Lawmen Rules of Conduct (LOTOW Players Guide)



At a glance, the Lawmen hands down have access to the posse with the best Shootin’ stat in the main rules. Out of all the supplements only the Texas Rangers and the US Infantry posse can put more men on the field that are superior shots. The major problem with the US Infantry is that you have to arm the henchmen with rifles so that makes them get rather expensive quickly. Second, this is the only posse in the core rules that can have a LeMat pistol or a derringer as options at the start.

Check your guns here:

Sheriff & Deputies:  Hands down, you should have at least one LeMat pistol in your posse. Who would not want a heavy pistol and a sawed off shotgun? Yes please! After that you should consider a repeating rifle if you don’t take a LeMat. You could opt to take a sixgun as a backup for either if you have some extra $ or a hand weapon and in these cases only the sheriff should have this.

Upstanding Citizen: A 5+ Shootin’ isn’t that great. So, keep it simple! A sawed off shotgun or a sixgun is your best choice. Either a blast template that does not require skill or the sixguns to fan your shots to ensure you get one hit before you’re a target.

Vigilantes:  Shotguns, Rifles and Pistols are to order here. Depends if you want range, stopping power or on a budget. Take what will fit your model options and posse concept.

Gathering a Posse:

 Two types of posse setups come to mind when I look at this list:

1)      Range Riders

Sheriff Lematt Pistol or Repeating Rfile $44

Deputies x2, Lematt Pistol or Repeating Rifle $68

Vigilantes x5 Sixshooters $85

Concept here is simple, everyone in the posse has a 4+ shootin’ stat, you can either build a list heavy on pistols and the scattershot option of the Lematt or the range ability of a repeating rifle backing up your Viglanties as they protect the heroes from anyone getting close.

2)      Scattergun Rules

Sheriff: Letmatt Pistol or Repeating Rifle $44

Deputies x2: Lematt Pistol or Repeating Rifle $68

4 Upstanding Citizans with sawed off shotguns $88

In theory if you take the Lematt pistols on all three heroes you can have a total of 7 scatter templates to hose your opponents with. Bear in mind shotguns use the “two barrel” rule also, so that’s two shots per shotgun unless you fire both at the same time!

3)      Hammer of Justic

Sheriff:  Repeating Rifle $44

Deputies x2: Repeating Rifle $68

Vigilantes x3: Rifles $75

Upstanding Citizen: Six-shooter $12

What you have here is a long ranged posse that nobody is going to want to get in range of. Sniper your targets and keep in cover. The Citizen is optional and is more or less there to give you an extra body and can fan a six-shooter if something gets too close and the rifles have other work to do. You could save the cash to buy another Vigilante after your next game.

A word about hired help (guns):

Your posse is limited to 12 models unlike others that can have at least 15 (Cowboy and Outlaw) thus leaving you extra room to take on much else. Once you have 3 Heroes and 5 Vigalanties you just have enough space for 4 Upstanding Citizens to squeeze in after that.

The Lawmen is the posse that could do without Hired Guns unlike other groups. Unless you just want to put some overkill on the table, you would really only need to consider a specialist like the Explosives Expert or Prize fighter for example. To bring something unique to the group that would round it out.

Support Guns as I call them are a bit more useful for you and choices you can take could influence your posse in the campaign.

Campaign play:

Develop up your Henchmen into heroes when possible to ensure they are more likely to survive each game. Hired guns should only be taken when you need a critical boost to a specific development plan or style of play you’re going for. I also feel that Upstanding Citizens should only be taken once you max out your number of Vigilantes in your posse. So, depending on you’re the build you go with you want to round out the other to bulk up your numbers.

Outlaws Guide to Infamy (LOTOW Outlaw Guide)

From my reading online is that the Outlaw posse tends to fall short to other types of posse groups in the game and often players are looking for solid advice. After reading over the rules here is what I have come up with as advice to current and starting Outlaws everywhere.

Overview:

The Desperado Hero is the only model with 4’s for several stats. Namely shooting and fighting along with Grit. The rest of the gang takes on the average 3 for everything except the Toughs that get a Grit of 4. With the rest of the gang with a Shootin’ of  5+  life is going to be hard, but that is why you’re an outlaw anyway!

