Well, the gangs gather for one more gunfight at Adobe Wells Station. This time, we see ten players taking a swing at fighting for control of the Swing Station at Adobe Wells. The game sees the first trial of two rival wargaming groups mixing it up on my gaming table.
Six of Postie's Rejects (outlaws: Steve, Ray, Richard, Dan, Colin, Lee) face off against four of The No Name Group (Pinkertons: Mark, Dave B., Dave C., Chris). This is triggeronometry in the Old West. Being outnumbered six to four, two of the Pinkertons will be rated as “Shootists” for this action.
The cast of characters are:
Let's get right to the fighting!
As Rattlesnake Dick and Emmet Dalton peer out from behind the boulders to the north of the station, all seems quiet. Rattlesnake makes the first move and crosses the open ground quickly putting himself up against the compound wall next to the small shed. As Rattlesnake plants his back against the wall, an arm emerges from one of the windows and a single six-gun opens up! Rattlesnake ducks back to avoid getting hit. Who fired those shots? Well, it was Wild Bill Briscoe holed up in the shed and he is out of ammo!
All is quiet at Adobe Wells Station. |
Outlaws lurk among the boulders. |
Rattlesnake ducks back to cover! |
Hot action at the shed. |
Hearing shots ring out, Pinkerton Daring Dave McGinty drops his gold pan and rushes up the banks of the arroyo. As he reaches the south end of the orchard, he sees an outlaw moving toward the Adobe Wells compound. "Hey!" McGinty shouts. Deadeye Brundle spins around to face McGinty. Each gunfighter goes for his gun strapped to his leg. Both gunmen blaze away! Deadeye cannot find his target. McGinty finds his as he empties his gun in Deadeye's direction. Deadeye receives a small hole in his chest and a gash in his left arm. Deadeye stands firm against the impacts but he needs some time to shake off the shock. With no cover to protect himself, Deadeye looks on, stunned, as McGinty tries to reload his gun.
Fast draw at the orchard... |
with both guns blazing. |
Back at the compound, English Bob, The Professor, and Emmet all take up positions against the northern wall. English and the Professor, provide covering fire into the station where they suspect another Pinkerton to be lying in wait. They are not wrong! While their shots miss their mark, the firepower is enough to force the occupant, Javier G-G, to duck for cover. This is exactly the covering fire Squinty Sid needs to hop over the wall and enter the compound untouched. Seeing Simon still keeping a low profile behind the shed, Squinty opens up. At this range, Squinty cannot hit the broadside of a barn. Simon breathes a sigh of relieve.
Everyone converges on the compound with a crossfire on the station. |
Squinty Sid opens up on Simon. |
Seeing Squinty blaze away at Simon, Emmet figures that now is his chance! He races into the compound and swings his gun around to line up Simon within his sight. With lead flying, Simon is hit twice opening up flesh wounds in his left arm and head. Simon hits the dirt! Figuring that Simon is not getting up soon, Emmet turns his attention to Wild Bill holed up in the shed. Again blazing away into the shed, Wild Bill takes a hit in his gun arm as he takes aim out of the door. Damnit! He is not going to able to reload either of his six guns. Wild Bill ducks back from the doorway to recover.
Emmet opens up on Simon... |
and then turns to fire on Wild Bill. |
Emmet puts two Pinkertons down on the ground! |
As Emmet keeps an eye out for Wild Bill in the shed, both Wild Bill and Simon have time recover for their wounds. Simon quietly raises his gun and plugs Emmet in the head. Emmet never saw the bullet with his name on it.
While Simon is taking care of Emmet, Squinty carefully moves around the stack of crates to sneak up on Simon. Blazing away, Squinty empties his gun in Simon's direction. Simon remains unharmed. Gun unloaded, Squinty advances toward Simon to make the fight up close and personal. With Emmet dead in front of the shed, Wild Bill leaps out of the building and spins around to target Squinty and save his buddy Simon. Wild Bill shoots Sid smack in the head. Squinty drops down dead only a few feet from Simon. Simon looks over at Wild Bill and tips his hat.
The Pinkertons recover while Emmet looks on... |
Bullets fly everywhere as Emmet goes down. |
Wild Bill lunges out to pop Squinty Sid. |
With all of the commotion at the shed, Javier, still holed up in the station, fails to notice English Bob slip away from his position at the corner of the wall and now stands in the doorway to the station. "English" opens up and riddles Javier's body with bullets. Javier does not get up. After silencing Javier, "English" moves off to the south to cover the eastern side of the compound.
