"Suggestions for rules to run factions in Old West shootout" Topic

So looking for a set of Western rules to run at my gamestore
every month.
some preferences if possible
1) still in production, gives me something to sell
2) able to handle 4-5 players each running a posse (4-6 figs)
3) fairly fast, would be great to play out in 3 hours.
4) fun! a must
Thank you for any suggestions
Mike
Discover Games

It's been around a while, but I still like Desperado.

Fistful of Lead Reloaded from Wiley Games. This is exactly what the rules were designed for! Their rules are exceptionally fun and fast play. I own pretty much everything they have released and I play them all. Great stuff!

link

Thanks

John

Gunfighters Ball. Sounds like perfect match that meets your requirements! Plenty of factions to buy of beautifully sculpted figures with personality!

I would suggest One Hour Skirmish Wargames Rules by John Lambshead.

Fistful of Lead Reloaded

I second Gunfighters Ball! Fast, easy to learn and current.

For a fast and very fun game that is commercially availabel (probably even from distributors) I'd suggest Dead Man's Hand.

link

Fistful of Lead Reloaded. Many play videos on YouTube for these rules.

Gunfighters Ball – great rules and an excellent line of minis and buildings.

Fistful of Lead checks all your requirements. For fast, fun, multiplayer games this is my go to game. At Millennium Con this past November I used these rules for two games. Each game had six players with four figures each. The games played out in three to three and half hours each.

Another for Desperado. Easy, fun, quick to learn. And they are written with a sense of humor.

Probably any skirmish rules could be used, but Desperado gives you the Saturday matinee vibe.

Six Gun Sound from Two Hour Wargames. Has a great campaign system, IIRC.

Shoot and Skedaddle! Good mix of role play and card random
events. Fun game. Have played in an 8 player game and got
in two games in a 4 hour period!
Not sure where available. Think the cards and rules are
online. Only thing is that each player just controls one
figure.

Definitely worth a look.

We've gone to Dead Man's Hand. Although sometimes it is not deadly enough. We play it where you can not remove your first hit marker.Gunfighters Ball is just too deadly too quickly – cut down the hit percentages – say 1/2 of what they are now – and it would be about perfect. Fistful of Lead is fun. May give that a further try. Desperado – the new version – is likewise, too deadly too quickly.

I second Six Gun Sound from Two Hour Wargames, which you can get at Rebel Minis now: link

And there's an OOP western horror book called "High Moon: Dead Reckoning" if you want to do some deadlands type games.

I have used Pulp Alley for historical skirmish games very successfully. You can always simply ignore the "Perils" cards and all the "Plot Point" elements if they don't fit your scenario. But the basic fundamentals of those rules are excellent (organization of a player faction; sequence of play; movement; combat; actions). Very fast playing, very easy to learn, no pages of tables or charts to depend on.

Right now Fistful of Lead pdf is 25% off at Wargames Vault for only $7.50 USD. Take a look at the Full Preview, which gives the first 6 pages of the rules. link

A YouTube channel I like that covers many skirmish games is YouTube link

Both Fistful of Lead and Dead-mans Hand fit the bill. I have played both several times and find them both fun and easy to teach to people with just the right amount of TV western feel.