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Monday 7 May 2018

Western Adventure - The Law Comes to Little Whiskey Pt2


With the thud of hooves on the hard packed desert highway, the Little Whiskey stage thunders in to town, its roof covered in strongboxes full of silver from the local mine. Chester who is driving, wipes the sweat from his brow, is it the hot desert sun or just relief that the first stage of this journey has passed without incident, even he’s not sure which.

He’s looking forward to a lukewarm beer in the Tail Feather Saloon followed by broth in the new brothel that’s recently opened in town, ahh the joys of civilised living, all the comforts of home he thinks. Mind you he usually sleeps in the livery stable and washes once a week in the horse trough.

However Big Jim has installed a pump that provides fresh (brackish) water, so now he doesn’t get too much straw mixed in with his beard afterwards. If only Jim had made the trough bigger, Chester could save the 10cents that Whiskey Jack charges for the use of the Bathhouse, although Bathhouse is a bit of a misnomer. It’s a bathtub round the back of the saloon, there is no ‘house’ to it, but the girls in the brothel stop serving broth to the smelliest customers in the height of the summer so needs must when the devil drives.

This is the follow on to the very lengthy introduction to the enlarged town I did nearly a month ago HERE

Chester’s view down Main Street as he drives into town, all looks quiet, the girls on the balcony are talking to some hard riding stranger with a Winchester in his hand. Nothing untoward there, everyone carries a gun in Little Whiskey and some even know how to use it. At the far end of the street a local rancher and his wife are coming this way as well as young Billy with his mule train of pack horses.

Donna lurching over to the Wells Fargo office, holding tight to her bottle passes Irene Adler (yellow dress) crossing to the other side, but Irene takes no notice of Donna, she has other things on her mind right now. She gives Billy such a glare that the young man, who knows no fear, slows his horse and lets her pass in front of him. Pedestrian crossings are not needed and jay walking is not a problem in the Old West when you have a steely glare to stop the traffic.

Donna makes it to the other side without falling over, what a constitution that girl has, she stares at the door into the office and like all drunks the world over thinks “why am I here, what did I come for, who am I” to which the universal answer is “I’ll have another drink and see if it becomes any clearer”

Well you can’t call this a one horse town, it’s getting quite crowded.

Almost a traffic jam.

I expected Irene to go and speak to English Bob the sheriff but she seems to be lurking on the sidewalk behind him, maybe she’s shy?

At this stage of the game she was not committed to a course of action, all the bit players had an open brief to play their role by ear, and when the time came, to go with the flow, or maybe go with the roll.

About this time and out of our sight because the cameraman didn’t take the shot, Dangerous Dave who was outside the Tail Feathers opened the door and uttered the cryptic words “Boss it’s time”

There is movement inside the saloon.

Nick pulls his gun, swift as a striking snake. “Hold it right there, put your hands where I can see them.” Jack who was expecting trouble was close to his shotgun but not close enough and complied but Ruben White the bar keep reacted differently.

I'll come back to Ruben later.

Bill Samuelsons crew had been drinking for quite a while and the drink, as it does, affected them all in different ways. Nick who was normally a bad man became really mean, and his reflexes fuelled by the alcohol were faster than ever. Some of the others slowed down or just got plain nasty, clumsy or braver, strangely none of them got happier.

This puts the scene into perspective, Lefty is looking out of the dirty windows of Jacks Emporium thinking it’s a good job it’s bright out there or I couldn’t see to shoot, the rest of them are bunched by the door waiting for the stage to get a little closer.

The cameraman gets a reprieve, he did take the shot and this is it, Dave is lurking in the shadows after warning his Boss the stage is coming.

Pans back to get an overview of the situation, Billy and the coach are at loggerheads, Chester needs to get close to the Bank at the far end of town to unload his valuable shipment but Billy who is a stubborn young man has carried on down the street after his contretemps with Irene earlier and does not want to give way a second time.

