Last Bullet Standing - A Long Range Duel in the Desert

Earlier this year I played a simplified verison of Donald Featherstone's/ Gerard Du Gre's 'Lunge, Cut and Stop Thrust dueling game. The game it self is very fast to learn and easy to play, and was further simplified by Kaptain Kobold by using D6s instead of cards. This game is originally designed as a skirmish hand to hand combat and (sword) dueling game, but I wanted to see if it could be adopted to ranged battle as well? 

The Rules

The way Kaptain Kobold simplified the original rules by resolving the battle with a single d6  instead of cards, it looks direct transferable to ranged battle.  -At least for a simple, pretty static, gunfight between a couple of combatants. I feels it automatically gives it itself as a 'hit' is a 'hit'.

Number of Combat Points (CP) can be modified by giving extra CPs for body armour, long range, being in cover, (and perhaps even extra CP for a hard cover), and extra CP can be added as 'Hero Points'. 

The Scenario 

I needed to create a plausible scenario for this game which included the elements of 2 combatants with firearms fighting each other with multiple shots in a pretty static 'duel'. A classic Old West shoot out came to my mind. Since the firefight was to be very static and last for several shots I envisioned a kind of 'Ambush' situation. Perhaps like the classic 'Western scene' where one Cowboy gets into a 'fortified' position in a rocky high ground fighting off any followers coming from the terrain below him. After giving this loosely 'scenario' a closer thought, I think most such scenes I've seen in western movies includes a number of gunfighters on both sides, not only one vs. one. -Well, except for one, but there 'the follower' in the lowlands are hit and killed immediately. -But what if the shooter hit the horse instead of the rider? Even if the shooter is very accurate, it's a long range shot...

Maybe some of you already have recognised and figured out what scene I had in mind? I've played 'scenes' from this movie before. In the intro to 'For a Few Dollars More' the opening scene shows a long, quiet shot of a vast, empty desert, punctuated only by the sound of wind. Suddenly, a distant figure appears on horseback, seemingly wandering alone. Without warning, a gunshot rings out, and the rider falls dead:

There has been many speculations and theories about who the shooter or rider is, and who does the humming. A lot could be written about this opening sequence, but Sergio Leone deliberately keeps the identities of both the shooter and the rider a mystery. Rather than identifying the individuals, Leone is making a broader statement: in this world, nameless men die without warning, and killers remain unseen. It’s not about who they are—it’s about what they represent. It immediately tells the audience that this is not a standard Hollywood Western (like they were at the time) - it's a gritty, violent, ruthless and unpredictable world where death is a constant companion.

But just what if; the shooter initially hit the horse instead of the rider? The resulting engagement would likely turn into a long-range, relatively static potshot exchange or duel:

Forces:

• The Shooter (Attacker): In the movie you can clearly hear the shooter loads a repeater rifle, so he'll be armed with a Winchester. He's in hard cover so he'll get a CP of 6.

• The Rider (Defender): We don't know much about him, but if the rider should have any chance to return fire on such a long range he'll need to use a rifle as well. He's in the open, but seeks cover behind his dead horse and will have a CP of 5.

Mission:

• For both; Take out the opponent. 

Preparing the game

You don't need much to play this game. I already had a couple of 'Cowboys', which are 54mm-ish painted Airfix knock-offs, but to play the suggested scenario I needed a dead horse to set the scene and act as a 'cover' for the 'Rider'. As I didn't have any dead horse in model, I 3D-printed one:

The Game

Time:    10 minutes with taking photos etc. An average game takes about 3 minutes.

Turns:    8. Average about 11 turns. 

Win:      Like the movie I based this scenario upon; the attacker hiding among the cliffs.

Without warning, a gunshot rings out and the horse falls dead. The rider immediately seeks cover behind it and grabs his rifle from the saddle so he can return fire and defend himself:

The rider spots his attacker in high ground in cover behind some rocks:

Just killing the horse with his first shot, the attacker fires again:

...-and misses. The rider return fire...

...-And hits.

The gunmen exchanges fire for several minutes, slowly reducing each other's health:

The firefight goes on until the rider is critically low on health...

...and the attacker finally gives the rider 'The Coup De Grace':

To keep it in the spirit of Sergio Leone it's still mysterious who actually won the duel...

- was it a 'Good Guy' or was it a 'Bad Guy'? 

Conclusion

I had a great time playing this very simple set up. To get the most out of it I put on the 'For a Few Dollars More' main title to create some background ambiance, and used a gun-sound app on my mobile when doing the shooting each turn. Prone or kneeling  miniatures would have looked better in this static game, and I'd use it if had had some.

I think this adaption of the D6-version of 'Lunge Cut and Stop Thrust' Dueling game for ranged battle will work just great for a small shootouts if you're just looking for something quick to set up and play  SOLO on the go.

