6 Gun Sound - First month of Adventure

6 Gun Sound is a Wild Wrest game from Two hour Wargames. As a fan of some western films, like tombstone and Back to the future Part III (Yes, I'm counting that one!), I bought this for some fun games in the Old West.

I did add one house rule though, which I borrowed and streamlined from the Mythic RPG. Basically, if I want to be clear on a detail, I'll ask a question (either yes or no or this or that) and then decide which is more likely. Then I'll roll 1d6 for each, with the tie going to the more likely result. Quick and easy, but adds to the story.

So here we go!

Greg Page (Rep 5 Outlaw; Pep 4, Sav 5, Quick Reflexes, Rage) is on a train, traveling west. While the Civil War has been over for years, a few people with money are still a wee bit upset with Greg for helping a number of slaves escape during the war. Now, with a price on his head, he travels in search of information on what happened to his great great aunt, who had gone west two hundred years ago and vanished. He also hopes to live an incognito life in the west, at least for now.

Despite the figure, Greg actually starts the game unarmed. Though probably not the best way to start a game, I thought it fit the character. Also, I'm color coding figures. Green/blue are friendly and neutral while red/orange are enemies.

The game is played in months with each month being made up of an Involuntary Encounter and one Voluntary one. For the first, I rolled a Defend.

Waking up in the middle of the night to commotion, Greg peers out his door and sees 3 bandits storming through the halls.

"Nice haul, this train," says one.

"Gonna buy me a new horse," says the other.

"Why doncha just get a girl like everyone else?" asks the third.

The bands are Outlaws, Rep 4, 3, and 3; all with the Cruel Attribute.

Rolling on the Action table, Greg goes first (with the Advantage).

Apparently they fail to notice him and just march on by. Since Greg is unarmed, but with the Brawler Attribute, I have him perform a Challenge to sneak up on one of the bandits (Difficult Challenge).

First roll - Pass 1d6; Reroll.

Second - Success!

Slipping behind one bandit, Greg grabs the man's head and slams it into the nearby wall.

One down and now Greg has a pistol.

Unfortunately, the other two whirl around and open fire.

The Leader's shots hit for and OOF result, but Greg's Star Power saves him. He ducks back into the closest room. The other grunt's shot misses completely.

Seeing an easy kill, the other two rush forward and fire through the doorway, though missing completely.

Now Greg finally gets to use his new gun. Firing rapidly, he drops the grunt and the leader leaps back.

"I'll gut you like a fish!" spits the leader. Lunging forward, he fires into the room but again misses. Greg then returns fire.

Both shots catch the leader in the chest and the man falls to the ground.

With the threat gone, Greg peeks outside and sees police gathering up other bandits from the other trains. One drops a piece of paper, and when Greg picks it up, he sees a reward for his arrest. Not wanting to take chances, he grabs his stuff and escapes the train, heading off into the woods on foot.

This ends the first Encounter, which is a success. Greg gains 3 Increasing d6 for taking out the bandits but 3 Decreasing d6 for using Star Power. At least he broke even.

Now for the second Encounter.

With his transportation now gone, Greg wanders through the countryside, only knowing he needs to head in the western direction. Luckily he had stashed some food in his backpack, and he still has the pistol, so he's okay, for the moment.

The next Encounter is a voluntary one, so I chose Ride the Trail. He has to resolve 3 PEFs and survive.

PEF #1:

Greg spots a lone Indian and a Cowboy engaged in combat.

Not knowing who's on which side, I decide to perform a Challenge for Greg to see if he can figure it out.

Fail.

Despite his best efforts, Greg has no clue what's going on, only that the two men are trying to kill each other. Since he tends to get along with Indians, he chooses to help the man (Rep 4 Warrior) against the Rep 4 Cowboy.

After opening fire, the two manage to drop the cowboy rather quickly. Now it's time to figure out what's going on.

I perform an Interaction with Greg questioning the Indian (Success.).

I also perform a challenge to see if he can tell if the other man is telling the truth (also Success).

(The rest I gather from some yes/no rolls and filling in the spaces).

"Thank you," says the Indian. (Greg knows some of their language so the conversation is a mix of that and English). "My name is Simon Rivers."

"I'm Greg Page. What happened?" asks Greg.

"He's part of Charlie south's gang," Simon answers. "Recently, they entered our camp and South asked our chief for his daughter's hand in marriage."

"And your chief said no?"

"Actually, he said it was his daughter's choice," Simon answered. "But then, Charlie's gang snuck into our camp in the middle of the night an kidnapped her. We went out looking for her, but my friends fell to bandits."

