The Warriors...er, Kings! Came Out to Play at Cincycon 2024!

Streets of downtown Columbus degenerated into a chaotic gang fight on Friday night at Cincycon 2024

With it being the 45th anniversary of the release of the movie "The Warriors" -- which was my inspiration for my Mean Streets rules -- I thought I should host a scenario that is a nod to it. My convention scenarios are often six player free-for-alls. However, I thought I would have two players representing a single gang and the other four being independents. The two player gang, aka the Warriors, would be trying to get from one side table edge to the other. 

    The table at Cincycon 2024 all set up and ready for players to "come out to plaaaaayyy...!"

Perhaps surprisingly, I don't have miniatures for the Warriors themselves. So, I chose one of my larger gangs, the Eastmoor Kings, and have them stand in. As you may know, my gangs are all named after Columbus neighborhoods. The Kings are an African-American gang, while the other four in the scenario would be the Indianola Mohawks (punk rockers), Franklinton Flippos (clown masks), Santanas (Hispanic gang), and the Linden Daos (black martial arts gang). I decided to give each Kings player one extra figure compared to the independent gangs to give them a fighting chance to get all the way across the table.

    Santanas keep watch on their corner of Bridge Street, making sure no one trespasses on their turf

All of the gangs would be given a variety of ways to earn victory points. Simply knocking out a member of a rival gang would be worth points. For the independents, each had one of the other three as worth extra points (you owe them payback for a previous beat-down). In addition, they had a criminal mission to carry out in a rival gang's turf, such as the Linden Daos had to enter Mohawk territory and "steal some smokes" from a cigarette kiosk. Finally, those four gangs also had two buildings to protect from rival gangs "tags." Players always seem to enjoy the "tagging" mission, and this would give a reason for each gang to protect its turf. 

    Just across the street, two of the Linden Daos strike an aggressive pose, marking their turf

The Kings, on the other hand, had the main mission of reaching the bridge that stretched across the table and catching a bus home. Just like with the Warriors, they had been double-crossed after going across town to a gang parley. Seeing how things in my gang warfare games typically devolve into -- shocker -- street fights, I figured the Kings would struggle to make it unscathed across five feet of tabletop. As it turned out, I may have underestimated the redoubtable street thugs and their canniness!

    My 6 players gathered around the table -- you can see the big bridge (King's goal) in the foreground

Scenery-wise, I had a couple new debuts for my Mean Streets games. The big one, so to speak, was the nearly three feet long stone bridge I had recently painted. See my earlier post on assembling and painting this monstrosity. Also new to the tabletop was my 6'x4' fleece city mat. I had picked up this mat with a concrete pattern from Shieldwall Gaming Club at the Hold the Line convention last Fall. I wasn't sure if my asphalt streets I made from cork material would look good on top of the concrete (since a street is lower than the concrete sidewalks). I set it up in my basement and was very happy with how it looked, so took it along instead of my acrylic tiles I'd used previously.

    You can see the back side of the Silent Slumbers motel here, along with Smith's Smoke Shack

Another new appearance on the table was the Silent Slumbers motel, a two-story resin building from Miniature Building Authority. This hefty model looks great on the urban tabletop, especially the back side with the air conditioning units and wires. Although no fighting took place in the motel, it was the scene of a couple big rumbles in front of and behind it. I did another thing to my scatter terrain. More than a year ago, I painted up a dozen or so streetlamps from pieces of bass wood purchased at the craft store. I don't know why I put them in a ziploc back and then forgot about them. I decided to take them along this time and put them on various street corners. I loved how they looked and feel like kicking myself for not debuting them in my games sooner!

