"Wild Wild West Imagi-Nations?" Topic
9 Posts
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grommet37 | 23 Oct 2014 9:43 p.m. PST |
Wondering if any gamers have tried or considered fielding a conflict between any of the rampant warlords to be found in the Old West of the Wild Wild West TV show? Not just Loveless and Count Manzeppi, but Juan Manolo, Flory, General Grimm, Captain Coffin, Professor Cadwelladder, Colonel Smythe, The Flaming Ghost of John Brown, Thorald Wolfe, and that's just Season One. Couldn't they have teamed up against Jim and Artie, and carved up the territory? Without his two best agents, what could Grant have done to stop them? Sure were a lot of strongmen with renegade armies in New Mexico territory in the early 1870s. What scale, rules, figures? I'm thinking 1/72 Zouaves and Cowboys.
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skippy0001 | 23 Oct 2014 11:13 p.m. PST |
Perfect. Throw in The Underground Empire and the Valley of Gwangi. Don't forget Turok. It could be a Warlord Coalition headed by Loveless. They can fight the Federal government over control of resources in the Territories. Canada could see the turmoil as a chance to extend control. Russia could try to get Alaska and the Pacific Northwest back and Mexico could go for the Southwest. Mounties, Russians, Civil War vets, armored trains, cavalry, Sioux, Mexican Federales, Chinese tongs, Apache, Maximillian vets, bandits, bankrobbers, regulators, Pinkertons, Irish Teamsters(from 'Hallelujah Trail', C.S.A raiding from Sonora, Suffragettes, Mormons. Yeah, you got a full plate there. |
Coelacanth | 24 Oct 2014 6:55 a.m. PST |
You might also want Captain Nemo and Brisco County, Sr. Ron |
skippy0001 | 24 Oct 2014 7:06 a.m. PST |
1/72nd has a lot for this, from ACW toWWI. You need Gatlings, howitzers, preferably mountain type, and steampunk up some Renault FT-17's, MarkI-IV tanks. A 1/72nd biplane kitbashed into a ornithopter. Tornado generators, Lightening Cannon, earthquake and weather machines. Wagon trains, horse herds, cattle and sheep. |
boy wundyr x | 24 Oct 2014 8:12 a.m. PST |
Could also thrown in a lost (or not so lost) Chinese settlement on the west coast from the 15th century. See the Gavin Menzies 1421 nonsense – great gaming material there!. |
kallman | 24 Oct 2014 10:35 a.m. PST |
As stated you need to decide where in history does your Wild West Imagi-nations start. Also how far out are you going to go in terms of the genre? You mention fictional characters like Loveless and that implies as certain amount of possible alternate technology as in Victorian Science Fiction. So do you have steam rifles, steam tanks, air ships and the like? Pulling from such games as Railwars and Malifaux you could even have a magic component. The idea is an intriguing one. For me I think I would keep things more or less in the realm of the plausible. When you say Wild West I tend to think during or post ACW and into the early decade of the 20th century. If you begin with the Civil War and say that the South did not lose but did not win and assume a now fractured Federal government that was not able to press its military advantage so that ACW now becomes a sporadic series of military flare ups you set the stage for there still to be a westward expansion but now it is more due to private individuals and opportunist seeking to create their own country or base of power. You could have Mexico press its claims against Texas and California sensing that the United States is not in a position to enforce its claims. Perhaps the Native American Plains tribes do unite under a charismatic and powerful war chief that seeks to keep and drive the white man from expanding. And of course there are the rouge commanders perhaps former Confederate or United States with the power of personality, funding, and an army backing him. You could have a British invasion via Canada seeking to reclaim parts of its lost colony or seeing that the United States is not able to press its claims on the Louisiana Purchase decides to annex the northern portions of land for Canada. Then there are the Cattle Barons, Robber Barons, Rail Barons, Mexican Warlords, you name it, it can probably be accommodated. I see this being done in 28 mm as these are going to be small actions not major set piece battles per se. However with 28 mm you could have a battle that is at least at the regimental level. As to rules you have a wide scope. If you are just thinking in terms of skirmish any of the Wild West rules such as The Rules With No Name, Gutshot!, etc. would work. Two Fat Lardies Terrible Swift Sword, their ACW variant for Sharpe Practice would work well here and has lots of character. Brother against Brother would work well with some tweaks or just use the VSF variant Valor & Steel & Flesh. Then there is that old stand by The Sword and the Flame which again would be perfect for those small yet large battles. Of course 1/72 would be extremely affordable and you have a vast range of figures available to you. |
grommet37 | 07 Nov 2014 12:32 p.m. PST |
Wow. I forgot a bunch of boards. I wonder if I can get an editor to crosspost this to: 19th Century Scenarios, The Old West, and Victorian SF? Some really great suggestions above. I need to respond to each in turn. I've been too busy looking for the proper Uhlans for the Empire of the Dakotas. As far as when in history, I think the TV show starts in 1869, so really any figures from the Mexican War to the Franco-Prussian War work for me, including Crimean, ACW, etc. I looked up the list of conflicts for 1860 to about 1880 yesterday, and if there are figures for some of these, one could stage some interesting match-ups, from steampunked gunfighters vs. gatling-augmented airship samurai to 7th Cav vs. Hungarian hussars with Comanche light auxiliary. Are there figures for the Seven Weeks War or the Japanese Civil Wars? link link Also, as far as the size of the engagements, it is interesting to note that battles of the FPW involve tens (or even hundreds) of thousands while those of the Indian Wars often involve hundreds of individuals. Probably brigade-sized actions would represent the small armies fielded by such upstart rogue nations. On the TV show, I think it was the same 12 guys over and over again. 8) |
grommet37 | 13 Nov 2014 4:53 p.m. PST |
It's amazing what you find when you type in "Canadian Zouave".
link I was thinking more about what you guys had said above regarding the USA, CSA, Canada, France, Britain, Russia, etc. Could lead to some interesting alliances, paint schemes and army lists. So far in 1/72 plastics it looks fairly reasonable to find "Victorian Colonial/Imperial" forces for Russia, France, Canada, Britain, Prussia/Austria/Germany, Italy, Mexico, the US, the CSA, and at least one or two other "exotic" "factions". The cavalry matchups looks legendary. 7th Cav vs. Bengal Lancers? RCMP vs. Russian Hussars? 1870s tech, even if not steampunk'd, is still quite industrially lethal. There are 1/72 Gatling teams available. Also lots of interesting hats and helmets in this era! |
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