Wyre Forest Gamers - Gunfight at Saddle Sore Saloon

Gunfight at Saddle Sore Saloon

My thanks to Tom for his colourful account of this Wild West game, played in March 2024. The rules in use - 'Gunfighters, Gamblers and Villains of the Old West' - can be found here.

In this game the two gangs walked slowly into the centre of town from opposite ends of the main street. The Mason gang was made up of a professional leader and a hombre both armed with a carbine and pistol and a greenhorn with a pistol. Their opponents were the Pentonville Gang with two hombres, one with a shotgun and pistol and another with a carbine and a young dude with a pair of pistols.

The two gangs walked up the street towards the Saddle Sore Saloon looking out for their opponents. The dude in the Pentonville gang ‘fumbled’ his spotting attempt and ended up using his fast draw special skill to shoot at a drunk who he mistook for an opposition gang member. The shot hit the woodwork on the porch and the drunk, mistaking where the shot came from, instead shot at the Mason gang members but also missed his target.

The greenhorn in the Mason gang ran to the cover of the saloon porch as the Pentonville hombre with the shotgun jumped over the rail and fired both barrels up the boardwalk at the remaining two Pentonville gang members in the middle of the street, catching the leader in the chest and inflicting ten wounds and knocking him down. There was a ‘fumble’ when hitting the second hombre, causing a hit but no wounds, but the hombre then had a ‘fumble’ for his nerve test and ran back up the street at full speed. In the next move the hombre gathered his nerve and ran behind a building only to be attacked by a woman with her umbrella. He was so jumpy that he laid her out with ten hit points. In the next move a Mexican riding past saw the hombre and took a snapshot, grazing his head and making him take off again to hide around the corner.

Back at the saloon the Pentonville hombre with the shotgun moved up the boardwalk and fired round the corner at the greenhorn, the shot bouncing on the railings and forcing the greenhorn to dive to cover. A civilian in the saloon snap fired through the window at the Pentonville dude but hitting only the woodwork. The dude then moved round the corner to shoot the Mason Gang's greenhorn who take hitting the heel of the dude’s boot. The Dude passed his nerve test and snap fired with both pistols only managing to jam both, one of them permanently.

In the next round the dude dashed forward to hit the greenhorn lying on the floor but only managed to break his pistol. In the same turn the civilian at the saloon window took a pot shot across the street at the Pentonville Gang leader causing five wounds and knocking him down. The Mason Gang leader lay in the middle of the street and took all turn to recover. In the next turn the greenhorn stood up to attack the dude who assaulted him but fell over again only for the dude to stove in his chest with a boot. At this point it turned out there was a sheriff in the saloon who dashed out to disarm and arrest the dude for his assault on the greenhorn, but having knocked down the dude the hombre at the corner of the saloon let loose with the shotgun to defend his friend only to find out he forgot to load it. At the end of the turn both gang leaders managed to recover from their wounds. In the last turn the Mason Gang leader dashed over the street attempting to reach the hotel only to be shot by the opposition gang leader before he could reach the door.

At the end of the game the Pentonville Gang had KO’d two of their opponents at the cost of one man arrested and the leader wounded, both by the locals rather than the opposition. After the loss of two of their number the third member of the Mason Gang got away with two very close shaves only have beaten up a female civilian. A fun time was had by all.