"You’re on the wrong side of the road" says Chester – "No I ain’t responds Billy". The man with no name, riding shotgun looks nervous.

Is this a head on collision.

Dangerous Dave is just visible behind the porch post, and believe it or not this is still turn 3.

Irene Adler from England moves closer to English Bob she must be about to introduce herself, they must know each other as they are both from the same country but Bob ignores her and moves forward towards Billy, “Now come on there, be a good lad and let the stage through, I need him outside the bank to unload and the sooner he gets there the happier I’ll feel. At this point in the game I resolved some of the bit players.

Billy is an ornery character and has an affinity of 2 so to do a bad deed he has to roll 3 or better on this occasion with 2 dice, he rolled 1 and 2, so he decided to comply with English Bobs request and move on over. “Just havin a bit of trouble with my mules there Sheriff, I’ll get them out of the way shortly” English Bob doesn’t like being called Shortly but he lets it go.

Irene needs 4 or more to do a bad deed and rolled 5 and 6, so I decided she was in league with the outlaws and would aide them. I told you last time she had a mean looking snarl on her face, another good sculpt.

Further down Main Street Jim is still stroking his beard and Mary is watching – fascinated.

For those of you who read Miles and Boon (we know who you are) this is the love interest in the story :-)

Ok we’re back in the saloon Nick has the drop on Jack. Ruben fails his Brains test and then fails his Guts test so decides to do a runner, he is next to the back door and dives straight through it. Nick doesn’t hesitate, the drink and his innate meanness, means he's happy to shoots a poor old, white haired fellow in the back.
He misses, this makes the old man run even faster, - well it would wouldn’t it.

The gunshots are heard all over town. That's sort of spoilt the surprise a bit.

Irene, Bob and Dangerous Dave are all shocked by the sound of gunfire and fail to activate.

In the Wells Fargo Office they all decide it’s none of their business – except Donna who crashes through the door, staggers down the step and into the street. Looking mean, moody and slightly rosy cheeked.

Further on up the street, Pearl and Lucille move back into the shelter of the Grocery Store.

Big Slim ushers his wife into the gunshop and picks up a double barrelled shotgun that he has resting close to hand. He didn’t grow old in the west without being able to recognise trouble when it came knocking on his door, nor without knowing the appropriate response, the 12 bore was usually the appropriate response.

Bill Samuelson and 2 of his men burst through the door, Lefty who was looking through the window fires at Chester the driver and wings him, not serious but he takes a few seconds to recover.

Bill is first through the door and he and the shotgun guard the man with no name fire simultaneously, Bill takes a load of buckshot in his left leg and falls to the sidewalk OOF, but as he is going down he gets off a couple of shots, Chester is hit again and is OOF and the second shot puts a big hole in the man with no name and he is also OOF and falls from the stage.

Steve grabs the reins of the lead horse and hangs on to prevent it bolting.

Billy is starting to move his horses out of the way, turning them in the street with the intention of getting away from the shooting, it’s none of his affair and there does looks to be a lot of them.

Marshal McAlister joins Bob on the sidewalk, fails to notice Irene until she cocks her pistol and murmurs, gentlemen, please keep your hands where I can see them and drop those shotguns. They both pass their brains tests and decide this is a reasonable course of action based on their pay scale.

You can just see Pete on the balcony with the good time girls. Donna stumbling across the road, she must have looked as if she was going to join in the fracas so Pete shoots her.

Donna is hit in the arm and falls OOF, she feels no pain, well that’s not really true because she was hit in the left arm and dropped and shattered her bottle. – That hurt.

Irene is facing down the two lawmen, I wonder if they will keep their jobs, of course that means someone else would be stupid enough to apply for them, so maybe they will.

Dora and Eleanor are horrified by Pete’s action and attack him with fists, teeth, feet, and anything else that comes to hand.

Beaten up by two girls, it’s not his day but it’s about to get worse.