If you want to add just a little more to the duel than these rules, I think my entry to the 2024 Wargame in a Matchbox Challenge might be an option, as they're still just a simple duel, but allows for some movement, covers and 'Hero points'.

Blog PostScript 

This is what ChatGPT suggested when asked to make a playset based upon these rules. I'm not sure how much saleable such a set would be as popularity and political correctness has dropped on Cowboys & Indians Native Americans, and the market is nothing like it used to be back in the 70ies. Nice playset though.

"Lunge, Cut and Stop Thrust" Dueling Game

When trying the "Lunge, Cut and Stop Thrust" dueling game for the very first time, this is how I eventually envisioned  the game. The image was generated by ChatGPT 

"Lunge, Cut and Stop Thrust" Dueling game by Gerard Du Gre must be one of the easiest and most fast playing wargames ever made. -Or is perhaps more like a dueling game. And you don't need more than a couple of miniatures to play it either. Actually you need so little and the rules are so short, that this was actually a game I considered for the 'Wargame in a Wee Matchbox Challenge'. Finally I didn't, but my own entry to the challenge just ended up as a kind of dueling game as well.

This game was brought to my knowledge thorough some excellent blogger posts by Mark at The Man of Tin Blog. By following his links to his earlier blogger posts I ended up at Alan's blog The Duchy of Tredgardland, where Kaptain Kobold suggested how to play "Lunge, Cut and Stop Thrust" with dice (D6) instead of cards in the comment section. All these blogger posts really aroused my interests to try this game myself.

I had no intention to use a lot of time or effort to make a lot of different attack- and defense-cards to just to try out such a a small and simple game, but Kaptain Kobold's suggestion to play it with a D6 was so simple that it could be summarized and captured in a single photo by Mark at his blog. -So finally trying out this new (to me) game became a no-brainer to me! I used the rules as provided in Mark's photo:

Photo by Mark at The Man of Tin, which actually sums up the whole game. Actually it was this photo that gave me the final push to try this game my self.

Preparing the game

Even if Mark suggests a lot of different suitable miniatures and scenarios for such a small game on his blog, I didn't find any usable miniatures at home for playing this as mine are too modern and none of them are armed with swords or sabres. I was at my local toy shop considering to buy some Playmobil Romans or Pirates for this, but the selection was poor and I thought they were a bit pricey as well. So I decided to simply try to 3D-print a couple of miniatures in 54mm for this test game instead:

I also 3D-printed some suitable broken columns as 'periodic terrain' just to set the scene:

Since I printed these in white plastic, I didn't care to paint them, so I just gave them a 'Black Wash' instead.

The scenario

I've arranged this duel as a Roman Gladiator Fight. 

Similar opponents with same weapons, skills and armour getting similar Combat Points to make it easy and balanced. I settled for 5 Combat Points each as suggested by Mark. 

Forces: 

• Attacker: Magnumius the Roman Legionnaire:

• Defender: Polulus the Murmillo Gladiator:

Mission:

• For both combatants; To win the Gladiator Match by killing their opponent.

The Game

Time:    6 minutes (when taking photos etc.) An average game takes 2-3 minutes.

Turns:   8

Result:  Victory to Polulus the Murmillo Gladiator 

The Gladiator match is about to begin:

Turn 1: The Gladiator starts off really offensive:

Turn 2: And the Gladiator keeps on his offensive fighting:

Turn 3: The Legionnaire makes a successful counter attack: 

Turn 4: It looks like the fighters are about getting exhausted and tired now and none of them scores a hit:

Turn 5: The Legionnaire makes a successful hit again: 

Turn 6: The Gladiator regain the initiative:

Turn 7: And keeps aggressively pushing:

Turn 8: Until he finally gives the Legionnaire 'The Coup De Grace'. The audience is cheering:

Pros

• This is a very easy and fast playing wargame
• You won't need more than 2 miniatures for a game, but you could add some few more if you like a more intensive and very small skirmish game.
• This game works well for SOLO-playing.
• This can be a very interesting way or mechanics to resolve close combat in other wargames too. -And you can vary different number of Combat Points for your opponents regarding how well protected with different type of armour. 

Cons

• There is not much decision making regarding tactics in such a simple wargame. 

Conclusion

I would like to thanks Mark and Alan for bringing this game to attention on their  blogs and Kaptain Kobold for finding a way to play an easy game even easier. It made me certainly want to try a game I else wouldn't have tried. This was also my first ancient wargame.

I made some optional rules so the rules also can be used for fighters with different armour (and the ability to take more damage), and allowing for some movement as well.

-And if you haven't tried this game yet, I highly recommend you to do so for a an easy, free, fast playing fun game!

