Once Upon a Dice in the West - Edition 3

Once Upon a Dice in the West - Version 3

The Rules

I really like 'Westerns', and a couple of years ago I wrote my own 'home brew' I called 'Once Upon a Dice in the West'. I've been playing it, and like the rules it as it gave a narrative game and a kind of cinematic feeling of a 'Western'. I've played so many other games since then, and I wanted to upgrade my 'house rules' with mechanics found in other games to it, and trying to get the whole thing on one page as well (as I'm also a fan of one page rules). So Once Upon a Dice in the West is now in it's 3rd edition.

I recently played Thor Sheil's OMOG - One Man, One Gun 19c with an Old West scenario, and wanted to try it out the same scenario with my recent version of 'Once Upon a Dice in the West'.

The Scenario

The scenario was vaguely inspired by the Dalton gang's robbery i Coffeyville in 1892; An Outlaw gang had to tie their horses slightly away from the bank, while a couple of the gang-members looks after them while the other members rob the bank. Can they rob the bank, get back to their horses and leave the town without getting caught??

The bank is further down the street from where the outlaws placed their horses

The 'Forces'

Playing the same scenario, I decided to use the same forces; 2 members of the gang are watching their horses while 4 other gang members has gone for the bank. These have been recognized on their way to the bank, so the town sheriff and 2 of his deputies are alerted and also on their way to the bank. 4 citizens have armed them self, and are ready to try to stop the robbers from stealing their savings. A small Army-detachment of 2 is also located in the outskirts of the town. Once Upon a Dice in the West is not entirely based upon 'units', but on 'characters' as well. I treated the Army-detachment as a 2-man unit, and all the others as characters. The Sheriff and one of the robbers I made 'special characters' just to give them more skills and advantages in gun-fights.

The Game

The robbers were totally ruthless and very offensive when leaving the bank, shooting in all directions....

...hitting severeal of their 'welcome party', including killing the sheriff and his deputies (!)... 

...but the robbers also recived some fire as all their hits wasn't all deadly, only wounding and stunning some of their targets. They got pinned outside the bank...

...and had to run for cover. The armed townsfolk exchanged fire with the robbers and proved that rifles are still more accurate than the smaller revolvers. -Even in the hand of an unprofessional gunman.

...and finally managed to kill all the robbers from the bank.

The outlaws looking after the horses tried to flee the town as all the other robbers got killed in the shootout and the loot was not in sight for him anymore, but was not quick enough and was killed in the escape.

The Conclusion

The outcome of this skirmish was not so different from the shootout I based this scenario upon.

I had a great time with my childhood miniatures, and the game lasting only 7 turns. 

I provide the Once Upon a Dice in the West - version 3 here on my blog, so you can have a try at it as well if you'd like to. Please feel free to post your comments or experiences here if you'd like to.

Link: Once Upon a Dice in the West version 3

OMOG 19c - One Man One Gun Wild West

OMOG 19c

The Rules

I've played and reviewed the OMOG-rules earlier in this blog. Then my conclusion were that I think it is a ruleset better suited for smaller games and scenarios and for earlier periods. When Steve Snark in the OMOG-Facebook group made a quick reference sheet for the OMOG 19c (which can be found in the groups file-section), I wanted to try it out for a small scale skirmish with only a handfull of miniatures in an early era conflict.

The Scenario

I'm very found of western movies, and decided I wanted to try out these rules and reference sheet in a Wild West gunfight, which is both a small scale skirmish and early enough to avoid automatic weapons (and templates). I was inspired by the Dalton gang's robbery i Coffeyville in 1892, and made a similar scenario: An Outlaw gang had to tie their horses slightly away from the bank, while a couple of the gang-members looks after them and the other members robb the bank. Can they robb the bank, get back to their horses and leave the town without being caught??

The outlaws horses closest, and the bank is located further down the street

The 'Forces'

A unit of 2 members of the gang are watching their horses while 2 other units of 4 gang members has gone for the bank. These have been recognized on their way to the bank, so the town sheriff and 2 of his deputies are alerted and also on their way to the bank. They act as a unit. 4 citizens (in 2 units) have armed them self, and are ready to try to stop the robbers from stealing their savings. A small Army-detachment of 2 is also located in the outskirts of the town.

The Game

To terrify the staff and any curious bystanders, the robbers start shooting when leaving the bank. This alerts the sheriff, his deputies, the armed citizens and the army detachment...

The robbers are shooting in all directions when leaving the bank...

...but get surprised by the sheriff and his deputies who are on their way towards the bank.

The shootout starts and an outlaw and a deputy is immediately taken out. The rest of the outlaws runs for cover outside the bank... 

...and gets divided. One of the bankrobbers get pinned outside the bank while the others starts shooting their way towards their horses.

Only one bankrobber makes his way thru the city to the horses, closely followed by the posse.

One of the outlaw looking after the hoses tries to give cover, but are taken out by the army. One robber from the bank actually manage to get away on his horse, with the loot as well. I think the sheriff will arrange a posse for him very soon...

The conclusion

I think the OMOG rules worked a lot better for this small, early period skirmish with a handfull of miniatures. The quick reference sheet by Steve Snark made this a really fast and enjoyable game. I think the pistols have a little too short range to give it the Western cinematic feeling to it thoug. This game is best played with rifles.

I had a great time with my 40 yrs+ old miniatures from my childhood, and some background Ennio Morricone just for ambiance.