Billy has turned his string of horses around and is riding out of town and sees Donna get shot and fall, so for the second time I tested to see whether he would do a good or bad thing and against the odds, he dismounted and tried to help her.

On the other side of the street, Dave has climbed up into the drivers seat and pushed Chester out in to the street. You might thing that Dave looks very much like the man with no name but of course you would be wrong, it’s only because they're both carrying a shotgun that they look so alike.

Frank moves to the door of the stage and a shotgun blast misses him by inches, there are two guards inside the stage. You didn’t think there would just be the man with no name guarding this valuable shipment did you?      You did!!!

Frank doesn’t take his normal course of action when shot at and run away, shows what a bottle of rotgut whiskey will do for your courage. He returns the fire, hitting one of them in the head, killing him instantly, but there is a sickening click as the hammer falls on a dud shell. Swift as lightening he pulls his backup derringer and puts 2 bullets into the other guard who is now OOF.

Bill is rolling around on the sidewalk cussing and moaning in equal measure as Temperance Jenkins and Miss Virginia look on horrified at all this violence and blood shed. They kept failing to activate and didn’t move, - no sense of self preservation, they’re not going to last long in Little Whiskey.

Billy has pulled Donna over to the side of the street and is protecting her behind the horses.

When asked about this later his response was "just loosening her clothing to let her breathe a little easier, you know, like it says in them books" I think he's been reading Miles and Boon, although I'm not so sure he can read.

Don’t mess with the girls from Blonde Edna’s Saloon and Brothel, not content with beating the living daylights out of Pete they threw him off the balcony and here he is lying in the street having taken further injuries from the fall.

Everyone else has decided that they don’t need to be on the street at this time of day, in the hot sun and all, so the outlaws are able to put the wounded into the stage and the rest mount up and ride on out of town, they did leave the two lawmen locked in their own jail.

Not an auspicious start to  - “The Law Comes to Little Whiskey”.


If you are still here - thanks for reading and let me know you passed this way.
Cheers

Mia Culpa/Tikki Coast if you are still visiting I just wondered if you are OK, your Blog has closed and my PM on LAF was returned, just a bit concerned is all.
Cheers

38 comments:

  1. Marvellous posting, Vagabond. I know from experience how much time and effort such a photo-heavy posting can be, so thanks ever so much for putting the time aside to compile this magnificent article. A real treat for the eyes with some gun-play thrown in for good measure :-)

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    1. Blax thanks and you're right about the time involved but I guess we all do that. This one seemed quite difficult to get started on, but once I did I was ok.

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  2. Ever since you posted the introduction to this particular chapter, I've been waiting to see how it played out and you certainly delivered the goods, John. Exciting, entertaining and never ever predictable, this was a real treat that I enjoyed from start to finish. For me, the man of the match was young Billy for twice doing the "right thing." At the very least he deserves a big kiss from Donna.

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    1. Hi Bryan, I've a feeling Billy might have been acting against his nature here, but maybe I'm missjudging him.
      I'm pleased you're still enjoying the write-ups, I appreciate you letting me know.

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  3. Great stuff John but we these long movie's you real need to do an intermission,I ran out of my drink & popcorn & had to watch the last part doing cold turkey :)
    As always everything was not notch but I've a question, I know this was a follow on from the last LW post, but with the town now a good size do you just leave it set up all the time or do you have to reset it for each shoot? as I know how long setting things can take.

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    1. Frank you know how long winded I am by now. Just make sure you have a flask of coffee next time, although you can hit the pause button if you need a break.

      I set the town up when I did the preamble a month ago, and then before I had chance to play the game I ricked my back, and I was laid up for a while and then hobbling about and couldn't sit still long enough to play the game. So it only got finished a few days ago.
      That's why the last game with the planes was on the dinning table, because my wargames table still had Little Whiskey set up.

