Gang Rumble in the Short North, Columbus

    The streets of the Short North in Columbus were taken over by gangs at Origins Game Day

A new Winter game day here in Columbus, OH, gave me the opportunity to host a gang rumble using my Mean Streets rules. The Origins Game Day was held Jan. 14, and was the brainchild of my old friend, Bryan Borgman. It was an incredible success, with 400+ folks coming out for a free day of gaming, flea market tables, and fun. I ran into a number of Columbus area gamers I had not seen for awhile, so it was good to catch up. I also spent the rest of my Christmas gaming money on some great purchases from Bryan's flea market table, and RRB Minis & More (who drove down for the day from Youngstown).

    I had full table of six players for Mean Streets -- three of them brand new to the rules!

I used the same six gang setup that I used for Historicon 2022, this past July. Each of the six gangs was given a primary mission and two secondary missions. As a GM, I like players to have choices on what to do with their forces in a game. Not only does it make the game more interactive, it also helps make each running of it a different outcome. Saturday's' game was a perfect example of that. The gang that scored the most points was the Eastmoor Kings. In the beginning of the game, they stayed away from the other five gangs, concentrating on "tagging" buildings with their gang logo - a green crown with a black "K" on it. I make up circular discs with each gang's logo that players place against the walls when they tag a building. John, who was playing them, had an opportunity to engage in some of the multi-gang scrums, but waited until it had broken up and his "payback target" -- the Santanas -- had split up. He pounced, and after knocking two of them out, finally headed off to Wallace's Brewpub to complete his primary mission -- steal some beer for the gang's Saturday night party!

    With five other gangs on the streets, the punk rockers, the Indianola Mohawks, stuck together

Some gangs stayed together as a mass, others split off 2-3 to complete their primary mission. The Indianola Mohawks, played by Michael, kept together and waded into a big melee by the Shell Station's pumps. He admitted his die rolls were above average while his opponent, Mike S (playing the clown-faced, Franklinton Flippos) continued his run of miserable die rolling. Normally that is MY specialty, but Mike took over the job in earnest, that day. His gang boss and two punks were knocked out in short order. The Warchief and another punk did make it to the Market Booths, though. They completed their primary mission of knocking out several of the vendors and convincing them to give the gang "protection money." After completing that, and seeing how the rest of the gang was laying, bleeding on the gas station's asphalt, they skulked off the table.

   Julio, Cruz, and Manana of the Santanas disembark after their joyride on the stolen car

Another gang that completed their primary mission towards the end was the Santanas. Not only did Julio and his gang mates steal the car from the Shell Service Station, his several of them went for a joyride around the table in their hot, blue convertible. I had never seen a player take the stolen car for a joyride, so it was kind of fun to see what Jenny (who was playing them) had in mind. The trio in the convertible were the only three from the gang not knocked out of action, though, as shortly after they split off from Ramona and El Lobo, those two were jumped by the Kings and taken down.

Hilltop Highlanders split up at the start of the rumble, though Lenny's calls brought the others back

Two gangs mixed it up almost immediately. The black martial arts gang, The Daos, ambushed the leader of the Hilltop Highlanders and an accompanying punk in the back alley behind Wallace's Brewpub. Lenny fought off the first wave of attackers, and his shouts brought the rest of the gang sprinting around the building to join in the melee. It was a fairly even fight for most of it, as each side knocked out opposing gang members. Slowly, the Highlanders began to get the better of it, though. Eventually, the two agreed to call it even, and scampered off to complete their primary missions. The Highlanders hightailed it to Jack & Benny's Diner, while the Daos made their way to Finn's factory. 

    Bobbie and the rest of the Eastmoor Kings are tempted to wade into the rumble at the gas station

There were three brand new players in this game, and they all said they had fun. I believe they also picked up the rules from RRB Minis & More. Rich, the owner of the store, said they needed a restock of the rules, so I ducked out to my car and got some for him. The thing I like about the Mean Streets rules is that it is very easy to teach. Typically, it takes only 20 minutes to go over the rules at a convention with new players. Within a turn or two of combat, the players have the mechanics down, too, and are figuring out their combat factors by themselves without my help.

    I like how my new wound markers look - clear bases with blood splotches arranged like a d6

One new thing I introduced for this game were my brand new wound markers. In the past, I've used red pom-poms from the craft store to mark on a figure's base how many wounds it has suffered. Recently, I picked up 100 clear square bases from Litko. I painted varying numbers of blood red splotches on them to indicate the number of wounds. I arranged the blood spots to match the pips on a six-sided dice. This makes it easy for a player to recognize with a quick glance whether the figure has suffered three wounds (three blood splotches arranged diagonally), or four wounds (one in each corner). I was much happier with how these bases looked on the table. I had coated the clear base with Vallejo Matte Clear, which takes the shine or reflection off the material, but it is still transparent and you can see the street underneath of it. Success!

    Gang Boss Marvin leads the creepy, clown-masked Franklinton Flippos through an alley

One of the players had signed up to play because he was interested in using Mean Streets rules for Mad Max-style, post-Apocalyptic biker gang battles. That was interesting, because I had just been exchanging emails with Rich about how to treat a character mounted on a motorcycle in the rules. We put some ideas together and he said he is going to play test them. I will probably also post on the Mean Streets Facebook group page and see if anyone else has ideas. I don't have any miniatures mounted on motorcycles, but biker gangs certainly fit the theme.

    Mohawks gang boss Sid taunts the Eastmoor Kings for avoiding the fight

I had planned on running my game only once, so I packed up, took my stuff out to the car, and returned to do my shopping. It was great to see so many people coming out to support Bryan's idea. Most of the tables in the room were still full when I finished my shopping and headed out for a late lunch. The weather had been as perfect as can be asked for in mid-January, Ohio. So, all in all, the game day was a success!

    The Linden Daos jump Lenny & Bo of the Hilltop Highlanders behind Wallace's Brewpub

    The rest of the Highlanders come running when they hear Lenny's shouts - the rumble is on!

    The Eastmoor Kings stayed disciplined and focused on their missions throughout the game

    The Kings get closer to their objective - the brewpub - and beers for their Saturday night party!

    After busting some heads in the rumble at the gas station, the Santanas head around the back

    Although gangs were completing their missions, there was still a lot of mayhem on the streets

    Great turnout at Origins Game Day - Bryan said more than 400 people showed up to game and shop!