No.  You asked and no one responded.

Then I'm asking again. ;-)

I'm good defending the wagon train.  That's what I was envisioning.

A proper wagon "Train" has a lot more complications than the scenario I was envisioning. It has a lot more civilian targets, an typically more defenders. It also makes it a lot easier for the natives to retreat and come back with a better advantage.

I favor an offensive by the cowpokes. They've located a war party, and they want to force an engagement during the day when they have the advantage. If this is revenge for the first fight, that works as well.

Anyone have thoughts on that scenario?

A wagon train can consist of two wagons...

If we do the Cowboy offensive, their mobility should not be as good as the Comanche's because if it is, it would be too easy to keep their distance to the Comanche while still shooting.

two wagons and 6 cowboys isn't a wagon train, its a cattle-roundup.

I'd like to see cowboys with horses. I'd also like to count ammo. If the Comanche can break contact with the cowboys, that probably counts as a victory, because they can come back and attack at night.

Or a cattle drive where a small number (6) of cowpokes ride off to drive away a raiding force (and thus would of course need to deal enough punishment to make a return of the Comanches unlikely).


So how many reloads do we get to start with?  And is there an "ammo crate" on the wagons?


So they've already won?  Do they need to escape with a specific number (like more than half)?

Those are some great questions.

When I say "Break Contact" I probably mean "Leave the scene", and we're probably using basic chase rules, which would give a slight advantage to the folks with higher riding and wilderness skills.

I have to admit I was thinking of "Win" or "Loose" in less binary terms. There is a continuum of casualties that affect how badly each side has "won" or "lost". The basic scenario is the cowpokes want revenge, and they've got the Comanche at a disadvantage. What do they do with it? If we want numbers, I suppose we can come up with some. failing to drop the 4 to 1 numbers to 3 to 1 numbers is certainly a defeat, and as you stated, halving their numbers is probably a better option.

Number of reloads... I'm leaning against the "Ammo Box" model. Carry your bullets. I'm trying to come up with a method for limiting the weight and cost of the ammunition. $500 and for 800 shots weighing 30 lbs is too much for a single character. Given that WW1 soldiers went into battle with 150 rounds, that's probably the upper limit for the cow-pokes.

Counting bullets and reloads is going to be pivotal to this game, I think. There are some rapidly firing weapons, but once you've emptied your Winchester, its 2 seconds to reload each bullet. I very much think the Comanche have a chance if they time things correctly.

I thought we keep it as simple as possible, that's why I suggested a Comanche charge against stationary Cowboys. The only thing to keep track of would be the distance between the groups (and ammo of course, but that would be needed in any scenario).

If you want to go with a more detailed scenario, that's fine with me as well, but maybe we should do one after the other?

Which is the Comanches.


In what manner would the cowboys have an advantage?


I'd recommend roughly 50 rounds.  Split however the individual cowboy wants (so a riflemen could have more rifle reloads, a pistolier more pistol ammmo).


Unless there is something in this scenario that you haven't mentioned, all they have to do is successfully ride away.

That's probably the best idea. We'll run a simple charge first, with two wagons and an ammo box.

----------------------------

The cowboys have an advantage over the comanche when they can see their movements and fire at a distance without large darkness penalties.

50 rounds sounds decent.

I'm explaining the "retire safely" concept very poorly, it appears. When I said "have a chance" I meant they could possibly engage in combat and win if they time things right.

Sounds good.

Okay...


Sure.

Ok, so it appears that 6 cowpokes will take the charge of a number (24?) comanche warriors. Each cowpoke carries 50 rounds of ammunition, with more in one of two chuck wagons.

Could I get a roll call by the cowpoke players, with each of them saying how many Comanche they think their pair can take? I'd also like Mari to confirm she's ready, or if she's not.

We'll start a new thread for this fight once those details are established.

I'm ready.

Earnest and Daisy are ready.


Is this spades?  Do I gotta call my tricks?

*grumble* /looks across at DBlade and Vulco and sizes up his partners...
I call 10.  And neither one of y'all better call nil, or they'll be a reckonin!





Pretty sure me and Mari are the ones rolling with more than one Character under their control, DBlade made a pistolier and I think Vulco made a rifleman.  But neither have been posted to the Final Characters thread.

I might need to drop from it? I've been having trouble figuring out how to optimize and between that and illness I'm not sure if I'll wind up holding people back even more.

I'm in and ready

And how many can your people take?

Ben will also take 5 Commanches

Ok, so three cowpokes believe they can take the charge of 15. I think you're going to end up dead without the dignity of a burial, but the bets have been made. I'll set up a thread just for the fight.

Nice!

Wouldn't be the first time.  Now I just have to bone up on the range fighting rules, lol.

What should be used as the range and speed modifier at the start here?  How fast are those horses moving or because they are coming at us, there isn't one?

I'd suggest -12 to start (200yds + 12yds/sec for the horsespeed).

First off, I'd like to point out that ponies don't have a Move of 12...  they have a Move of 14.

And I'd like to know if the cowboys have calvary horses or ponies?





It should come down to "each side roll a die, the Cowboys get a +1 for having the Tactics skill" (if Daisy is the cowboy's leader, as she actually has the skill).  However, at the range we're at....  it's really only going to matter if the Comanches decide to use archery in the same turn we decide to fire our rifles.  Which considering the difference in accuracy and the penalties they should be taking for firing while on a charging horse*... it's pretty unlikely that they'll fire first or at the same time.  I suspect the cowboys will get two or three shots off before they close enough to use archery.

Otherwise we'll just be doing a "indians go, then cowboys, then indians" etc.


* Never mind, they've got Horse Archery.  So, we might only get one volley off before they close enough to start firing back.


There are exactly 3 ways to get more than one ranged attack:  Extra Attack (which no one has), Dual Weapon Attack, and Ranged Rapid Shot.

Dual Weapon Attack is identical to melee, have two weapons, make two attacks at -4 to each, if both target the same foe they get a -1 to parries; Area Defense, Precognitive Parry, etc.  Dodge is unaffected.

Ranged Rapid Shot requires a firearm with a RoF of 2+, otherwise it's identical to Rapid Strike.  Can be trained up using the Quick Shot Technique.

There are three ways to increase your RoF; Fanning, Fast-Firing, and Thumbing.  I can explain them if necessary.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:57, Sat 12 Jan 2019.

I was wandering if I could shoot at one of the comanches, then switch targets? Or just attack that same target twice?  My rifle has RoF of 2