      You're right though, when I did set it up it took about 1 1/2 hours partly because I had to keep refering to the previous pictures so it's set up the same way. I should draw a scale plan but I forgot to do that again when I packed it away. Dohhh

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  4. Absolutely wonderful and utter carnage! I roared with laughter at Pete been thrown from the balcony - those girls are tough.

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    1. Yep it would appear that it's best not to mess with the girls. I must do a proper introduction for them as they all have a story to tell.

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  5. Just another typical day in Little Whiskey I guess and the boys (the badduns) did good too! (Not so much Carry on Cowboy this time).
    What a wonderful writeup and like Frank, I appreciate the photography elements as I know from personal experience just how time consuming it is (a labour of love though).
    I love how the storyline (what there is of it) just develope via dice rolls too; in my Zombie games I have the "Have a go Hero" roll of 2D6, for the Civvies, pass 2d6 Do something positive, Pass 1D6 Stand around watching and Pass 0D6, run fo ryour life etc.

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    1. I think it is the first time that the Wrong Un's have been successful in a scenario, getting away with a s**t load of silver has to rank as a huge success.
      I always wanted the citizens to have a part in the games, it's their town and they are not going to sit idly by but I want it to be a bit of a suprise to me how the game develops as well.

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  6. Outstanding John! Can't really add more than what's already been said above :) Looking forward to part 3

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    1. Thanks Ivor, I think this might actually be part 6 of the story so far, it was originally intended to be a series of stories that happened as the town grew. It's now at the size I originally envisaged so I need to have a bit of a think where it goes from here.

      Of course there's the recovery of the silver to be attempted but I don't have any horses and riders to conduct the chase with.

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    2. Fear not John there's plenty of them here :)
      https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/old-west

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    3. Thanks Frank but my studio is out of money, yesterday I was cleaning up the figures I've bought for the summer painting and I have 2 to 3 years worth, I'm importing planes from the states, buying them from Amazon and as a first I even bid on eBay, but fortunately came to my senses.
      Horses for the western will be firmly in my imagination, but there are a set of rules for that in six gun sound I believe. ;-)

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  7. I feel really sorry for Donna's bottle; hope she recovers well and gives Lucky Billy the proper reward he deserves! :O)

    And you definitively need a bigger boat... I mean, SALOON! ;O)

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    1. Hi Eduardo, I know how she must feel about the loss of the bottle and I think we must use our imagination about Billy's reward.
      Cheers

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  8. Catching up on blogs after a nice long holiday away. Another great "movie" here! Billy may be the reluctant hero, or maybe he has a soft spot for Donna? So, Irene's in league with the bad guys, eh? It does look like it's time to round up a posse... maybe they should sign up the girls from the brothel? ha ha

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    1. Hi Fitz yep it's all moving on a pace alliances and friendships being formed, actions leading to reactions.
      The brothel girls forming a posse sounds a good idea. ;)

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  9. With every new report, I get the impression that I've never ever seen such a great solo role playing game ported into a miniatures game.

    And... Alright, I must admit it: I thought there were no more guards on the stage.

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    1. Chema that's good of you to say so.

      It's all getting a bit complicated, I expected Irene to be a bit of a mysterious woman, a possible criminal mastermind and not to side so openly with some two bit outlaws.
      I expected Billy to start a gunfight over the traffic jam but not be involved with the outlaws after what happened at Skull Rock.
      I expected there to be a shootout with the law and that would draw more of the citizens in, making it a more even game.
      I didn't expect the girls in the brothel to get involved at all. I knew there would be guards in the stage but only rolled for the number of them when Frank went to the door of the stage. Could have been between 1 and 4.
      At the end of the day not much of it went how I expected it, especially the outlaws getting away with the silver on the stage.
      Cheers

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    2. I knew you would determine the exact number of guards rolling a die. Thanks for sharing it!

