I thought all this planning was just for show and we were going to dynamite the whole place and let God sort out the pieces?

Seriously, though, that sounds good. I'm happy to either help with the sneaky folks (Albert is a Thief after all) or just look tough with my shiny gun out front.

Seriously why not just dynamite the back tunnel and seal it up?

Has Kansas Kate acquired any dynamite from the House yet? I'm open to the idea, if we all think its a good one, but was of the understanding that they were the only ones with any to sell. I am also under the impression that none of us are on good terms with them, and that they would view our attempts to purchase explosives with a modicum of skepticism.

But if we y'all managed to get the dynamite from another store, that's an option certainly.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:29, Thu 10 Sept 2020.

The good doctor was able to secure a single crate of dynamite that Renata Montano had hidden away for a day when it was needed.

I do have dynamite!  Currently rigging clockwork dynamo detonators....

Alright, so maybe those inclined can blow the back tunnel. Hopefully carefully, as on the map, it doesn't look terribly far from the house itself - where there may be prisoners that Murphy is keeping.

I've updated the earlier thread where I outlined the plan to include a change that involves blowing up the back tunnel. The only thing that changes is that without a secret entrance to the main house anymore, we will need a heavier assault on the main building (which we can't just blow up because there are prisoners inside) so we can get in and take Murphy down without our prisoners being killed.

My only concern with that plan is that Murphy starts killing hostages the moment we cut off his retreat. Any suggestions to appease the demolitions crew but also preserve hostage lives?

Icelan: Well, look at that, all the red dummies are blown to hell.

Frank Murphy: And a few white ones!

Fletcher: One civilian dead for every ten terrorists. That's an acceptable ratio.

Frank Murphy: [Leaning closer to Braddock] Unless you're one of the civilians!

- Blue Thunder (1983)

I enjoyed that movie. I was also a big fan of Airwolf back in the day.

I think it’s worth seeking out especially for Malcolm McDowell’s turn as the villainous colonel. McDowell does great bad guys.

I can remember once playing a computer game a friend had that was based on Airwolf. I was terrible at it. Literally anything and everything caused me to crash or get blown out of the sky.

I played some Choplifter back in the day. But never anything based on Airwolf.

Before I make everything weird, do we just come riding up on the discussion in progress fresh from the pew pew?

I wouldn't say so. Doc Wood's treatment doesn't have any supernatural element to it. He's just a skilled frontier doctor. But, it is going to take him some time to remove any bullets that stayed put and stitch up the wounds. In addition, Kibbee, the newspaperman, will urge Kansas Kate to stay put, at least for a bit, while he watches to ensure the street is clear.

So, a few hours will have passed between the duel with Allison and the meeting at Ike Ellis' place.

So retroactively, K² was always there?  I can do that.

Not really.  I thought a better idea would be to draw Murphy out the front and send people in the back to free the hostages and search for the heart.

Unless we think that he's going to be carrying his heart around with him?

I sort of agree with that plan. Not that I think we will be able to draw Murphy out, but I think there's good strategic value in having a second entrance to the house that Murphy doesn't know that we know about. Blowing it up completely squanders the strategic value.

If folks are really eager to blow stuff up, I think one of the outlying buildings should do the trick.

As a side note, over the weekend I was contemplating what the outcome would be if dynamite were used to blow the Murphy ranch house sky high, given that the heart would be on the premises when it happened.

While I’m presuming that the heart would ultimately reform, such an explosion would have enough force to tear it apart, releasing all of the energies stored within it.

In the wake of it, I’m guessing there would be a lot of open range in Lincoln County. I mean, there would be zombies and other fun loving critters wandering around on sections of it, but it would be entirely free of claims and ready for grazing.

---

With regard to more serious matters, once a general strategy is firmly set, and I have a clear understanding of who is attached to each group, I’ll dutifully move things ahead. Please understand, that’s not an attempt to get anyone to hurry up and make a decision. I want everyone to be comfortable with the plan you select. That’s just my assurance that I won’t push things ahead until the posse has their approach finalized.

I mean I'm okay with the pincer movement idea, my original thought was there was nothing and no one in the tunnel so it'd be hilarious if he tried to flee that way to find it was denied, and that's not actually true so maybe it won't work out so well.

Okay, it looks like things have gone a little quiet. For my part, I recognize that planning sessions can be complicated when players are conducting them together across the tabletop. In a play-by-post environment, they can often prove especially unwieldy and challenging for all involved.

To my (admittedly imperfect) perception, it appears that most of the posse is inclined to be part of the frontal assault that is aiming to breach the house in the midst of the chaos initiated by the Regulators. So, here’s what intend to do: I’m going to proceed with moving the game forward with the attack on Murphy’s ranch on Wednesday. If anyone doesn’t want to be in the gathering that’s riding straight for the house, let me know before that time. Otherwise, I’ll assume that silence equates to a desire to be part of the central group.

Many thanks for everyone’s patience.

That sounds good to me. Sorry I've been a bit absent this last week, I had surprisingly little time to dedicate to RPOL over the last...nine days or so. It will be better starting Wednesday, so I like that deadline.

It seems like it will largely be good for the story if we're all together in the frontal assault, but I'm happy to be part of the quiet group as well. I suppose that's the conundrum. We probably need at least one person with special bullets at the back entrance, just in case Murphy makes his way over there. Looks like KK, J-Lo, Tamsin, and Albert are the ones that have a bullet. So maybe I'm now going to completely change my mind and say that Albert and possibly J-Lo should be part of the sneaky group that makes certain Murphy can't escape. Lee, Wayland, and KK should almost certainly be part of the direct frontal assault.

So, I'm not speaking for anyone else, but let's put Albert in the underground/backdoor group.

K² might also be more effective at the front because Murphy's men will want to taunt and kill her.  She might even be able to distract them for a bit.  Not long, but maybe a bit.

Albert, I’ll be sure to include you with Andrew Roberts and his Mescalero warrior allies as they move to secure the stables.

On a side note, I’m going to move my deadline one day forward to Thursday. I’ve noted that some players haven’t signed into the game for several days now. I haven’t received any notice regarding absences, so I’m going to wait and see if any resurface before putting the last fight in motion for those that remain, solely because that’s a lot of significant characters for me to NPC. Hopefully, I’ll hear something from those that have been away by then. If not, I’ll go ahead and push forward on Thursday.

Wayland is all in on the frontal assault.  Fully armed and operational.

He'd need to finish with the dynamite bundles and will explain the use of his wind up detonators to whichever groups need said dynamite.  The Regulators seem a good bet.  Possibly the tunnel group if they'll take it.

Wayland will carry a bundle for the assault troop.

Yeah, it might still be good to be ready to blow that tunnel as a contingency plan, just in case, even if it's not the primary plan.

I'm ready to go when you are, Marshal.  My week has (hopefully) calmed down, so I'll be around the back half of this week and into the weekend.

Howdy! I can't remember if I'm one of those that hadn't signed in, but I was simply waiting on Wednesday (though I might should've said something in the interim). In any case, I'm here and ready to go whenever you are, Marshal.