Celluloid Heroes - Tales of the Wild West

I grew up in the west, well actually Brooklyn and Queens, New York, as a kid. I remember while others of my age were watching Saturday morning cartoons I was tuning that dial to any western I could find. From Hop-Along Cassidy and the Lone Ranger to Rawhide; all the western movies starring Randolf Scott and other motion pictures icons in that day and age. Along came The Rifleman, Gunsmoke, The Virginian, Bonanza, and all the great westerns starring the Duke - John Wayne for those that don't know. Can't see how, but anyway. Clint Eastwood and the "Spaghetti Westerns", WOW! So much fun. Yes, I grew up in the wild west and have always wanted to game that untamed time in American history. Well, years ago, I purchased Whitewash City - a series of PDF files to print out on card stock and assemble. I started with a basic set which I have on CD and have added downloaded files since. I probably have 20 or so buildings and scenic add-ons. In the last several weeks I have assembled 13 of these buildings and have gotten the knack of them. They range in difficulty from 1- 5 and I am comfortable with level 3 and ready to move up in complication.

Why am I finally doing this? Well, I've looked long and hard at various sets of Wild West rules and have guessed some may work well but they are still overly complicated. When you want to run skirmish games and you are the only player familiar with the rules it needs to be kept simple. I hope to run a skirmish game with upwards of 8-10 people early next year. I stumbled on a silly simple set of free rules called Dusty Trails. These are perfect because they leave a lot to a Game Master. Remember D&D? I loved being a GM more than I enjoyed running a party so this wild west rule-set is perfect! I hope it plays well for everyone and they enjoy the wild west heck out of it. We'll see.

In the meantime, I will keep you, the readers, posted on my progress with the construction of Whitewash City and the scenario I have in mind for the players. I have a pretty good draft of it but I need to think it through. I also hope not to have to paint up too many 28mm figures. I have a bunch already but 8-10 people with 4-8 man "posses" each adds up fast. Not to mention all the NPC townsfolk I'll need. Daunting, but fun!!! I'm game.

Happing Gaming All!

Fast Franko