29^th January 2007 - – original somewhat garbled version made.

27^th October 2007 -– new version after much playing, markedly more sensible. Cleaned up, better writing style and re-wording of ideas.

I used Shadowolf’s superb site for buildings (just add card and matchstick balconies, etc):

http://home.iprimus.com.au/shadowolf/Index.htm

Send (decent/positive/constructive/no weirdo) comments to:

Mackenzie_Norman_2@yahoo.co.uk

RETURN:

http://www.oocities.org/mackenzie_norman_2/index.html

Black Hat - White Hat v 10/ 07

STARTUP:

Each game randomly allocates a suit (Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts) to each player.

For 4 player games the 2 Black suits fight the 2 Red ones.

A Town should consist of about 12 buildings, wagons, corals, etc. A town is not empty, but full of stock characters that may appear. The more Allied figures there is available, the less likely a side will be to cower at one side of the town. Prepare a card for each with their photo on it along with their characteristics (e.g. –1 Shooting, -1 True Grit, etc). If with 12 houses have a mix of perhaps 18 cards. Two or three cards can be Money cards, which if taken off table (or automatically taken by the survivors if left on table at the end). These give extra “notches” that can be spent to improve the gang. Robbing (or saving) the cash is important, just hiding at one corner will leave the Allies and loot to the other side…

• The figures used must represent the weaponry carried.
• Each gang / posse / vigilante group chooses figures up to a value of 12 from the list below:

Gang	Value
Man or woman (unarmed)	+1
Pistol	+1
2 Pistols	+2
Rifle	+1
Shotgun	+1
Horse	+1
Per Skill allocated to a figure	+1

NB - You may only choose one long arm (Rifle or Shotgun) per figure. All figures can still fight when in close combat

DEPLOYMENT:

• Deploy a figure on the table, but not within 9” of the tables centre point. The next player now deploys a figure 12”-24” from that figure. Each now take it in turn to deploy figures within 2” of their friends but beyond 9” of an enemy.
Shuffle pack and discards and deal 5 cards per side. [Maximum hand size may be modified by Skills.]

Now repeat the following sections until the game ends:

• First Player either:

• May play any number of cards on one of their figures; but not more than one movement card and you may play one Shoot card on a shotgun, up to 1 on a rifle (+1 Shoot card to aim), and up to 3 on a pistol. A figure with two pistols can play up to 6 Shoot cards! You could Shoot then Move for example.

OR

• Discard any or all remaining cards and re-deal back up to their maximum hand size.
Next player now takes his go as above.

• Decide if either side has won (no enemy left on table).
• If either player wishes, shuffle the pack and discards.

Card	Uses – either:	Notes
A	May be used as any of the below cards except Joker. May be used to allow the action of another character once the first has finished.	No figure can activate more than once a turn.
2,3,4,5,6	Figure may move that distance Un-pin a figure Persuade.	E.g. – a 3 allows a 3” move (half if Pinned).
7,8,9,10	Figure may move that distance on horseback or 6” if on foot Mount or dismount horse Climb over fence, or up or down ladder Leap horse over fence.	A climb card can be added during movement. Play Movement card and climb card, with the climb taking place during the movement. (E.g. move 2” then climb then move 4,” uses a “6” and a “10”).
J,Q,K	Shoot.	In one turn a figure may play maximum of one Shoot card on a shotgun, up to 1 (+1 to aim) on a rifle, and up to 3 on a pistol, 6 for 2 pistols, or 3(pistol)/1(other) in contact, no other combinations.
Joker!	Cancel any card just played by the opponent, except a Joker!	If cancelling enemy movement, the figure may be stopped at any point en route (ending that players turn)! Cancelling a Shoot card cancels any attached Aim card. The figure still counts as having Shot once.

The following 2-card plays count as one card for purposes of the Joker:

Aim and Shoot Rifle;

Throwing Dynamite = shoot card +distance card.

Move and climb / dismount.

Weapon	Range
Pistol	6”
	12”	-1 to hit
Rifle	Up to 6”
	6” to 24”	On foot, may add extra Shoot card to Aim (+1 to Hit).
Shotgun	(8”x2”) triangular template	Throw against all in template. Never influenced by Shooters Skill.

Cover: Objects between firer and target can get in the way. For Bullets follow the line of fire. A piece of cover such as wall, fence, etc., stops the bullet on a 5,6. If no cover stops the bullet, dice to hit a usual on the To Hit table against the target.

Shotguns: everything not totally out of line of sight is endangered when in the template (use an 8” by 2” triangle).

To Hit	Notes	Needs
Shooting	Possible cover throws for intervening objects.	5,6
Shotgun	All in Template – figures in open	4,5,6
	All in Template – figures behind cover	5,6
Dynamite	All in 3” radius Template throw for damage but are always Pinned. See also Throwing Dynamite.	4,5,6

Aim: If using a Rifle, and there are no enemy within 6” and player can use an extra Shoot card to Aim.

A Sneak is one harder to hit beyond 12”.

Throwing Dynamite: to Shoot throw 3”+ distance card (1-10) if required. Explodes and hits any in 3” radius burst circle on a 4,5,6. All people in the blast are Pinned! Dynamite fuses are not reliable and only explode on a 3,4,5,6. If a dud, may be picked up from where it landed and be used again!].

Fighting back in base-to-base Contact with enemy figure(s) Rule:

· A figure in base contact with an enemy figure can attack (punch / kick / weapons butt / etc.) by playing up to two cards to “Shoot” (up to three if with a Pistol).

· When a player “Shoots” at an enemy figure in contact the enemy figure may play up to 2 Shoot cards (Ace/J/Q/K) back against them.

