Damn fine post.

CCotD'

Tombstones & Tumbleweeds is done by Christopher Brackett at Game Werks - www.game-werks.com - and can be purchased from their site or from rpgnow: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php? ... =GameWerks

A mere $8.95 for the download. It's 54 pages long and an easy read. Well laid out.

I must point out that the funniest thing I've ever read in a rulebook is in this particular one. In the chapter describing getting hurt, he has descriptions of the various states you may find yourself in, including this little gem:

PUSHIN UP DAISIES
Does this really require further explanation? The character's kicked the proverbial bucket, bought the proverbial farm, gone up the proverbial flume. He's wearing a marble hat. He's buzzard food. No more dice rolling, no second (or third or fourth) chances. He's dead, Jim.

That last bit just kills me.

Steve

EDIT: Should have mentioned that there are some TnT related files that you can download free from their web site, and an online character generation tool that is rather spiffy. Happy Trails.

Hey Steve, any recomendations for a modern or sci-fi game that uses cards?

Too True CC!

Guess it depends on what you are looking for. There is no "one" perfect ruleset in this or any other genre. Different games do different things.

TnT has some great rules for character creation, but is geared towards players building outfits starting with 500 points. They figure at that level games will take about two hours to play. They have this little formula to help you determine how many Build Points (BP) to use based on how long you want the game to last: BP = (1d3 x 100) x game length in hours.

Of course, telling you 500 points doesn't meanmuch unless you know how much things cost and how things work. Characters can be at one of five levels (these are called titles, and range from tenderfoot to legend): Base costs are:
Legend = 300
Boss = 180
Hombre = 60
Greenhorn = 20
Tenderfoot = 10

So a typical gang might have 8-10 figures. But you could allow for more BPs and have larger games, just not sure if the game mechanics will handle that. Then again, I've emailed Chris and asked him other questions about his game, and he quickly replied, so you could visit his site and ask about how high this game scales in terms of number of figures.

Legends of the Old West is designed for similar sized groups. But, the supplement Blood on the Plains changes things to allow for more figures, and the newest Alamo supplement scales it up even further.

Hard to compare the two though. TnT is what, $9. No color artwork, just the facts ma'am.

Legends is what, $37.50, and the second supplement $35 (don't have Alamo yet, but assume around that same price). Chock full o beautiful photos and terrain and all that. If I never play it I'll still say it was worth it for the photos (but I would love to give this a shot someday).

Hope that helps.

Steve

Thanks, Sir Steven.

I'll update my Sci-Fi skirmish rules notes with those tidbits. Still lots more to read and places to visit. I know there's some sort of Combat Zone Chronicles site with lots more info on that game.

Do you favor Combat Zone over Star Mogul? The stuff I've read so far seems to be running very much in favor of CZ and only lukewarm about SM. I figure I'll buy CZ (the full game comes with some cardstock terrain, after all), not sure of the other.

Hmmmm. So Hostile Takeover doesn't fall into ANY of the categories

Intriguing

I'VE GOT IT!!! You build up the Mayhem terrain on a special board with one of those Restful Message (tm) devices attached (like in motels). Then at the start of the turn you turn it on for 5 seconds, and the board and all the playing pieces all jiggle around. Where they stop is where they fight.

Kinda reminds me of those old football games, where you set the direction of the piece on the bottom and then fired up the board and watched the pieces jiggle around until the ball carrier went out of bounds or got stopped.

Thanks for the teaser info

Steve

Just found this, thought some of you might be interested. Free Wild West MMO strategy game. By the makers of Puzzle Pirates.

Has anybody played by Pinnacle? From a few online reports, sounds like it might be scalable and it's compatible with my favorite Western RPG, Deadlands.

I unfortunately am leaning towards the evil empires LotOW and the 3 books (almost $100 new) and not really wanting to give them my $$.

thanks.

CCotD'

Have a look at this set. 'Hey You in The Jail' by Peter Pig.

Its sort of large scale skirmish, written for 15mm figures but easil adapted for 25, 28mm. Suggest using 1 figure per base rather then 3 figures per base. Quick, fun rules.

http://www.peterpig.co.uk/

I don't know if I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but I recommend . Its well supported with an online character generator and lots of downloadable sheets including a QRS. Its a heavily character based game with lots of skills to be gained as they improve. It also uses a card based turn sequence in which each character is dealt a card. Actions are determined using Action Points.
It covers pretty much any situation that will arise in the game with simple yet deep mechanics. Advancement is done "Tween Shoutouts" similar to games like Necromunda and GoMC1.
Its a terrific game that probably doesn't get the attention it deserves because it doesn't have weird elements. Its all about yer cowpokes.

What actual lines of minis do you guys use for Wild West games? I don't think I've ever actually seen any for sale in a hobby store, but I'd be interested in checking them out online if there are any really good ones in 25/28mm scale.