    Early in the game, the Kings concentrated and ganged up on the Indianola Mohawks

The Mohawks, Daos, Flippos, and Santanas all deployed in their city block turf. I probably made a mistake in telling the two Kings players -- my friends Derek and Homer -- that they could deploy just off-board anywhere along the edge abutting Flippo and Mohawk territory. Most GMs have learned that miniature gamers can be counted on to their best to "break" a scenario you felt you balanced. What did Derek and Homer do? Well, of course, they came in like a ton of bricks on Michael's poor Mohawks, concentrating on one half of the side edge. They ignored the Flippos, who made things worse by ignoring the Kings entirely the entire game, too! Next time, I think I will be more specific in where they can come in and ensure that one of the independents isn't ganged up on and outnumbered from the outset.

    Derek's Kings swarm the back alley behind the motel, facing off against the Mohawks there

Homer sent his five Kings down the center street and immediately jumped Mohawks gang boss Sid and his main squeeze, Maybel. That turned out to be not the best idea, as Sid knocked out one and then another of the Kings punks who tried to invade Mohawk turf! Things were not off to a good start for the Kings with one player losing two of his five figures! Derek came in on the back corner behind the motel and apartment building. There they were met by Mohawks warchief Iggy, who held them off for a couple turns before succumbing to superior numbers.

    The Santanas cross the street to threaten Daos turf, trying to stare their rivals down

On the opposite end of the table, a dramatic standoff was underway. The Santanas crossed the street from their turf into territory controlled by the Linden Daos. The Daos had set up with their warchief and a punk to guard Wallace's Brewpub, while the Gang Boss and another punk sat poised to raid Smith's Smoke Shack and bag some points with their special mission. Upon seeing the Santanas assembling on the edge of their turf, they raced back to regroup. The two stared each other down for a moment and then the Santanas blinked, and headed back across the street into their territory. Perhaps it had something to do with a lone Flippo racing over and spray painting Sam's Quickie Mart (Santanas turf) with their clown-faced tag!

    Sidney and Dwayne of the Daos chase down Manana of the Santanas, prompting Cruz to come help

Either way, it was a mistake when they turned their back on the Daos. As half of the Santanas raced towards the Quickie Mart and the other two retreated back to the Pot O'Gold motel, the Daos sprang into action. Several of them chased down the two heading for the hotel and jumped them there. Never turn your back on a street gang looking for trouble! 

    Outnumbered, Sid and Maybel fight a valiant battle to defend their turf, but ultimately succumb

Meanwhile, things were heating up in Mohawk turf! Sid battled Eastmoor King after King, with Maybel wading in with their chain to lend a hand. However, once King gang boss Tyrese got in on the action, things got much more difficult. As vicious as he was with his fists, Sid simply couldn't fend off all of Homer's boys. The gang boss went down, and Maybel took that opportunity to scamper away and head for home. She had taken a few blows herself, and knew that if Sid couldn't stop these outsiders, she didn't stand a chance.

    The police arrive seeing a street fight between the Santanas and Daos taking place on the corner

The rest of the Mohawks had also battled stubbornly, but with Michael's whole gang down or off-table, he was the first beneficiary of my "cop rule." If a player is taken out early, I give them a police car and two officers to drive onto the tabletop on any street edge. They can come and get payback at the one who knocked them out, or show up in an entirely different place. Their choice! I began using this mechanic after a running of Mean Streets at Cincycon when two brothers, Steve and Mike Cole, played in my game. They live to pound on each other in miniatures games and one took the other out quickly in that game. I've used it ever since, and many a player has enjoyed the second lease on life in the game and had a blast playing the cops! Michael hammed it up perfectly, finding a police siren sound on his phone and playing it as he brought the patrol car onto the table.

    Police use their billy club on El Lobo after the Daos fled (or were knocked out by the Santanas)

Just before the police arrived, though, a bloodied Manana had scampered away from the furious fists of the black martial arts gang. Warchief Cruz battled on, calling for help. This soon appeared in the form of both Gang Boss Julio and his buddy, El Lobo. Encircling the two Daos, they pounded one into the pavement, ignoring the commands of the police. The Daos soon decided it was time to retreat rather than take on their rivals and the police! The Santanas refused to back down until the second officer stepped out of the patrol car and added his weight to the struggle. Perhaps it was the sight of the cop's drawn revolver, but the Santanas soon fled back down the road and turned into the alley behind the hotel.