· Guns may never fire while in contact with an enemy. (In close combat you are actually hitting the target with the weapons butt! To shoot bullets with these guns, move away first then shoot.)

· Defending and attacking strikes are simultaneous.

E.g.: A Pistol armed figure attacking in close combat must place either one, two or three attack (Shoot) cards out of sight (e.g. under the table). A Rifle armed defender can play up to two back. Reveal at same time.

Options:

Hand to hand fighting allows up to 2 “Shoot” cards to be played in a round. If a character has bonuses (e.g. Shoot –1, Shoot +2, etc.) then these also count for hand combat.

True Grit Roll
Horse	Man On Horse	Man
	1 or less	1 or less	Flee	Out of game! A figures True Grit is reduced by one for future games!
3 or less	2,3	2,3,4	Shot down	Out of game! (Dies on a 5,6, unless on balcony or roof where figure plummets and dies on a 3,4,5,6!)
	4			Horse Killed. Man Pinned.
	5	5,6	Pinned	While Pinned, movement is halved and Shooting is at –1 to Hit.
More	6+	More	Missed!	Or so tough the bullet had no effect.

NB - More than one Pin has no extra effect.

E.g.: If a figure Flees in more than one game then his/her True Grit will be at (-2).

ALLIES:

They can have special rules attached such as “Dynamite”, “Insulted”, etc. Allies could join the other side in the next game but will not change sides once Allied during a game.

Allied character cards, of varying capacity, are randomly allocated face down to buildings. They can be allocated a suit as above, weapons and characteristics. It could also be a horse, or gold, etc.

Persuade: you need to be at a door of the building to look at the card. To try to Persuade them to join your side, you need to be in base contact with door, and with no enemy within 6” of that building. The Persuader needs a 6+ to get the figure to join their side.

Add Persuasion Skills if any (0 to +2)

If character is of an Opposite Colour (Red / Black) -1

If character is of same suit (e.g. Diamond / Diamond) +1

A persuaded figure still counts as their own suit if themselves Persuading. Obviously a Mangy Dog or Horse cannot Persuade…

After A Gunfight:

Dice for each figure Shot Down: on a 5,6 the figure is dead and off to Boot Hill, unless on balcony or roof where figure plummets and dies on a 3,4,5,6! Otherwise the figure is available for the next Gunfight. Allies only stay with you for that one game so return to their own businesses. The gang can always replace a dead figure (but not a fled one who returns with lowered True Grit.). Dead figures may be replaced for the next game up to their value (ignore Skills – they are lost). So a dead man with pistol can count 2 value to replace.

Notches on the gun-butt: keep track of the number of enemy that your main characters have Shot Down. Once the total reaches 2 (and then again for 4, 6 and so on) you can choose a skill as below:

Important: Shooting Down figures that are not in or Allied to the enemy side, count against notches on the gun-belt! Shooting Down Horses never gives Notches.

Skills for Kills	Persuade	+1 on Persuasion rolls
	Shoot	+1 on Shoot rolls (includes “hands” in contact)
	True Grit	+1 on True Grit rolls.
	Sneak	-1 on enemy Shoot rolls from beyond 12” against this figure.
	Cardsharp	Deals an extra card. Maximum +2 cards per turn.
	Cheatin’ rat	On being dealt cards, may discard up to one and replace it.
	Buffalo Hunter	Maximum Rifle range is 36”.

A figure can have a maximum of two of any one Skill (e.g. True Grit (+2)). If the figure is killed then so is the Skill. In campaigns True grit can vary from –2 to +2, other “+” Skills 0 to +2. If there are several Cardsharps on a side, they cannot add more than 2 extra cards per turn.

Designers Notes / Extra Suggestions:

Examples of the Cards are at:

http://www.oocities.org/mackenzie_norman_2/piccies.htm

The Word doc can be sent – just email and be patient!

More cards will be added eventually as well as extra “atmosphere cards”. All cards were created in Word, choosing a suitable mailing label. They are double sided (with identical Colt picture on the back), with a photo of the actual figure on them. Only put a grid on one side and a centred Pistol with no grid on the other as you cannot get the grids to line otherwise. A table of example characters will be added. They are roughly equal numbers for each suit.

Group Move: This allows a bunch of figures in base contact to all move at the same time (at the speed of the slowest). They must all end up still in contact, but can only do Movement this turn. The drawback is they get in each others line of sight, and the enemy might shoot at the guy at the back of the group (thus increasing the chances of hitting someone in between), never mind if the enemy use Dynamite or a shotgun.

Buildings: You could have open roofed buildings allowing combat inside them. Alternatively have solid buildings with locked doors (easier!) perhaps 4” square with balconies or flattish roofs with obvious climbing points on them (ladders / stairs). These give your least favourite figures a place to plummet to their doom from. Card buildings are available on the inter-net. Don’t make a solid building too large or it takes too long to go round it.

The weapon template can be those from Games Workshop if you have them lying around. If not, use an 8” by 2” triangle for the Shotgun blast and for the Dynamite a 6” diameter circle.

A simpler game occurs by simply missing out elements such as close combat, but this means unarmed Allies cannot fight unless they find some Dynamite! Of course in this case simply don’t have any unarmed Allies!

You may only Shoot with one weapon type in a players turn (e.g. Throw Dynamite or Shotgun or Rifle or pistol or 2 Pistols or hand to hand). If you seriously intended to try to shoot 2 pistols a rifle and a shotgun while lighting up Dynamite at the same time, please use another set of rules.

If you want a more detailed rule set, with umpteen pages just to get on a horse try:

· Games Workshops “The Old West” series (obtain extra scenarios from here!);

· Ian Beck and John Spencer’s “Once Upon a Time In The West” (includes a very quick and dirty fast play set of rules).