Game: Gutshot

Thread: Get Gutshot at Amazon.com

mmitchell_houston — 2008-08-14T22:18:03+00:00

You may now purchase Gutshot through www.Amazon.com

Just visit the site and do a search for Gutshot, and you'll find several vednors carrying it (including Hawgleg Publishing).

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Yugblad — 2008-06-26T18:09:03+00:00

The town provides numerous locations for players to have gunfights, ambushes, etc.

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Yugblad — 2008-06-26T18:03:34+00:00

The Old Mill guards the entrance to the treacherous Vulture Pass.

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Yugblad — 2008-06-26T17:56:29+00:00

The Town of Vulture Pass: Last Man Standing Scenario.

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Yugblad — 2008-06-22T21:54:30+00:00

"These 'ere woods is mine, boy!"

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Yugblad — 2008-06-21T22:04:25+00:00

Filiberto prepared to add another corpse to Buzzard Creek's graveyard.

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Yugblad — 2008-06-09T13:31:28+00:00

"Doc" Blud engages an Apache, sword glinting in the midday sun.

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Yugblad — 2008-06-09T13:27:49+00:00

The western edge of Buzzard Creek.

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Yugblad — 2008-06-09T12:54:35+00:00

Two Apaches make a foray into Buzzard Creek.

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Yugblad — 2008-05-23T20:26:43+00:00

As dusk approached, the Earps took up positions in the graveyard.

Thread: Re: Hawgleg Publishing Aquires Arnica Resin Buildings

mmitchell_houston — 2008-05-01T22:24:10+00:00

Mark: We haven't made that decision yet because we don't have the numbers in front of us yet. I believe that during our immediate ramp up, the answer will be yes, all orders will ship from the USA.

Once initial orders are filled we'll start looking at other options, including drop shipping and fulfillment services in the UK, or selling through distributors (like our UK distributor, Tabletop Games Ltd.) or through stores. We just can't make those decisions until we run the numbers and talk to some people.

I will tell you, though, that my personal preference would be to have someone in the UK carry the buildings. I hate messing with customs forms!

We'll keep ya posted!

Mike Mitchell
Hawgleg Publishing
www.hawgleg.com
www.arnicarealestate.com

Thread: Re: Hawgleg Publishing Aquires Arnica Resin Buildings

Yugblad — 2008-04-30T14:41:38+00:00

This is good news. Will you be shipping all orders from the USA? I'm just thinking about the prohibitive cost of Airmail to the UK for weighty resin pieces.

Thread: Hawgleg Publishing Aquires Arnica Resin Buildings

mmitchell_houston — 2008-04-29T21:15:07+00:00

Hawgleg Publishing is pleased – and proud – to announce that it has acquired the rights to the Arnica Montana Real Estate 25mm resin buildings. The deal includes the name, Website, copyrights, and worldwide distribution rights to about 30 buildings and accessories for gaming in the Wild West.

Within the week, ownership of the Arnica Website, www.arnicarealestate.com, will be transferred to Hawgleg. When that happens, a new Website will be launched and sales will be suspended for 1-2 months while the molds, masters, and other materials are shipped to Texas and Hawgleg completes setting up its casting facilities.

"We've been talking about this for a while, now, working out details that would make this an easy transition for us and for the many fans of the Arnica Montana products" said Hawgleg co-founder Mike Mitchell. "Now that it's finally happening, we're ready to bust out whoopin' and hollerin' with excitement."

Arnica creator Mike McGraw is in the last stages of packaging and shipping all outstanding orders. The deal does not include transferring any customer lists or sales information – this will be a straight-up change of ownership, with Hawgleg taking full charge and being responsible for casting and shipping all future orders.

McGraw will continue to work with Hawgleg as an advisor and consultant, especially as Hawgleg ramps up its casting operations. Additionally, he will now be free to create new building designs that can be added to the line in the future.

"Mike McGraw has done a great job with the line and we look forward to maintaining the tradition of quality that he established," added Hawgleg co-founder Mike Murphy. "This will be a great chance to keep a fine line going and even expanding in the future as demand grows and we release new kits."

All members of the Hawgleg team expressed admiration for McGraw's work, and an appreciation for why he wanted to move on to other ventures (see sidebar for a copy of his full statement).

“We like his work a lot,” said Hawgleg partner Paul Mauer. “That’s why we decided to buy Arnica. It’s good stuff and we think it will be a good fit for Gutshot and our other products.”

Information regarding pricing, shipping, and release schedules will be made available at both Websites: www.hawgleg.com and www.arnicarealestate.com.

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Hawgleg is the publisher of Gutshot, the 2006 winner of the Origins Award for "Historical Miniatures Game of the Year." Arnica, Montana Real Estate produces white resin building kits and accessories for Western gaming.

Thread: Re: How the heck do I lasso a UK copy of this darn game?

Bakelite — 2008-04-12T22:35:05+00:00

They also have it at Leisure Games:

http://www.leisuregames.com/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http...

Thread: Re: How the heck do I lasso a UK copy of this darn game?

SteveK2 — 2008-04-12T13:26:37+00:00

Publisher's website lists a bunch of UK stores, most of which I'd never heard of. Tabletop Games seem to have it in stock.

http://www.hawgleg.com/retailersList01.asp

Thread: How the heck do I lasso a UK copy of this darn game?

Yugblad — 2008-04-12T13:07:32+00:00

I can't seem to find a retailer of this game anywhere in the UK.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thread: Re: Gutshot Review

Yugblad — 2008-04-07T17:45:53+00:00

I'm having trouble getting a copy of this in the UK. All help appreciated.

Thread: Gutshot: Showdowns & Shootouts contest deadline extended

mmitchell_houston — 2008-01-25T23:32:25+00:00

"Dang it if we ain't even farther behind schedule than we were in October," said Gutshot co-creator Mike Mitchell. "There ain't no one to blame but me, so I apologize to yuh all. Things just got away from me this year and now we're gonna have to do some hard ridin' to catch up."

One thing the Gutshot Posse is doing to get back on track is extending the contest deadline through March 2008. The final deadline will be announced when the eleventh adventure is published, explained Gutshot partner Paul Mauer. There are currently seven adventures online for free download at www.hawgleg.com.

"The extension will allow writers to submit more adventures, which will continue to be considered for publication. We want as many submissions as possible, so keep sending them in," Paul said.

This still leaves a lot of hard work to do, but the whole posse is pitching in to get it done.

"Barring any more health issues or other serious delays, we should manage to wrap things up by the end of March," Mitchell said. "This should give us a realistic timetable of completing two adventures per month and still maintain the high level of quality we've achieved with the material we've already published."

The Showdowns & Shootouts Adventure Writing Contest is open to the general public and you do not have to be familiar with the Gutshot rules to enter. All you need to do is submit a good story idea for a Wild West game. Submissions may be made via e-mail, but submitting them directly through the Hawgleg forum is the surest way to ensure that the judges see your submission.

The contest has more than $500 in prizes, and a monthly prize for each person who has an adventure selected. For full rules and details, please visit www.hawgleg.com.
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Gutshot won the 2006 Origins Award for “Historical Miniatures Game of the Year.”

Thread: Re: Gutshot! Just a casual review

mmitchell_houston — 2008-01-17T23:08:08+00:00

One of the game authors here: The activation system is similar to what you'd find in all IGOUGO games, including Desperado (love all three editions, by the way), but the similarities end there. Our combat system is different, as are our modifier system which is driven more by player decisions (movement, weapons, actions, and cover). We also have a different mechanic that includes Retaliation Shots, which basically states that if you shoot at someone who has a loaded weapon ready in his hands, you danged better well expect that he's gonna shoot yuh back!

Desperado accomplished a lot with its tight page count, and it was a great game for its time -- and it' still very playable. Gutshot has somewhat slicker production values (we have sample pages available for download at our Website) and the extra pages are spent on detailed examples, summaries, and to provide more guidance on transportation, terrain, and more advanced features. Another thing we provide are what you might consider more "advanced" combat rules for things like hand-to-hand combat, cover fire, retaliation shots, wild shots, throwing knives s, and things that let you really achieve what you want from a Wild West game, be it cinematic or historical.

Anyway, enough of the sales pitch, Adios!

Thread: Re: Gutshot! Just a casual review

jollyrogergames — 2008-01-12T19:13:18+00:00

Isn't this just like "Desperado"--though I thought Desperado 'required' poker chips to be drawn for determining turn-order rather than pieces of paper.

(It was also a much smaller book--about 24 pages, 8x11)

Thread: Gutshot! Just a casual review

The Carmen — 2008-01-12T09:31:37+00:00

Components
When you buy Gutshot, all you will get is a glossy-jacketed, papeback rulebook. You will need to provide 6-sided dice, a tape measure, something to represent buildings or other terrain, pencil, paper, character sheets (copied from the book or downloaded at Hawgleg.com) and some cowboys! One of the great things about Gutshot is its adaptability to the collection of cowboy miniatures YOU have. There are no miniature lines specific to Gutshot. Gutshot can be played with any manufacturer's old west miniatures in scales from 15mm up to 54mm (and without having to change the measurements for ranges, movement etc.) You can even go to the local toy store and get a bag of toy plastic cowboys to play with. If you're wonderin', Gutshot was designed for 25 to 28mm scale figures.