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    3. Oh, and about Irene's part, there must have been a lot of money in that damn stage, you know!! It's the only reason why she would get openly involved. Enough money to retire and start a new life. It's a pitty that sum will have to be shared, don't you think?

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    4. Good thinking on both points, a perfect small game there. I wasn't going to revisit the West for a little while but maybe that's too good an idea to forget;-)
      Cheers

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  10. Late to the party again, so lost for any original compliments since they've all been paid above and I can only reiterate them :-)
    Well worth the wait for you to get "back" to the table, and another great episode as the town grows a character all of its own! I do especially admire how you've populated Little Whiskey with 'active' townsfolk - so often they're just eye candy / hostages / minor nuisances getting in the way etc, your painting STILL makes them 'eye candy' but your gameplay also makes them all individuals in the story.
    Top Stuff! :-)

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    1. Cheers Greg hope you enjoyed your treats in Newark I was quite envious and mentioned it to Mrs Vagabond and got a stony state in return.
      I appreciate you all taking the time to just say hi and that you've read the post to the end, because some are a bit of a mammoth undertaking, literally in some cases.
      However the feedback and ideas that get thrown around are invaluable gaming fodder. I really want to try and take this detecting/horror thing forward, maybe not together. I have a couple of games played and written up but I've not posted them yet because I can't quite decide how to move it forward so will be open to suggestions.
      Cheers

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  11. Great report, Little Whiskey is certainly a growing town! I don't know how you keep track of all the people but I love it!

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  12. Hi Martin- good to see you here :) I don't know if you read the previous western post, but a lot of the charters have just arrived and been introduced so they're still fresh in my memory.
    One thing I mean to do is develop a charters characteristics in some form like in most RPG's, just not got round to it yet.
    Thanks for dropping by.

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  13. Yes Mia Culpa/Tikki Coast is still here, though not posting at this time due to selling off tons of 'stuff' accumulated since the 1960's and then selling up and moving house. Any battles I play are short, sharp engagements hardly worth putting up and usually against the cat who threatens me if I do. Still follow you and Snapcase here though..;-) https://singledice.blogspot.com.au/...Cheers for the concern and no longer a member of LAF.

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    1. OK - good to hear from you and glad all is well, thanks for letting me know. Hope the house move is without too much trauma and watch out for those cat's they can be tricky opponents. ;-)
      Cheers

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  14. Another great instalment, and well worth the wait, the back story to each character adds to the great miniatures and scenery

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    1. Cheers Dave, since I returned to wargaming the characterisation of the figures is something I've really taken to, so I'm pleased you are picking up on it.

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  15. That was was a nice treat! I really like what you've done with Little Whiskey. To bad the baddies won big time this round, but I'm sure they will will lose it all in the end. They have to!
    Now, it's your fault I'm starting to look for civilians for my own western town. Damn!
    It's about time I dust all those buildings off, but first some Pulp Alley.

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    1. Hi Joakim I guess the baddies have to win sometime ;) Also there are not many of them and so I have bought some more to help them out, just need to paint them so it will be a while before you see them.
      I didn't know you had any western figures they haven't appeared on any of your AAR's but I'm still in 2016 on frostgrave. You need to do more Pulp Alley because for some reason when you write those stories they are exceptional good, better than all the other game systems you have written about so far. You are obviously inspired by the genre.
      Cheers

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    2. I really enjoy Pulp-gaming, as I can be a bit silly writing those AAR:s. Suits med fine :-)
      I see that I have only written one western AAR, and that was only for a test-game
      http://miniatyrmannen.blogspot.se/2014/02/dead-mans-hand-first-test-game.html
      There will be more, that is for sure.
      Got lots of minis, but nearly no civilians. Needs correcting.

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    3. Sorry - I remember it now, unpainted figures on your table, unheard of. ;-)

      Your pulp games are an excellent read, I find them very funny in a very good way.

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    4. Yes, um... it was a test game, though. But it won't happen again. Promise :-)

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