Across the compound, in his hurry to exit the shed, Wild Bill does not notice that The Professor is looking into the shed through the open window. Having left the door wide open, The Professor has a clear shot at Wild Bill standing in the compound. Firing away, Wild Bill is hit multiple times with a serious wound to his belly. Bill falls to the ground. Still in his line of sight, The Professor finishes Bill off with a round to his head. At this point in the gunfight, each side has two dead gunfighters.
Seeing "English" appear over the eastern wall of the compound, Simon moves to take up a central position and opens fire. Simon's shots miss as he empties his gun. Watching quietly from behind a crate as Simon moves across the compound, Rattlesnake moves up behind Simon. Simon is hit in the arm and head before he can duck back behind the cover of the crates. Before Simon can regain his feet, Rattlesnake is standing over him. Rattlesnake puts Simon out of his misery without blinking an eye.
The compound is awash in gunfire! |
Simon moves to target "English"... |
but fails to see Rattlesnake targeting him! |
Simon is put down on the deck with a bullet in his head. |
What about the action at the orchard? Well, not much to relate really. McGinty could not put Deadeye down and Deadeye managed to sneak away to the other side of the orchard.
Deadeye escapes almost certain death. |
The Pinkertons now have three of their four agents down on the ground. Knowing that this fight is lost, Mcginty surrenders. This gunfight is over.
Death at Adobe Wells. |
Another victory for the Outlaws!
For the Pinkertons, Wild Bill, Simon, and Javier are all dead. For the outlaws, Squinty Sid and Emmet are dead on the field. What a bloody gunfight!
This last gunfight with ten players is a perfect ending to this series of gunfights at Adobe Wells. Thank you to all who have raised a six gun in one of these actions.
What is next on the table? I really have no idea although I am eyeing my Wars of the roses collection. Perhaps time to bring them into their first battle? First, I need some rules!
A cracking series of gunfights and the outlaws certainly had the measure of the Pinkertons, enjoyed this set of games, something that wee bit different. I hope you do go with the WotR, would be most interesting.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Donnie! This was another fun series of games and something different from the regular fare. I would like to see WotR on table too. Need rules that I can easily remember and umpire.
DeleteWhat great fun. Although, in the tradition, the good guys are supposed to win to reinforce that the rule of law will prevail...?!
ReplyDeleteHaving grabbed it with both hands you are the undoubted king of the remote game; with now a huge variety of sensational games. I am intrigued by the logistics. Were all ten players on their own screens, or did the Rejects, for instance, get together for the game so as to reduce the number of locations to deal with?
Regards, James
The game was great fun, James, and hosting ten players in a remote game is the most that I have tackled so far. All ten players were attending my Zoom session in their own homes from their own screens looking onto my table from the webcam. It all went pretty smoothly, I thought.
DeleteI am even more impressed!
DeleteIt all works very well James!
DeleteThanks, Ray!
DeleteSo, THAT is how the West was won - law and order never has a chance - it all makes perfect sense now, Jon! James is naively still waiting for the law to prevail......if only!
ReplyDeleteThe bad guys often seem at least a half step in front of the law. The Old West was no exception.
DeleteGeez Keith, I live in hope, read Mills and Boon and "The Magnificent Seven" is one of my favourite films *eva*—and an exception to the usual truism that 'the original is better than the remake'.
DeleteAt least two of those are true...
A great series of Wild West Games. Very impressive to be able to deal with 10 players in a remote game.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Peter!
DeleteYou have made an art of the remote game Jon, well done.
ReplyDeleteRepetition is key. Thank you!
DeleteReally love your Wild West games!
ReplyDeleteGreat! Glad you enjoyed the games!
DeleteThe only hobby where you can be brutally murdered and still have fun. Lol. Bring on the WOTR, that should be ace.
ReplyDeleteIt can be a strange hobby at times. Murder and mayhem followed up by laughter and story telling.
DeleteVery true, one of our group often says "shoot/stab him (or her!) in the face!" in relation to a melee or close combat!
DeleteI enjoyed that and look forward to seeing whatever you choose to do next.
ReplyDeleteStehen
Thanks for the encouragement, Stephen!