As I initially flipped through the rulebook, I was a little intimidated. Here was 170 or so odd pages chock full of information, and I had to read it all (or so I thought) to be able to play the game. As it turned out, there are really only a few basic rules, and they are repeated throughout the book with complete examples given as small episodic narratives. An nice index quickly leads you to the information you need; but the book is also laid out in outline form with each chapter further and further subdivided and numbered, so rules can be quickly found and referenced.

Another great aspect I enjoyed as compared to other miniatures games were the character sheets. In Gutshot, each player runs his own character. Each character has a sheet with his (or her) name, their abilities, weapons, ammunition and damage listed. But the sheets also have information on weapons ranges, and combat and movement modifiers; all the basic information a player needs to play is contained on the character sheet- and the sheet is still contained on a 8 1/2- by 11-inch piece of paper!

Other sheets are avaiable for horses, pack animals (mules and donkeys) and wagons and stagecoaches.

Playing
Play commences by drawing slips of paper, with the characters' names written on them, out of a hat. Whoever's name gets drawn gets to take their turn. Each player puts three slips into the hat with their character's name on it, so each player gets to act three times. A complete turn is finished when all the slips have been pulled- How simple is that! Though the turn order is random, you'll quickly recognize that players who quickly get all three of their slips pulled will be at the mercy of those who names have not been pulled. And those who have to wait know they'll be able to act with relative impunity.

The play is quick and deadly. There are only a few basic weapons covered: Pistol, rifle, shotgun, sawed off shotgun and derringer. The game is not about the minor technical differences between specific weapons; it's a good ole fashion shoot-em up! If you get popped between the eyes from some fella hiding behind a tipped poker table, you're not gonna care if the pistol was a .45 Colt Peacemaker, .44 Navy, or Smith and Wesson Schofield. All you're gonna care about is shooting back!

The summarized weapons and the action-slip system combine for a fast, action-packed gameplay. And so play proceeds with players running around shooting at one another, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, bounding off horses, ducking behind barrels, bouncing around in stagecoaches, blowing up safes, hiding behind building corners, shooting at players and realizing you just fired off your last round of ammunition....oops. Anything you have seen in your favorite western can be recreated in Gutshot.

The Long game
In the back of the rulebook is a campaign section complete with rules for advancing your character. Unlike advancement rules in many other games, the evolution of your character is not beholden to a random dice roll. You decided how your character grows. You get to choose his abilities and which of his strengths improves and when and by how much (within limits of course.)
Along with the campaign rules is an extensive equipment and price list covering weapons, ammunition, clothing, equipment, horses, saloon and meal prices, costs for services such as the barber, livery and doctor (an important fellow to know) among others; There is enough information to start a roleplaying game in fact! Most games of Gutshot feel like a roleplaying game, but the core of the game still calls for action.

The basics
Gutshot plays well with 2 to 10 characters, each played by one player. I ran a game once with 14 players, and had it finished in 2 hours. The game really is quick and easy (though not beer and pretzels.)
After reading the rules once and skimming a couple more times, I was able to teach the basics to new players in about 5 minutes. This is great for getting pick up games up and going right away with new players. The rules are simple enough for kids to easily grasp. There aren't any confusing rules or large and extensive reference charts. Gutshot is not a technical game of historical reenactment. It's a game of cinematic shoot and kill.

As best as I can explain it- once you know the basics, this game is designed to just GO! Gutshot simply calls for action.

For more information, check out www.Hawgleg.com. There are sample pages from the rulebook you can download and read. Hawgleg also supports a forum of friendly folks who are always willing to answer any of your questions. The forum is also fequented by the authors of the rules, so you're sure to get a definitive answer to any questions you might have.

Thread: Re: my gutshot review

mmitchell_houston — 2007-12-26T19:25:23+00:00

Thank you very much for the review! I don't know how I missed it all this time. Muchas Gracias, amigo!

PS: We've now got a distributor in the UK, so it should be relatively easy to find Gutshot these days.

Thread: Re: 8-8-07 session: The Law Dogs part 1

MoonSylver — 2007-09-03T20:11:49+00:00

Thanks for the comparisons! Both sounded similar, but this makes the differences more apparent.

The main question is what do you want? A more detailed simulation is fine if you have 4+ hours and players who want that.

That's one reason I don't play Gunslinger much. It's a great game, but TOO detailed in some ways: just too hared to teach/learn & too hard/takes too long to play. I thought Cowboys: The Way of the Gun would be the answer, but it's a bit TOO light (though the play time is about right)
---MS

Thread: Re: 8-8-07 session: The Law Dogs part 1

Fallow — 2007-09-01T02:55:55+00:00

Hey Moon,

I tend to go on and on forever about games but I'll do my best to be brief.

Price: TRWNN is free. Gutshot! is $20
Skills: TRWNN has about 30 plus some different skills for Indians. Gutshot! has about 25 skills. TRWNN's skills are mostly changes to numbers of dice rolled whereas Gutshot!'s are each more specific and meaningful.
Initiative: I don't mind random initiative, which both games have. In TRWNN you use playing cards and character cards. In Gutshot! you put 3 action slips per character in a box or hat or spitoon. I use a cowboy hat and poker chips with character names on em. Throw in a chip with 'event' on it to simulate random events like a flood or stampede or townsfolk forming an unruly mob.
My players are always on the edge of their seats when the chips are pulled because they just might get a second action in a row and be able to take out that outlaw who is about to do them in, or the outlaw's chip might be pulled.
It's a much better system than the standard my turn, your turn miniatures wargames I have played.
Movement: TRWNN has limits to angle of fire, moving & turning. In Gutshot! you have more freedom of movement. Either is better depending on what you want.
Combat and damage: TRWNN has a decent combat and damage system. It's damage charts are in my opinion more complex than they should be for a minis game of this nature. Gutshot! also has a decent combat and damage system with everything on the character sheet, pain & damage boxes, movement and weapons range & damage charts. You can pretty much play just using the character sheet once you know the rules. Also the more complex damage charts of TRWNN can add more detail (hit locations) but at the expense of game flow and speed and overall length.
Dueling: Both games have rules for this.
Horses: TRWNN has horses and detailed movement/turning rules. Gutshot! has 8 different mounts all with their own record sheets with all movement modifers on it.
Other rules:TRWNN has rules for Nerve, Hatred, Fear. Gutshot! has 'taking the bullet' which lets you jump in front of a friend and take the shot in his stead.
Campaign/Character advancement: TRWNN has a simple rank advancement. Gutshot! has a victory point system that lets you both buy new skills and improve your fighting ability.
Other items:TRWNN has none. Gutshot! has a list of items, clothing, prices for many things you might find in a western town. Not needed for a fight, just for flavor.
Ease of play: I played 2 games of TRWNN. It took some doing to get everything printed out and ready. I had to refer to the rules often and it was decent. Yet it felt like... a game. Like a boardgame sort of. Gutshot! took longer to read, since it has tons of good information and my first game of Gutshot! went very smooth. My first GM session was with 4 new players and they picked up the rules in 15 minutes and were flying with them. They all bought books and are in the process of painting up minis of their characters from our posse.

TRWNN are good and they seem to work. Gutshot!'s rules are extremely well-balanced, fine-tuned, smooth and fast.
The Gutshot! designers had a criteria that every rule had to be Fast, Fun, and Simple. Gutshot! simply 'feels' right.
The main question is what do you want? A more detailed simulation is fine if you have 4+ hours and players who want that. Gutshot! is a faster system which fits in a shorter playtime and never leaves anyone sitting around waiting for their turn.

A western version of Advanced Squad Leader would thrill some players and turn off others. I have 6 regular Gutshot! players in my group now and our games take about 2 1/2 to 3 hours including setup and cleanup. Yet every time the game is over no one can believe how much time has passed and we often jump right into another game. It's always fast, fun and tense. Much more like a spaghetti western-RPG. Just look at my session reports, that's really what happened. The spoken lines are more or less what the players said in-character.

My crew are all avid RPG'ers as am I so we do tend to ham it up quite a bit and get into our characters. We have backgrounds and histories written up and I play the game much like an RPG. If you like RPG's then Gutshot! does lend itself well to that angle. For instance all my players spent a good hour just working out what items to purchase, what they wear, what type of hat. They bought horses and named them, describing the breed and pattern.

It's not really an even comparison IMO. Gutshot! is a polished published product. TRWNN is a free ruleset without bells n whistles. It's more comparable to Tombstones & Tumbleweeds which is a downloadable ruleset I got for $5.

I'd give TRWNN a 7 and Gutshot! a 10.

I'm starting to ramble so I'll cut myself off here.

Hope I helped.

Thread: Re: 8-8-07 session: The Law Dogs part 1

MoonSylver — 2007-08-31T21:59:49+00:00

Fallow wrote:
Thanks Moon!

I've heard good things about Gunslinger, but I was after something simple and easy for my daughter and I to play. Cowboys looks like an awesome game and I will certainly pick it up when I find some money. It seems more a board game though.

