Ah, nostalgia ...
It seems [Warhammer Historical](http://www.warhammer-historical.com) is coming out with an [Old West ruleset](http://www.warhammer-historical.com/news.htm) (perishable link) called _Legends of the Old West_. They're even selling an OK Corral figure set to go with it.
I'm certain that this ruleset will be quite popular with the Fantasy crossover crowd that has been drawn to WAB of late, and will also draw in some more Fantasy/40K players. I'm even fairly certain that I'll buy the book myself, although coming out in November, it sadly will probably not be done in time for [Crisis](http://users.skynet.be/tinsoldiers/html/crisis04_titelblad.htm).
However, I can't quite shake the feeling that this is a serious deja vu. Almost 7-8 years ago, when I started to get into wargaming, then Guernsey Foundry created quite a stir with their Old West range of figures. [Schild & Vriend](/snv)'s first big period in the Golden Age was the Old West, and we have [many](http://www.nirya.be/snv/GALLERY/crisis97.html) [photos](http://www.nirya.be/snv/GALLERY/shootist.html) to [prove it](http://www.nirya.be/snv/GALLERY/shoot2.html) (in fact, one of the [revival games](http://www.nirya.be/snv/ttm/archives/000022.html) I have in mind for the future is an Old West game.
One has to wonder why WH has chosen this particular period to expand their range into, and at this particular time. Any ideas, anyone?
Personally, I can't get too excited over this one, though would be happy to play the game.
ReplyDeleteWhy have they come out with it? I think the theme has an instant appeal, lots of action, room for individual figures and characters, lots of shooting, well known stories and films, lots of killing etc etc
I imagine the book will look pretty and I'm sure that if you buy it you will have us all painting up character figures for a future game. Well, OK then, as long as I can be Yul Brynner.
Ah, yes, the Old West shooting games.
ReplyDeleteI still have the 'Shootist' rules lying around somewhere, and still have a whole box full of 54mm figures and scenery that we used in our early days, before someone convinced us to shift to 28mm old west figures ... :-)
What I liked about the Shootist rules (and our house rules) was that they are quick and fun, capturing a bit the atmosphere of fast and deadly gun fights. The 'Rules with No Name' looked too cumbersome to achieve this effect.
Phil,
ReplyDeleteWhy did you switch to 28mm? I've a bunch of 54mm plastics I picked up cheap plus some buildings for a little project to do with my son. I love the size and think it's perfect for gunfights. I just need to get around to painting them for him and tweaking the very simple set of rules I wrote for it (called, very originally, Sixguns and Sixsiders).
David
My 54 mm are Britains figures - plastics, not metal ones. From my childhood days (are they over yet?), I had some toys - a wooden fort - which were just the right size.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this was when Guernsey Foundry published their Old West figure range, so we switched, mostly because Bart wanted to paint them, I suppose :-) .
Phil,
ReplyDeleteI have some Britain's as well, and intend to commit the toy soldier heresy of... gasp... repainting them! Toy soldier collector's will of course have an aneurism over this, I won't.
David
OK, the one figure I won't repaint is my Custer figure, he's a series 1 or 2 figure I believe and worth a bundle.