I dragged my 54’s out of their box recently for the first time since the 1980s and isn’t it obvious? Some matt spray required, paint to touch up etc but I just wanted to play the game so I’ve left the stuff in the crude, battered state it was. This is nostalgia rather than aesthetics. The buildings are mainly homemade and reflect what was available commercially in 54mm in the eighties (ie nothing) but I love ‘em. The game’s afoot. Sheriff Bonner is not a man to cross. Now read on….

County Sheriff Frank Bonner has finally managed to apprehend Ezekiel Thackeray, chief enforcer for the Circle B ranch and wanted for attempted murder in the business of the ambushed sheep-herders.

Problem is, Thackeray has to be escorted down Bad Blood’s main (and only) street. This impossibly green thoroughfare passes between the Dark Lady saloon, haunt of the rest of the Circle B boys, and the New Blood saloon wherein resides Oliver Standish, renowned gunsel recently hired by the Sheep Herders Protection Committee. Trouble can be expected from either or both establishments. Where in tarnation are Deputy Luke Simms and Deputy J.D. Price? And then there’s the problem of avoiding the vicious back legs of Bad Blood’s notorious synchronised horses.

This being Bad Blood, there’s bound to be more problems before Sheriff Bonner gets Zeke safely locked away, ready to be taken in the jail wagon to face justice in the County Court at the town of Bean.

 

MOVE 1: Sheriff Bonner instinctively noted the details of what was happening in the street. A Mexican he did not know was sitting on the sidewalk outside the Dark Lady. A look-out for the Circle B Boys? Or a new recruit for the Muerte gang? Are they in town? That would be an added complication.

The old Indian squatting outside the New Blood was a permanent fixture. He’d never been known to cause trouble, even when dead drunk. No reason to suppose he’d start any now.

 

MOVE 2: When Tim Johnson, Pete Cashwell and Señor Francisco erupt from the Dark Lady saloon, obviously fired-up and eager, the Sheriff isn’t too concerned. They appear to be observing his “no firearms in town” ordinance so he feels confident he can handle three ranch hands no matter how feisty they are. Unless, of course, Señor Francisco has some connection to the Muerte gang.

A sense of danger made Bonner quickly glance to his right. A dark figure had appeared on the sidewalk outside the New Blood. Largely hidden in shadow, all that could be seen was a hand – a hand holding a levelled six-gun. Despite the features being hidden, Bonner had no doubt of the newcomer’s identity. Oliver Standish was taking a hand in matters. Shee-it…..!

Bonner weighed up the problems and options; were either the Circle B boys or Standish a threat? Maybe neither; maybe both.

His calculations were interrupted by a commotion further down the street. Oh great….! A steer was rampaging directly towards him. Another goddam escapee from the stockyards. And just when things seemed so simple……

 

MOVE 3 and we’re doing some proper games stuff, rolling dice and talking rules. Pulp Alley is providing the rules framework although I modify, add and interpret freely as I go along; after all, it’s a solo game so why not?

First, at the beginning of each turn, dice to see if one or both of the Deputies arrive and where. Keep dicing until both arrive.

Second, I should mention that Sheriff Bonner is a Peril. When he’s on duty, he’s an Extreme Peril (not half…!). In fact, I’ll call him a Special Peril. So, anyone getting within 4” of him or attempting any offensive action against him has to roll 2 successes using their worst skill/trait, Health doesn’t count as a skill in this case. This means that Followers or Allies will always fail if acting without a Sidekick or Leader. Anyone failing must move at least 6” away from him and cannot take any offensive action or get any closer unless accompanied by a Sidekick or Leader. Followers or Allies in base-to-base contact with Sidekick or Leader are OK if the Sidekick or Leader have a successful test. A successful test means the character (and any lower level characters in base-to-base contact) can act normally. Clear? Or not?

Third, any character moving within 1” of a riderless horse (tethered or running free) must pass 2 Dodge tests or suffer 2 hits.

Fourth, at the end of a turn, tethered horses test to see if they break free (1 in 6 chance).

Fifth, all free animals roll Direction dice to see what direction and how far they move.