TRWNN I have and they are fine but I wanted something more.

Gunslinger is great, but VERY detailed. Cowboys is cool, but a LITTLE too light. Been house ruling it w/ TRWNN inspired touches.

What would you say are the main differnces between TRWNN & Gutshot? Why is Gutshot better in your opinion?

Thanks in advance!
---MS

Thread: Re: Yeeehaw! a Gutshot! review

Fallow — 2007-08-25T14:35:31+00:00

Yep! Except that I use poker chips. They have a more tactile feel and sound better too!

I bought a $5 cowboy hat and a $1 pack of 60 white poker chips (the non-plastic type, not sure the material)
I write NPC character names in pencil so I can erase if needed.
Player Character names I write in fine point permanant marker.
I use white chips for character names since it's easier to read, blue chips with numbers for tracking events, and green chips for tracking movement - use two green chips per Character. Write CRAWL and WALK on one chip in marker, write TROT and RUN on the other chip. Each player keeps the two movement chips above their character sheet and stacked one atop the other with the Character's current movement rate showing on top. This makes it easy for all players and the GM to quickly see what the combat modifiers are.

Thread: Re: 8-8-07 session: The Law Dogs part 1

Fallow — 2007-08-25T04:15:38+00:00

Thanks Moon!

I've heard good things about Gunslinger, but I was after something simple and easy for my daughter and I to play. Cowboys looks like an awesome game and I will certainly pick it up when I find some money. It seems more a board game though.

TRWNN I have and they are fine but I wanted something more.

I'd say it's certainly worth getting Gutshot! - the core Gutshot! rules are a fast and fun minis game. Not a lot of detail, but that's good for what it's aiming at. It's just very well-tuned and has proper proportions of all the right elements. Much like in cooking.

I've forged it into a semi-RPG but that's because my group are all avid RPGers and used to complex rules.

So you liked this session report? This is only the battle. You can read the whole thing here.
http://www.hawgleg.com/snitz/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=419

Steve- the GW rules I've looked over and it seems more squad combat. I prefer the one on one scale meself.

Do like I did and look for threads here on BGG about western games, it's a lot of help. Also check theminiaturespage old west forum http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/topics.mv?id=144

Try to get a look at the character and horse record sheets. I feel that tells a lot about a game too.

And check out my first adventure I posted for Gutshot! today. It's a horse race! http://www.hawgleg.com/snitz/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=420

Thread: Re: 8-8-07 session: The Law Dogs part 1

sherron — 2007-08-25T01:53:54+00:00

Games Workshop has their version of the Old West, I was wondering which one was the best or the difference between them? I grew up in the 50s/60s and remember seeing westerns on TV. Enjoyed your session. I thought it be fun to build an old west town and design it after the town in Blazing Saddles for grins.

Thread: Re: 8-8-07 session: The Law Dogs part 1

MoonSylver — 2007-08-25T01:39:58+00:00

You've been cranking out some awesome session reports! I already have "Gunslinger" "The Rules With No Name" & "Cowboys:The Way of the Gun" but with these, you're SORELY tempting me to invest in "Gutshot" as well!
---MS

Thread: 8-8-07 session: The Law Dogs part 1

Fallow — 2007-08-24T21:42:46+00:00

8-8-07 The Law Dogs part 1

Background

This adventure was presented like a movie and so this session report, while completely accurate to what happened in the game, is written more like a story.

The town buildings were set up the same as in the previous adventure. I had my laptop with western music playing appropriate songs for the part of the adventure they were in.

The previous adventure we played, Bullets for Breakfast! which was excellent btw, ended with "Hangin Judge" Charles Dunmeyer killing the outlaw Jack Hopper and hanging his brother Gary Hopper.

But in the month following the Hopper gang shootout The territorial governor Johnston Fitzgerald brought charges on the group of misconduct and murder.

Marshal Dunmeyer and his brother Charles both had confrontations with the governor in the past. He seemed to be turning a blind eye to any crimes committed on the fringe of his jurisdiction and many crimes within as well. The Dunmeyer brothers had long suspected his crookedness. It was becoming very difficult to be an honest lawman.

The bounty hunter Gideon Delgado and cowgirl Hydrania Star were held in jail. It took all of Gideon's bounty money to free himself and Hydrania's Pa had to sell the prize calves to get her out.

Francis Dunmeyer was suspended as Marshal and Charles was disbarred, though neither were jailed.

Langston McCaul had his badge, and with it his honor, stripped away.

A faked bank robbery saw the group framed and nearly dead.
A mysterious benefactor (MB) has hired the group to work around the corrupt law and try to restore peace and justice to the territory. Their first mission is to clean up the outlaws who have taken over Couger Creek:

Showdown(Western action music playing)

The Law Dogs Gideon Delgado, Francis 'Snake' Dunmeyer, 'Hangin Judge' Charles Dunmeyer and 'Dapper' Dan Calhoun walked side-by side down the street of Couger Creek toward the four outlaw gunman standing in front of the meeting hall.
They passed the burnt remains of the Bank and the broken windows and door of the Sherrif's office.
Before they were in rifle range Francis spotted a glint of light from the hotel balcony to his left.
Quickly looking around he saw slight movement on the hardware store balcony on the right as well. Ambush eh?

Francis dropped to one knee, calling out a warning and sighting his rifle Longshot, fired at the sniper on the hotel balcony, missing.
Gideon's keen eyesight had already found the man on the hotel balcony but he favored a different tactic.
He sprinted underneath the balcony overhang and began firing up through the wood floor with his pistols Total & Absolute.

The sniper on the hardware store balcony fired down at Francis, barely missing him. Charles gripped his triple-barrel shotgun Pain and ran into the hardware store and up the stairs, heading to stop the rifleman shooting at his brother.

'Dapper' Dan Calhoun fired a few shots from his pistol at the hardware store rifleman, missing.

The four gunman at the meeting hall ran towards the Law Dogs.

An old Indian man sat in a rocking chair of the hardware store, unnoticed by the gunman, unconcerned with the danger around him. He watched the events unfolding before him and occasionally spoke of them, as if writing the story for posterity.
"The demons came up from the ground to poison the earth." he said in a deep voice, though no one seemed to hear him.

Gideon fired from under the balcony scoring a hit on the sniper there, spoiling his aim at Francis who took the opportunity to finish him off with a shot from his new rifle Longshot.

"A spirit of vengeance appeared, a white glow around his neck, another with a shining light on his gun. Together they forced a demon back to hell." The Indian watched.

The hardware store rifleman fired and hit Francis Dunmeyer just as his brother Charles reached the balcony and unloaded all three barrels into him. A fine red mist sprayed out over the street like rain.

"Demon's teeth tore at a spirit of light, but his brother,a halo of light around his head struck down the demon, and the skies cried tears of blood"

Two of the gunman ran towards a distracted Gideon, and two bullets tore into his leg and side. He retailiated but only managed to hit one in the arm. Another gunman bore down on Dan, firing and missing him. Dan retailiated and missed, then threw down his pistol and drew Sharptooth, running towards the gunman for some knifework. Charles reloaded and a bullet ricocheted off the balcony railing.

Francis shot at an advancing gunman, scoring a hit. The outlaw was too far to retaliate against Francis so he fired on Gideon, hitting him in the shoulder.

Two more outlaws ran out of the meeting hall, and seeing their gang had Gideon under control, headed towards Dan Calhoun and Francis.

Facing three gunman, Gideon fired Total and Absolute, moving as best he could for the cover of a rain barrel. He took out one outlaw and wounded another, but not before taking another hit. He had lost a lot of blood and was finding it very hard to focus.

'Dapper' Dan weaved as he ran and the outlaw facing him shot and missed. It was his last shot as Dan shoved Sharptooth deep into his ribs, then pulled it out and stabbed him again. The outlaw fell and Dan grinned, but another outlaw was right on his heels and this one, a two gun shootist hit Dan with both shots. Dan staggered up to the man but was too weak to stab him. He could barely stand.

Charles Dunmeyer saw what was happening and jumped off the balcony behind the gunman. Ignoring the pain in his ankle he fired two barrels of his shotgun, not having had time to fully reload. The shot only grazed the outlaw and he spun to fire both pistols at the now unarmed Lawman.

'Dapper' Dan threw himself in front of Charles Dunmeyer, taking one of the bullets in the back. The other shot missed both Law Dogs. Charles screamed NOOOO! and quickly threw one shell into his shotgun then slammed it shut.
Too late, the shootist was ready to fire again, but Francis was faster and he sent a bullet into the shootist's skull saving his brother.

"The light of two spirits grows dim, the streets will be a river of blood, but who's blood will it be?"

Charles dragged Dan around the corner of the hardware store and behind a rainbarrel.
"Just hold on Dan, you're going to be fine, just HOLD ON!"

Gideon crashed against the rain barrel but kept firing. One of his guns jammed and he threw it at the outlaw near him then followed it with a bullet, taking the man down. 'Two more to go', he thought.

A gunman ran towards where Francis was kneeling, managing to hit him in the leg. Francis retaliated and missed and the gunman bore down on him.