"Tell you what," says Greg, "I'll help you get the chief's daughter back and if your camp lets me stay for the night once we're done."

Simon nods. "Fair enough."

(I treated this like a Recruiting).

Simon Rivers is Rep 4 (Pep 3, Sav 4), and with the Tough Attribute.

PEF #2:

Later, the two are wandering through the forest, when two bandits leap out.

"We lost at the trains," says one, "but these'll do."

Greg and Simon go first and open fire.

The two bandits apparently underestimate the two and wind up with bullets in their chest.

PEF #3:

Two more bandits appear a moment later.

"You killed out buddies!" cries one. "You'll pay for this!"

Same result, unfortunately (for them).

This ends the Encounter and the month.

Greg ends with 6 Increasing d6 and 3 Decreasing d6, for a total of 3 Increasing d6. Rolling, I manage to increase his People skill to 5.

Simon ends with 3 Increasing d6 but fails to improve his Rep. Maybe next time.

Tune in next time when Greg and Simon seek out to rescue the chief's daughter from the sinister Charlie South and his gang.

Re-introducing Chain Reaction!

Two Hour Wargames has just upgraded its Chain Reaction rules.  Chain Reaction are a set of sample rules to show you how THW titles are played.  Although THW titles range from wargames to roleplaying games, they all have one thing in common; no Game Master is needed.  You can play each of the games single player, same side, or even head to head.

Here is some sample game play from CR 2018:

While the previous version of CR used a 3 x 3 map for its games, CR 2018 uses a Battle Board, which is an 8"x 10" board.  This can be anything from a printed out map to an ordinary sheet of paper.  You can even buy a set of Battle Boards from THW.

Unfortunately, my printer ran low on ink, so I couldn't print out the Battle Board that came with the game and instead threw together a board from some game tiles.

My group of soldiers are ready for battle.  

Since there's no game master to tell you what's going on, games use Encounters to give you an objective.  I'm playing a Raid, in which my soldiers are attacking the enemy.  The details can be anything I wish.  In my case, my troops are livid after the enemy hijacked a shipment of bathroom supplies that we were expecting.  And if there's one thing I learned, it's never to come between a killing machine and his loofah!

Here's the game board.  It's a little bigger than an 8x10, but it does the job.  Since the enemy is defending, they'll be placed in the building.

In THW titles, your enemy is created using PEFs, or Possible Enemy Forces.  These create a sense of uncertainty for your adventures.  Maybe we'll encounter nothing at all, or maybe we'll face an entire army!

With the 3x3 game maps, PEFs would be placed in random positions, but for the Battle Board, you simply resolve them one at a time.  When one resolves as Contact, you place the opponents on the board.

The first PEF resolves as "Something is out there!"  Nothing appears right away, but my troops see movement in the building and know for sure that it's not empty.  This increases the chance of a later PEF resolving successfully.

Sure enough, this one resolves as contact.  Rolling for how many, versus my group of 4 results in 6 enemies.  Rolling for Who are they results in Mercenaries.  Someone paid these guys to steal our loofahs.  I bet they're holding them hostage in that building!

Now, I line everyone up for battle.  Normally, your Star (the character you control) is in the center and lined up with the enemy leader, but I forgot about this and instead lined them up on the side.  The numbers on the dice represent the characters' Reputation (or Rep).  Rep represents your character's experience, combat skill, health, and (depending on the game) non-combat ability.  Each character also carries certain weapons and has attributes based on their classes.  My troops, who are Military, get a bonus when shooting.  The Mercenaries get a bonus when rolling on the Action table (which determines who moves first).

Despite their bonus, we win on the Action table and go first, with my character starting.

My Star goes first and opens fire on the enemy leader (2 shots) and the soldier closes to him (1 shot).  I kill the leader and incapacitate the soldier.

The next soldier in my group opens fire, missing twice on the enemy before scoring a vicious hit with the third shot.

My third solider scores a hit, but it results in Duck Back, meaning the enemy soldier ducks behind cover, ending his turn if he hasn't acted yet.

My final soldier shoots at the two remaining opponents, causing one to Duck Back and missing the last one.  The last soldier, meanwhile, is now able to return fire, and he causes my soldier to duck back.

He now attempts to shoot again at the same soldier, but luckily he scores another duck back result.  

Now that this round is over, we roll for Will to Fight.  This is a morale test taken by any side that loses troops.  Since they lost teammates, the  two opponents have to take the test.

And they fail, resulting in one opponent fleeing and leaving only one to deal with.

Now it's our turn again.

I let the closest soldier in my group open fire and he scores a direct hit, dropping the last mercenary and ending combat.