    The police chase the Santanas off the streets into the alley ways, calling for them to halt

What were the Flippos doing all this time? Now, that's a good question! Every once in awhile at a game, you have that one player who decides to do things his or her own way. Rich was playing VERY safe with his four Flippos. Most of the time, he spent holed holed up in side one of the apartment blocks in their turf, guarding it. He sent the occasional punk outside to tag the Quickie Mart (Santanas turf). It wasn't until the Mohawks had been taken down and the Santanas and Daos were brutally mixing it up, that the clown faced creeps emerged from their enclave.

    The Flippos spent half the game guarding their apartment complext from interlopers in this game

They raced in a tight mass towards the back door of the Quickie Mart. Their mission had been to duck inside their and steal some food for tonight's party. Gang Boss Marvin shouted out orders and the four clown-faced gang members efficiently slid inside and began grabbing food off the shelves. Once their pockets were stuffed, they exited out the front door, considering even more mayhem.

   Santanas, having a rough night, beat feet down an alley way to avoid the pursuit of the police

Meanwhile, the game was winding down. Gang boss Juanita was the last one left in the Daos, and she headed off to tag a few buildings to rack up some victory points. The Santanas took a right turn into the alley between the motel and the Quickie Mart. With a couple of their guys beat up pretty well, they were ready to call it a night, too. They certainly were wondering why the Flippos, Daos, and cops all had decided to pick on them. It had made things difficult, and they'd never got a chance to hit up Wallace's Brewpub for some beers for the party planned tonight!

    The Eastmoor Kings cross the halfway point of the table -- which I was really happy with!

Meanwhile, things were going very much like their inspiration film for the Kings. They'd taken a few hits and losses along the way, but they were steadily progressing towards their goal: getting home. After the fight with the Mohawks, Derek's contingent did manage to knock out one of the Daos who was a little less slippery than he should have been stealing smokes from the kiosk. Otherwise, they stay "on mission" and stealthily made their way through the streets of Columbus to the bridge.

    We almost had another dust up at the 11th hour when the Flippos and Santanas met on Bridge Street

The 3-hour time I'd given the game was winding down and most of the players seemed content to get off table and tally up their points. The Flippos briefly considered having a go at the nearby Santanas. With their clown pockets full of food, though (and all four gang members healthy), they decided to head back to their base and celebrate the night's success. They could always claim the Kings kept running because they were too scared to mess with the Flippos, right? The Santanas had come very close to getting two of their ranks knocked out of action, so, as much as they wanted that beer at Wallace's to cool off, the sight of 7 black-clad Kings in the vicinity dissuaded them. Besides, the cops were out looking to bust people, so better to lay low.

    Eastmoor Kings arrive on table near Swingle's Shawarma, whose customer is obviously oblivious

When we counted it up, the Kings had won on victory points. I averaged Derek and Homer's scores and they racked up 13 points. The Flippos were next with 10, on the strength of their tagging and food hoarding. The Daos, despite having only one member left, took third place with 7 points. The Santanas were close behind, and the poor Mohawks took it on the chin having to face both Derek and Homer's gangs simultaneously and unaided. In retrospect, I will probably keep the missions for the independent gangs. However, I will get rid of the "target" points for knocking out one of the other four you owe payback on. I may keep the extra points for the Kings, though, to encourage them to make it tougher on their march through town. 

    No such thing as a fair fight in a street battle -- even with the cops looking on!

All in all, the players had a blast, they said. I thought the scenario ran well, and is certainly a keeper. Look for it at both Drums at the Rapids, May 17-18, at Fort Meigs in Perrysburg, OH. I will also run it Thursday through Saturday at Origins Game Fair, June 19-23, Columbus, OH.