Whatever he wanted he could get,
The badge on his waistcoat shone in the sun,
It ain't no lie, Big Jim was feared by everyone."
Any other fans of Genesis out there? The song lyrics are a big clue to my latest diversion, having very temporarily tired of Welsh archers et al. Yes, I clocked the new "Dead Man's Hand" rules in various publications, saw the odd write up and the article in the latest WI mag, and promptly bought all four gangs, a rulebook and a Perry General Store to get me started!
So, a week after I started, I now have two painted gangs, one of which appears here. This one is first because it is that quite rare thing for me nowadays, a commission (of sorts - see below) painted for someone else.
I have long had a copy of the Warhammer Old West rules and the odd supplement, yet have no figures for this genre nor indeed played a game for a while, yet the Dead Man's Hand project reeled me in. Why? I think (and hope to prove once I get a few games in) that the alleged dynamism of the rules is the key. How many times have we all played a skirmish game where each player cogitates and digests his/ her next move for an aeon or two? How realistic is that in the cut and thrust of such a real life situation. Exactly - totally NOT real! So, I was impressed by what I felt was an attempt to get away from this and give a fast and furious action-based game. Time will tell.
Why only a sort of commission? Well, Nephew Paul gave me a fair number of Peter Pig Africans a while back, for which I was yet to pay. I phoned him and offered him a gang and he leapt at the option. I was not supposed to paint them for him, but it seemed pointless painting just one, so I did his Desperadoes too, alongside my lawmen. The Cowboys and Outlaws will follows shortly.
So, as I took some photos before I gave them away, and as I will only see them in anger from now on, I present for you Nephew Paul's Desperadoes, with brushwork and silly names courtesy of me.
The Africans, by the way, will not be joining my "AK47 Republic" forces by the way (the Marxist Union of the Popular Parties for the Enhancement of Tanga [M.U.P.P.E.T], led by the enigmatic Kermit Ngongi), but will form the basis of some "Force on Force" units in due course. I may even photograph the AK47 stuff at some point.
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| Each gang starts with 7 members. |
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| Muerte the Apache. Meaner than a rattlesnake with a sore rattle and twice as likely to bite someone. |
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| Colonel Ezekiel Crane, who just cannot get over the South's defeat in the Civil War. I envisage him robbing banks, stages, old ladies and anything else with a dime in its pocket to try to buy arms to fund and fuel a second attempt at a southern win. |
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| Sergeant Nathaniel Butts, late of the Confederate cavalry and loyal bar none to his old Colonel. |
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| Toro Fernandes cannot hit a barn door with a banjo it is said.... |
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| Seamus O'Shaughnessy and his double-barrelled shillelagh. |
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| El Vaca, so called because he smells like a herd of cattle. |
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| Ace McGurk, so called because he always has one (or four) up his sleeve during any card game. |
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