Blackwater Gulch by Gangfight Games

[CmdrKiley]

My Kickstarter Rewards package for Blackwater Gultch - Rebels & Reinforcementsarrived today, and I'm really excited about this game.

The game seems a bit like Legends of the Old West, but is more customizable and you can play stand up games just as easily as campaign play. Lots of pregenerated themed gangs and characters with their own unique special abilities and a wide variety of weapons to choose from. Also it is an alternating activation game.

You can DL the latest rules and all the latest statcards for all the gangs here.

I ended up getting the following gangs: The Widowmakers (an all female gang with very high initiative bonuses), The Secret Fist Clan (a very assaulty dirty trick Chinese Tong gang), and The Tranquility Crew (a Firefly inspired crew), plus all the Stretch Goal Bonus figures and specialty dice.

While Legends of the Old West tends to be more straight up no nonsense historica, Blackwater Gultch is a bit more cinematic and pulpy. I hear the next expansion will be adding Weird West elements to the game like Werewolves.

[pickles]

Sept 23, 2013 18:16:15 GMT -5 CmdrKiley said:

I hear the next expansion will be adding Weird West elements to the game like Werewolves.

Thanks for the warning...no interest in the game anymore.

[CmdrKiley]

Werewolves and other Weird stuff never stopped you from playing AE-WWII, or are you just being GrumpyKevin?

The game is pretty customizable, so you can tweak the amount of weirdness. Also, there's no reason stating you have to play the weird stuff in the expansion.

Overall, this game looks more fun to play than Legends of the Old West and not as complex as The Great Rail Wars or quasi RPG as Deadlands (now those are really Weird West).

BTW, the rule for throwing weapons like dynamite and flaming booze look fun. Reminds me a bit of Bang! Also looks like you can have a weapon jam (1 in 100 chance). Doctors can patch you up (1 HP only), but not fully heal you.

The only issue I don't like is that there is no way to kill a multi-wound model in a single hit. Unless I'm reading something wrong, no matter how well of a hit you make and how bad your opponent saves you can only score 1 Hp wound.

[pickles]

Sept 26, 2013 16:04:49 GMT -5 CmdrKiley said:

Werewolves and other Weird stuff never stopped you from playing AE-WWII

Yes, but why does every game seem like they feel they have to include weird stuff? Just because I play it in one game, doesn't mean I want to play it in all the other games. The instant Bolt Action comes out with a weird theme, is the instant I sell off all my books and figs. They have a good game, one that's popular, one's that's being supported well (by community and authors)....they don't need to f*$! it up with a wierd theme.

I'd rather try out the game western game Shawn got (forgot the name).

[Silent Bob]

Uh, Bolt Action is probably going to add a Weird aspect to it some day. They already make a couple minis that are. Would probably just be a supplement though

[CmdrKiley]

Weird stuff adds a new twist the game. Also since the market is flooded with historical minis, it makes business sense to add some models that are unique to your setting. Again nobody is twisting your arm.

BTW, didn't Flames of War get into that Mid-War Monsters with all those hypothetical vehicles that never saw action, or even some that never saw production?

Should I start checking eBay for your Flames of War,and Bolt Action collections?

[CmdrKiley]

I tried this out a few weeks ago.

Rules are pretty easy to learn, although it seems like you're rolling a lot of dice for a single attack, it works pretty fast. I like it way more than Legends of the Old West.

The short ranges, innacurate weapons, become a challenge with the random running distances. Cover is really important, and you can potentially be left out in the cold on a bad roll while running from one cactus to the next. Close combat is pretty deadly, and beware of Mr. Fu if he gets into your personal space.

Grunts die fast, heroes and hired guns are a bit tougher to take down as you can only score 1 wound with each successful hit. Heroes have a pool of additional dice they can add to any of their die rolls to increase their luck. The Gang Leader is the lynchpin to the gang, his skills will support models around him.

Although the game is customizable, I find the limited skills to choose from and the restrictions in skill selection leaves not as much variation as I would want. The pregenerated characters that come with the official Blackwater Gulch Models do have some unique skills and weapons that do make them stand out, and give them a slight edge over the generic crews. Looking forward to seeing what the expansion has to offer.

[ogre44]

Above link looks pretty good for this kind of terrain at a really nice price

[CmdrKiley]

I have a bunch of the PDF stuff, which I plan to build with similar to DD's. Need to find a good, or not so good, movie to sit in front of with my cutting board.