The Circle B hands, having charged impetuously from the saloon, realise they’ve recklessly invaded Sheriff Bonner’s space. And he’s in the middle of serious business. To a man, they turn and bolt back to the safety of the saloon (they failed their Bonner Special Peril test). Tim Johnson gets too close to a tethered horse and takes a kick where it really hurts. He’s down and he’s out. Sheriff Bonner allows himself a little smile.

Anyway, you gotta watch out for stray animals in Bad Blood. There’s the rampaging steer:

Who is going 6” thataway

And then there’s the fierce guard dog that’s escaped from the livery stable:

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Who is going 3” down there….You’ve got to be so careful.

This is where the dog and steer (not the name of a pub) end up:

 

MOVE 4 Sees the arrival of J D Price

Next, Big Jim McTowell comes down the stairs of the Dark Lady after an assignation with the eponymous proprietor of the establishment.

“WTF you greenhorns doin’ – doncha see Bonner out there with Zeke? And where’s Tim? COME ON…..!”

With that, he rushes out the back door.

Pete Cashwell and Sēnor Francisco make to follow him but first take a card each

Pete’s is irrelevant and he charges after Big Jim but Francisco has “Held in Place…!” His frayed nerves prevent him from moving so, with Tim lying unconscious out front after taking a kick from the horse and Francisco stationary, Big Jim finds himself with only one man in support. Against Frank Bonner!? This doesn’t look good.

Elsewhere, the horse tethered by the New Blood saloon breaks free and ploughs into Prisoner Thackeray who is kicked. He is injured but able to continue and recovers his composure quickly enough.

Alarmed by the commotion, the second horse tethered by the New Blood also escapes and chases the inoffensive Indian down a side alley.

Finally, the steer charges back into Main Street. The first escaped horse takes fright and wheels  round, heading for Oliver Standish. Such chaos…!

 

MOVE 5 who-hoo, Luke Simms has arrived . A D6 roll for placement sees him appear in the livery stable yard>.

I should mention activation here. Unlike in the PA solo rules, I’m dicing at the beginning of each turn to decide the order in which each group activates. There’s 3 groups so 1d6 roll decides which goes first: 5-6: Sheriff and deputies. 3-4 Circle B; 1-2 Standish group. The remaining two then roll for second. Activation doesn’t change hands as a result of combat.

Once the roll for arrival of deputies is made and Simms is placed, the order of activation is established. It’ll be Sheriff group, then Circle B then Standish.

Bonner is next:

This doesn’t look good. He carries on down the street regardless, ushering Thackeray before him.

Luke Simms next and…..

…..oh dear. He’s got to wait until everyone else has moved. Obviously he is still adjusting to the situation.

Meanwhile, Big Jim McTowell, closely followed by Pete Cashwell, is heading Luke’s way, although at this time, Big Jim doesn’t know that. And Sēnor Francisco has stiffened his sinews and is in support.

Last group to move is Standish. He cautiously follows Bonner down the street.

And then, bursting out of the back door of the New Blood comes none other than Standish’s particular friend, the English eccentric, The Honourable Horace Boris Spooner

Now, Luke Simms can finally move. He exits the livery stable and comes face-to-face with Big Jim McTowell….!

Without hesitation, he opens fire. Using his quick-shot bonus, he shifts dice down and gets 2d bonus. Undeterred, Big Jim returns fire

Luke hits four times; Jim once. Luke cancels Jim’s hit. Jim has to make three health rolls <Luke has rolled 5d6 and Big Jim 3d8. To the right of the photo are both character’s misses, 2 from Jim and one from Luke. In the middle, Luke has used 1 hit to cancel Jim’s only hit, leaving 3 hits on the left against Jim>

To round off the turn, the various rampaging animals rampage

The two horses and steer head off up a side alley

The dog takes a dislike to Zeke and stands growling at him

 

MOVE 6 The Sheriff’s group gets to go first again. Luke, always eager, takes the first card.

He is not a lucky boy with cards. He takes the Peril rolls…..

…..and fails both. He then fails his Health rolls so that drops to D6. Undeterred, he opens up on Big Jim. Because Luke has the “Dashing” ability, his shooting dice are not lowered due to his Health being lowered so he still gets D8 shooting dice.

Luke’s dice are the yellow ones. Not good. He gets 1 hit, Big Jim gets 3…! Luke blocks 1 of Jim’s but takes the other 2. Another Health check and any fails this time and he’s down…!