But wait, that was only the second PEF and we're supposed to have 3 . . . 

Whew!  Lucked out as nothing else appeared.  We win the encounter and my team goes home knowing their loofahs now safe and sound!

This is a sample of game play that you'll find in other THW titles.  In most games, you'll have a wealth of other options.  Not all encounters will end in combat.  Sometimes, your group will simply wander the town and chat up the bars.  Or maybe they'll stop in and gamble a bit.  but don't drop your guard because a possible brawl is always around the corner!  Other encounters have you defending your group against an enemy attack; possibly a burglary or a fight on equal ground.

In addition, different games give your characters more options.  Maybe they're not soldiers.  Maybe they're knights defending the kingdom from enemy bands or monsters.  Maybe they're pilots flying space ships across the galaxy.  Or maybe they're just average Joes trying to get through a normal day . . . until the zombies attack!  More character classes, attributes, and skills allow you to create all types of characters.

Want to keep playing your same characters?  Most THW titles include campaign rules where your characters get stronger and more skilled as they progress.  Or they might lose a skill if games end badly.  

THE titles cover all sorts of eras.  Talomir Tales cover fantasy worlds of warriors, wizards, and monsters.  5150 covers the future, with space ships and laser guns.  Nuts covers World War II, with supplements and rules to let you play every inch of the war.  And All Things Zombies covers, well, guess!

But if you want to try out the THW rules first, check out Chain Reaction, which you can download for free, at www.twohourwargames.com.

Chain Reaction rules can be found here:

http://www.twohourwargames.com/free.html.

Happy gaming and hope your characters survive!

Returning to Nuts an AAR

I recently received the updated rules for Nuts! a World War II game from Two Hour Wargames.  In addition, I got the Compendium, with covers a number of optional rules, such as ski troops, mascots, weather, air strikes, and urban fights.

After playing the videogame Snipe Elite 4, in which you go through Italy during WWII, I decided to play my own sniper game.  I like this especially because the rules in Nuts allow for unlimited maps and missions.

This will be a Chocolate and Cigarettes game, meaning a game with smaller numbers of troops, as my entire 'team' consists of one lone sniper.  Since I wanted to be a good guy but still a cold-hearted, ruthless killer, I went with a Russian soldier.

Meet Dimitri Kozlov, a Rep 5 Russian Sniper.  Fitness 5, Mental 4, People 3.  Basically, his skills mean he's in incredible shape with above average intellect and average people skills.  Hopefully he won't have to do any negotiating.

For Attributes, I went with the Compendium rules, which allow for a wider variety.  I started with the Sniper Package, which is Sniper Expert and Stealthy.  I then randomly rolled Dim, which means he's a hell of a sneaky shooter, but he really, really doesn't play well with others.

The campaign starts with both sides at Morale 4 and Investment at 4.  As the first Encounter is a Patrol, Investment is a 3.  Using the Compendium rules, this will be a Sniper Patrol, meaning I not only have to reach the top of the map, but I must drop two major opponents, whether they're officers, enemy snipers, ect.

In case you're wondering, no Dimitri is not about to play Twister.  Using my living room as the board, I set Dimitri at Section 9 at the top of a hill.  The orange and green represent the forest at sections 1, 4, and 7.  The red circles are the three PEFs, starting in Sections 2, 4, and 5.

PEF #1 resolves as Nothing.  However, PEF #2 resolves as an NCO and a Rifleman ( I rolled at random because at the time, I wasn't sure how to resolve specific troops).  PEF #3 resolved as 3 Riflemen. 

Rolling Activation, the Germans move first.  This triggers and In Sight Check, with the winner basically getting a free turn.  I rolled Red d6 for Dimitri and Green d6 for the Germans, with 1, 2, and 3 being Successes.  The side with the most successes win In Sight.

Uh oh!  Even though they get a -1d6 penalty for my Stealthy Attribute, they still win and get to go first.  While the NCO has an SMG which doesn't have the range to hit me, the Rifleman has a Bolt-Action Rifle that can, even without a scope.  He's a Rep 4, but I'm at the top of a hill and prone so the chances of him scoring any kind of hit are-

Crap!!!!  Not only does he score a direct hit, but for damage I roll another 6, which is Obviously Dead!  He scored with a head shot to my soldier!

Wait, I still have Star Power!  That means my Star, the character I control, rolls a number of d6 equal to his Rep, and as long as he rolls, 1, 2, and/or 3, he can reduce and even ignore the damage completely.  All he needs are a couple of those rolls and he'll be completely in the clear-

Um, yeah . . .about that . . .