Building up the posse:

First off, take as many heroes as you can pack in. Out of all the posse choices, the Outlaws allow you to take 4 (one more than the standard 3 of most others). Kids are fairly cheap and can prove to be useful. How? If you take 3 Kids and 1 Desperado you have 5 FA points in your early games to use. Simply put, you can control a game by calling Quickdraw, Yee Haw! and Time for a Whuppin as well as modify a dice roll at a critical part of the game. That’s five there boys and girls! No other posse can bring that much Fame to the table! Not to mention the extra Hero lets you roll an extra 2d6 in income also.

Second, take as many Toughs! Why? For 2 dollars more you can get a Grit of 4! So a six-shooter needs a 5+ to wound you instead of a 4+. Harder to hurt equals longer life span as a henchmen. Plus if he gets to become a hero then blam! He already has one 4 in his stat line that makes him better than a Kid at that point.

At a glance there was four builds that hit me right off:

1)      Tons’o’Guns: The concept is simple, cheap guns and bodies. Your goal is massed firepower to bring down your opponent fast. You are playing the numbers game in essence.

Here is an example of the build I had in mind:

Desperado with pistol. $35

Kids x3 with pistols $63

Rowdies x5 with pistols $70

Toughs x2 with pistols $32

The concept here is simple, you have more guns than they do, walking on the table with 11 models to most others with 8 gives you a slight edge to numerical advantages and also lets you focus on the mission by using some as sacrificial lambs while you stick to the scenario. In a straight up firefight fan those pistols! Fill the air with so much lead you’re bound to roll a few 6’s and take more of them out than they can. Then run for cover and reload. Repeat as needed.

2)      Only the best can ride with us! Take the best of the best, you will need them!

Example Concept:

Desperado with six-shooter. $35

Kids x3 with six-shooters  $63

Toughs x5 with six-shooter pistols x5.  $80

Rowdie with six-shooter x1 $14

This is a slight variant to the first one, your maxing out on Toughs instead of taking Rowdies. While you still have the same number of heroes, the Toughs in this list are less likely to get wounded and survive as well as more likely to get advanced to a hero themselves making that bargain of $2 more a very sweet deal!

3)      Ranged Robbery!

Desperado with repeating rifle $46

Kids x3 with repeating rifles $96

Rowdies x2 with Rifle $44

Rowdie with a six-shooter $14

Deploy your rifles to vantage points and sit back and shoot your targets down and force a Pluck test before they can get close enough to inflict damage on your gang. Really, this gang isn’t playing the mission, just trying to drive off the other gang to win the scenario. The Rowdie with the pistol hides until something comes within range to give his support, after the first game you buy him a rifle. The real weakness to this list is the lack of bodies, you’re only starting with eight and rifles are slow to reload.

4)      Scattershot Special

Desperado with repeating rifle and hand weapon $48

Kids x3 with sawed off shotguns $87

4 Toughs with a six-shooter $64

This is a very hybrid posse and can be hard to play until you get used to the concept. The Desperado stays back and shoots with his rifle taking advantage of the range and high firepower as the kids hang with the Toughs to deal with anything that gets close to the gang. Hide and keep in cover until your ready to jump out and spray a target with scattershot and fan some pistols. Then run for the hills to reload!

Weapons for your Posse:

Desperado: Should take a heavy pistol or repeating rifle if possible. He has the best Shootin’ score and should take advantage of the best weapons.

Kids, Rowdies and Toughs: My only two suggestions here are six guns and sawed off shotguns. SOS requires no S stat to shoot, just aim and fire, ignores cover and hits tons of targets. Six-guns are cheap and your basic weapon that allows you to “fan” your shots. This lets you toss out tons of lead at once for that desperate shot, it is up to the dice at that point. I am all about taking down your targets quickly, if you lack the skill you make up for it with dirty tricks.

Weapon Loophole: Want to save some cash? The Outlaw weapon chart is cheaper for some weapons for heroes/henchmen than the other chart!

Cheap Hero Weapons: Six-guns are $1 cheaper and sawed off shotguns are $3 cheaper.