Saved….! He fights on.
Next up is J D and he also gets a less than helpful card

A roll of 2 means a failure but fortunately an 8 on the Health check sees him through. He moves to the corner of the livery stable to support Luke

Oooh, tasty; J D has the drop on Big Jim

And he’s in range

Thanks to his Eagle-Eyed ability, this puts J D in close range. This gives him a 1D bonus. Unfortunately for J D, I forgot this when rolling his dice – fortune of war – so he only got his basic 3D🙁

J D has yellow dice. Despite Big Jim only getting 2 dice because he has already fired once in this turn, he still gets more than J D. However, J D has the ability “Sharp” so can re-roll 1 of his dice. He gets a hit on his re-roll and so has a total of 2 hits, the same as Jim. j D decides to use his hits to cancel Jim’s so neither suffers any damage.
Now it’s Bonner’s turn and he actually draws a useful card…!

As him and Zeke move past the dog, it attacks Zeke. It scores a hit but Zeke makes successful Health rolls. No damage.

 

Second activation goes to the Standish group.
Oliver’s objective is to make sure that Zeke Thackeray gets to the Sheriff’s office, remains in custody overnight, is taken to the County Court over in Bean, faces trial, is convicted and, preferably, hung. If it appears that this series of events is going to be thwarted, either by interference by Zeke’s compadres from the Circle B or treachery from Sheriff Bonner who is well known to be sympathetic to the Rancher clique, then Standish means to impose his own kind of justice. Zeke Thackeray is not going to get away with his crimes.
Hearing shooting from over by the livery and seeing J D rush to that area, Standish moves to the porch of Billy McGee’s house from where he can observe what is happening outside the livery.

Billy is owner of the local mine and an important local citizen. He has no axe to grind in the dispute between the ranchers and the sheepherders but he is a short-tempered man who may not take kindly to a hired gun using his porch for cover. We shall see.
Billy’s porch undoubtedly gives Standish an excellent view of the activity outside the livery

Meanwhile, Horace Boris runs behind the McGee place to keep abreast of Bonner and Thackeray as they walk down the Main Street

And now it’s the turn of the Circle B. Big Jim is a hard case who leads by example. Having avoided the hail of bullets from Luke Simms, Jim just charges straight at the Deputy. Luke elects to use Defensive fire so his Shoot dice are matched against Jim’s Brawl. It gets a bit complicated working out who throws what. Although Pulp Alley like to claim it has hardly any modifiers to slow the game down, in fact, it has masses of them – they’re just hidden in the Abilities, League Perks etc.

Big Jim is easy. He has 3D10 Brawl. This is reduced to 2D10 because he has already fought earlier (shooting back at Luke). He uses his Flying Tackle skill to reduce Luke’s dice by 1. The cost of this to Jim is that he shifts his dice to D8 from D10. Still with me? So Jim will roll 2D8.
Luke decides to use Defensive Fire rather than Brawl. His Shoot skill is down to D6 because his Health is now D6. However, he has Dashing which brings him back to D8. He is reduced to 2 dice because he shot earlier. He employs his Quick Shot ability to bring him to 4 dice but this also means he goes from D8 to D6. Then he is reduced to 3 dice because Jim is using Flying Tackle. Finally, as he is using Defensive Fire, he gets an extra dice so ending up with 4D6. Simple.
So the roll will be 2D8 for Jim vs 4 D6 for Luke. However, I got lost somewhere while working all this out and only gave Jim D6. I didn’t realise the mistake until I came to write everything up. Sorry, Jim; fortunes of war again.

So Luke gets 3 hits against Jim’s 2 so Jim has to make a Health roll. This time I remember to give him his correct dice (D10)

He passes so the result of all that is – nothing….!
Pete Cashwell comes charging in to help out Big Jim.

Luke decides to Brawl. He can’t have his Brawl dice reduced by more than 1D whereas his Shoot and Dodge could be (I think….!). So Brawl is best. He is on D6 because of Health reduction and down to 2D because he’s already fought this turn. Pete is also on 2D.

Luke wins….!
Pete takes a successful Health roll

So no effect again. Gosh – isn’t this exciting….?
We just need to see where the stray dog roams to

And he ends up here, close to Standish

Rounding off the turn, Luke rolls a successful Recovery Roll – he’s back to D8…!

I have to admit, I wasn’t sure how the Pete Cashwell Brawl against Luke should be worked out but hopefully, I wasn’t too far out. It was deciding on the effect of the Multiple Combats rule AND whether this counted as Luke being engaged with two characters. Hold on, just read the rule again and this only applies to the active character which was Pete so I did it right (I think).
MOVE 7 Initiative goes to the Circle B crew. Pete Townsend, in contact with Luke, draws a card which prevents him from running or making an Action this move.

However, Brawl isn’t an action and he’s engaged with Luke. He could choose to Dodge but only has 1D6 in that skill whereas with Brawl, he has 2D6 + another one because he has the Fierce ability. The fight is on.
Despite having inferior dice type, Pete scores 2 hits to Luke none…!

Two Health rolls for Luke and, guess what. He passes both.

Big Jim McTowell now and he draws a useful card:

He’s engaged with Luke and decides to use his Flying Tackle ability. This reduces his dice type to D8 but also reduces Luke’s combat roll by one dice. Luke decides to Brawl because if he Dodges, Jim could also use Hard Boiled to further reduce his number of dice which, since this is his second combat of the turn, would mean he got no dice (he has Dodge 3D8. Less 1 for second combat,
1 for Jim’s Flying Tackle and 1 for Jim’s Hard Boiled. If he Brawls, Hard Boiled has no effect so he gets 1 die – understood?). So, it’s Jim’s 4D8 vs Luke’s 1:

No hits…! Will the excitement never cease?
Now for Sēnor Francisco. He gets a card with a Peril he can’t pass but, no matter, failure merely means he has to rush the nearest enemy which he was going to do anyway:

 

Luke is now battling all 3 of the Circle B hands but, so far, is unscathed. Francisco has 2D6 Brawl + 1D for Fierce. Luke, now on his third combat, is down to 1D8

Two hits to Francisco, one to Luke. He cancels one of Francisco’s and rolls for Health.

Failed…! So once again, Luke is down to D6 Health. However, not bad after being attacked by three opponents.
Next to activate are the forces of Law and Order.
Luke Simms is in a tricky situation, engaged against three enemies and with his Brawl ability reduced to zero thanks to all the fighting he’s done so far this turn. He’s also down on Health. What to do? His only chance is Dodge. Against three opponents, he has to allocate at least 1D to each opponent (Splitting Dice rule). He has 3 Dodge dice so he has enough for each opponent. First off, he battles Big Jim which in retrospect may not have been the best decision. Why? Well, Big Jim is the strongest opponent and has the Hard Boiled ability which reduces opponents Dodge ability by 1D, meaning Luke has no Dodge dice against Big Jim.
Big Jim gets two hits

And Luke fails one of them

He’s down….!

 

J D Price’s turn and he seeks instant revenge against the Circle B mob. Using his Eagle Eye ability, he gets 4D against Pete Townsend as he opens fire. Pete shoots back with a paltry 1D.

Three hits.
Pete rolls his Health…..

…..and fails. He’s Down and Out…..!

 

Meanwhile, Sheriff Bonner continues to usher Thackeray towards the lock-up. He is now adjacent to Big Jim’s cabin and this is Perilous. A card is drawn and the Sheriff passes the Challenge with ease

This sees the end of the Law and Order activation.
Horace Boris Spooner activates next and continues to track the Sheriff and Zeke. He rounds the back of the McTowell place and moves into the alley between it and the Sheriff’s office. He’s determined to see Zeke safely locked up.

 

Standish moves off Billy McGee’s porch to keep a closer watch over Big Jim and Francisco.

His calm, watching brief is about to end but he doesn’t know that, until……

……a new group in the large shape of Clancy Spigot bursts onto the scene. The door of the McGee house opens with a crash and there stands Clancy, large, grey-bearded and, for once, full of fight. Clancy is now a foreman for mine owner Billy McGee. He knows nothing about mining but he has two pistols and looks quite intimidating which is what Billy wants. As it happens, Clancy is more effective when waving his pistols round rather than actually firing them but that’s enough to impose himself on most honest citizens and employees. Clancy has only recently joined McGee; previously he was one of the Circle B boys and he took a big rôle in the ambushed sheep-herder business but, unlike Zeke, has avoided arrest. However, Standish and Spooner mêted out some summary justice of their own to those Circle B boys they could get hold of and Clancy was one of them. He took a thorough beating and now, seeing Standish right in front of him, back turned and with gunplay all round, he sees his chance to get revenge. He opens up with both guns on Standish who, surprised but with lightening reactions, fires back.

