In order to play, you’ll need minis to represent cowboys, Indians and any other Wild West characters you want to include (e.g. cattle for stampedes or a cattle drive). Various mini manufacturers make Old West ranges that fit the bill but in keeping with the saving money idea, I would recommend using dollar store cowboys and Indians; they do just as well as the expensive lead minis and can be painted if you want to make them more individualized.
You’ll also need a deck of cards (sans Jokers), several six-sided dice (d6), a measuring tape or ruler and a place to play. The cards are used to determine who gets initiative in a turn (each side picks a color, if both drawn cards are one color that side goes/if different colors highest value goes/redraw ties).
Characters in SGS have three stats which are determined by rolling 1d6 and consulting a chart. Combat Value (CV)---which ranges from CV3 (newbie) to CV6 (Billy the Kid)---determines how well your character fights. Constitution is directly based on whatever CV you rolled and is affected by your character’s profession (marshals get +2 for example while civilians get -1). Constitution is how much punishment your character can take.
Last, you roll your character’s Coolness (ranging from 3 to 6 as with CV). SGS is a reaction driven system and Coolness really comes into play once the lead starts flying. Coolness is the only ability that can be increased/decreased if you play multiple games with the same characters.
While combat is based on CV in most instances, Coolness determines if your character is going to flinch when it comes time to take that first shot. Depending on how bad you mess up your Coolness, you could suffer minuses to your “To Hit” rolls to reflect how jittery (or not) your character is during this encounter.
You can roll for a profession or simply choose one from the list. Characters are provided a standard amount of equipment. Every PC has a pistol, a rifle and a horse. Weapons including bows and shotguns and their effective ranges are listed in table form for easy reference if your character happens to be sporting one or more of non-standard weapons.
The game really doesn’t go into gold pieces or other wealth since the emphasis is more on fighting. However, your character can roll for his ‘Life and Times’ which gives him or her more, er, ‘character’. Life and Times rolls can mean anything from a reputation for gunplay to having an exceptional horse.
A typical game day lasts until all of one side’s characters are dead OR ten face cards have been pulled from the initiative deck. During a turn, a player may have his character Pop Up (Peaking around/over Something); Move (move maximum distance during a turn including mounted if on horseback); Draw (usually reserved for one on one gunfight scenarios); Seek cover (self explanatory); Runaway (get off the game table as quickly as possible); or Brawl (start and continue a melee fight).
The really neat thing about 2 Hour Wargames rules is the reaction system. Basically, there are times when you as a player (if you were actually there hiding beside that barrel while lead was flying) would not have time to think about what to do next. The reaction system requires characters to take dice tests at certain junctures, which if failed force the player to have a character react in a certain way. If a target (Got a Shot) opportunity arises during a gunfight, you have to check. If you get shot at, you have to check. If you want to charge at somebody and start a brawl, are being charged, and/or at the end of a brawl, you have to check.
Reaction checks are based on rolling 2d6 versus CV and checking the result on the table. Passing the check with both dice (you check each dice separately against the CV) usually means that you as the player have managed to stay in control and you can have your character do what you feel is appropriate. Failing with one dice means your character is forced to take an action but one that’s probably not too far out of the path of logic. For example, if you fail one roll for getting shot your character will very sensibly “Duck Down” to get out of harm’s way. But, if both dice in the roll were failed, your character would runaway---leaving the game by whatever route was quickest.
Combat can be resolved in a couple of ways in the game, depending on whether you’re using the basic or optional advanced rules. I prefer the second method since it’s a lot less time consuming and not as open to argument : )
In the basic rules, you consult a list of modifiers (target in cover? Target stationary? Etc.), roll a d6 and add your CV. You then check to see how successful (if at all) on a list of values. If you hit, you then see how much damage you did and that can either wound a fella or take him completely out.
The advanced rules are similar except that you don’t have to worry with modifiers. You simply add the d6 roll to the CV and check the result on the table which says what happened. If you hit, again you then see how much damage you did and that can either wound a fella or take him completely out.
Locales is a listing of sites and suggestions on how to set up your local cow towns and other encounters. The game is really set up for campaign play, if you want to go that route, and the rules contain options for determining town names, town size and even what businesses you’re likely to run into depending on how big the town is. You can also play games out on the trail such as hunting down a desperado with your posse or stealing cattle from a big drive. The author has also included information on terrain and its effects on movement and shooting, Indian PCs and complete campaign rules.
There’s a nice list of NPCs with pre-generated stats and encounter tables in case you want to let chance determine what happens next. Scenarios are provided including cattle rustling, capture an outlaw, wandering into Indian territory, jailbreak, range war, bank robbery cattle drive and the old favorite: Gunfight. Each of these smaller settings has a brief description of what’s happening and what victory conditions are necessary for a player to win.
The one and really only complaint I know that many gamers will have is the book’s appearance. The rules are 18 pages spiral bound with a single color photo on the cover of cowboy miniatures firing at unseen enemies off in the distance. That said, SGS is very typical of small press releases and makes up for its rustic appearance through very impressive substance and excellent game content. This is a solid game on par with much more expensive rule sets that do not offer one ounce more fun even though they have slick covers and internal artwork.
In summary, SGS is a cool little game of Old West action with a lot of replay value. It’s reasonably priced and compares in my opinion to much more expensive products from other rules makers. It covers the spectrum from one off games where you and your buddies throw down some figures for a quick game once in a while to a dedicated campaign that can be as elaborate as you want to make it. If you’re a fan of gun slinging, Westerns or if you just want to simulate planetside happenings from Joss Whedon’s Firefly tv series, Six Gun Sound is worth your time and your coin.
See ya’ll at the shindig but don’t forget to pack your shooting irons.
