Viva El Arana!

Club night and with nothing arranged Simon and I went for another game of Dead man's Hand, we could have done the previous bank raid but changing sides, however I managed to have a bit of spare time over my lunch break and did a quick Google for Wild West scenarios. I found one which seemed to fit the bill, the Mexicans from the previous failed raid were holed up in a more or less abandoned part of Carefree and had spent the previous night drowning their sorrows. The gang lay about the almost deserted part of town which had seen better days before Carefree moved a few miles west. The Law in Carefree got wind of this and decided to pay an early morning visit to the shanty town.

The Law tiptoes into town.

As the Sheriff and his posse arrived on the outskirts they split into two and moved towards Mike Holloran's Place, with the alarm raised they could see several of El Arana's gang around the building, other members were nowhere to be seen. As they approached bullets began to fly, the Red Dog Saloon provided a good position to fire into the square and cover Holloran's where two riflemen were taking pot-shots at any lawman who showed his face. The bandito on the roof proved especially lethal as the Law took the first casualty.

A snipers view of the action.

Despite drawing first blood The Spider was being trapped in the corner as the lawmen moved in, by now both sides had lost some men. Luckily for the outlaws two gang members who had been sleeping it off in the old Wells Fargo office woke up and surprised the Marshall and his men from behind as they had not checked the building on the way to Hollorans. The Marshall's attempt to rush the defunct bank building now failed and the survivors withdrew to the Doctors shack under a hail of lead.

Look behind you.

Grasping his chance and with a couple more of the sleeping gang members joining him The Spider rushed the Doctors and shot down the remaining defenders. At this moment the Sheriff and his group assaulted Holloran's to get rid of the annoying rifleman, but at the very last minute our hero leapt from the roof into the yard and was off with bullets kicking up dust all around. One lucky Mexican.

The Law finally clear Holloran's Place.

With the Marshall dead and only three of his posse left the Sheriff decided to grab his horses and make for Carefree.

The scenario involved a boss, a gunslinger and eight others for each side, however the Mexicans had to roll for each figure and only on a 4+ could they be placed on the table, anywhere the player wished before the game proper started. After this any figures which did not make it on would again throw at the beginning of a turn and again required 4+ to arrive, but this time they had to be placed within an inch of a door or in a building. This hopefully would simulate the surprise element and their sore heads. If either side lost their leader they would lose the game or if they failed a 'big nerve test' due to casualties they could also lose the game.

The game went very well, I was The Spider and managed to get six men on at the start, however as Simon came on at a fast pace I had to keep my leader out of harms way, hence I was cornered at first, I got two more in turn two and the remainder on turn three. I 'ambushed' one group of lawmen as I decided that as the Wells Fargo building had not been entered by anyone then the two men in there could not have been spotted, this turned the tide in that part of town as the good guys were overwhelmed and mown down by some excellent close range firefights, and my handy rooftop sniper who took out the Marshall. Simon desperately wanted to kill the sniper, he managed to get two men on the roof alongside him but I managed to activate first, the Sheriff took a 'quick shot' as my man leapt from the roof but he missed, exciting stuff. I was luckier at shooting than Simon but I only managed to win the initiative once in the whole game. This is an excellent skirmish game which is deceptively simple.

Not sure yet what we will play next week, there is an X-Wing game coming up but it is two weeks away not one, Dropzone commander may be on the cards, but in the meantime I have my Dark Age game to play on Sunday. Elsewhere last night was an AWI boardgame, a Bloodbowl match and a large Frostgrave game with some beautiful terrain, yes I know, I should have taken a picture, I really should.