8equal to his skill (when using COCK/AIM/SHOOTto fanfire) or a range one greater than his skill (whenusing SHOOT to fanfire). Similarly, a shotgun ismost efficient with no AIM markers when reloadingis not a problem, but one AIM marker is best if itwill have to be reloaded. At anything over immediaterange, rifles and carbines should be aimedlong enough to get their aim bonuses. Other timelosses-such as drawing a new gun, reloading, losinga segment due to delay or inefficient play,etc.-all tend to increase the optimal aim time. Inpractice, these considerations should be viewed onlyas a guideline: in most cases a character can fire onesegment early or late without hurting his efficiencytoo much; in any case, maximizing efficiency is notas important as getting in that first effective shot.Maximizing the chance of getting the first hit isfar from simple. Aiming increases accuracy butgives the target time, so a player should aim onlywhen he can make better use of the time than histarget. When he shoots his chance of hittingreduces his target's chances (the target will lose hisaim) but the shot's chances of missing give thetarget the time it takes to recock. Usually the besttactic is to shoot just before the enemy shoots,especially if either side has good chances of hitting.A player should arrange his actions to fire one segmentearlier than he thinks his enemy will fire (ifthe probabilities justify a shot) or to keep aimingfor a better shot later (if they do not). He shouldfavor SHOOT at crisis points because it is fastand, when preceded by COCK/AIM/SHOOT, itallows a choice of adjacent segments in which tofire. When players reveal actions on the same segment,knowing what the others are doing is a largeadvantage to the one who reveals last; earlierplayers must be particularly wary of aiming insituations that invite a pre-emptive shot.A character can gain time by maximizing hisgunhandling efficiency many ways. He should tryto cock, load or draw just after he shoots, or hisenemies can play knowing he is temporarilyhelpless. He can widen his shooting options byaiming at a central hex while his aim builds up andthen moves his aim hex by hex to his target beforehe shoots; any B2 or B3 SHOOT he has will allowhim to move this aim faster. He can use a B2 or B3to cock his gun without drawing, and its SHOOTgives him an extra chance to fire each turn, whichis valuable at close range, particularly when fanfiring.If he has the skill, fanfiring allows him toshoot fast and also avoids the delay of cocking,but its low accuracy makes it chancy at a range oftwo hexes and wasteful beyond. Movement actionscan also help him: he can move without hurting hisfanfiring accuracy, which helps him to close in tothe range where fanfiring is dangerous; and if hehas a spare segment (when he knows he is just aiming,for example) he can play TURN to gain thebenefit of MOVE targets status.Special problems arise if obstructions interferewith the line of sight. <strong>The</strong> shooter must have aclear LOS from the time he reveals a shot until heexecutes it, so when his target is near obstructionsit is prudent for him to aim at a hex adjacent towhere the target will appear and transfer his aimwhen the target appears. However, if a runningtarget is in LOS for only one segment, COCK/AIM/SHOOT is too slow to transfer and shoot sothe shooter must schedule SHOOT for the segmentwhen he thinks the target will be in view; if heguesses wrong he can only transfer his aim fromhex to hex, following the target to get anotherchance on a later turn. A target can actuallyoutrun aim, particularly in areas (the grove ofwoods) where there are a lot of blind hexes. <strong>The</strong>target should schedule his slow ADVANCE to happenwhen he moves from one blind spot toanother. <strong>The</strong> bonus B2 and B3 SHOOT actions (ifhe has them) can give the shooter extra chances tocatch the target in the open.VII. SUPPORTING SYSTEMS<strong>The</strong> Result Cards and IMPACT TABLE providea fast and easy method of resolving shots whiletaking into account aim time, range, impact of thebullet, moving targets, down targets, targets undercover, misfires and the location of hits. <strong>The</strong> importanceof most of these factors is obvious, but suchthings as shell impact are often overlooked eventhough gun experts wax rhetorical about the criticaldifferences between shells. <strong>The</strong> system allows a lotof factors to be interwoven without referring to a lotof charts or doing a lot of adding and subtracting.<strong>The</strong> result puts the emphasis on events rather than acloud of numbers, and plays with the fast pace agunfight should have.Penalties represent factors that interfere withthe victim's ability to act. Delay points representdisorientation that limits what he can do. Enduranceboxes represent the mental energy thatenables him to recover, so fatigue and wound cardsthat reduce his endurance represent events that sapthis energy. He passes out only if his delay exceedshis endurance for two consecutive turns, whichmeans that, since his delay is halved each turn, eachendurance box raises his blackout threshold by twodelay points. When his endurance is low, he must bevery careful about getting delay; but when it is high,he can eventually recover even if he gets enoughdelay to be helpless for several turns. SERIOUSpenalties represent damage to the victim's systemdue to bleeding, pain, internal injuries; this damagecontinues to weaken him after the initial impact andat the end of the showdown he must check to see ifthe damage to his system is mortal. <strong>The</strong> otherpermanent penalties (GUN ARM and so forth) representhow damage to a specific part of the bodyinterferes with specific actions.