You don't need much to play this game, and is an ideal game to play if you're in a hurry and don't have time for any complicated setups or long games.

Blog PostScript

At the time of posting this 'imaginary action playsets' created by ChatGPT are trending on Facebook. This is how ChatGPT would envisage a playset of an instant wargame reviewed in this blogpost:

Another suggestion by ChatGPT:

It would be cool to see this thing in production and I think such playsets would be salable. What do you think?

Flat-car conversions followed by another "Day out"

It's spring and the season for more outdoor activities is about to begin again. -Like running trains in the garden, and preparing rolling stock for the coming season.

Flatcar 1

A fellow garden railway modeller was recently downsizing his collection, and I know he has a lot of hand-built items and scratchbuilt rolling stock. Among the items in his collection he was getting rid off there was a flatcar built after a Norwegian prototype from the Aurskog Høland Railway. I've always liked this flatcar, and he made me an offer I couldn't resist:

There was only one challenge; He's been running trains on 32mm gauge, while I run my garden railway on 45mm gauge. I didn't think this was a problem as I could just change bogies, so while at Modellbau Schleswig Holstein I bought a couple of LGB bogies (in 45mm gauge) to replace his 32mm bogies. 

But, when finally trying to fit my new bogies on the flatcar I saw that it wasn't so simple as I'd imagined as my new LGB bogies were too large and long and came in contact wit the truss bars on the underside of the wagon, making it impossibel to fit or turn:

The original 32mm gauge to the left, and the new LGB 45mm gauge bogie to the right

Since I was eager to bring this new wagon to our next running section I actually didn't have time to order any new and smaller bogies from UK. I found a free file on Thingiverse for a 'bogie kit' I could 3D-print. My metal wheels were larger than the kit was made for, so some adjustments were necessary: 

Finally fitted the bogies to the flat-wagon. I think the result turned out just ok.

Flatcar 2 and 3

I got a couple of LGB G-scale flatcars built to 32mm gauge really cheap last year. These were LGB originals, so here I could just replace their bogies with LGB ones. I've been running them occasionally behind my War Department live steam locomotive, but I wasn't too happy with them as they were in a American and civil livery:

First of all, they were missing buffers, so I found a couple of free files on Thingivere again which I could 3D-print:

The new buffers were assembled and superglued to the wagons. I wanted them to look both more generic and military so I could run them behind both my British W^D locomotive or my German Heeresfeldbahn. I painted them in 2 different grey shades, and made one look a little 'older' than the other. The light grey one was fitted with spooked wheels and older buffers, while the darker one got more 'modern' buffers and disc wheels. The old one got a deck of aged wood, while the newer one got a newer one. I also made them ready for3-link couplings:

Time to take the new flatcars for a Day out

Heine invited to another running session in his garden. So to haul my new flatcars I brought my Roundhouse W^D Billy livesteam locomotive, with the new driver:

I assembled my rake in the fiddleyard. First the hand built flatcar with the new 3D-printet bogies:

Then the 'new' flatcar:

And the the 'old' one loaded with a Jeep for the occasion:

The rest of the member making their trains ready in the fiddleyard:

And then it was finally time to take it out for a ride:

There is a large variation of trains and scales among our members, ranging from German...

...Swiss...

...American...

An American Shay

...German(s) again...

This is actually a German military Heeresfeldbahn locomotive in civilian postwar livery 

...And finally another British. Whats particular with this model is that it's a Gauge 1/ 1:32 scale model (which again is the same as 54mm figure scale). As it's a Standard Gauge model, it will run on the very same 45mm gauge tracks that the G-scale narrow gauge model runs:

A Gauge 1 Terrier:

The Terrier is a small steam locomotive, but side by side my 16mm/ 1:19 scale narrow gauge locomotive it becomes tiny despite being Standard Gauge. The scale is different, and they only share the same gauge of 45mm:

Another peculiar detail of Gauge 1 and 'G-scale', is that below there are 2 Standard Gauge models which are both made to run on 45mm gauge track. -So in theory these should both be to same scale. It's obvious that's only in the theory though, as the locomotive is a true Standard Gauge model, but the Thomas-coach is a G-scale model made as 'standard gauge' and somewhat too large for a 'standard gauge' model, but at the same time too small for a G-scale model.

During our break. Heine is is a very caring host, and kicked off the BBQ-season.

Note the 'Terrier' ON the dining table. At home we usually have a 'Terrier' UNDER the dining table (during meals):

Linus

Thank you for the invitation and your hospitality Heine!
Great photo he captured too:

 🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂

Blog PostScript

By the time at posting this, there seems to "be a thing" at Facebook where everyone is using ChatGPT to generate images of "toy action figures" of them selves or their fields of interests. I wanted to try it as well, and "there is a prototype for every thing". It would be cool to see it in production though: