures were headed my way, so I pulled Jeb back to help Pa. Pa was my "Deadeye," but I think Andy meant to write "cross-eyed." As Keith had mentioned, my die rolling was poor and Pa's shots were going alarmingly awry. Keith felt so confident that he could rush up on Walleye Vision Pa that he ran right up to the first story window of Pa's house. Pa dashed downstairs (without falling) and blazed away through the window (pronounced "winnder"). To everyone's shock, Keith's gunfighter fell dead. I theorized that the distortion of the window pane meant Pa hit where he wasn't aiming and actually nailed the guy. With an "immediate kill," of course, as the theme was for the night.

    "Walleye Vision" Pa finally hits something -- one of Keith's gunfighters through the window

That was most of my action. Ma was having a hard time getting into position to take a shot and ended up never firing the entire game. Jeb fired once and missed -- proving that he was his father's son. In other action, Keith traded gunfire with Joel for most of the evening with (I believe) each losing one. Keith had deployed in the Gentleman's Club, and we assumed when his remaining guy withdrew from the fight, it was actually his "turn." He put away his pistol and pulled out his...well, you can figure out where our banter was headed.

    Another look at "Swingle's Saloon" as the action unfolds, and guns begin to blaze away

I think everyone enjoyed the game. It was great to be back together pushing minis across the tabletop and rolling dice. I can normally take or leave Western games (not my favorite type of movie either), but Fistful of Lead is quick and simple. I like that there is enough chrome to customize figures and give them some personality. I will probably end up buying the PDF from Wargame Vault, just so I can tinker with them, too. I have been wanting to find something to play some beer and pretzels Pulp style games with, and these may work. We'll see. Hopefully, we will also see if the immediate kills were an anomaly or if that is indeed how the rules play out. It would be easy enough to adjust the rolls down to 6-9 is wounded, and only a 10 is a kill.

    These were the rules we used for the evening and they provided a fun, fast game

In the meantime, it gives me fresh incentive to work some more on my post-Apocalyptic rules. I even came home Sunday night and fished through my drawer of unpainted lead and pull out the figures for the next faction I plan to paint up. So, maybe look for those soon on here, along with another batch of Saga Mongol cavalry that is nearing completion!