Charles reloaded Pain, all three barrels and stepped out of the alley looking to end this fight. Seeing his brother in peril he fired each barrel singly, punctuating each shot with a curse. "Go." "To." "Hell!"
The gunman, peppered with shot collapsed and lay still.

"A sacrifice made. A brother saved. A debt honored. A tide turned."

Gideon pointed his remaining pistol at an outlaw and pulled the trigger. Click.

"Oh not now." He began loading bullets. One, two. A shot hit him in the arm and it fell uselessly to his side. He stared confused at the gunman in front of him and then Francis sent a bullet into the outlaw's back toppling him.

Just a few feet from Gideon, the last outlaw's pistol clicked empty. He threw the gun down and grabbed up a fallen pistol. A shiny new one. With a pearl handle. He aimed the gun at Gideon.

Gideon's vision swam. He could see a man pointing a gun at him. That was bad. He should do something about that. He looked down at the gun in his hand. It was just like the one that man had. "Hey." Gideon said conversationally. "Thats my gun. Give it back." The man smiled and stepped closer, no chance for a miss now. "How bout I give you the bullets instead amigo." and he pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.
Gideon shook his head and pointed his gun at the outlaw "Tha's okay, I have two bullets still, one..." Blam! Gideon fired a shot into the man's stomach. "and two..." Blam! This shot put a neat hole in the outlaw's forehead, toppling him over like a doll. "..see? Two bullets."

Francis ran up to Gideon. "Are you alright?" he asked, seeing how pale and bloody the former bounty hunter was.
"I gave him my last two bullets. Ain't that nice of me?" Gideon said with a smile before he fainted.

Epilogue(Harmonica song playing)

Charles Dunmeyer ran to the telegraph room which was still working and sent a message to MB for help. A tense hour later a Doc arrived and managed to patch up Dan and Gideon enough to move them on a cart to Margaret's ranch house for treatment.

Langston had retrieved some information, but not enough to incriminate the Governor. They had found some money though and threw it, along with the valuables on the outlaws into a bag which they sent to a mission house in the next town to hold for the settlers of Couger Creek, should they return. They would need it to help rebuild.

It was dusk. Charles walked his horse through the deserted streets of Couger Creek and dismounted in front of a building. He pushed aside the broken door and rummaged around inside for a few minutes, finally finding what he was after. He tied his prize to the saddlepack. Pain was his weapon now, but Verity would always hold a sweet spot in his heart. He rode out of town, wondering when he would need to return to defend it again. Wondering if he would ever walk it's streets as a lawman again.

Rocking in his chair the Indian watched Charles Dunmeyer ride away and said. "The spirits of light have put the demons to rest. The river of blood has run it's course. Five stars are in the sky, watching over Couger Creek."
But no one could hear him.

-----------------------------------------

After the game I gave each player a music cd I had burned with all the music from the game titled
Gutshot! 'The Law Dogs'

VP was awarded, special VP going to Dan Calhoun for 'taking the bullet' for a friend, and to Charles for risking himself dragging Dan out of the line of fire. Everyone was injured, Gideon with 14 hits and Dan knocking on heaven's door.

Stay tuned for The Law Dogs part 2!

Thread: Session report:Bullets for Breakfast!

Fallow — 2007-08-18T21:42:47+00:00

Bullets for Breakfast (modified) 8-1-07

Our posse decided they wanted to be Law Dogs rather than outlaws and so decided to play BfB with a few modifications.
Instead of having Gary Hopper riding into town to avenge his brother Jack's hangin, we set up a gallows at one end of town and were in the middle of hanging Jack Hopper when his brother and gang rode into town to try and stop it.

Our posse:
Mike - Game Marshal
Fareed - Marshal Francis Dunmere (Duhn my er), Marshal
Carl - Judge Charles Dunmere, Deputy
Frank - Langston McCaul, Texas Ranger
Vince - Gideon Delgado, Bounty Hunter
Becca - Hydrania Star, Cowgirl

With five law dogs instead of two I lowered all the Hopper gang member's TN by two.
If Jack Hopper escaped, the Law Dogs would lose and the Hopper gang would win.
If Jack Hopper died, then it would be the same victory conditions as in the standard rules.

-------------------------------

Marshal Francis Dunmere shifted his grip on his rifle and shielded his eyes against the sun's glare as he gazed up at the gallows and the man about to be hung.

Jack Hopper stood atop the gallows, nearly on tiptoe as the noose about his neck tightened and he struggled at the rope tying his hands behind his back and glared down at the man reading at the foot of the gallows.

"Hangin' Judge" Charles Dunmere, brother to the Marshal stood at the bottom of the stairs just finishing reading the list of crimes Jack had committed. "...murder and robbery. For these crimes you have been found guilty and will hang by the neck until you are dead."
Jack Hopper cursed and spat.

Gideon Delgado grinned and continued rocking in the chair on the porch of the Sherrif's office next to the gallows. He tapped his twin brushed-metal peacemakers with the tips of his fingers, hoping the Hopper gang would show so he could collect a few bounties.

Langston McCaul stood near the gallows with his hand on his holster, searching the deserted street for trouble. He glanced at the badge on his chest reading 'Texas Ranger' and wondered if his gun skills would be needed. He nodded at the passing rider.

Hydrania Star trotted her horse around the town, patrolling for anything amiss. She often joined up with the Law Dogs, partly in thanks for their help with rustlers on her pa's farm in the past and partly just because it was the right thing to do.

Suddenly Hyrdrania cried out "They're comin!" and she spurred her horse into a gallop, running behind the buildings lining the street to flank the gang.

Charles Dunmere locked eyes with Jack Hopper who grinned back. The Judge ran up the gallows stairs reaching for the lever which would drop the floor out from under the victim.

A shot rang out and the rope above the noose split apart. Jack Hopper grinned even wider.

"No!" Charles declared through gritted teeth and in one swift motion he pulled out his double barrel shotgun and hip-fired it into the belly of Jack Hopper cutting him in half.

Crack! another shot rang out hitting the Judge in the shoulder. He could see figures running towards the gallows from the other end of the street. He ran back down the stairs, dropping the shotgun, unable to use both hands now.

At the first shot Gideon Delgado leapt from his chair and ran across the street to the cover of the saloon porch, pulling his twin death cannons and deciding who to kill first.

The Marshal ran a few steps then dove to the ground, aiming his rifle and firing at the outlaws now running down the street.

The Texas Ranger pulled his peacemaker and ran around back the Sherrif's office to put his back to the Hotel wall and peek around the corner.

Down the street ran Gary Hopper and his gang. "That's mah BROTHER! Ah'll kill y'all!" Gary screamed, firing wildly at Judge Charles, heedless of the fact he was out of range.

Two of the gang sprinted down the center of the street firing on the prone Marshal. Two more ran along the porches of the building fronts towards the Sheriff's office.

Bullets thudded into the dirt around the Marshall as he calmly aimed and sent a bullet into one of the advancing thugs.

As if by some unspoken signal Gideon Delgado and Langston McCaul both stepped out into the street and opened fire on the nearest outlaws.

The Bounty Hunter and Texas Ranger dropped two in their first exchange, Gideon calmly, almost indifferently firing two-gun style as he walked straight towards his prey and Langston fanning 4 shots into the belly of the outlaw who was startled when McCaul stepped out from behind the building.

Even as the outlaw in front of Langston dropped to his knees, the gunman behind him opened fire, hitting McCaul in the left shoulder, a spray of red staining his badge as the Texas Ranger staggered to his knees in pain.

Gideon's vision turned red. Langston was the man who took pity on him when he was jailed as an outlaw, the man who gave him a second chance as a deputized Bounty Hunter, the man who was his only real friend.

"Ah gave my word I wouln't let you down McCaul, and I don't mean to!" Gideon sprinted across the street firing at the outlaw thinking that a year ago that coulda been him. One of the bullets tore into the man's leg but he just gritted his teeth as he reloaded his pistol.

As he got within a few feet of the outlaw Gideon's pistols both clicked empty. The outlaw had just finished reloading his pistol and now aimed at Gideon, sighting right between his eyes. The outlaw smiled.

And then his smiled turned into an expression of pain as Langston fanned his last two bullets into his chest. The outlaw crashed to the wooden walkway.

The two friends grinned as they reloaded and took stock of the rest of the gunfight.

Gary Hopper had continued his mad dash right behind the two friends as they fought his now-deceased gang members and followed Charles Dunmere into the Sherrif's office where the Judge had just grabbed a loaded shotgun and a pistol and ran out the back to join Langston.

Francis Dunmere was locked in a long range battle with a rifle-bearing outlaw firing at him from behind a rain barrel at the far end of the street.

Hydrania Star had circled around behind the buildings on horseback riding swift and silent to catch one of them flat-footed. She nailed him in the back with her rifle and he got himself stuck in the legs of the windmill near the barn trying to get away from her.

"Where are ya Judge? I wanna shoot ya!" Gary Hopper screamed as he tore apart the office looking for Charles Dunmere.

"I'm out here Hopper, waitin fer ya!" Charles spat back.

Gary Hopper burst out of the back door, firing at the Deputy, hitting him in the arm causing him to drop his recently aquired shotgun. Charles retaliated but his aim was off and he began stepping back, exchanging shots with this outlaw leader with the mad gleam of revenge in his eyes.

