"Any TMPers played RUTHLESS yet?" Topic

I watched little wars TVs latest game using the Ruthless rules. It was pretty interesting, so I was wondering if any TMPers have actually played a game using these rules yet. I would have already done so but I have zero appropriate figures, before I take the plunge and get some old west stuff it would be nice if someone would give me feedback, thoughts on what they think of these rules.

Ruthless seems to be an OK set of simple tactical skirmish rules. I don't think they are any better than a lot of other sets out there, but they do have a couple things going for them. First, they are FREE. Second, I think the real enjoyment will come from the mini-campaign guides that are coming out. The first one that I picked up is loosely based on the film ‘A Fistful of Dollars." You can find it here:

link

Thank you for the link, I am aware of the scenario books. They are based on a fistful of dollars spaghetti western and the other is Custer's last stand. What I am looking for is feedback from actual play of the rules and the people who played it general thoughts were. If need be some flats can be done by my printer, just to play a game to try the rules but I hate paper flats, ick. Just from reading them and watching the episode of Little Wars TV they seem fast and fun. Which ticks my Old West gunfight boxes.

Bashytubits, if iRuthless doesn't take many figures, em4 has two prepainted sets of 5 each that are not bad tabletop quality paint jobs. I bought both sets because I wanted something that I could play with right away. Usually I enjoy painting my own, but these worked out okay.

Thanks for the heads up, I will check that out. Well the ones I liked were sold out(Darn it), probably will go blue moon 18mm to save some dough. I was distracted by the cheap plastic ACW guys but I resisted that temptation, low prices are a siren song to me.

Check out the Wofun Games western flats.
wofun-games.com/Wild-West

It appears the rules are free, and brief – both of which I love! The scenarios booklets are not however and are 25 bucks per. Doesn't really go into too much detail on what is in them that justifies a 25 dollar price.

Should really look into finishing their website too; as it is still 3/4 template they used to build their site and looks schlocky.

But I can't wait to play a game with the rules!

Yes, I tried them a couple of times. They are fun and fast. I still like Dead's Man Hand better. They are working on a WWII set of rules, I suppose with the same criteria, fast, bloody and fun.

Fireball Forward has been around for a while. I also want to try Ruthless. If the scenario books were 10 bucks I'd buy both. Just hard to justify 25.00 without knowing much about them. I am a LBH kind of guy. I just don't see how scenarios can be done with small scale battles in this BIG one. I would love to be very wrong!

Thanks

John

I am Just about to start with Ruthless…I'll let you know….

Ruthless is great! It is easy to make your own scenarios. Give your hero and villian(s) a couple of attributes and away you go!

PzJ

I recently downloaded the free RUTHLESS gunslinger rules, we've played three games using the 'Coffin Lid' character stats panel, instead of the character cards provided with the rules. It uses spent brass shell casings to track ammunition supply. Here's a link a picture:

and:

That coffin panel just nails it!

My youngest son has a CnC machine, we've done a test run of 12 of these 'Coffin Lid' stats panels. I am considering trying to market them, what do you think? Is this an accessory Wild West gamers would be willing to purchase?
I'm currently designing a 'Coffin Lid' stats panel for the Gunfighter's Ball rules set. I've recently posted on their Facebook page, there was some interest but most thought the panel was too big. So I redesigned the panels, reducing their size by 38%. Here's a picture of a size comparison of the original mock ups vs the new scaled down ones. The panel on the right is the original sized panel, the one in the middle is the new Gunfighter's Ball panel, the one on the left is the new RUTHLESS panel.

Here's another picture, this one shows a complete coffin that I designed probably 25-30 years ago to use with Walter Simom's TWO GUN BROWN COMES TO TOWN gunslinger rules. The reverse side of the coffin lid has the holes drilled in it for the ammunition supple, etc. All the game parts could be stored in the coffin when not playing the game. Also you could place your gunslinger miniature in the coffin when he's been killed and bury him om Boot Hill!

I think it's all brilliant, and FUN!.

It ought to get the younger crowd now too – fittin' in the hand just like a cell phone.

(and anything that gets them to put their phones away at the game is a great idea) :)))

Are the panel numbers in the holes inset plugs?

My oldest grandson is 15, he loves playing RUTHLESS with me and actually bugs me to play every weekend, he really likes the 'Coffin Lid' stats panel.
Do you think gamers would be willing to purchase something like this? I'm thinking $30 USD to $35 USD for just the 'Coffin Lid' panel, not the whole coffin setup. I'm still sourcing wholesale material prices, so not sure yet on exact selling price.

You posted, "Are the panel numbers in the holes inset plugs?"
I'm not sure what you're asking. If you look at the first picture of the stats panel for use with the RUTHLESS rules, there's a hole drilled for a chip with the character's NAME on it, to the right of that there's a smaller hole for a numbered chip with the character's TOUGHNESS rating, below that there's two smaller holes for two numbered chips with the character's TRAITS, below that there are four smaller holes for LEG, ARM, CHEST and SEVERE wounds. The LEG hole has three wound chips, the ARM hole has three wound chips, the CHEST hole has two wound chips and the SEVERE hole has two wound chips. There's also a yellow chip for when the character is LILLY LIVERED and a black chip with an arm holding a pistol indicating GOT YOU COVERED action. Then of course the various weapons and their respective ammunition supply.
Does that answer your question?

The "plugs" as you called them are 3mm x 25mm MDF round chips, except for the NAME chip, which is a 3mm x 38mm MDF chip.

Rgr. that Swede – chips would be my plugs.

$30 USD would be on the high-side if a game host is buying all the panels for the players to use.

Would the forecasted price include the .22 cal (and looks like a larger size) shells? Those shell markers are cool, but maybe you're spec'ing wooden pegs for the ammo tracks?

Included:
(1) a precision machined 'coffin lid' wood panel of either Poplar or Ash wood. I thought about using Pine, but it's too soft.
(2) both the 22 & 32 caliber brass spent shell casings
(3) all the necessary 3mm MDF chips to mark the RUTHLESS rules character stats. The larger NAME chip is left blank (you fill in the character's name); the TOUGHNESS chips are numbered 3 thru 7; the WOUNDS chips are either the natural color, red, black or yellow. I plan on including extra shell casings and MDF chips.
(4) an instruction sheet on how to use the panel
Any additional parts will be available at a reasonable cost.

I owned and successfully operated my own manufacturing business for 27 years, so I do know a little bit about pricing a product. Materials used to manufacture this panel will cost a minimum of $10 USD, plus there will be machining costs involved, etc. My youngest son has two CnC machines and writes his own CAD files, it took him 2-3 hours to write the files for this panel, he's writing another file today, it's for a panel to be used with Gunfighter's Ball.
Obviously purchasing this panel may not be for everyone, one could purchase just one for their main character (the NAME chip can be switched out, so the panel can be for any character, the traits can also be switched out. If one was hosting a gunfighter game and only purchased one or two of the stats panels, it would be interesting to see what the players think about the panels vs character cards. For the precision and excellent quality of this panel, I believe it's definitely worth the $30 USD to $35 USD I'd be asking.
Obviously the 'Coffin Lid' stats panel is super cool looking, after playing three games using them I believe it helps the game play very smoothly.

I would suggest creating an STL file to print off the coffin sets (wooden texture can be added to the file, to simulate wood grain in the printed files). Include STL files for the bullet casing markers, as well. That way you minimize your costs, diminish your time investment, and allow your customers to make as many as they want/need for their games.

Not a 3D printing hobbyist, but that is the trend, these days, and I think you could achieve more marketing exposure to sell your STL files, for less advertising moneys. Cheers!