19.73MB - View From The Trenches

would have lost the + I advantage he enjoyed byswitching to a two-handed gun. When I saw howthings were shaping up between the Drifter and theKid, and between the Border Rider and the GunArtist, I should have backed southward, lined upthe Border Rider and the Gun Artist, then used theRIO to blow them away. I could have had theBorder Rider's H44 even earlier then and dictatedthe course of the game. I could, at the very least,have used it on the Kid before charging him.Drifter: Not much to say. Luck went against me.With as much delay as I then had, I should havetried to keep it down by picking only cards thatwould give me no chance of delay. Maybe I couldhave gotten a final shot off and killed the last manstanding. I may not have won, but at least I lived. Asmall consolation that.As is usually the case in GUNSLINGER, all ofthe players made errors and luck played a significantpart; but in the end the most consistently goodplay won.The Border Rider played a sound gamestrategically, but he was done in by his lack oftactical expertise in the game. In particular, firingtoo hastily on turn 2 cost him his advantage over theGun Artist, and aiming too long put him out forgood on turn 3.The Drifter set up poorly and made severalstrategic errors on turns I and 2, mostly in neglectingto get out ofeveryone's way. But he was startingto wriggle out of them skillfully when he caught abullet on turn 3. Unfortunately, he apparently didnot realize that he was still a force to be reckonedwith even after he was wounded. Rather than conservehis strength, he tried strenuous play that puthim out ofthe game for good.The Gun Artist made one mistake by droppingearly, but thereafter played well until the BorderRider was dispatched on turn 3. Thereafter, hewasted turns 4 and 5, and GUNSLINGER is not agame in which you can waste time. By turn 6, he wasin trouble again, and it probably made no differencethat he tried to escape then.Innocente played excellently until he got downon turn 5, and even that was not a bad mistake.Innocente's fatal errors started on turn 7, when hewasted time and then commenced to rush the closerangespecialist.The Kid made a number of minor errors, butavoiding the big error that puts one out ofthe game.Dropping on turn I cost him his fanfiring advantage,and leaving his rifle on turn 2 could have beenfatal ifany ofthe long-range specialists hadgotteninto action. Most importantly, in turns 5 and 7 hehad the chance to load, get up or move back towhere his rifle was. He knew that a crisis was comingup, andyet he gambled on staying where he was.When the final showdown came he was at a severedisadvantage. In the end, all that saved him wasInnocente's wild run for the money.BLANK COUNTERSAvalon Hill now sells blank, half inchcounters pre-printed with standard unit notationsin an assortment of six colors. Each counter sheetcontains approximately 190 counters. The larger5/8" counters are not available in different colorsor with pre-printed unit notations. When orderingchoose from the following colors: white, beige,blue, yellow, gray, or mint green. Blank countersheets are available for $2.00 each, or six for$7.50, or twelve for $14.00. Add 10070 for postageand handling (20% for Canadian customers, 30%for overseas orders). Maryland residents pleaseadd 5% state sales tax.~be ~ompleat llip(omati~kl" ""_'A.""', . ,'/&M::;>:/(~.':-:-:''''.'':''/