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Hey Misc. Miniatures!

Over the past few weeks I've been looking for Wild West Rulesets so I can play a wild west campaign my dad wants to play. My dad is nearing 70, and isn't a gamer (unless it's pinball) and his excuse for not learning some of the games that I play is because the rules are too hard/too complex for him to understand. Now I know this isn't the case because he's a bit of an intelligent fellow, but I can't try teaching him a super-complex game and pass it off as simple. So I've been looking for Wild West rulesets that are simple and clear rules that still have that 'western feel' to them, weird west and sci-fi west games would only be considered if the weird/sci-fi part could easily be removed. The rules need to allow for play with more than just 1 miniature, and have an easy to follow campaign system as well, though 'character advancement' isn't necessary and would probably serve to just confuse him. I've shown him the Legends of the Old West rulebooks since I picked them up at a swap meet a few weeks ago and he seems interested. But I'm not sure if the game is too complex.

Now before you say, "one of these threads again?" I've done some research already and I've found a few rulesets but I've never actually played them before. I've checked out the Alternative Games thread in Dakka Discussions and only 1 western ruleset is mentioned (Blackwater Gulch), and I've checked out The Miniatures Page, Board Game Geek, and Wargames vault looking for good western rulesets. So here is a concise rundown of what I'm looking for for the tl;dr people:
Wild West feel (weird west and sci-fi west have to be easily removable parts to consider their rulesets)
28-32mm figures (manufacturer doesn't really matter as I've got a few in mind already)
Simple and clear rules
Easy to implement campaign system for stringing together multiple games (doesn't need advancement system)

And here are the games I've been looking at:

Legends of the Old West - Made by the now defunct Warhammer Historical group, this game has 1 core rules and 3 expansions, I already own all of these books. It seems very much like basic GW mechanics but in a western setting. Doesn't seem overly complex for me, but it does seem a little complex for someone without knowledge of GW games. I've been watching filbert's blog in specialist games where he covered a game and it seems interesting. He said he had a blast playing the game.

Blackwater Gulch - Made by Gangfight Games and Dakka's own Necros haven't gotten a chance to play the game or look at it much beyond some artwork. Seems interesting, and according to porkuslime it's really easy to pick up. So, we'll see. porkuslime has offered to run a demo for me if I'm interested, might take my dad with me so he can demo to the two of us at once. Would be at least an hour drive to get to a demo.

Gutshot - Made by Hawgleg Publishing, never played it, saw some reviews that it is more like a Western RPG, so I'm not immediately interested in this ruleset.

The Rules with No Name - Made by Foundry Miniatures and designed by Bryan Ansell. I've heard this is a very good ruleset, unfortunately I cannot find a copy of the rules, nor can I seem to find if this rules is still in production. Apparently uses a deck of cards in addition to dice?

So Dakka, can you help me decide on a ruleset? If you've played any of these, please let me know I'd love to hear any and all opinions on the game(s) that you've played. Do you know of a western ruleset that I didn't name, let me know!

Based on your needs it seems like Blackwater Gulch is the way to go. Simple ruleset, available free online and with blank character cards available on the website, Your dad won't even have to navigate through an unfamiliar army list. Just look at the cards.

The Rules With No Name have a Yahoo group you can join that has the free PDF version of the rules.

Is there a Western-themed version of Song of Blades and Heroes?

Another game you may want to check out if you have the time and inclination is Dead Man's Hand:

http://www.greatescapegames.co.uk/dead-mans-hand

It uses a pack of cards as a game mechanic and seems quite intriguing. I saw a review in a recent miniatures magazine that was very favourable.

 infinite_array wrote:
The Rules With No Name have a Yahoo group you can join that has the free PDF version of the rules.

Anatole's game room did a review in 2011.
http://anatolisgameroom.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/rules-with-no-name-free-pdf-version.html
If it's any use use to you.

Although, I should point out that LoTOW really isn't very complicated to get to grips with at all - there is only one table that you need to reference and that is the strength/grit chart for wounding. The rest of the rules are straightforward and clear and if you don't want to tailor your gangs, there are a bunch of sample characters and gangs that you can use.

I picked up some Black Scorpion Miniatures, which are fantastic for anyone wanting to do western stuff, and the BWG rulebook. I will look at some of these other groups and links you guys have posted.

Gonna go against the grain and suggest re-skinning Song of Blades and Heroes to the wild west. 1 stat, simple dice, no measuring tapes.
Well, not too against the grain since Azazelx had a similar idea!

An alternative you might not have seen, and which I have not played, is Fistful of Lead. From their description it seems to fit the bill though. Also worth looking at Six Gun Sound and Desperado.

Reportedly the "Old West shootout" game from EM4 is pretty simple and fast.
http://www.em4miniatures.com/acatalog/Old_West_Heroes.html
Unfortunately it is only available with the Old West Heroes miniatures set 2. A review is here:
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37720/old-west-shootout
and here
http://obsidian3d.blogspot.com/2012/09/wild-west-wanderings.html

I would suggest Shoot and Skedaddle as a fun and simple Old West game. Its very easy to teach and plays pretty fast. I taught it to two people this week in less than 15 minutes.
http://shootnskedaddle.blogspot.com/

Just wanted to add another game. "In Her Magesty's Name". Technically it's steampunk, but it has the appropriate level of technology (if you don't include steam punk elements).

Most importantly it's a really streamlined and straitforward ruleset with easy rules for statting up your own characters and enough included force lists that you will probably be able to find apropriate statlines in the book. Reading through the rules I realized it'd be a great ruleset also for a Necromunda or Post-Apoc game as well.

I really enjoyed the free 40k-centric version "In The Emperor's Name", and just got "In Her Magesty's Name" (printed by Osprey) in the mail a few days ago.

 filbert wrote:
Another game you may want to check out if you have the time and inclination is Dead Man's Hand:

http://www.greatescapegames.co.uk/dead-mans-hand

It uses a pack of cards as a game mechanic and seems quite intriguing. I saw a review in a recent miniatures magazine that was very favourable.

I was going to say the same thing not sure how simple it is though.

Just as an update, I'll be getting in a game or two with Legends of the Old West this Friday since no one in my gaming group could decide what we wanted to do, so I threw it out there. I will also have Blackwater Gulch on me. I haven't taken an in depth look at these other rulebooks, but I did see most of them at a local gaming store.

Personally i'd recomend Dead mans hand, you only need about 7 models each side plus the deck of cards that come with the rule book. I played my first game a few weeks ago and absolutley loved it the different scenarios only take between 5-20 minutes so it does'nt drag on for ages.

Lewis