So ends the saga of Dimitri Kozlov.  In his first mission, a lone, lowly enemy soldier puts a single bullet right between his eyes and ends his adventures. 

Luckily, it's not over yet!  I rolled up a new character and the Russian platoon, upon learning of poor Dimitri's fate, has sent another sniper to take his place.  I'm keeping the campaign the same.  Luckily, the Campaign Morale remained the same.  However, since I lost the Patrol encounter, my new character will start his adventure with a Defend. 

But that's for another story.

For now, RIP Dimitri Kozlov.  Dropped before he ever fired a bullet.  And this will go down in history as my quickest RPG adventure yet.

Hopefully, my new character has better luck.

I found Nemo! or rather He found me!

This is not one of my games, but a new game from Two Hour Wargames that I recently received.  I remember reading the novel Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea and watching the films (I think there was more than one; it's been a while.).  However, my fondest memory was the ride at Walt Disney World. 

However, in the past decade or so, that and a number of my other favorites have disappeared, to be replaced by, at least in my view, lesser attractions.  For that reason, I saw playing this game as my revenge against Disney.  Now I understand the idea of out with the old and in with the new; I just choose not to accept it.  As such, a number of characters on my Star's side are named after rides, attractions, and shops at Disney that I loved and now miss. 

Let the voyage begin . . .

I awoken on a cot inside a vessel of some kind.  My clothes were missing, replaced with standard attire for a navel crew.  This was strange.  

Stumbling out of the room, I found myself in a large room with various devices smoking, rotating, and humming.

"So, you're back from the dead," said a voice to my right.  

Turning, I saw an older gentleman leaning against a post with his arms crossed.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"You're aboard the Nautilus," he answered, standing straight and spreading his arms.

"The Nautilus?"  I knew that name.  "You're Captain Nemo!  I thought you were dead."

"Not quite yet," he responded.  "And you are?"

"Jakob Kare," I answered.  "I was aboard the Minne, a passenger ship out of Oslo."

Nemo nodded.  "We found you adrift in a longboat.  It seems your vessel was attacked."

"It was," I said.  "A British ship mistook us for an enemy ship and attacked before we could identify ourselves."

"Unfortunately," he continued, "you were the only survivor.  Did you have any family aboard?"

I nodded, tightening my fists.  "My dog, Merlin.  He and I were rushing for the longboat when he vanished in a ball of fire right before my eyes."  I raised my eyes to his.  "Hey, you're on a mission of revenge against them, aren't you?  If so, I'm in!"

"Actually," Nemo said, "I'm retiring soon."

"But you can't retire!"  I glared at the legendary captain.  "Those cods haven't learned their lesson yet!"

A smirk appeared as he watched me.  "Which is why I'm looking for a captain to replace me.  Now I like your fire, but I don't know if you have what it takes."

"Follow me."

He led me through the corridor and to a room.  Opening the door we entered his personal cabin.  He took a seat behind his desk and pointed to a map.  "I'm want to see, Jakob Kare, if you have what is required to command this ship.  So I'm going to sending you on a series of missions, directing you from here.  Complete these missions to my satisfaction, and this ship will be yours to do with as you please.  Do you accept?"

I didn't even hesitate.  "When do we start?"

"First, I sending you to Kasur to collect food for the crew."

"Food?" I asked.  "I can more prove myself by sinking a ship or two."

He smiled as one would to a student who failed a test.  "Your crew cannot fight on empty stomachs.  Gather food, and then we'll talk next."


Jakob Kare (Star):  Rep 5:  Crack Shot (rolled at random), Quick Reflexes (chosen), SAR.
Mr. Toad (Grunt):  Rep 4:  Agile (Random), SAR.
Mr. Mars (Grunt):  Rep 4: Logical (Random), SAR.


A few hours later, I made landfall in search of food.  I brought with me two of Nemo's crew; a short but seemingly agile man named Mr. Toad, and a tall, thin, introspective man named Mr. Merlin.

While searching, Toad noticed three individuals approaching us.

After studying them, Mars pointed.  "They're Berber Militia."

We tried talking with them, but they ignored us.  Some time later, we had gather enough food and returned to the Nautilus.

"Well done," Nemo said to me.  "Although that was an easy mission.  While we're here, explore the rest of the island.  It might become a useful base."

I set off again with Toad and Mars as we traveled inland from the coast.

It didn't take long for us to run into trouble as three drake lizards charged us.  Toad shot two of them while Mars killed the last.  My shots missed completely, and I grew concerned.  Fortunately, my crew expressed respect for my courage and continued to follow me.

