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A friend splashed out on some very nice laser cut frontier western buildings, and we are starting Dead Man's Hand.
I got the cowboy bug and want to read more 'boys own' western stories like those of Louis L'Amour and Elmer Kelton, for inspiration.
Who do y'all recommend?
We were once so close to heaven, St. Peter came out and gave us medals; declaring us "The nicest of the damned".
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”
Oh yeah, I've read a lot of L'Amour in my youth. Maybe I should revisit his Greatest Hits.
We were once so close to heaven, St. Peter came out and gave us medals; declaring us "The nicest of the damned".
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”
Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove would probably be a great place to start. There is also another anthology of supernatural western stories on the shelf if that's what you're into.*
* I've been trying to figure out which collection to buy for Shadows of Brimstone inspiration, so please let me know what you think of Dead Man's Hand.
You might also look into Zane Grey who seems to be a slightly more modern Louis L'Amour. I've also heard that Elmore Leonard wrote some great westerns before he switched to too-hip crime dramas.
It's not a book, but have you seen Brisco County Jr.?
Automatically Appended Next Post: When you mentioned Dead Man's Hand, I thought you were referring to this weird west anthology of short stories. There are a lot of solid writers in this collection.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And Straight Outta Tombstone looks even pulpier, with another batch of fun writers.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/08/24 18:17:12
BobtheInquisitor wrote:Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove would probably be a great place to start. There is also another anthology of supernatural western stories on the shelf if that's what you're into.*
* I've been trying to figure out which collection to buy for Shadows of Brimstone inspiration, so please let me know what you think of Dead Man's Hand.
Only played a few scenarios over an afternoon, but what I've seen looks promising. The models are card activated and the combat is D20. The mechanics are pretty light.
BobtheInquisitor wrote:You might also look into Zane Grey who seems to be a slightly more modern Louis L'Amour. I've also heard that Elmore Leonard wrote some great westerns before he switched to too-hip crime dramas.
It's not a book, but have you seen Brisco County Jr.?
I have not, is it a movie?
We were once so close to heaven, St. Peter came out and gave us medals; declaring us "The nicest of the damned".
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”
You don't need to sell it further, I'm already looking for it
We were once so close to heaven, St. Peter came out and gave us medals; declaring us "The nicest of the damned".
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”
BobtheInquisitor wrote: You might also look into Zane Grey who seems to be a slightly more modern Louis L'Amour. I've also heard that Elmore Leonard wrote some great westerns before he switched to too-hip crime dramas.
It's not a book, but have you seen Brisco County Jr.?
Automatically Appended Next Post: When you mentioned Dead Man's Hand, I thought you were referring to this weird west anthology of short stories. There are a lot of solid writers in this collection.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And Straight Outta Tombstone looks even pulpier, with another batch of fun writers.
A fair amount of Zane Grey's work is in the public domain, and can be found for free, if you want to try it out.
Wildside Press has compilations of old pulp westerns for 99 cents. A lot are public domain, but it is easier than digging for yourself.
For TV - I am very much a fan of two old, related shows - the first, older, and back when there were fifty weeks to a TV season, is Have Gun, Will Travel - about a gunslinger for hire - with a brain. (And in one episode Paladin - said gunslinger - is hired by both sides of a conflict... and ends up grabbing both of the leaders, and proving that they are both being played by a third party.)
The show stars Richard Boone.
Boone is also featured in the other show - which is bloody hard to find these days - Hec Ramsey, about a forensic examiner in the last days the wild west. At one point he mentions that he used to go by the name Paladin, back when he was a gunslinger.... When asked 'What kind of a name is Hec?' he replies 'A better one than Hector.' Which... explains why you never learn Paladin's real name in Have Gun Will Travel.
The Auld Grump - when I was growing up, I loved Hec Ramsey - part of the NBC Mystery Movie series.
Kilkrazy wrote:When I was a young boy all my wargames were narratively based because I played with my toy soldiers and vehicles without the use of any rules.
The reason I bought rules and became a real wargamer was because I wanted a properly thought out structure to govern the action instead of just making things up as I went along.
