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Sun sets on Redleg Gang!Bloody battle in the hills
"I'm sad for the summer to end, but once
again these guys pulled out all the stops to really give the rules a solid
shakedown. I'm very pleased -- and proud -- of the infamous Redleg Gang!" |
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 GOOD WILL HUNTER Will Hunter, owner, operator, and chief bottle washer of Enigmas Games accepts a Gutshot Beer Stein from Gutshot co-creator Mike Mitchell. |
Before the gang faced their nemesis, Mitchell presented a special thank-you gift to Will Hunter, owner of Enigmas Collectibles & Games. "We really appreciate you hosting us here," Mitchell said. "These games have really helped us work out a lot of the small details in our game." Will gave one of his typical, modest shrugs and replied, "We really enjoyed having you here and we're looking forward to when the game comes out." |
Mitchell smiled cryptically at that and hinted that a solid release date would be announced soon.
After the presentation to Will, the game commenced with a playtest of some much-requested modifications to the Ambush Rules. The modification was as simple as it was deadly: if the Players have set up an ambush, they get a free shot at the people dumb enough to ride into the ambush.
The plot of the game was fairly simple. Iin the last adventure three members of the gang had been captured by trecherous Mexican Banditos: Buckshot Bill, Buckshot Buddha, and Slim. In this, the final adventure, the remaining gang members decided to spring them as they were handed over to the Texas Rangers. The boys made it clear that they were slightly more motivated by the thought of stealing that reward money than actually freeing their own people... apparently it's true about there being no honor among thieves. The Redleg Gang found out the exchange would take place in a small box canyon where the Texas Rangers had a hidden outpost. So, the gang set up an ambush and waited for the Mexicans to ride in with the captives.
"The ambush proved to be a very deadly situation," Mitchell said. "But that's fairly accurate -- people set up ambushes because they work! We might still need to tweak a few things on this topic, but in general I think we've nailed it by doing the most obvious, simplest solution."
Although the Redleg Gang got a drop on the Mexicans, and freed their companions, as the game progressed they found out that turnabout was fair play as Stumpy and his bounty hunters suddenly burst out of buildings and from behind rocks and started blasting away.
The lead was flying and the blood flowing on both sides of the battle as the sun slowly set on the final game. To find out what happened, read the full Game Report on the Redleg Gang's page.
After the game, Mitchell had another surprise: a second Gutshot Beer Stein to award.
"I would have liked to have given one to every player," Mitchell said. "But... I haven't robbed any banks lately, so I had to limit it to just one."
The players opted to dice for it, and since some of them hadn't rolled very well during the game, they decided that the lowest dice roll on 2d6 would take it home.It seemed fitting that the stein went to Chris Trevino (El Gallo Negro), one of the players who had made it to all six games.
THE WINNER'S CUP
Chris Trevino (alias "El Gallo Negro") proudly takes the center
spot and holds his commemorative Gutshot Beer Stein. The players diced
off to see which lucky fella would take it home, and for once, Snake-Eyes
proved to be lucky, as the stein went to the low roller! (l-r): Robert
Hart, David Burlin, Mike Brininger, Chris Trevino, Jarad Lamb, Mike Mitchell,
Jeff Pieper.
When all was said and done, the players were enthusiastic about their Gutshot experience.
Robert Hart (Buckshot Buddha) reported that he enjoyed "Playing the same character each weekend and gradually building on his personality." He also enjoyed "trying to win and not dying and being close to dying and getting better was cool, too."
Jarad Lamb (Shirley) also expressed pleasure with his Wild West experience.
"I liked how it was a lot of quick action, not hard to pick up at all," Jared said, and "The fact that it is set in our world or at least our history."
After it all, Mitchell smiled a weary smile.
"It's not like running a game with your buddies, where you're just there to have a good time on a Sunday afternoon. That's why I'm relieved and sad at the same time," Mitchell said. "I'm relieved because it's a lot of work running a game every week for a month and a half while trying to keep detailed notes about what works, what doesn't, and try to document everything for the Website. In that way, it's a lot of work. However, it's also a lot of fun, and I'm really going to miss coming down here each week to see what these crazy guys are gonna do next!"
As he packed up and headed home, he told Will that he now had to do soemthing even harder than match wits with the Redleg Gang. "Now I've got to go home and write up everything I learned so we can finally get these rules published."
New Specialties are in Blue
LA PALOMA BLANCA (The White Dove)
The Texas Rangers secret outpost hidden somewhere in the mesas and arroyos
of West Texas. This desolate spot was destined to go down in history as
one of the bloodiest battles in the West!
There were 8 Characters and 12 NPCs involved in combat.
(There were an additional 5 NPC Texas Rangers ready
to attack if the Characters didn't escape in time)
The game lasted two turns and took about 3.5 hours to play.
Setup (Victory Objectives)
Get out alive!
Redleg gang could place themselves anywhere they wanted to set up an ambush for Juaquin as he delivered the captured members of the gang. However, if they passed in front of the ranger house there was a VERY good chance the Rangers would see them. Also, the closer they were to the house, the more likely it was that they would be seen (if they were within 24-inches of the building, the Rangers will discover them on a roll of 5 or better on 2d6).
In order to get the game moving quickly, the couriers were moved four times until they moved into ambush range. At that time we started pulling initiative slips.
| Name | Victory |
Kills |
Cash | Misc. |
Recover Buddy |
TOTAL |
| Bob | 75 | 50 | 25 | 150 | ||
| Boy Named Sue | na | - | - | - | - | - |
| Buckshot Bill | - | 25 | 25 | 50 | ||
| Buckshot Buddha | - | 50 | 50 | |||
| El Gallo Negro | 75 | 25 | 100 | |||
| Man With No Name | na | - | - | - | - | - |
| "Shirley" | 75 | 25 | 25 | |||
| Slim | - | 25 | 25 | |||
| Snakebite | 75 | 50 | 25 | 150 |
| NOTES: | |
| Bob | 50VP, Charro; 25 VP, getting on buro and fleeing (smart move) |
| Boy Named Sue | Not present |
| Buckshot Bill | 25 VP, White Cloud; 25 VP for knowing when to surrender |
| Buckshot Buddha | 50 VP, El Hombre loco |
| El Gallo Negro | 25 VP, getting on buro and fleeing (smart move) |
| Man With No Name | Not present |
| "Shirley" | 25 VP, White Cloud battle; 25 VP, staying focused |
| Slim | 25 VP, fighting Ybarra, |
| Snakebite | 50 VP, daring assault on Juaquin; 25 VP, knowing when to run. |
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