I finally had time to playtest David Bezio’s wild west game Saddle Bum. It has been around for a while, and was replaced by David’s Shooting Iron game, but the original Saddle Bum rules have been updated and re-released for its 10 year anniversary. It is currently being offered for free on Wargame Vault here along with several other of David’s games. Check them out!
The very short answer the in way of a review is that it is a very fun and fast game which requires very few models and little terrain. It uses a small 2’x2′ (or larger) play area. This all makes for a very low barrier to entry, and makes for a great game to show beginners about tabletop gaming.
In the game each posse has a hand full of buckaroos and a side-kicker (a posse member with a special ability). Each posse also gets a random number of Reload Dice that are used to re-roll undesirable results. I used spare dice set on each posse’s stat sheet to keep track of them. Once used for a re-roll, I set the die aside. The rules also do not have you track ammo based on the number of shots fired, but instead a figure is out of ammo on a shooting to hit roll of a “1” (high numbers are better in this game so a 1 is really bad). This might be a bit abstract to some, but you can consider that your figures are smart enough to reload as they can steal a brief moment in between the action. Instead of check the Out of Ammo box on the posse’s stat sheet, and then erasing it after re-loading, I simply used a spent casing to cover the box when needed.
Finding myself alone on a cold snowy Sat., I decided to give this game ago using the solo rules from David’s Mice-at-Arms rulebook. The setup was along the tracks on a stretch just outside of town. Two posses meet up… both considering the other to be from the wrong side of the tracks. We had the Purplish Left Siders vs the Turquoise Right Siders. The Purps had a Doc in their posse (Whiskey Pete) to help keep any wounds from turning too serious. The Turqs had the Mayor (a Boss) to help keep everyone motivated and things going efficiently. Both sides ended up with a lot of reload dice (6 to the Purps and 5 to the Turqs). The Turqs also had a guy with a shotgun which, though more deadly than a pistol, does slow the posse down a bit. There was little cover… some horses to hide behind and a traveling merchant’s wagon. (This was meant to be a shoot out after all. And I haven’t painted my buildings yet… I’d better get busy on that.) Things start off bad for the Turqs. A simple plan to shoot at an enemy burns through 2 reload dice and then the shot still misses. Burn more dice to try for a hit?… no, not being unloaded is good enough for now. It is early in the game.
In these rules, you activate 1 figure at a time, so I used a small cotton puff to mark those that took their turn. When I first started, most of the figures were just shooing so it made a lot of sense…like smoke coming from the gun. Then someone did a double move (instead of moving and shooting). For that guy, I put the puff behind him like he was kicking up some dust. I laughed at that longer than I should have. The bad rolls continued for the Turqs and it wasn’t long at all until they burned through all their Reload Dice. Even then, the 1s kept coming up for them and the out of ammo status really started to sting. In the midst of that, one of them did manage to shoot and kill the Purp Doc. He didn’t even get to help patch a single buckaroo up.
There is one thing you can always do when you are out of ammo. Bullrush someone and get into a scrap. Both sides got the better of the other at least once doing that. And the Purps recognized Two-Guns Jim as being a particular threat so targeted him as he advanced. Him moving up and shooting his two pistols was no match against 2 stationary Purps Aiming and shooting back. Of course bad rolls were against him too and 1 of his gun came up out of ammo. As the game approached its end, some bad roll finally started to irk the Purps. Happy they saved them and needing key kill to wrap of the game, they burned 4 dice to get a hit. Darn the luck, the Turqs managed to pass a Salt Check even while already wounded (a saving roll of a “6” was needed).
Well, the Purps pressed on through a few more Scraps and a few more shots and finally, they won the day. Three of their posse were run through the mill and survived the encounter. They will each gain a attribute point which will help when they face the next gang… the Ruddy Reds.
In all, the game took around an hour to play, and 4 or so turns. I didn’t keep as close of track as I should have, but I was running both sides, and reading the rules, and taking photo, so the time in particular would not be overly meaningful anyway.
So who is going to like this game? I think nearly everyone. I’ve been gaming for over 50 years… have seen a lot of rules set… played in a lot of game. This game was a ton of fun. It will be easy for new and/or players. It will be great as a convention game… I’m thinking of running a small tourney. And I can see it as a quick filler game at a club when the scheduled game wraps up early. And it is a superb game when you find yourself alone on a cold winter day.
Now I imagine that someone out there is thinking “he said nearly everyone would like this game, but I don’t like cowboy games.” Well, the game mechanic lend are perfect for stretching into other genres. Black power musket era, consider them out of ammo automatically when shot. Medieval/fantasy, give armor a -1, same as being in cover… heavy armor -2. Sci-fi, resist the temptation to make every weapon special… group them into pistol/rifle with a few blasters/disruptors treated as shotguns. Have some fun with it… just don’t overcomplicate it. The beauty in these rules is the simplicity. Focus on the fun!
Go get yourself a free copy right now! And while you are there, pick up Shooting Iron also. It is a fun game as well, but I’m recommending it for the included 12 scenarios. The rules are similar enough that you can use them as is (or nearly so… there may be an occasional 8-sided die to change to a +1 if you want to say with 6-sided dice only).
RRB Minis & More 