<strong>The</strong> brawling system makes a virtue out of thenecessity of resolving hand-to-hand combat. <strong>The</strong>possible actions are categorized into three attacksand defenses to allow a "rock-paper-stone" interactionwith varying penalties. STRENGTH is aseparate action to allow a choice between a fast,weak blow and a stronger but slower one. <strong>The</strong>wielding factor rules allow the same actions to be u~edfor weapon attacks. In practice, only weapon attacksand bonus card attacks are powerful enoughto dispatch an enemy outright, but barehanded attackscan gain critical time by inflicting a littledelay. Fast, quick attacks that inflict a little delaycan be followed by strong attacks that inflict a lot ofdelay, and then a weapon or a bonus card can beused to dispatch the victim (it usually takes too longto pound an opponent into unconsciousness usingnormal attacks). A character who is later in theorder of play has an exaggerated advantage inbrawling due to the way defenses work (his defensesare usually effective for an extra segment), so heshould tend to favor closing in and brawling, while acharacter who comes earlier in the order should tendto avoid brawling unless his target has a delay disadvantage.<strong>The</strong> key element in hidden movement is thateach character chooses his actions without knowingwhere his enemies are. This could be done inGUNSLINGER by having each player move on aseparate set of boards, with a moderator looking atall of the positions and telling the players when theycould see each other. Hunting play uses a system ofrecording actions in advance to simulate this effecton one set of boards and without a moderator, onthe theory that each character chooses his actions inignorance of where his enemies will be when he doesthe actions. Since it would be tedious to record all ofthe actions and options for several turns in advance,the actions are stylized and simplified into activitiesto minimize the recording effort and to put realisticlimits on what the characters can do. <strong>The</strong> pathsrepresent the routes that characters automaticallyfollow when they are hurrying to a general area;when they are moving into a tactical position, theyare assumed to be more cautious, so they can onlyMOVE when they leave the paths. <strong>The</strong> requirementsto record at least two activities in advance and toPAUSE ensure that each character is recording farenough into the future so he is effectively ignorantof where his enemies will be when he does his activities.This system assumes a lot of hesitation anddoubt due to uncertainty about where the enemy is,so it should never be implemented in the middle ofabattle. As a result, a character stays in gunfightmode as long as he sees or is seen by an enemy. Evenwhen he is running away from a battle, facing awayfrom an enemy, he still knows where they are(presumably he is glancing over his shoulder). Oncethe character is in hunting mode, however, he staysin the mode when he is seen by an enemy who isbehind him-he cannot see the enemy by glancingover his shoulder because he is busy trying to lookeverywhere at once and doesn't know exactly whichway to glance.<strong>The</strong> VICTORY POINTS system is designed toencourage realistic play. Survival rates most highlyof course, and the other values reflect the "Code ofthe West": it is dishonorable to run away or surrender,it is highly desirable to be feared so acharacter gains by killing or knocking out hisenemies and he gains by being on his feet when thebattle ends, and so on. <strong>The</strong> bonus points representallowances due to circumstances: merely runningaway would be a triumph for a character fighting hisway out of a trap, more would be expected of afamous gunfighter. Money has its own value in the"Code of the West", so the money bag values areset arbitrarily to give them the proper values in thecontext ofthe other values. Each player should starteach showdown by calculating exactly what heneeds to do, to get the sense of the values hischaracter would automatically be aware of in reallife.With rules for mechanics and motives, the gameof the gunfight is complete. Gunfights were notisolated incidents in the West, however. <strong>The</strong> storyof the great gunfighters is the story ofmen who livedtheir lives in the violent shadow of one gunfightafter another. To give some sense of this, theShowdowns were selected to show various incidentsin the lives of certain selected gunfighters-particularlyBen Thompson, Wild Bill Hickok, Billythe Kid, and the Earps and Clantons in Tombstone.In addition, the Campaign rules put individual gunfightsin the context of the all-too-common rangewars, where one gunfight led to another. Finally,the Role-playing rules allow the players to developtheir own gunfighters and trace their careersthrough a ten-year period in a mythical westerncounty. Role-playing, with its choices of goals andlife-styles, its representation of the life of a gunfighter,is worth an entire article by itself. But we'reout of space, so that must wait for another time.*BULGE PBM KITA Play-By-Mail kit for the new '81 version 0BA TTLE OF THE BULGE including completeinstructions is now available for $8.00 plus 10070postage and handling charges (20% to Canada;30% overseas). When ordering be sure to specifywhether you want a PBM kit for the new '81 editionof the game or the old '65 edition. Each kitcontains sheets for both German and Alliedplayers. PBM kits are available only from <strong>The</strong>Avalon Hill Game Co., 4517 Harford Rd.,Baltimore, MD 21214. MD residents please add5% state sales tax.