"Give up Hopper and spare your men." Charles pleaded, being a man of the law and hoping that some lives might be spared.

"Never Judge! YOU'RE gonna DIE!" Hopper yelled and charged at Judge Dunmere, hitting him with two shots and taking one in return which he ignored.

Charles Dunmere's pistol clicked empty. He was wounded, had no cover and his brother Francis wasn't in sight.
Still he stood defiantly looking death in the face as Gary hopper advanced on him with a wicked grin.

Marshal Francis Dunmere had heard his brother's voice behind the Sheriff's office and now stood and ran back towards the gallows, around the office to see what was happening. Seeing his brother about to be killed, the Marshal quickly raised his trusty rifle and squeezed off a desperate shot to save his brother's life.

The winds of justice sped the bullet to it's mark and Gary Hopper pitched over, as near ta dead as makes no difference.

"You mess with the Dunmere brothers and there'll be HELL to pay!" Francis Dunmere pronounced.

Meanwhile Gideon Delgado and Langston McCaul had worked their way down the street to the rifleman and were now shouting at him to surrender.

Hydrania had managed to lasso the one owlhoot she had shot, forcing his surrender.

Panicing, the rifleman tried to run to the horses, firing at Hydrania as he went. Both the Bounty Hunter and the Ranger threw lead into him and brought him down.

The Bounty Hunter, the Texas Ranger and the Cowgirl with prisoner in tow worked their way back to the gallows where the Dunmere brothers had dragged a dying Gary Hopper up to the platform.

"Ya said ye were hangin a Hopper and it looks like ya will." Gideon said, watching as 'Hangin' Judge Charles Dunmere tightened the noose around Gary Hopper's neck.

Marshal Francis Dunmere shifted his grip on his rifle and shielded his eyes against the sun's glare as he gazed up at the gallows and the man about to be hung...
-----------------------------

Charles and Langston were near ta death but the good guys won and the bad guys swung.

Thread: 7-25-07 Session Report

Fallow — 2007-08-03T22:26:38+00:00

Bullets for Breakfast! 7-25-2007

Our posse played a standard Gutshot! game of BfB using the characters provided in the adventure along with a cowgirl helpin out the law and a gambler hired on by Gary Hopper.
--------------------------
Marshal Rowdy Yates, his brother the judge Phil Yates and cowgirl Hydrania Star watched from the windows of the Hardware store, Hotel and Cafe, waiting for the Hopper gang to show.

Gary Hopper and Roy Cobb crept along the side of the Saloon across the dusty street from the Hotel with pistols in hand while Matthew Quigley took up a shootin position resting his rifle on a barrel and sighting the windows of the Sherrif's office.

Johnny Tyler and Ellion Marston both had pistols out and crept quietly along the wooden porch of the Hotel while Jack Diamond tethered the horses behind the stable and headed towards the Saloon.

Phil Yates fired through the Hotel window hitting Johnny Tyler. Hydrania Star threw open the Cafe door and fired at Elliot Marston hitting him. Seeing an easier target, Tyler and Marston ran at the cowgirl, firing and missing. Matthew Quigley resighted his rifle and fired hitting Hydrania.

Marshal Yates stepped out of the Hardware store and caught Johnny Tyler flat-footed, a rifle bullet to the head ending his outlaw career. Seeing the Marshal, Gary Hopper dashed across the street and cried "You killed my brother, now a'hm gonna kill YOU!" and fired off two shots, both hitting the Marshal, nearly bringing him down.

Jack Diamond ran behind the Saloon towards the action. Phil Yates stepped out of the Hotel and traded shots with Roy Cobb as Hydrania Star ran towards the Marshal to help. Roy Cobb hit the dirt, never to rise again.

As the Marshal limped back into the Hardware store his brother fired on Gary Hopper, missing.
Hopper turned to the judge "Your brother's good as dead judge.. and yer next!". Gary Hopper and Matthew Quigley both fired at the Judge, wounding him severely.

"Head for cover!" Hydrania yelled and fired a few shots at Gary Hopper, hitting him once. Phil Yates ducked back in the Hotel, using the doorframe for cover. All guns turned toward the cowgirl. Elliot Marston's shot spanged off the dirt at Hydrania's feet but Gary Hopper's shot found it's mark. "Tryin ta ruin my fun missy? well you can die too!"

Jack Diamond, seeing what was happening decided to switch sides and shot the gang leader in the leg. "This ain't what I signed on for Hopper!" Gary's retaliation shot hit Jack Diamond in the gut, sending him to his knees nearly dead.

Hopper turned back to Hydrania but while he was distracted she had ran right up to him and now fanned the gun sending 4 bullets into him. He hit the ground and lay still.

Seeing their leader killed Matthew Quigley threw down his rifle and surrendered, but Elliot Marston tried to make a run for it between the Hotel and Hardware store. The Yates brothers both ran out the back doors of their buildings and plugged Quigley full of lead.

The Law Dogs won, and Jack Diamond was pardoned since he nearly died helpin out.

We all had fun and I gave out some booster packs of CCG cards as prizes.

-Mike

Thread: Re: Yeeehaw! a Gutshot! review

lead_and_brush — 2007-07-17T20:46:27+00:00

Good review. I ran this at a convention with eight players who had a blast. It is fast-playing and fun. It is best with a Game Master, and in the context of a colorful scenario (like the ones in the book). There is a lot of tension as the characters' slips are drawn.

Thread: Yeeehaw! a Gutshot! review

Fallow — 2007-07-17T17:39:10+00:00

Gutshot! is a western themed 25-28mm miniatures combat game which does an excellent job of balancing fast, fun play with realism and detail.

I only recently discovered the existence of western miniatures gaming due to the wealth of information on Boardgamegeek.
Imagine your favorite western movies translated into a miniatures game - Gutshot! has that sort of feel to it.
I did a whole heap of research into various western miniatures games and for me Gutshot! is the most fun and well balanced of the lot.

The game manual is pretty dense with information and the non-essential portions are still in keeping with the theme and in my opinion add to the experience and do not feel like fluff or filler at all.
As with most other miniatures games you will need some miniatures, a flexible ruler, some six sided dice and some scenery.
There are many sources of miniatures and western buildings available in resin, foldable cardsock, and wood on the net and links are provided to some of these in the manual and on the publisher's website.
http://www.hawgleg.com/corral01.asp
Almost anything with a western/farm feel works though. We are using some inexpensive toy farm sets that are close in scale with fences, barns, barrels and animals.

Basic play is simple. Print out a premade character sheet or make your own.
http://www.hawgleg.com/downloads.asp
The most often used tables are right on your character sheet for easy reference. Characters have a target number (TN) determined by character type which is the number you must meet or exceed on 2d6 to succeed at what you're trying to do. There are a whopping 15 character types such as Gunslinger, Bounty Hunter, Sheriff, Cowboy, Gambler. Or you can make your own. Considering how many specialties there are I can imagine a hundred different combinations. Best of all is that if you play the campaign system you can gain victory points and improve your character with new specialties or a lower TN(which is better) for an RPG-like experience.

A Marshal for instance with a TN of 6 would seem a better choice than a Cowboy with a TN of 8 (need to roll a 6 or better on 2d6 to hit) yet the Marshal comes with 1 specialty while the Cowboy comes with 2! Also when it comes time to spend your victory points to improve it'll cost the Marshal about 5 times as much to buy a specialty!(due to his lower TN) It's a well-balanced system that has obviously been playtested a lot.

Set up your scenery and your minis, name your characters and write each character's name on 3 action slips (printable from the website) toss the action slips in a hat.
The game works fine with 2 players but is even better with a GM (game marshal) to run NPC's and keep things moving along quickly.
The GM or one player randomly draws an action slip from the hat and the character name is read. The slip is placed off to the side and the character takes an action. After his action a new slip is drawn and so on until the hat is empty. That's one turn.
So one turn is a hat full of action slips and each character gets 3 actions per turn which are random. One character might get to take two or even all three actions in a row but then be at the mercy of the other players who have actions yet to play out.

This is a nice and for me, unique feature which sets Gutshot! apart from most miniatures games I have played. When you have a set initiative or at least a set amount of action which can be done you begin to think in a modern strategic way about the game.
Gutshot's system is a much more chaotic seat-of-your-pants type of system which keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering what's going to happen next. Many times a confluence of actions and rolls makes for a very cinematic moment that leaves us talking about it afterwards like a really good scene from a movie. It lends itself very well to hamming it up RP style, or you can just take it as a miniatures game and blast away.

When it's your action you can do any 2 of these 3 tasks (Move/Attack/Fast task) and in any order.
So you can move into a good firing position then shoot at someone(if you have a ready weapon in hand) or shoot first then run behind cover, or jump off the balcony and shoot, or grab the bag of gold from the safe and run for it.
Some tasks take up all your action (full tasks) such as climbing into the saddle, giving first aid to a posse member, or reloading your weapon. Of course there are specialties that can make many of those quicker and easier such as letting you mount or dismount as a free task, or run and reload or sit still and double the ammo you normally reload.