Amazing….! Couldn’t-hit-a-barn-door Clancy gets three hits and Standish gets 3 very, very bad misses – obviously more surprised than he first appeared. The great hired gun bested by the cowhand bully.
But Standish is made of very stern stuff. He makes his health rolls and he gets 3 successes – Oliver Standish is lean, mean and extremely tough. Never forget that.

The dog takes no notice of my advice – it rushes right at Standish and has the temerity to bite him.

Standish has a weak spot. He likes dogs. So he dodges (with consummate ease, obviously) rather than fighting.

 

Recovery Roll time. Pete Townsend was a follower so he is Down and Out automatically. Luke Simms gets to roll and scores a 2…! So he is also Down and Out of the game.
End of Move 7
MOVE 8 The initiative is with the Standish group. Oliver draws a Hold in Place card but that doesn’t bother him – he ain’t going nowhere. He turns on the back-shooting Clancy……

……who has to pass a Cunning test if he wants to fight back, (Standish is Intimidating). Clancy succeeds so he can choose whether to fight or Dodge. He decides to Dodge. Standish has Marksman skill so gets 4D10 when shooting. Clancy loses a Dodge dice because Standish is Hardboiled so he rolls 2D8. 1 success but as he is Crafty, he can roll his failure Dice again which he does successfully.

And gets a success….! He cancels out 2 of Standish’s hits
Only one Health roll for Clancy but he fails it.
Clancy is down to D6 Health.

Spooner’s turn and he draws Surprise Twist which means he has to wait until everyone else has been activated.

 

Activation passes to the Circle B boys.
Big Jim McTowell is exceptionally hard in a Brawl so he decides to rush J D Price. First, he draws the third card of the Turn and gets Sprint which gives an extended move distance – not actually required, as it happens. Still, it was nothing negative.

J D decides on Defensive Fire. His dice are up one (Defensive Fire) but down one (Big Jim Flying Tackle) leaving him with 3 dice. He gets 2 hits. He rolls his miss again (Sharp) but doesn’t succeed in getting another hit. Big Jim is on 3D8. 3 hits – he decides to cancel J D’s 2 leaving 1 hit for J D to roll his Health dice for

Health roll is a 6 – J D is OK (so many initials…!).
Sēnor Francisco is the last of the Circle B followers. He has more chance Brawling than Shooting so rushes J D who, on the other hand, is tops at Shooting. It boils down to 4 D8 (J D) vs 3 D6 (Francisco). Four hits for J D and two for Francisco

Francisco rolls 2 and 3 Health – he’s down; he’s OUT…..!

 

Over now to Clancy and he quickly decides that facing Oliver Standish is not such a good idea. Having failed to back-shoot him and bleeding from the injury Standish inflicted on him, Clancy hi-tails it back into the McGee house.

 

Now it’s the turn of Law and Order. J D has already fought twice this turn so elects to Dodge from Big Jim. Even then, he’s at a disadvantage because Bug Jim’s Flying Tackle and Hard Boiled abilities reduce J D to one Dodge die. Big Jim gets his Brawl dice type reduced to D8 as a result of using Flying Tackle. 3D8 vs 1 D8

Only one success for Big Jim but J D cannot match it with his Dodge roll. Health check for J D – a 3 so he goes down to D6 Health.
It’s Sheriff Bonner now and he hasn’t reached the Sheriff’s office yet so has to face a Peril

He fails the Peril with 7 and 3 but passes the Health check with a 6.

 

Finally, Horace Boris Spooner gets his delayed turn. He decides that sounds of gunfire and mayhem from further up the street put in jeopardy Bonner’s custody of Zeke. The possibility of Zeke escaping must not happen. Spooner plans on shooting Zeke.