DeleteWell, well, well another humdinger of a gunfight there, it has been a joy to follow the action over the games. I would like to see your WotR collection on the table, the period is certainly in vogue currently.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the rounds of gunslinging, Phil. They will return another time and certainly much before another 25 years passes. I am working bringing the WOTR collection to the table. Hopefully, soonish. More CCA later this week.
DeleteImpressive stuff Jon….no idea how you manage so many people , but it works 👍
ReplyDeleteThanks, Matt! It does work!
DeleteL'Amour style action, properly dished out punishment to those who miss the first time. Thanks for another diverting game.
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome! Glad you enjoyed the action.
DeleteThat was a fun series of games. And a cracking feat of gamesmastership with 10 of us. Blimey.
ReplyDeleteChris
Yes, it was a fun series and I enjoyed it. Relieved to see that you did too. Young Javier went down without much of a fight in this gun battle.
DeleteAn excellent write up of a cracking game (series of games, they've all been fun to read).
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lee!
DeleteLoving the further tales of Adobe Wells Station. Great read, thanks Jonathan.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Meic!
Delete10 players is an awful lot. Glad it seemed to work well, though everyone is a veteran of remote games and the system so I bet that helped.
ReplyDeleteI agree, such a shoot fest is a great finale to the Wild West. Just like in the movies; it all ends in a dramatic gun fight. 😀
Yep! It all ended in a dramatic gunfight with few left standing!
DeleteAnother great game Jon, it was a crackin bash, even though I bit the bullet!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ray! It was good fun.
DeleteA cracking shoot out and a fitting end to the series of games.
ReplyDeleteA fitting end, indeed, especially for many of the characters!
DeleteAnother epic gunfight! Doesn’t pay to be a Pinkerton these days!
ReplyDeleteI certainly would not sign up as a Pinkerton agent!
DeleteThe outlaws do seem to be a tough and aggressive bunch. Just one of those hits would be enough for me to call it a day. The fun really comes across in these narratives.
ReplyDeleteThe outlaws are real nasty bunch! The game play creates a vivid narrative naturally.
DeleteI'd go for Test of Resolve to get those WotR armies on the table. There's also Blood Red Roses which look interesting.
ReplyDeleteNeil
Thanks for the suggestions, Neil. I have tried both. While I have copies of Blood Red Roses, I do not have a copy of Test of Resolve. With cards, BRR might be a challenge for remote gaming. BRR does provide an interesting perspective as it focuses on the entire Battle/Ward and not individual melee lines. I would need to read ToR and play a few games before I would want to bring it to the table. I have many ideas rolling around in my head.
DeleteThat was a lot of fun Jonathan despite Sid not being able to hit the side of a barn. You handled it all masterfully
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought it a fun contest too! Sid sure went through a lot of ammo! I reckon he was out of ammo most of the game. Wild Bill (Mark) paid a very heavy price for rescuing Simon (DB) from your clutches.
DeleteExcellent game and report Jonathan. With all those bullets flying around no wonder the walls have their plaster coming off. 😁
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yes, every surface is likely riddled with bullets. The same situation applies to some of the gunfighters too!
DeleteGood report Jon, and thanks for a great game! Yes I think i was very glad of Mark's efforts, he saved me ( 'Simon') at great cost to himself! I shoulda run away when I 'lost my nerve', instead I tried to hide and they just hunted me down..
ReplyDeleteI think we learned that the buildings give a false sense of security, they are actually something of a rat-trap! Once the outlaws get into the compound, numbers seem to tell. Great fun, anyway!
Thanks, David, and you are welcome!
DeleteMark put his own safety over his own. Now that is friend, indeed! Buildings can be death traps. I would avoid them! I think having a Pinkerton on a roof with rifle in a sniping position may have been a good option.
Excellent finale to the Adobe Wells series, great fun, I would have thought basic Impetus ideal for WOTR? It's what we used to play with it!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Since I use Basic Impetvs regularly, it is under consideration as well.
DeleteHollywood obviously got it all wrong as the Good Guys always win and get the gal at the end;)! Another fine game and good to see it scaled up well too.
ReplyDeleteWell, that was in Old Hollywood. Today, it is in vogue to root against authority and corporate America.
DeleteSplendid indeed Jonathan…
ReplyDeleteA cracking sounding and looking game…
You are clearly an expert at herding cats/wargamers.
All the best. Aly
Thanks, Aly! Now, if only herding wargamers was a paying gig, I would be set!
Delete