SGS: Outlaws on the Balcony 1

I can't find a saloon with balcony so the Mercantile is standing in.

The situation that sparked this series of posts was a seemingly simple one, and yet one that provides a great range of play options to explore. Paraphrased it is something like this:

"Five members of a posse are approaching two outlaws in a saloon. The outlaws know the posse is  out on the street and move out onto the balcony to confront them.

In what order do events unfold?"

Now this post is not about "should the outlaws move out onto the balcony", rather it is about what happens when they do. Now five against two is long odds. If it were me, I'd either duck out the back and make a run for the horses, or move in such a way that I can at least start firing out of window rather than from the limited cover provided by the railings. So let's begin!

The Captain and his men approach the outlaws

In Six Gun Sound: Blaze of Glory, characters have three main stats plus a profession that determines which Reaction table they use. Characters are rated for "Rep", which is essentially their combat skills, "Toughness", used to withstand damage, and "Sand", representing their coolness under fire and determination to win. Most characters will also have a stat for equestrian prowess, but we can leave that out for now as no horses appear in this example.

To keep things simple for the example, all character stat's are rated 4, and all use the Outlaw/Ranger reaction tables.

With the posse deployed we can presume that the outlaws have the opportunity to act or else they couldn't move out onto the balcony.

Now here is the outlaw side's first decision. Should they move out onto the balcony one at a time or both at the same time? It says in the rule book that players have to decide how they want to group their figures together at the start of play. These days we allow figures to be grouped together and separated on an ad hoc basis, with the decision being made at the start of each activation. Game works just as well either way but I digress.

In this first encounter, El Indio has decided to chuck Nino out the door first in the hopes that the posse men will exhaust their ready ammunition on the big guy, and not be able to shoot El Indio when  he comes out later.

Nino comes out to start the ball

After Nino steps out on the balcony, the posse men each roll 2d6 against their Sand in a "Got a Shot!" test. This test will determine if they are ready and able to shoot, or if Nino is faster. As all of the posse see Nino, he will have to wait the result of all their tests before he gets to fire.

Got a Shot test scores

 Unca Bob, Ling Ho, and the Swede each pass both of their dice and so will fire immediately. Mudslide Sam and the Captain passed only one dice each. If Nino is still standing after the others a done shooting, Nino will test to see if he can fire before Sam and the Captain.

Opening shots

Unca Bob empties both barrels of his shot gun at Nino. One shot misses and the other does no damage, mostly hitting the railing. Unca Bob will have to reload before he can fire again.

Ling Ho fires a shot from his Trapdoor Springfield carbine and misses. Fortunately he has kept some additional rounds ready and will be able to shoot again when the chance arises.

The Swede blazes away with his six gun, hitting only the railing and emptying the gun in the process.

Nino now rolls two dice against his Sand to see if he can fire on the Captain and Sam before they fire at him. Nino gets to shoot first. Sam and the Captain are too far apart for Nino to fire on both of them so he fires at the Captain and Ling Ho. Firing wildly, Nino empties his revolver like the Sweded before him.

The Captain is hit in the leg but remains standing and game.

A veritable hail of lead...

Now the Captain and Sam get to fire at Nino. The big outlaw goes down with a slug from the Captain's pistol in is gun arm and drops out of the fight.

Sam has emptied his shotgun, but the Captain has shown some fire discipline and is ready to fire when next able.

Nino is down but El Indio's plan seems to be working. Only the Captain and Ling Ho are holding loaded weapons when El Indio makes his move!

When El Indio appears the Captain and Ling Ho take another Got a Shot test.

The Captain passes both of his dice and fires!

The Captain fires!

His bullet creases El Indio's skull. Having been hit he is in no position to fire and Ling Ho gets to fire next, missing his target.

El Indio is wounded

 Now El Indio has to try to recover from his wound. While he avoids unconsciousness, his nerve is shot and flees!

El Indio shows his colors

And with that the game is over. Technically I should see if the posse can catch El Indio before he flees the scene but frankly as he is upstairs and is not going to offer any resistance it's just as easy to call him captured.

End Game

So ends case 1, moving into view singly. Next up we will see what happens if the two badmen step out together.

Hope you enjoyed the post and thanks for stopping by!