However, Bonner is a Peril which Spooner must overcome before being able to shoot. He must get two successes with his worst skill. He fails and must move back so as to be 6” away from Bonner. If the Sheriff noticed the possibility of an attack, he shows no sign of it.
The dog rolls and disappears up the alley to the side of the McGee place – it’s had enough.
Recovery rolls – J D gets 6 – he’s back to original Health. Clancy gets 6 also and returns to full Health.
End of Move 8
MOVE 9 Bonner goes first. He draws a card requiring him to test vs Cunning – no problem. Then he draws another card for the Peril of being near Big Jim’s place. 1 success with Might required. A breeze when you have 3D10 for Might. Bonner is home and hosed….or nearly. He reaches the door of the Sheriff’s office but isn’t inside yet.

J D, back at full Health, takes a card. Two successes with Might or Finesse required – and achieved. His attention turns to Big Jim who he is Engaged with. He thinks about Dodging away but knows that Big Jim’s abilities will mean he (J D) only gets 1 Dodge die. So he elects to Brawl. His 3 D6 are reduced to 2 by Jim’s Flying Tackle which also lowers Jim’s dice from D10 to D8. So it’s 3 D8 vs 2D6. Hmm…..100% hits. 3 against J D and 2 against Big Jim. J. D elects to go risky.
He’ll accept the 3 and make Big Jim take 2. His risky plan succeeds…!

He saves all 3 but Big Jim fails 1 and his Health goes down to D8.

 

Time for the Circle B boys. Clancy is next. He draws the third card and gets a No Effect, Free Pass. Not waiting to argue with fate or, more importantly, Oliver Standish, Clancy is out the back door of the McGee place and heads for the hills….

Big Jim has another attempt at subduing J D. After the previous round, He is down to one die whatever he chooses. If he Dodges, Jim’s Abilities reduce him to 1D (Flying Tackle and Hardboiled). If he Brawls, he looses 1D because of Flying Tackle and 1D because it’s his second round of combat. He Brawls. Jim is also affected by events. He loses 1D for second round of combat and is down to D8 for Health which is reduced to D6 because he’s using Flying Tackle. 2D6 vs 1D6. Oh my – J D is a slugger. He hits and Big Jim doesn’t. Health roll, please, Big Jim. 7 – he’s passed.
Over to the Standish group. What does he do? Help J D or chase that loose cannon Clancy. He decides on the latter and charges in to the McGee house – to find it empty.

Spooner moves cautiously to Main Street, still determined to attack Bonner

But once again, his nerve fails him – the Peril of Bonner is too strong for Horace.

 

Recovery rolls; only Big Jim took damage. A 4 – he’s back to fitness.
End of Move 9.

 

 

MOVE 10 Standish goes first, draws a Peril and passes with ease. Giving up on Clancy, he heads back to Main Street. Does he take a long shot at Bonner or does he shoot into the J D/Big Jim melee? His Cunning tells him to leave Bonner to take the prisoner through the door. He decides to try and shoot Big Jim. He’s a Marksman at close range so gets 5 unopposed shots. 4 hits, 2 against each participant. They both fail 1 and have reduced Health.

 

Spooner makes one more attempt to overcome his fear of confronting Bonner. He fails again.

 

The one surviving Circle B hand, Big Jim, makes another attempt to get past J D – he also fails.
All that’s left is for Law and Order to round things off. J D returns the favour  to Big Jimand once again, neither character is hit.
It is just left to Sheriff Bonner to calmly and efficiently conduct Zeke through the door into his office…..

…..and lock him up in the cell. Job done.

 

Winners and losers? I didn’t think this part out at the beginning, being more concerned to just get the figures on the table and roll some dice.
No problem identifying losers – the Circle B boys lost 3 followers and didn’t spring Zeke – losers.
Winners. Well, Bonner got his prisoner safely locked up but lost a Deputy so when he comes to get Zeke in the prison wagon tomorrow and on the road to Bean, he’ll be that much weaker. Standish must be reasonably happy; he was concerned that Zeke May escape and that didn’t happen. He avoided being bushwhacked by Clancy but his sidekick, Spooner, failed to confront Bonner. It didn’t matter in the end but in future, if anyone has to go up against Bonner, it looks like it’ll have to be Standish himself.

 

I don’t play many solo games and when I do, they rarely get finished so this was an exception. I enjoyed it.

Seeing the photos makes me realise how rough and ready my buildings are – they are abysmal by today’s standards. I can live with that.