Some time later, we ran into more Berbers.  Apparently they were following us to see if we were a threat.  Upon learning that we weren't, they greeted us and vanished into a brush.

An hour later, we found three more Berbers who were gathering food.  They showed us the best places to extract food, and we thanked them and moved on.

Returning to the Nautilus, I reported back to Captain Nemo.

"The island is inhabited by a group called the Berbers.  They didn't give us any trouble and possibly we can form an alliance with them if we are to use the island as a base."

"Well done," he said.  "But again, an easy challenge.  Perhaps next-"

"Captain to the bridge.  British vessel in the vicinity."

We heard the call Mars and Nemo looked to me.  "You wanted to face a British ship.  Here's your chance.  But if you fail and damage my vessel, I'll bury you in Atlantis . . . alive!"

"Yes sir."

I rushed to the bridge and faced Mars.  "Captain Nemo gave me the bridge.  Report."

"One vessel," he answered.  "It looks like a cargo transport."

I saw it through the periscope.  It looked like it was shipping guns and supplies to one of their many forts.  

Smiling, I turned to my helm officer.  "Charge that ship."

Bringing the Nautilus just below the water's surface, we lunged ahead.  Suddenly, the ship turned at the last second and we flew right past it.  

"Are they fleeing?" I asked.

"Negative," came the answer.  "They're arming cannons."

"Dive, bring us just out of the line of sight and circle them."

Once they lost sight of us we charged again.

Direct hit!  We blew through the ship like paper, and I grinned widely as I watched the hull, along with its cargo, sunk below the waves.

"For you, Merlin."


Afterwards, I rolled Increasing d6 (Since the first two encounters were pretty short, I waited until the Navel Battle before rolling).

Jakob improved to Rep 6.

Toad improved to Rep 5.

Mars did not improve.

The adventure will continue next time.

Adventures with Captain Nemo is available now from Two Hour Wargames.

Stop the Squam - A Scenario for missions of Tomorrow

Here is another scenario you will find in Missions of Tomorrow, the first supplement to Future Tales.  In Wrecking Crew, you must track down a group bent on destroying an entire community.  Will you succeed?  Here's a preview.

Bart Blast, YM-3, and Wilma Chatter meet with the leaders of the town of Buckman.  Apparently, a group of aliens called the Squam were recently exiled from the town for torturing the populace, and now there are reports that the Squam are building weapons as part of a plan for revenge.  Bart and his friends set out to locate the Squam before they can complete their deadly experiment.

The trio encounters a village of primitive natives.  Luckily, they are peaceful, and after a few minutes of questioning (Wilma happens to be skilled at communication), they point the group in the direction of the Desert Wastes.

Crossing a dried-up lake, the group is ambushed by Sand Racers, who look a little too hungry as they approach the three heroes.

But our heroes have an ace up their sleeves!  It turns out, Wilma has the Animal Friend attribute and can communicate with the racers.  Informing them that the trio are friends and not food, she gets them to continue in search for other morsels, while Bart wipes the sweat off his brown that has nothing to do with the temperature.

An hour later, they find it; a device constructed by the Squam but abandoned for some time.  Perhaps they left it behind after running tests and now have the final product at their camp.

YM-3 attempts a Solve Puzzle to figure out the device, while Bart and Wilma watch from a short distance away.

FAIL!  YM-3 is zapped (Trap!) and goes OOF.  Bart and Wilma rush to their companion's side.  But before they can help, the now-duo hears growling noises behind them and turn.

Two more Racers, and this time, they don't feel like talking!  One goes for Bart and the other sizes up Wilma as a potential meal.

With lightning speed, Bart drops his foe with a single shot.  Wilma tries to blast her target, but it closes the distance before she can react, and before she can blink, Wilma finds herself face-to-snout with the final Racer.

Smashing it in the snout with her pistol, she drops her opponent and survives the battle.

With the threats no longer in sight, the two revive their friend, who's shaken and a little jumpy, but not the worst for wear.

Unfortunately, YM-3 was unable to figure out the device, and the group fails to gain a clue.  However, they do notice smoke from the mountains and decide to investigate.

No Travel Scene.  Looks like the trio will reach the mountains uninterrupted.  Even though they failed to gain a Clue, they continue with the scenario.  However, with one less clue, will they still reach the Squam before the creatures finish their weapons?

And what will happen in your game?

This scenario and three others are found in Missions of Tomorrow, a supplement to Future Tales.  If you don't have Future Tales, you can also use Fringe Space, Back Alleys, Larger than Life, and even Chain Reaction.

Missions can be played single player, same side, and even head to head.

Keep watching as Missions is coming soon from Two Hour Wargames!