Cheap Henchmen Weapons: Shotguns are $2 cheaper.

With the limit of 4 weapons per model you buy the cheaper weapon off the chart with that hero/henchmen type. Example: You want to give 5 six-shooters to your 5 Toughs, buy 7 six-shooters for your Kids and allocate them out to the gang (see below).

Deploy your models and bottle out voluntary first turn. Draw your XP and basic income.  Hire your henchmen before the second game. Is it dirty? Yes it is! Is it legal? Yes. Outlaws have no code of ethics! Would I advise anyone to pull this stunt? No. I just find it funny it is there.

Taking on more hands!

After your first game, work on expanding your posse with new hires to bulk up the size and add new gear to the gang to help you in the campaign. I always suggest to take as many models that you can instead of taking on a hired gun. While a Rowdie isn’t as great as a hired gun you can get more of them for your money and no upkeep to them. You could very easy purchase two Rowdies with six-shooters for the cost of a single Gunslinger. Once you reach your max posse size then you can add extra models to your gang.

Research your hired guns. There are two types of hired guns to me. Support or Combat oriented. All hired guns have their own perks and benefits. Here is my suggested hired guns for both that I think could be worthwhile:

Combat: Gunslinger, Prize Fighter, Chinese Rail Worker, Scout, Mexican Ranchero, Knife Fighter, Explosives Expert, Pony Express Rider and Renegade Soldier.

The best fighters are the Renegade Soldier, Gunslinger and Mexican Ranchero. Top notch stats, gear, abilities and all around boosts your gang in the weak point of shooting. Close combat is found in the Prize Fighter, Chinese Rail Worker and Knife fighter. Each can be nasty in up close situations, if plan to go that route. The last three make up an odd niche if you will the scout makes a good sniper using the stealth ability, the Explosives Expert can double as a sniper and a demolitions man to toss templates or achieve goals, last is the Pony Express Rider, for $20 you get a horse, pistol and a 4+. When you’re on the cheap this is one of the best options you will get.

Support: Soiled Dove, Prospector, Reporter, Cookie and Tejano Guide

Support models have a specific use in the gang. The Soiled Dove is to harass your opponent, the Prospector a cheap demolitions expert and bonus income, the Reporter to get extra Fame, Cookie if you want a larger gang and the Tejano Guide if you want to hire Legends or get hard to find gear, his major perk (and cheap!) is the ability to move 3 models after deployment before the game. Support models give you a tactical advantage in the game. Choose wisely.

Crossroads

At this point I am at a crossroad as to what I want to do next for Legends of the Old West.  At this point I need to start thinking about scenery and rounding off my miniature collections to add some variety to the already 60 models that I have painted up.

Model wise I am doing a “practical check” on myself to see what is what I consider “critical” to make games more enjoyable and have started to inventory each posse for ideas.

Here is my rough order list and it appears FRP Games may get my order, while they are expensive on a few items I want, the savings in shipping ordering from two companies balances out.

Foundry: Mexican Villagers

Foundry: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Foundry: Shanghai Pierces Cowhands

Crusader Wild West Foreigners

Artizan Banditos I

Artizan Buno, Brutto, Cativo (Good, the bad, the Ugly movie copies)

Artizan Frontier Cowboys

Tombstone Civilians

The Mexican Villagers offers at least 4-6 civilians for games, at least 2 possible Banditos or Tehano and one possible soiled dove that are Hispanic.

The GBU set is my diversity set for my outlaws or other groups as needed. A confederate, black man, Native American, rough Irish types and city slicker minis should fit in nicely.

The Cowhands will have some diversity of two black cowboys and I can’t resist one of the models with the name Alabama Bill! This should boost the cowboy group to at least 12 not including anything else giving them a wide range to choose from.

Foreigners was mainly in the loop for more diversity and the fact I like the guy in the kilt with two six guns!

The Banditos pushes that group to 9 models now. Toss in the Mexican Villagers and they should be playable as either Banditos or Outlaws. I will have the other GBU Mexican in there also!

The BBC package was just homage to my favorite movie and some nice looking models to round out other groups.

