Once Upon a Time in Fremont: Gunfighter's Ball Batrep

Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely love Western movies. So, when Gil offered to run a game of Gunfighter's Ball at this month's Fremont meeting, I was excited to join.

 

I played Gunfighter's Ball once before when Dave Partak ran it at Vetcon, and I enjoyed the rules a lot. It's a simple, fast-paced skirmish game with card-draw-based activation and percentile dice resolution. In this game, you aim to roll under a target number, which works well for me since I'm notorious for having frequent bad rolls.

The scenario involved two feuding rancher families, one of which had kidnapped the daughter of the other. Also involved in this little drama were the town's lawmen and a mysterious group of armed Mexicans whose intentions were unknown. The objective was for one family to recover the kidnapped daughter while both sides attempted to avoid drawing the ire of the law and remain wary of the approaching Mexicans.

I chose to side with the kidnappers, alongside Keith, while Chris and Andy took on the role of the rescuers. Matt played the lawmen, and Gil served as both the game master and played as the Mexicans.

The models are fantastic, they are clearly based on characters from Western films. My posse, from left to right: The Doctor (Doc Holiday from Tombstone), El Rubio (Blondie from the Dollar's trilogy), and Colorado (Bernardo O'Reilly from The Magnificent Seven)

Before I get into the battle report, let us take a small moment and appreciate the beauty of a nice Western table. 

Another great part of playing a western game, you've got a huge selection of music from western films to play in the background

 

I love western town boards; they are relatively simple in terms of the terrain needed but can be brimming with character.

I decided to deploy in the Sassy Gal Saloon, while Keith positioned himself near the jailhouse. We concealed our captive in a building close to our edge of the table, far from the rescuers, who entered from the direction of Rogan's Bar across the street.

The rescuers spent their first turn drawing their weapons and racing toward Keith's posse near the jailhouse. Keith positioned his men to defend their location, while I called out to alert the patrolling lawman that something was amiss, hoping to sic the lawmen on the other side.

Once they were in sight of each other, Keith opened fire on the approaching enemy posse, and they both became embroiled in a close-range gunfight in the alley behind the jailhouse. I moved my posse out of the saloon's rear entrance to support my ally.

The gunfight between Keith's and Andy's posses was brutal; everyone sustained injuries, and a few had perished. Fortunately for us, Keith had a slight advantage. He occupied a defensive position, and because of the random movement distance rules, Andy’s models advanced one by one rather than as a group. This allowed Keith to outnumber them, often facing three guns against one. Additionally, Chris had a greater distance to cover and was rolling poorly on his movement checks, preventing him from aiding Andy's posse in the early rounds of shooting.

 

I continued to move my men toward the jailhouse, but my slowest model, Colorado, was pursued by the lawmen and mercilessly gunned down before he could make it out the exit. I should mention that at this point in the game, Colorado hadn't committed any crimes before being killed by the marshals! He was completely innocent!

 

 

The lawmen advanced down the road, eager to join the fray, when the unmistakable sound of a revolver being cocked echoed from behind one of the officers.

It was the mysterious Mexicans! They had been inconspicuously advancing up the table and were now within range to join the battle. They took down one of the lawmen, but the question loomed: why? What were their intentions? Only they held the answers.

Seeing the approaching threat, one of the lawmen grabbed a nearby bystander and began to use him as a human shield!

 

Unfortunately for him, the civilian managed to break free, leaving the lawman exposed in the open against the three Mexicans. As chaos erupted, Matt moved another lawman to support his lone marshal, inadvertently shooting a terrified civilian who had startled him in the process. With two innocents dead and a civilian used as a human shield, it seemed the lawmen had committed more crimes than the men they were trying to apprehend. Gives me real The Wild Bunch vibes.

A fierce gunfight erupted between the Mexicans and the lawmen, culminating in the death of all but one of the Mexicans. The townsfolk, witnessing the massacre, likely wouldn't mourn these particular marshals.

Back at the jailhouse, Keith was still locked in a struggle with Andy's posse while Chris and I finally entered the fray. Heavily wounded and down to just two models, Keith sought refuge inside the jailhouse. I quickly moved my remaining two models in to join him and bolster his defense.

We exchanged fire from the windows and doors of the jailhouse, and before long, we were down to just three remaining fighters. Keith and I each had one heavily wounded man, while Chris still had a relatively unharmed model in the fray. The odds were close; even though we outnumbered our opponent, we were only one or two shots away from defeat, whereas his remaining fighter was still fresh and ready for battle.

El Rubio managed to shoot the pistol out of the enemy's hand, prompting Keith to charge out of the jailhouse and engage him in melee. I also moved El Rubio out of the jailhouse, but with Keith and the enemy locked in a fierce fistfight, I couldn't take my shot. Despite being heavily wounded, Keith's model held his own until he eventually lost a combat that pushed him back 1d3 inches. Luckily, this was the opening I needed; with Keith out of the way, I had the perfect chance to unload. I emptied my revolver into the enemy and managed to shoot him dead.

Victorious, Keith and I limped our way back to our hostage, while the lone remaining mysterious Mexican strolled out of town and walked off into the sunset, his mission accomplished.

What a fantastic system! I had so much fun playing, especially with the limb-wounding mechanic that created cinematic moments, like when El Rubio shot the pistol right out of the opponent's hand. If I weren't so deep into my 15mm Vietnam project, starting a western collection would definitely be on my to-do list.

That’s all for now! Kublacon Fall is in just two weeks, and I’ll be running some Vietnam Brown Water Navy scenarios. I've been busy preparing the models and terrain for it. Until then, folks!