9TOURNAMENT SHOWDOWNSSHOWDOWN Tl:BAWDYHOUSEDescriplion: A friendly fight breaks out in a bawdy house.OPPOSING FORCESSide A: First character: KidSide B: Second character: GamblerSide C: Third character: MarshalSide D: Fourth character: YankeeSide E: Fifth character: Quiet ManSide F: Sixth character: Ling HoSide G: Seventh character: FloozyMAPDSET UP: No one is alerted. No one has a two-handed weapon. Eachcharacter sets up inside the Boarding House. <strong>The</strong> first character sets upfirst, then the second player, and so on.SPECIAL RULES: Characters cannot surrender.GAME LENGTH: 20 turnsBONUS POINTS:I. Each time a character moves a gun to a HAND or HANDS box he gets-2 victory points.2. Each time a character kills an enemy, he gets -10 victory points.SHOWDOWN T2:TRADING POSTDescriplion: A rough-and-tumble fight breaks out at a rural trading post.OPPOSING FORCESSide A: First character: NCOSide B: Second character: AxeSide C: Third character: Mountain ManSide D: Fourth character: Border RiderSide E: Fifth character: AndySide F: Sixth character: John HenrySide G: Seventh character: BarkeepMAPOJSET UP: Everyone is alerted. Each character sets up inside the Barbuilding. <strong>The</strong> first character sets up first, then the second player, and so on.SPECIAL RULE: Characters cannot surrender.GAME LENGTH: 20 turnsBONUS POINTS: Each time a character kills an enemy, he gets -6 victorypoints.<strong>The</strong> folio wing are Ihe scenarios used loseparale Ihe lende/feei from Ihedesperadoes during Ihe GUNSLINGER 10urnamel1l al Ihe recenlORIGINS '82. Each isdesignedforseven charaCiersand, since seven wouldplay in each round, no smaller versions were devised. To feellhe Ihrill oflournamenl play, gailler six./iiends of varying familiarily wilh Ihe syslem,and Ihen play all eighl scenarios back-Io-back wilhoul pause. Iflhisappeals10 you, we'll see you in Ihe dusly cardboard SlreeiS ofDelroil in '83.SHOWDOWN T4:CONTESTED CLAIMDl.'scriplion: Miner and claim-jumpers clash over a claim outside of a roaringmining camp.OPPOSING FORCESMAPSide A: First character: Gun ArtistSide B: Second character: DudeSide C: Third character: Border RiderSide D: Fourth character: IkeH ESide E: Fifth character: ScoutSide F: Sixth character: Texas::tSide G: Seventh character: GuardBGAME LENGTH: 30 turnsSET UP: No one is alerted. Set up 4 money bags in hex N I8 on board H.Each character starts exactly 3 hexes from the money bags, at least 2 hexesfrom all other characters. <strong>The</strong> first character sets up first, then the secondplayer, and so on.BONUS POINTS: Each money bag is worth + 5 victory points.SHOWNDOWN T5:VIGILANTIESIDescriplion: Outlaws clash as they try to escape from a vigilante raid.MAPSHOWDOWN T3: SIEGEDescriplion: Old enemies meet in the wild, and a long-range gun battlebreaks out.OPPOSING FORCESSide A: First character: HawkSide B: Second character: DrifterSide C: Third character: ScoutSide D: Fourth character: IkeSide E: Fifth character: Mountain ManSide F: Sixth character: Gun ArtistSide G: Seventh character: MarshalMAPE B FSET UP: Everyone is alerted. Each character sets up on any board. <strong>The</strong> firstcharacter sets up first, lhe second character sets up second, and so on. Oncethe first character has set up, each subsequent character must set up 8 hexesor more away from every other character.GAME LENGTH: 30 turnsBONUS POINTS: Each character who surrenders gets an extra -2 victorypoints.AGHOPPOSING FORCESSide A: First character: DnverSide B: Second character: Fast EddieSide C: Third character: EagleSide D: Fourth character: InnocenteSide E: Fifth character: TexasSide F: Sixth character: HawkSide G: Seventh character: El JefeE H F G B A 0SET UP: Everyone is alerted.Side A sets up first, on board D.Side B sets up second, on board A.Side C sets up third, on board B.Side D sets up fourth, on board G.Side E sets up fifth, on board F.Side F sets up sixth, on board H.Side G sets up on board E.SPECIAL RULES:I. All characters can exit the map only along the east edge.2. All characters on the map at the end of the showdown are captured.3. Captured characters are killed.GAME LENGTH: 30 turnsBONUS POINTS: Side A gets I bonus point, side B gets 2 bOil us points,and so 011.
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