One of the things I've been meaning to do for a while is to make some sheets to remove the need to put the activation cards on the tabletop. I did up gang sheets for the gangs I've painted so far. You can see pictures below (and a link to download if you choose after the pictures).
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| I place the cards just under the picture of the figures. When you pick the card up you can see the statistics for the figure being activated. |
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| Desperados |
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| Lawmen |
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| Outlaws |
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| Pinkertons |
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| US Cavalry |
You can download the gang sheets pictured above here.
I always forget how much fun it is to play Dead Man's Hand. We don't pull it out nearly enough to play and that is something I will be fixing in the near future. I also still have the remaining gangs to paint (civilians and casualties as well). Anywho ... on to the game.
The first scene was In The Silence Of God. I played the Pinkertons and Roy played the Outlaws. In this scene one of my good guys sees a no good dirty bad guy sneaking around a wagon. He checks it out and things turn bad. Both sides have a single figure with another single figure in reserve. Neither of our reserves made it onto the table as the scene ended when my good guy blew that no good varmint out of his boots with a 19 on the die roll!
Scene two was Like Blood Across The Sky. The early morning events have roused the rest of the gangs and they are not happy about what happened. I was able to draw an extra card into my hand for winning the first scene. This scene ended when either side lost two figures. We used our full gangs but without the leaders (so six figures a side). I was able to pull the victory off here as well ... but just barely!
The final scene was Dawn It Will Come. It is now full on warfare in the streets!! One gang ambushes the other in order to end things once and for all. We both had our full gangs and I was able to once again draw an extra card into my hand. As I also won the first scene I was deemed the ambusher and Roy's poor fellers the ambushees. All of Roy's models had to start in the open (essentially out in the middle of the street) while my guys all started in the buildings (with the exception of one guy that had to be out with the rif raf. This was a bloody encounter. Apparently Pinkertons make horrible ambushers. We both lost over half of our gang ... with Roy pulling out a big swing in the last two in two hand-to-hand combats that forced me over the half way mark. We both owed big nerve tests in the last turn and I managed to pass mine while Roy failed his. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good!
In all it was a great game from start to finish - and bloody!