Pulp Alley gave an enjoyable game but it made me realise that the claim that “Players never have to consult charts during a scenario. The action is on the table-top – not the rulebook.” is somewhat disingenuous because there is a whole heck of a lot of consulting Character cards, especially in Brawl situations (see examples in the narrative above such as in Move 6). So PA has plenty of modifiers – they’re just on the cards rather than in tables in the rules. That may make game play slightly quicker but the interplay of  Skills, Abilities, Modifiers, Perks, Fortune Cards etc can make for a more complicated experience than may have been expected.

 

My contribution to this year’s “LAM” – AshLAM19 (which is following DevLAM17 and DevLAM18) is scheduled to be a Kill Zone game. I haven’t played KZ for at least 12 years so I thought a quick solo game would be a good idea.

its a simple encounter game more or less along a section of devastated roadway. I rooted out my old scenery for the first time this decade, including the Matakishi-inspired cork tile buildings. The red one on the end looks a bit wavy but it’s just because I wasn’t careful enough in setting it up. Honest.

 

BACKGROUND 

It’s a normal day on the edge of the Kill Zone. A squad of Insurgent Infantry from the 3rd (Toxic Clearance) Platoon, 2nd Company, 52nd People’s National Guard, still in their NBC suits, have just completed a successful raid in a highly toxic area. Their quarry was a particularly vicious scavenger group. The scavengers thought they were safe by skulking in lethally polluted ruins. They weren’t. The Insurgent squad is tired but elated.

 

Meanwhile, a reinforced Ministry of Repatriation Recce Auxiliary Team is preparing for an anti-migrant sweep to disrupt a flourishing exit route skirting the north of The Kill Zone.

 

The two squads sight each other at opposite ends of a ravaged street and react in the time honoured way…….

 

 

Turn 2 and neither side attempts to change their orders. Both continue to seek cover nearer the enemy. Once again, there is ineffective shooting from both sides.

 

 

 

Turn 3 and both sides successfully change their orders to “Shoot”. This enables them to fire at full effect rather than just one shot each. The exception is the rocket-launcher. To fire this weapon requires the squad to be on “Snipe” orders.

 

 

 

Turn 4 and it’s mayhem…! The Insurgents stay on “Shoot” whilst the Ministry go to “Snipe”.

 

Turn 5. The Ministry change to “Keep Down” whilst the Insurgents stay on “Shoot”.

 

And that’s it, game over in five turns – fast, furious and fun. I quickly got back into the rules. It’s a simple system but deceptively subtle. Choosing the right orders for the situation is at the heart of the game-play and crucial, as is creating the most beneficial conditions to permit successful order changes.

Looking forward to running KZ at AshLAM19.

 

 

 

Having heard and read a lot about this system from Too Fat Lardies I was pleased to accept an offer from longtime friend and gaming partner Dave Schofield to visit him at his place near Bournemouth. He’d played the rules a couple of times and, being someone who can soak up and understand rules quickly (quicker than me, anyway) he was the ideal person to give me an introductory game. I read the rules a few times in the weeks before the game and, true to form, didn’t really grasp how they may work.

A couple of days before the game, Dave sent me some pics of the layout with an outline of what the scenario was – very efficient..!

I arrived and, once I’d found my way into his very impressive wargames sanctum (complete with every necessary convenience for the comfort of the Gentleman Gamer), we settled down to the game.

As an aside, Dave has done a lot of innovative work on his scenery including his lift off woods which give an excellent tree canopy effect but can be lifted of the supporting tree trunks so that troops can be easily placed and moved within the wood area.

Anyway, back to the game. It was US vs Germans, Normandy 1944. I had the US, a platoon of 3 squads plus support and he had a German platoon of similar strength. The game kicks off with the Patrol Phase. Each side has Patrol Markers (counters or some other marker), the number of which depends on the scenario being played and force morale. The scenario we played was the Patrol (it’s just a coincidence that the name of the scenario is the same as the markers and shows how easy it is to use confusing terms in wargames rules). These markers, usually 3 or 4 per side, are moved in turn by the players to establish “jump of points” for the deployment of the forces. They’re moved until the relative positions of opposing markers cause them to be pinned at which stage, jump off points are decided. These are marked by something unobtrusive such as an oil drum.

