Showdown in the “Big Easy!”
June 4, 2005
Metairie/New Orleans, Louisiana -- The streets of Calico Flats
were quiet for only a moment before the sounds of gunfire shook the sleepy
town as half a dozen gunfighters with blood in their eyes battled it out
for the honor of being the “Last Man Standing.”
This year’s convention season continues its furious pace with back-to-back
weekend games at Enfilade in Washington (run by Paul Mauer), Bayou Wars
in Louisiana (run by Mike Murphy), and next weekend at San Jac Con in
Pasadena, Texas (run by Mike Mitchell).
This was the first Bayou Wars game run, and as usual, the table was packed
with players wanting to sling hot lead for a cool prize!
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AND THE WINNER IS…
Brian Songi, (“Senor Lopez”), who earned the kudos as
the “Last Man Standing.” Gutshot co-creator Mike Murphy
(right) beams with pride as he handed over the coveted Gutshot stein.
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“The
support and interest for this game has been fantastic,” said
co-founder and co-author Mike Murphy. “I’m really happy
and honored to be here.”
The game was set for that Saturday evening, and when it was time
to play Murphy had the table laid out ready to go.
“Having stuff ready to play at the stated time, is a necessity
for a well run game. You don’t want to spend half of your
game time, setting up and taking down, because it then cuts into
your fun.” He said.
Murphy had traveled to the convention with the Little Wars game
store and was on hand to answer questions about Hawgleg and Gutshot,
as well as autograph any of the Gutshot Core Rule Books
sold. |
“We’ve been getting lots of questions as to where we are
going with this game, and the interest in it is hot,” Murphy said.
“My partner, Mike Mitchell, has been fielding a lot of questions
as to ‘when and where’ we will be playing, what conventions
we are attending and such. So the interest in the genre is definitely
there.”
High Visibility
The Bayou Wars convention had games going on in three separate large meeting
rooms, besides the main room with the dealers. Hawgleg was lucky and happy
to be in the main room, where visibility was high.
“The ‘thing’ that attracts people to a game is actually
two-fold,” Murphy said. “One is the visual appeal. I call
it the ‘ooh-ahh’ factor. A nice looking setup that is interesting
and appealing will attract more players, and observers. The second part
is seeing other people having a blast at it. Judging by the noise and
fun generated by Gutshot, it always succeeds on this.”
Murphy set up a small
town for the ever-popular “Last Man Standing” scenario,
using a variety of buildings, including the popular Whitewash City
buildings by Eric Hotz.
“The Whitewash
City stuff is really good. It’s inexpensive, easy to work
with, and the variety is the kind I was looking for in a building
setup,” Murphy said as he finished getting the small town
of Calico Flats ready for action.
After the buildings and terrain were in place, it was time to
get down to business.
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NO CATS ALLOWED
Before the free for all begins. The setup of Calico Flats. Mike Murphy
ran the "Last Man Standing" game on Saturday. |
Getting Quick and Dirty
It didn’t take very long for the players to realize that death was
quick and often bloody in this game, and the idea of getting a nice take-home
prize kicked the competition up a higher notch.
Players moved their figures around the town searching for a “prime
shot” to take out one of their competitors, and you could hear some
moaning as best laid plains often changed.
“Oh man…he moved!” moaned Brian Songi as his figure
(Senor Lopez) lost the opportunity to make a backshot he had been planning
against Gordon Smith’s character, Black Bart. You could hear the
other players laugh as Brian’s plans were trashed. He watched all
the nice modifiers he’d stacked up by aiming vanish, all because
of the luck of the draw regarding which Action Slip was pulled first.
“That’s okay. Black Bart has something for you coming real
soon!” Gordon replied as his figure started stalking yet another
player’s figure.
“Oh man, this is gonna get ugly real quick!” Murphy observed.
When the smoke cleared
Five turns of combat and it was down to two players: Cameron Petty playing
Tommy (armed with a rifle), and Brian Songi’s garishly dressed Senor
Lopez. Lopez was down in points due to damage taken from a close up rifle
fight with another character, but had moved and picked up a dropped sawed
off shotgun. Brian was playing the hope that “Lady Luck” would
fall grant her favor and he would get a good roll on the shotgun to blast
his opponent to smithereens.
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Bayou Wars
Photo Gallery
Coming Soon! |
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As luck would have it,
fortune fell on Senor Lopez that day as Tommy rushed him, fired
and missed and was promptly sent to Boot Hill courtesy of a double
barreled sawed off shotgun at point blank range in retaliation fire.
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“Ewww…” came the cry from the table, as the damage
was figure out. In the end it was Brian and his Senor Lopez who earned
the honor to be called the “Last Man Standing”, though just
barely.
Even though five others didn’t win the prize, the mood around the
table was great. They all appreciated the game, and the quality of the
prize.
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