After I accepted the 'Wargame in a Wee Matchbox Challenge' and a WIP update, it's almost mid December already and about time to finally conclude my contribution to the 'Wargame in a Wee Matchbox Challenge' initiated by Alan at The Duchy of Tradgardland and Mark at Man of Tin blog. I'm curious how my proposal to this challenge will be regarded by the 'Umpires'.
In my previous blogpost on this matchbox challenge I decided to use paper miniatures from the Junior General Website as they are both free and ready painted and I could easily fit some of them in a Matchbox, and still have room for a 'Battle mat' and some terrain. Since my Little Wars inspired 'Napoleonic Cannon Game' didn't fit the Matchbox, I decided to follow my interests for Western movies, Old West gaming and my initial test with the Airfix 1:72 scale Cowboys and to go for an 'Old West' approach for this wargame (but with paper miniatures instead). Besides, I've been thinking for a while to make a very portable 'Old West' wargame which would be easy to bring along when visiting my oldest son where he studies (as he likes Westerns too). Coincidentally at this point I read that Mark at Man of Tin blog was working on some similar theme and solution (which also included using ChatGPT and suggesting miniatures from the Junior General as well). It looks like we had about the same take to this challenge now.
One of the challenges was to have space for several dice in the Matchbox alongside with everything else needed for this game. I found som smaller dice, actually beads, in a craft store and despite being light they rolled OK.
Keeping it to an 'Old West' theme though, I decided to go fancy with the dice. Inspired by Mark's thoughts on the Howzat Dice (which was new to me) I decided to 3D-print a .45 Cal bullet dice. I'll use the mini dice for healht-stats instead.
I was looking around for some short, easy to play and free wargame rules for a few miniatures that could fit on or in a Wee Matchbox, but didn't actually find any short or easy enough. So I asked the ChatGPT to suggests some kind of Old West 'Mini Wargame' - rules for a 'balanced' game with uneven numbers on each side, for instance 1 vs 3. The rules needed to be short enough to easily fit inside or around a matchbox, and therefore pretty uncomplicated. The ChatGPT suggested these rules:
I'm not sure what the ChatGPT meant by the optional rules as they seems to lack context. Except for that, they looks very simple and playable but I needed to test-play them for some few games to see if they were playable, as that's not always the case when using AI-generated rules. ChatGPT claims that the game was balanced, but after about 14 games or so I think the Bounty Hunter will need another 'Hero point', so I increased his health to 4. I also skipped the incomplete optional rules and added another thing to the winning conditions, to better place a scenario for the game and the shootout (loosely based on a scene from the 'Fistfull of Dollars' though). So, this is my final version of the rules:
I printed them on self-adhesive paper, and wrapped and sticked them around the Matchbox:
So now I'd got paper miniatures, a battle mat, some terrain, a building (the matchbox drawer), dice for both shooting and health stats, a 6"ruler and finally the rules... -Will it all fit my Wee Matchbox?
Luckily and coincidentally the .45 cal bullet dice, printed to the size of a real one, just fit in the widh of the matchbox. It was a thigh fit, but I managed to squeeze all the other objects in to the matchbox as well...
...And just barley I was able to close the matchbox.
Looks like it is possible to fit a Wargame in a Wee Matchbox after all:
My Wargame in a Wee Matchbox in Action (an AAR)
Even if I managed to squeeze all the elements of a wargame in to this matchbox, that's not the same as there is an actual playable wargame. So I'll add a short battle report to give you an idea.
I put on some
Dollar Triologi Themes for background ambiance.
Scenario: It's loosely based on the scene from 'A Fistfull of Dollars' when 'Joe' frees 'Marisol'; 3 outlaws are holding a woman hostage in the house, and our 'Hero' is there to free her.
Forces: Are dictated by the rules; 3 outlaws with health of 2 and hits on 5+ vs The Man with No Name with a health of 4 and hits on a 4+.
The Game:
The Bounty Hunter approaches the house where he knows the outlaws and their hostage is:
His presence is noticed by the outlaws, and they decide that 2 of them are going outside to gun him down:
The Bounty Hunter notices activity by the house and runs for cover behind a cactus:
The 2 outlaws coming outside to fight the Bounty Hunter runs for cover; One of them behind some cattle they have stolen, and the other behind some barrels:
The Bounty Hunter opens fire on the outlaws, and the outlaws are returning the fire:
They are exchanging fire for some turns, and even got some hits on each other...
...until the Bounty Hunter manage to hit and kill the gunfighter seeking cover behind the cattle.
Now the last one of them keeps shooting at the Bounty Hunter...
...Who return fire and manage to hit and kill the shooter behind the barrels. Now the way is open to the house, the hostage and the last outlaw.
The last outlaw now his on his own...
...and orders his hostage outside. His plan is to take the hostage and flee with their horses.
When coming out of the house and into the sight, the Bounty Hunters opens fire before the last outlaw manage to get to their horse...
...and get a precise and fatal hit on the last gunfighter (!). The showdown was a success for our hero as he managed to free the woman. Then they most likely rode into the sunset.
Time: 10 minutes
Turns: 12
Result: This was a victory for 'The Man with No Name'.
Table of Contents
If anyone considers to have a go and make one on their own, you can save some time finding the bits and pieces on the links below:
Conclusion
The working cannon I 3D-printed, and did not use in the challenge due to it's size, has oddly enough the same caliber as my 'bullet dice'. -So I'll guess for other games than this challenge, I can use the cannon to
fire roll the 'dice'.
This has been a fun and really interesting challenge, and I've had a good time while working on it alongside my other projects (some of them was postponed to 2025). Thank you for the initiative to this challenge Alan and Mark!
I think it was really interesting to see that several other wargamers accepted and joined this challenge as well, and I'm looking forward to see their contributions.
It looks like I finally got around to make that 'Old West Mini Game' I've been thinking to make for a while, to bring along next time I visit my oldest son in Ålesund.
I guess these rules can be used for other very basic and easy to play wargames with only ranged combat as well. If you like them, feel free to use them for your own games or tweak them to suit your game.
Perhaps another challenge in 2025?