The Frontier Cowboys should help round out some of the hired guns I need, a preacher, prospector and free trapper.

The civilian set offers 20 models to help be extra fun models to make games more interesting. Some could even be used as a Reporter, Chinese Rail Worker or Card Sharp and perhaps a Soiled Dove.

When it comes to hired guns here is what I can put on the table: Card Sharp, Hanging Judge, US Marshall, Gunslinger, Soiled Dove and Mexican Bandito.

Items I need: Indian Scout, Preacher, Free Trapper, Prospector, Prize Fighter, Rail Worker, Pinkerton Man, Reporter, Cookie, Pony Express Rider, Renegade Solider, Tejano Guide, Explosives Expert and Knife Fighter.

The above order should clear about 50% of that list leaving a few leftovers to buy later.

Next, is how to build up scenery quickly, there are two options before me:

1)      Print PDF buildings and glue them to card and call it a day. The lazy way, cheap and fast shortcut.

2)      Scratch build with coffee sticks and Popsicle sticks among other things. This will take more time, look better on the table and is more rewarding. I am leaning towards this route more….

First Few Games of Legends of the Old West

My friend Lee and I got together to play our first few games of Legends of the Old West. It was a learning experience and I am sure we missed a few rules here and there but we had a blast. Lee got to bring his Miniature Building Authority buildings that were amazing and well done. They may be a tad out of period and more fitting for a Fantasy or Pirate based game but still served our needs nicely.

Lee picked Outlaws and went with a simple set of a Desperado with a repeating rifle, 3 kids with sawed off shotguns and 3 or 4 Toughs with pistols. My Lawmen was the Sheriff with a LeMatt Pistol, one Deputy with the same, another with a Repeating Rifle. I had 3 Vigilantes with six shooters and 2 Citizens one with a six shooter and another with a sawed off shotgun.

Our first game was Vendetta; Lee pulled the high card and opted to take the center while I split my forces. The group I put in the graveyard was a sharp move on my part giving me cover and I only lost Granny to a pistol shot after a scattershot blast failed to wound her. The Repeating Rifle was the hero of the group with the move half distance and being able to shoot. I had problems getting my LeMatt into a good spot as Lee was fairly sharp with his placement and taking the top of the turn and having 5 FAME to blow in this game made it a pain for me to get into a good position. I ended up failing a Rout test, I did capture one of Lee’s Kids and he lost a tough or two to recovery rolls.

The second game we played the Jailbreak Scenario, Lee took one corner while I held the jail in the middle with my 3 heroes and Granny. I figured the Rifle and shotgun blasts would keep anyone away while the vigilantes and citizens harassed the Outlaws.  This game ended in a win for me as I was able to keep the Outlaws at bay long enough to slowly chew down their #s for a win.

The last game was for laughs and we did a bar fight. This was no doubt botched at several points but was good for a laugh at the end. We both rolled to Rout and both promptly failed at the same time calling it a draw.

Some lessons learned were that model placement is key to this game. Second, a Repeating Rifle is gold and I see why they cost $16, same for a LeMatt Pistol. I endorse these weapons. Also, avoid getting shot multiple times, taking multiple Pluck tests sucks!

Here is some pictures of the games we played:

The Lawmen

Outlaws

Sheriff and boys take cover!

Ambush has been set in the graveyard.

Granny is the first to go!

The Deputy with the repeater evens the score!

Sheriff and company head for the building where the Outlaws are hold up.

The repeating rifle claims another.

Cooter takes a shotgun blast.

Another good soul shot down in his prime!

Another Kid bites the dust!

Take cover! Hey I just stepped in.....

Dey Over Dere!

Poker chips was used as reload markers.

The cemetary was a bastion of defense!

The boss and one of the boys takes cover from a LeMatt blast!

Gather the boys! We making a stand!

Lawmen hold one of the Outlaws for the judge to arrive. Game 2!

Open season when the posse showed up to help out!

The first two out!

LeMatt clears the stairs of the Outlaws!

Game 3 Barfight Deployment and first turn.

Can't I just eat my beans?

Second Floor, poor granny just wanted a quiet drink!

First round of fights!

Another lawman down, the Outlaws take the second floor!