I've been playing through a test campaign called "The Windy River campaign" and thought I'd post some details. This is using the Dinosaur Cowboys skirmish rules I've been writing for a while.
There are three detailed posts I've written on the topic so far: Campaign Setup and Background, the Day 1 Battle Report, and Day 2-3 Battle Report.
Anyways the Drylands Expedition was my posse of choice, a mixed group of travellers, explorers, and rough hands tasked with surveying eastern Wyoming. At the start of the campaign they looked like this:
The specific area they're exploring is called Windy River, and the campaign hex map looks like this:
Their first day they headed down the road to the town of Watterson. The place was a dive with only a single saloon (The Dusty Claw) and hotel (Eight of Diamonds). The Drylands leader Quidel headed into the saloon to get a feel of the town while the rest of the gang rested their weary feet around the quiet streets. Here is the table I used for the town:
An aggressive drunk in the saloon eventually picked a fight with Quidel, and the combat spilled out into Watterson. The two posses clashed and brawled in an exciting match. Some pictures from the game:
You can read the full battle report of The Brawl at Watterson here.
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After the escalated barfight the owners of the Eight of Diamonds hotel, a competitor to the saloon where the fight started, offered the posse free room and board. In the morning the posse was approached by a man named Grogan. He owns and operates Intrepid Expeditions, a safari company that takes customers on a dinosaur hunt in the jungles to the south. Grogan was sick with malaria and in the interest of not losing business, wanted the Drylands posse to run a safari for his next two customers. The customers were Gordon and Cecilia Glenbrook, a newly married couple.
They rounded up a pair of porters and headed out the next day. In a particularly foggy section of the jungle the caravan was ambushed by savage raiders. The raiders were interested in capturing Cecilia for nefarious purposes, while the posse had to defend her. To complicate matters, two roving dinosaurs were added to the mix.
The match was quite a bit of fun as all the thematic elements were well supported by the rules. Here are some pictures to give you an idea of the conflict:
This game was likewise written up in a full battle report called Jungle Hunt.
So far the posse has been growing admirably, and their lasting injuries haven't been too bad. I'm going to continue the story whenever I have some free time to see what adventures the Windy River area can provide. I've been liking the campaign approach over one-off skirmishes as it lets me build the posse as they acquire wealth and experience, and also play through an evolving story.
Let me know what you think!