Each weapon has bonuses/minuses to hit and to damage at different ranges, all printed on the character sheet and easy to figure out. Damage for each weapon type is also on there.
There aren't a host of different weapons to make things complex. What they have is well balanced and works very well. Revolver ,Deringer, Shotgun, Sawed off shotgun, Rifle, Bowie knife, Sap, Sabre. You can even attack with your horse.
Ah yes horses. Gutshot! has a bunch of different breeds of horses you can ride (even mules and donkeys) plus a few wagon types detailed. The horse record sheets have more detail than most miniature game's main characters! But again, it's all laid out plain and simple to use.

Damage is handled with check boxes on character sheets. After a certain number of damage characters become moderately or severly wounded which reduces your accuracy in attacks and slows your movement. Mirroring the damage is a Pain section which gets filled in when you take a spill from a horse, fall from a building, get hit with fists or blunt weapons. This can also reduce your accuracy and even get you knocked out.
Besides shooting and stabbing you can ride, rob banks, crash through windows, bust down doors, barricade doors, leap from roof to roof, hide behind cover, lay down cover fire in a doorway, start a stampede, calm a horse.

There's a whole section on items you can buy and it seems to resemble an RPG in that you can purchase clothing which has no gameplay purpose apart from fleshing out your character and bringing them to life. It does help though. I really wanted that riverboat gambler's hat for my Eastern Tenderfoot to look his best during that poker match.
Gutshot! is a very flexible, balanced and easy to use system for those looking for a fast and fun western miniatures game and for those looking for something more, it also satisfies with the addition of a campaign system with character advancement and an RPG flavor.

There are 5 released adventures, at least a dozen player made adventures and an entire campaign expansion coming out with a whole parcel of adventuring goodness.
http://www.hawgleg.com/2007_contest_winner.asp
-
Some have mentioned features that are missin but I say it's a well tuned system and the authors are bein real careful-like not to make the same mistake many other game companies do by throwing too many rules and details into the game in an effort to make a buck. Then ye end up with a complex, confusin' mess what turns off newcomers.

It's not perfect but it's as near ta as to make no real difference, and when the planned expansion does come out I'm sure it'll fit in place just as smooth as a Colt Peacemaker settin' in it's holster.

-Mike Matecha
aka Jack Diamond, Eastern Tenderfoot and gussied up, fancy dressed, pasty white lucky fool of a gambler headed west to win all the gold in Texas.

Thread: session report: Rustlin' at Star Ranch

Fallow — 2007-07-17T11:56:53+00:00

I GM'd a demo game of Gutshot! last night and it was a lot of fun!

I ran the Black Hats, a gang of 6 no-good outlaws out to steal the Star family's prize calves from their ranch just outside of town.

As GM I also took care of Pa Star (Bill Star, retired rifleman from the war) and his twin sons Sammy and Johnny Star (cowboys) as they defended their home.

On the White Hat side were my daughter Rebecca as Hydrania Star, the cowgirl daughter of the ranch owner.
She knew a gang of outlaws was terrorizing the territory so she hired a few guns to help guard the ranch till they could get the calves to market.

Matt signed on as Slim, a Gunfighter who could both quick draw and fan the gun.

James hired on as Mad Dog McCree, a Bounty Hunter and two-gun shootist lookin for work while searching for a bounty to bring in.(His wife had perhaps the most important role of entertaining my 4 yr old daughter so we could play relatively uninterrupted. Thanks!)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Black Hats rode into the farmstead in a cloud of dust straight for the cow pens where Sammy and Johnny Star were working.

They fired a few shots hitting Slim's horse, which he fortunately was not ridin at the time, spooking it and sending it running through the farm.

Gunfire was exchanged, Pa Star snapped off a few shots with his rifle from the window of the stable hitting one of the outlaws.
Hydrania put a bullet or two in some of those varmints as well.
Sammy and Johnny dropped shovels, pulled pistols and running up to the fence took a few shots at long range that missed.

Several outlaws rode up to the open stable.

Mad Dog saw Pa in danger and holding the reigns in his teeth and drawing his paired pistols, rode through the stable and burst out the other side in a swirl of hay and confusion right between the outlaws. Yelling a muffled expletive he fired both guns into the nearest outlaw hitting him in the chest and neck. The surprised outlaw fell backward off his horse and lay still.

One of the Black Hats known as Shotgun Pete, an angry grizzled fellow sporting two sawed off versions of his namesake was just about to get the drop on Hydrania when Slim spun round and fanning the gun sent 5 shots into him, sending Pete flying from his bloody saddle.

Hydrania returned the favor by plugging a Black Hat riding up fast on Slim's blind side ending the outlaw's dreams of quick money.

Mad Dog turned and locked eyes with the outlaw leader. It was John Fry, a wanted outlaw with a bounty on his head.

John Fry noticed the bounty hunter's cold stare and seeing as his gang was all shot up, he turned tail and fled.

Now that their leader had rund off, the last two outlaw's courage left them and they tried to beat a fast retreat, galloping back the way they came.

Hydrania put a bullet in one of them yellow bellied cowards as he rode by and Slim quick drew his left hand pistol and finished him off.

The last outlaw slipped away into the hills after his leader.

The White Hats won with only a few injuries and the Black Hats lost 4 out of 6 men.

Victory to the good guys!... this time.

-Mike Matecha
aka Jack Diamond, Eastern Tenderfoot and gussied up, fancy dressed, pasty white lucky fool of a gambler headed west to win all the gold in Texas.

Thread: Re: my gutshot review

judgebean — 2007-07-10T19:31:28+00:00

Amen! I agree whole heartedly. This is a game that is fairly easy to pick up and play. The whole family will love it, at least mine did.

Thread: my gutshot review

WalkerRedEye — 2006-08-06T14:42:46+00:00

Frank the gambler was worried; his whispered conversation (and slipped gold eagle) to Tina the taudry tart had sent her off on a mission to "delay" the sheriff, though Barry Kemp's mission to loot the doctor's office for ether to subdue the bank staff seemed to be taking way too long. Frank wasnt even sure where Barret the enigmatic and well spoken swordsman was. Only the booming laugh of Edmund the giant dallying with Louise the Gold Star Saloon's other resident dance girl gave him any confidence as his brought his nickel plated six gun level with the bank manager's belly and fired...

With that scene my first game of Gutshot began, and after 2 hours of solid good fun ended in a very enjoyable game for all involved. I write this review as the only one posted thus far has had, I beleive some aspersions pointed at it as it was posted by the game's authour. So I write this in a spirit of someone approaching the game from a more neutral position.

I have quiet a bit of skirmish miniature game experience under my belt haveing played fantasy, science fiction and historical games. Even in the wild west genre I have played (and run) Warhammer Historical's "legends of the old west", Foundry's "rules with no name" and Flagship Game's "gunfight" all of these have their good and bad points, and in my opinion Gutshot stands up very well next to all of these.

At its centre Gutshot is a simple game (although the 160 odd page rulebook may make this seem unlikely) of random turn order allocation. Each major character has a base action number and it is this number which (modified by various situations) is what they must equal or better on 2d6 to succeed at any action, be it breaking open a door or shooting someone. The action number is variable depending on the choice of role each player has taken (or rolled for randomly). In our game the numbers were 9 for Edmund the thug 8 for Frank the gambler and Barret the owlhoot (according to the rulebook an owlhoot is a general bad man from the wild west, a term I had personally never heard afore even with quiet a bit of old west reading and research so the game is educational too!) and 7 for Barry the outlaw.

This differing base action number may seem unfair on some players (especially ifn they roll townsfolk on the random character chart) and this point was discussed before the game commenced, but with the use of special abilities everyone agreed (post game) that it all seemed fair and even. Edmund the thug had 3 abilities Frank and Barret had 2 and Barry only 1. These abilities are many and varied and allow alsorts of differing things for characters, making customising a specific character I would say fairly easy, though a couple seem overly powerful to me: Spontaneous and True Grit; allowing the character 4 (instead of the standard 3) actions a turn or allowing a character to totally ignore one damage roll inflicted on them.

Turn order is decided by pulling names from a hat or cards from a deck for a more westerny feel (I have seriously considerdered aquiring some poker chips and using either a washable pen or stickers to write names on them instaed of paper slips to make them more sturdy and tactile). Characters and major npcs have 3 (or 4; see above) slips per turn and minor npcs only 2 (although a rule allows for the moving of minor npcs in a "mob" to keep slips to a minimum).

The whole process of running 4 player characters, 3 major npcs and about a dozen minor npcs (all including a pair of spontaneous gamblers) made turns last I would say on average 15 minutes and the whole game (although I freely acknowledge this was a simple introductory game) lasted about 2 hours and this was for 5 people who had never played the game before and only I (as GM) had read the rules.

In his phase a character may perfom 2 actions or complete a task. An action is either movement, making an attack or something called a free action (a term to cover a mutiple of situations ; drawing a weapon, shouting a command or many other things, examples of which are listed.) A task is something that takes the entirety of a characters action; searching a body, reloading a gun or forcing a door, again many examples are given and some things may take up to 3 continuous tasks to complete.

Obviously at the heart of any skirmish game is combat and Gutshot I feel handles it very well , some people with a more encyclopaedic knowledge of firearms might complain about the (seemingly rather low) ranges of weapons but personally I like them. The action number of the character is modified by things such as movement (of both target and shooter) cover and range and ifn the modified number is equaled or beaten the shot has hit. Ifn the target has a loaded weapon readied (actually in his hand not in a holster or on a strap) he is allowed a retaliation shot (using the same modifiers). Hand to hand combat works a little differently in that no retaliation shots are allowed and also they are governed not by the characters action number but by the type of attack, each weapon or attack has differing defence numbers the defender needs to roll to block the attack.

One of the things I really like about the system is how damage is calculated; it is split into damage and pain, damage comes from bullets and knives and pain from fists feet and falls, this 2 layered damage was something I had not encountered before in a minatures game (though freely admit it may well be included in a game I've not played) and put me in mind of GW's long lamented superhero role game Golden Heroes.

One thing I feel should be said is about the game scenarios: Personally speaking as a long time role game referee I have already dozens of ideas for more games for my new posse of bad men to play, but feel that a person unused to making up stories and situations may struggle to make a flavoursome game.

True, in the book there are references to many scenarios that have been played and even the odd historical incident that would work fine for games, as would ripping off any number of films and or books, however there are only 2 scenarios actually included in the book and the first of these is an all against all shootout to familiarise players with the game. The scenario I ran as an introduction is avaliable on the (excellent) www.hawgleg.com websight and on the site and in the book there are references to a forthcoming "outlaw trail" campaign book which I will certainly aquire should it (hopefully) come to print. But as it stands for people not used to writing scenarios it may be hard to run a campaign.

It's the scenarios and support that will make people love this game or not (although I am as you may have already guessed very pro this game) I think. Ifn hawgleg can accomplish what has been said on the websight and in the book then I think they will do well. The detailed sceanrios that have been made avaliable are very good and if the campaign book contains games of that calibre then it will make the game and its potential for campaigns great.

The book itself is well printed with many examples of play, characterful art (of a generally fine quality) and photos of games in progress (often augmented with insightful comments and speach bubbles) as well as occasional Larry the Leadhead (of whom im a fan) comic strips. While it could not be favourably compared to the opulent splendour of production that is Games' Workshops "Legends of the old west" (a game in my opinion it actually considerably betters) it is solidly done and isn't as yet (though not as well played, yet!) falling apart like my GW book. One more thing I personally found it quiet hard to actually obtain a copy of the game in the United Kingdom, but this is forgivable from a company that is based in Texas and is comparatively new.

So in conclusion; a very good simple to pick up (as a player) game of cowboy gunfights, that has amazing potential for so much more than just one off games. It's fast and fun and has a very good "feel" to it the people I played with were all (save Ed, Hi Ed!) experienced gamers and role gamers and this certainly helped with the atmosphere, everyone though enjoyed the game and wanted to play again. I intend to run a scenario detailed quiet well on the websight when next we play.

I would like to thank the two Mikes (should either deign to read this) for their endevour in bringing a game with so much obvious love behind it to a more general audience than their freinds and local gamers and appeal to them to support the game online and with publications, I can personally assure them of at least one sale of everything related to their game by me. (oo oo have you thought of a science fictiony version yet? Ifn not can I write one? )

Walker Red Eye

Thread: Gutshot nominated for 2006 Origins Award

mmitchell_houston — 2006-03-26T08:32:40+00:00

Hawgleg Publishing is honored to announce that Gutshot is a 2006 Origins Award Nominee for Historical Miniature Game or Expansion of the Year. To celebrate, Hawgleg is extending its free shipping offer through April 15, 2006 (see details below).

“I’m so excited that I honestly am finding it hard to put it into words,” said Gutshot co-creator Mike Mitchell. “I am so PUMPED UP about this! I mean, when you pour your heart and soul into your first published game – all those 18+ hour days writing, gaming, and just trying to get it right… and then to have your fellow game designers pat you on the back and say, ‘Hey boys, yuh done good.’ I mean, it really chokes me up!”

Mitchell promptly called his partners who were thrilled to hear the news.
“The all-night editing sessions were obviously well worth it,” said Gutshot Posse Leader Paul Mauer. Paul was in charge of the proofing and editing, often pulling long hours at the last minute tracking down errors and fixing problems.

Due to his commitments at work and college, it actually took a few days for the news to reach game co-creator Mike Murphy. When he heard the news he shouted out with excitement.

"This is simply amazing. Considering that this is our first product that we have ever released, I'm just overwhelmed at the backing and the support that it has received," he said.

To celebrate, Hawgleg Publishing is offering free shipping on domestic orders of single copies of the Gutshot Core Rule Book through April 15, 2006. This means you can get Gutshot for only $20! This offer is valid only to books shipped in the United States and paid for via PayPal.
Gamers in the UK can obtain Gutshot through www.leisuregames.com or www.tabletopgames.com. Canadian gamers should contact www.scalecreep.com
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Gutshot is a 25/28mm historical miniatures game set in the American Wild West. It focuses on small-scale combat that is fast, furious, and fun! Visit our Website for more details: www.hawgleg.com

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The DoLittle — 2006-03-11T17:56:03+00:00

Second story street view of the gutshot table at Owlcon 2006. You can see the special miniature release of "La Vaquera", second on the right.

Thread: Gutshot goes to second printing...

mmitchell_houston — 2005-05-08T19:59:40+00:00

Gutshot Wild West Adventure Game goes into 2nd printing
I just wanted to let ya'll know that Gutshot has gone into a second printing. The first press run sold out very quickly, so we have ordered another press run. We also took this opportunity to correct some typos, make a few rule clarifications, and add an index. We were under tremendous deadline pressure to get the first printing done in time for it's release at OwlCon in Houston (Feb. 2005), and whatever was not ready in time just had to be cut. I've always felt bad about having to cut the index, but we just couldn't fact-check it in time to ensure total accuracy, so it had to go. Now that we've had some more time, I'm happy to announce that the second printing of the GUTSHOT CORE RULE BOOK will have the index, and a few other enhancements.
-- Mike Mitchell, co-author of Gutshot.
www.hawgleg.com

Thread: Gutshot Review

mmitchell_houston — 2005-05-08T19:31:04+00:00

The following review was written by Tim Berry for theminiaturespage.com
It is copyright 2005 by Tim Berry, who has granted permission for it to be reprinted here.
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Gutshot: 25mm Action in the Wild West
By Tim Berry
tberry7403@aol.com

The following review is intended for informational purposes only. I intend only on describing the contents of the rules in order to provide the reader with a better understanding of what he is getting if he should buy this product. Any comparison with other rulesets will be solely for comparison and not a recommendation/ denouncement of either set of rules.

Other than owning a copy of Gutshot I have no affiliation with the company, Hawgleg Publishing, or the authors, Mike Mitchell & Mike Murphy.

Name: Gutshot
Authors: Mike Mitchell and Mike Murphy
Company: Hawgleg Publishing

Availability: currently from the publisher (www.hawgleg.com), Tabletop Games in the UK (www.tabletopgames.com), and various retail outlets.

Online Support: (www.hawgleg.com) pre-filled character sheets as well as Record Sheets for horses, mules, donkeys, stagecoaches and other vehicles. Several adventures are also available for download. Several After Action Reports generated by the playtesting are also available at this site.

Format: Black and White, Soft Cover, 174 pages + 2 character sheets, 1 horse sheet and 1 stagecoach sheet

Price: $19.95 USD

Game Type: 25mm Wild West miniatures combat.

Scale: Skirmish (1 model = 1 character)

Turn Sequence: Each character has at least 3 slips of paper with his name on it in a container. When his name is drawn that character can perform one or more tasks (see Task Breakdown).

Game Length: The game is designed for 2 to 8 players with a game time (depending on the scenario) of between 2 and 4 hours. Game length seems to be very sensitive to the number of players.

Forums: There is a rules support and general discussion forum at the publisher’s Web site.

General info: “Gutshot” is the first game published by Hawgleg. The rulebook itself consists of 164 page of rules plus 2 blank Character Sheets, 1 horse Record Sheet and 1 stagecoach Record Sheet. Two small adventures are also included.

Special Note: This game has a very strong RPG flavor to it. While not required they “suggest” that a GM (Game Marshal) be used. The GM’s main purpose is the control on Non-Player Characters (NPCs) such as townspeople and cattle not normally represented by slips of paper in the container. He also interprets rules and helps resolve gray areas. In fact, one suggestion they make is if you want to do something not covered by the rules “When in doubt, act it out.” The GM and the player can act out what it wants to do, time it, and then decide how many Actions it will take.

Section 1 “Introduction” is the general design philosophy of the game. What is/is not in the game and why. They state that experienced players can jump right in just by reading Sections 2, 4, 6, 9-11.

Section 2 “Quick-Start Guide” is a basic summary of how to play the game and the materials needed (dice, rules, miniatures, etc.). A list of manufactures for minis is included (OG, Dixon, Foundry, etc.). The Play Sequence sub-sections are broken down into Overview, Pre-Game Setup, Game Play and Combat. A two-page (!) example of the game sequence is included.

Section 3 “Role of the GM” covers why a GM is a good thing to have, how to be a good GM (including a “lessons learned” section, one-shot vs. campaign games and the use of Event Slips (used to handle things like stampedes, NPC actions, etc.).

Section 4 “Time for Action” defines the six key measurements of game time: Campaign (a series of linked games), Adventure (one game), Turn (when the last name slip is drawn from the hat the turn is over), Action (a character’s name slip is drawn), Task (activity performed during an action), Free Task (can be performed a no “time cost” to the character).

During an Action a character can perform 2 of the following: Move, Attack, Perform a Fast task (plus perform a Free Task). On the other hand he could perform a Full Task. There are several charts defining the types of tasks.

Free Task – is an instantaneous act like dropping a weapon or shouting a warning.

Fast Task – can be performed with a Move or Attack. Includes fastening gunbelt, glancing at a note or map, or grabbing some cash and running.

Full Task – Tasks that can take 1,2 or 3 Actions to fulfill. Hitching a horse to a buggy can take 3 Actions (Task-3), for example.

Characters with the Contemplative Specialty can hold their Action. They can then play it before are after another slip is drawn. If they fail to play it before their next slip is drawn it is lost.

Action Checks are used (using that player’s Target Number (TN)) when attempting a task that might fail. The example used in the book is an attempt to eavesdrop on a conversion. Determining what tasks might fail and any die roll modifications is one reason for using a GM.

Section 5 “Scale and Measurement”. The scale is 1 inch = 6 feet (or 1 cm = 1 meter). This scale is true for both horizontal and vertical distances.

Section 6 “Movement: Characters” Distance moved is set by the Rate (Crawl(1”), Walk(3”), Trot(6”), Run(12”)). Each rate has combat modifiers for the shooter and the target (who did the moving). Terrain effects, including doors, windows and obstacles modify movement. Traveling over unsafe/uneven terrain can result in falling down and injury. Climbing (ropes, ladders, trees, etc.) and the results of falling are included.

An Encumbrance System is used. This is based on an arbitrary unit of measurement called a “Weapon Weight.” This is a general number that refers to a weapons size, weight, and bulkiness. A character can easily carry up to 4.25 weapon weights of weapons (2 pistols, a rifle, and a knife). Anything over that effects you ability to fight and move. Tables for weapons and other items (bales of hay, sacks of gold, unconscious people) are included.

Section 7 “Movement: Animals” covers horses (6 kinds!), mules and donkeys. Each animal is defined by a TN, Cost, Availability, Temperament, Damage Capacity,
Gallop Limits (the more Actions galloping the easier it is to stumble) and Movement Rate (Walk, Trot, Gallop). Jumping, Spooked Horses, Bucking Broncos, Horse Attacks and Trampling are covered.

Section 8 “Movement: Vehicles” includes Stagecoaches, Wagons and Buggies. Each vehicle is defined by: Team Size, Crew, Passengers, Gallop Limit and Movement Rate (Walk, Trot, Gallop).

Section 9 “Characters” shows how to create a character. Characters are defined by: Character Type, Specialties and TN. There are two types of Specialties: “Damage & Accuracy” (Brawler, Quick Draw, Sure-Shot, etc.) and “Other” (Lucky, Contemplative, Speedy, etc.).

There are 16 basic Character Types: Bounty Hunter, Cowboy (with 3 additional Custom Types), Deputy, Eastern Tenderfoot, Gambler, Gunslinger, Marshal, Outlaw, Owlhoot, Sheriff, Sodbuster, Texas Ranger, Thug, Townsfolk and Villain. Each has a TN, Specialties (most get to pick from one or two, others have fixed Specialties), and any Morale Effects if he is an NPC.

For a quick one-off game, there is a small chart is included list several of the above characters. Roll 2d6 and consult the chart to get your character type.

In the Campaign Guide it is suggested that new characters start either with:
1) Two weapons, two reloads and standard clothing or
2) 2) One Weapon and $50 in cash for clothes, gear and a horse.

Section 10 “Combat: Firearms” covers the use of guns. Five types of firearms are covered (max effective range in parenthesis): pistol (13”), Derringer (4”), rifle (25”), long-barreled shotgun (10”) (single or double-barreled) and sawed-off shotguns (5”) (single- or double-barreled).

Range modifies both Damage and Accuracy. For shotguns it also modifies the Scatter Area. Range is broken down into Point Blank, Close, Medium, Long, and Far.

Also covered is Aimed Fire (+2 per action spent aiming, up to 3 actions), Partial/Full cover, Shooting through Walls, Reloading (each bullet fire is marked off the Record Sheet), Wild Shots (drawing and shooting is a Wild Shot), Cover Fire, Ambushes, Siege Conditions, Fanning a Pistol (each shot is treated separately) and Showdowns.

Snake-eyes (unmodified roll of 2) ends that Action and can result in bad things for you and/or your weapon (roll on a chart).

Boxcars (unmodified roll of 12) means you hit your target and cause additional damage (roll on a chart).

If you miss your target every figure within 1” of the target is a possible hit. Roll 1d6 starting with the closest figure, a 6 results in a hit.

Section 11 “Combat: Fists, Kicks & Headbutts”. Melee combat is handled differently than for firearms. The Attacker and the Defender each are assigned a TN based on weapons being used (fists, edged weapons or improvised (bottles, rocks, etc)). If the Attacker makes his TN then the Defender must try to block the blow by rolling against his TN.

Rolling Snake-eyes results in bad things happening to you and/or your weapon. Boxcars cause additional Pain/Damage.

Fists and Improvised weapons cause PAIN while Melee Weapons (edged weapons) cause DAMAGE.

Section 12 “Damage, Pain and Healing”. As you get more PAIN or DAMAGE you start gaining negative combat modifiers and/or reduced movement. PAIN and DAMAGE effects are NOT cumulative, if you have both PAIN and DAMAGE use the effects that are the worst.

Healing takes place between games (in a Campaign setting). PAIN is reduced by 5 points per night. DAMAGE is reduced by 5 points per week of rest.

If you character dies roll 2d6 against his TN (modified only by “Tough as Nails” or for being under a Doctor’s care, +2 each). If you are successful your character now has only 14 points of damage and heals at the normal rate. This check is made at the end of the game after all action has stopped.

Section 13 covers how to handle (generally by the GM) “Townspeople, Bystanders and NPCs.”

The next part of the book is the “Campaign Guide”. It covers designing a campaign and includes some campaign suggestions.

Food and Water are given only the barest of coverage. As the authors say: “... the name of the game is Gutshot not Survivor.”

Allocation of Victory Points (VPs) is covered in great detail. VPs for killing someone is based on the TN of the victim. A TN of 11 gets you only 2 VPs, a TN of 4 gets you 500+. VPs are also earned for completing an Adventure, not being wounded, gaining loot, etc.

VPs are lost by killing lawmen, clergy (unarmed), women and children, members of your own gang, etc.

VPs can be used to increase you TN or buy a new Specialty. The max number of Specialties a character can have is based on that character’s TN.

“Equipment and Gear” is also heavily covered. Cost is dependent on whether your buying in a regular town or a Boom Town (more expensive). You can buy guns, melee weapons, ammo, holsters, livestock, feed, men’s clothing (48 items), women’s clothing (55 items) and trail gear (61 items). Food/drink, lodging, doctor’s care, etc. can be purchased while you are in a town.

The last section covers two adventures.

“Last Man Standing” has the players set up a town, each make up a character and place that character on a street (not in a building) somewhere. The last character that is not killed or surrendered wins.

“Love & Bullets” provides the layout of a town that you can use if you want. There are also pre-made characters for the two sides. The young lovers (reformed (?) cattle rustler Billy and the cattle baron’s daughter Missy) must escape from the town (elope) aided by Billy’s gang. Missy’s father, The Colonel, and his henchmen must stop them.

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As you can see “Gutshot” is a very well thought-out game with a very extensive Campaign System that allows for lots of Character development and has a strong RPG flavor. This flavor is heightened by each character having multiple Activations per Turn and the potential for lots of Gamer/GM interaction.

This game looks to be intended to by played with a GM controlling the NPCs and moderating the game play with the players each controlling a single character all within the confines of a multi-game campaign. You could, however, easily play one-off games or even campaigns WITHOUT the GM and with each player controlling multiple characters.

Character generation is quick and easy with lots of Characters Types and Specialties to give them individual flavor. The weaker Character Types have more Specialties to choose from. This gives them more of a “fighting chance” against the stronger Types. You are free to mix-and-match Character Types within your “gang” but I would assume must players would prefer not to have “good guys” mixed with “bad guys” (which, like in the “Real West,” are not clearly defined characteristics).

The two most noticeable things lacking in the game are: dynamite and stampedes. Both are mentioned in the book but no rules cover them. Indians, Cavalry and different type of firearms (no Sharp’s or scoped rifles!) are also missing but are promised in later supplements.

The rulebook is 164 pages of rules (with only 9 of “fluff”, mostly Larry Leadhead strips) with lots of great ideas and is cheap at $19.95 USD.