From now on, I’ll leave aside the rule mechanics and just describe how the game went, mainly from the perspective of the UScommander (me). The US were on the left of the photo above, the Germans the right. Both deployed in the centre of their baseline. Jump-off points, established during the Patrol Phase, are shown below:

The US had first Phase and brought on a section at JOP (Jump-off point) 1 and moved it towards German JOP C. It quickly encountered a two man German patrol

The German patrol was targetted by the section’s rifle team (the BAR team having taken up a flanking positon in a wood) and one man was killed. The other was pinned but not killed.

Next, the US second section deployed in the centre in an attempt to command what looked like being the main action area.

Meanwhile, the Germans deployed a Panzer IV. Armour is deployed at the table edge – not from a JOP. This beast moved menacingly towards US first section who, without any a/t weapons apart from last-ditch, close assault bombs, were in a tricky position. The German patrol, however, must have welcomed the tank as its saviour…!

Meanwhile, the second section advanced in the centre to the main road.

Relief for the first section appeared in the shape of a Sherman which made best speed to support the infantry in the face of the German tank.

The Germans laid down smoke to conceal the Pz IV and cover the advance of newly deployed infantry. Their senior commander also moved on-table.

More German infantry arrive in the shape of an MG42 team. They take up position covering the fields and hedges in the centre and engage the US second section.

Meanwhile, the Sherman supporting the first section manouvers round the smoke and engages the PzIV. And misses…! The German replies with devastating effect, knocking out the Sherman and leaving the first section unsupported once more.

More German infantry deploy in the centre leaving a holding force opposite US section two. The rest move to their left flank to threaten US section one, now left without armoured support.

German scouts appear to the left of the Americans so the senior US officer deploys his third section to counter them. In turn, the Germans reinforce the scouts with a complete section.

In a desperate attempt to save the first US section, the platoon bazooka team springs an ambush on the PzIV…

………but this tank is a tough nut to crack. The ambush fails but the bazooka team make good their escape. Not so the first section’s BAR team which is destroyed by the tank.

Left without effective anti-tank support and no BAR, the first section retreats to the cover of the main road. A second Sherman arrives to give them support.

The German flanking move presses forward against the first section.

The second Sherman engages the Pz IV and hits but with no discernible effect. Once again, the PzIV replies with savage efficiency and another Sherman is destroyed.

There is a moment of hope for the first section when the platoon bazooka team makes another ambush at very close range but, depsite an obvious hit, the panzer appears unaffected. And this time, the bazooka team pay the ultimate price.

With the German tank and its support infantry at close range, the US men of first section make a last attempt upon the tank with anti-tank bombs. Although they bravely engage at close-quarters, the tank survives once more and so the US commander orders his platoon to retreat.

So the Germans won. In rules terms, the US morale had reached its limit and the platoon had to retreat, leaving the Germans the winners.

So, what about Chain of Command, the rules? Shooting, movement combat are all fairly straightforward. Command and control on the table a little more complex but the basic principles will be familiar to many players. A couple of phases should be enought to feel comfortable with them. Patrol, jump-off points and deployment are original ways to create a very satisfactory fog of war. The mechanisms are innovative and take a little getting used to. Dave pointed out that when a unit is deployed from a jump-off point somewhere well away from its own baseline, it didn’t mean they had miraculously landed there from the air. They’d always been there but the deployment was the first time they’d revealed their presence. This is even more important to grasp when dealing with the “ambush” rule. What takes most time, and probably several games, is using the Command Dice and Chain of Command Points to best advantage. The Command dice are used every phase so the basic function of them is quickly grasped. How to get the best out of them takes a little longer. The Chain of Command Points take a while to accrue and are not likely to be used that often so their effective employment – finessing their use as it were – will need to be learned through experience. For example, choosing to use them to end a turn can have a critical effect on the whole game. I think Chain of Command would be a challenge to play with several players but I have an idea that there are suggestions for how to do this somewhere on the internet. I’d like to have several one-to-one games before trying multi-player.                                                                                                                                                                                                                   edit: It’s been pointed out to me (see comments) that there are multi-player rules on page 102 sidebar. I can feel a “Doh..!” coming on…

I look forward to playing them again, preferably while I can still remember what I learned this time. By the time the game was over and my lads had thrown in the towel, I was beginning to get a reasonable grasp on the system and to realise it was a rules set I’d want to play again.