Q-Troop: Quar Defend the Wild West

Last week the Legends of the Old West league saw another sunrise.
In the last league (you can find the reports under the Legends of the Old West tag, I ran Bandidos.
Since it's just the second time I've played the game I wanted to try something different.  The problem is, I didn't have the time to paint up a new posse, and it's always more fun playing with minis you own rather than borrowing some, so making a mental run down of my collection I thought about my Quar Royalists I used in last summer's VSF campaign, for the Quar of Phobos.  Their uniforms are blue... they have long rifles and bayonets... looks like US Infantry to me! Just with rather long noses...

And so, Q-Troop have come to the Old West, to protect the innocent, right wrongs, and.. well, that's for the pulp writers to fabricate later. On to the games...

I used the US Infantry list.  I'd considered using my cavalry and running US Cavalry, but the Gatling Gun tempted me, so infantry it is.  Here is my troop:

Not many to start, the weapons are very expensive.  I took the max characters: a Lt. & 2 Srgts.
The Lt. has a saber & heavy pistol, one Sergeant has a heavy pistol, the other a rifle.  I have a trooper and recruit manning the Gatling Gun ($10 cheaper if you start with it, so I squeezed it in) and two troopers, one with a rifle, one who lost his somewhere along the way, guess he'll be peeling potatoes!

The first game of the night would be against US Cavalry! Guess I wasn't the only one looking for something different! He got a surprising number by taking only recruits after his 3 characters and everyone had pistols.

I expected to outnumber them, but they had 6 to my 7.. not much of a numerical advantage!

Game 1: Take that Hill!

We had a few tables set up, so rolled to find ours randomly, it would either be the open woodland or the crowded town (I was hoping for the town!) we got the woods.

Knowing he had the movement and charge advantage, and that a lot of those trees would mess up my line of firing with the Gatling Gun I set my Gat to have the best field of vision I could find and divided my troop, part to defend the gun and the Sgt with rifle and a trooper to run to the hill on my right, to take cover and try to get some shots at the vulnerable cavalry.

The cavalry crest the hill... steady that gun boys! 

My advancers scout up the hill and prepare to fire.

The foolish recruits head into the Gatling Gun, two are brought down while the riflers on the hill get another.

At one point, he stayed out of range and moved his officers to the side, and I moved the gun up, since I didn't have priority, to threaten them. 

Seeing the repositioned Gatling gun, the officers and a recruit charged up the hill, but my troopers bravely held and even won combat against the cavalry Lt., pushing him back.  The rest of Q-Troop then head up the hill to surround them. At the bottom of the hill riderless horses mill about, grazing. 

The cav then belted out a retreat and galloped away.  

He had no lasting damage and I hadn't lost anyone.  I got enough cash to buy another rifle, some bayonets as well as another trooper with rifle.  My Lt. got another wound (3 makes for good survival) and my Gatling Gunner went up in shoot skill! Ideal! 

Game 2: Stop those Bank Robbers!

As the soldiers of Q-Troop went back to town, as they met the new trooper, checking his transfer papers and supplies he'd brought, a call went out from the bank, it was being robbed! 

Luckily, the Gatling Gun was placed and being guarded just outside of town and most of the troop were in position to try to head off the robbers. But the Robbers had the jump on them, and were using civilians to guard their escape.

The Robbers kept getting priority, so those innocent folks were not getting away. 

A few robbers tried to rush the troops with the Gatling gun, in case those civilians wriggled free, he wanted that gun occupied.  But the gunner leveled his sights and the recruit cranked it wildly! after 16 hits, those robbers looked like so much spilled camp fire beans on the ground.

The robbers had to drop their loot to ensure their escape as the brave soldiers took out a couple more of their numbers.  One of my sergeants was injured but recovered just fine. We were rewarded by the town with enough cash to telegraph for another trooper recruit.  The Gatling Gun loader got an improvement to his shooting skill, so should the gunner ever be hurt, he can take over respectfully enough.  The wounded Sgt has a higher fight value now, the other Srgt, with the rifle has the rifleman skill (reroll misses with a rifle) and one trooper got grittier while the other got an additional wound: both good for survival. The Bank Robbers however won't be forgetting this, they now Hate my troop, so might stand their ground longer in the future.

But for now, the town is safe and peaceful again.

The other table, that I didn't play on: 

The farmstead is attacked by Outlaws! 

Local Cowboys try to come to the rescue, but too late to save the elderly couple, who are gunned down in the back. That's one nasty outlaw gang!  But I'm sure Q-Troop will track them down before too long!

Gunfight at the Passing Fair Corral

So it was time for the final round up of Legends of the Old West.
The final battle was a team match: of the four competing in the last battle, the lowest & highest rated of the four would fight against the middle two. The lower of the pair was the employer who had hired a more fearsome posse to help it take over the town.
This meant it was a brace of brothers, a Comanche chief hired the Pinkertons against my El Rojo who hired the Tequila Syndicate. The employed posses could run off and it wouldn't end the fight, but if either employer posse ran, that'd be the end and the other side would win.

Dawn came to the sleepy town:

A newer gringo community was expanding on the eastern side of Dry Creek.  In the upper right you can see the protestant church.  We reasoned that this church had recently converted the Comanche chief and encouraged him to stir up trouble in the western half of town, with intention of burning down the Catholic church.  The self-proclaimed Cardinal appealed to his more devote members (ie. bribe-able) and two Bandido gangs went out to meet the Indians... but the Chief was no fool,he had an Ace up his sleave too: he'd hired the notorious Pinkertons.

A Brigade of Bandidos

An Infiltration of Interlopers

The "Cardinal" looks pleased.

The bandidos get the jump and lunge forward, two vaqueros provide passenger service for two riflemen.. well, one riflewoman: Rosarita, sharp shooter for El Rojo... the rifles head for the central building's balcony.

The Indians sneak through the alleys, heading to take positions.

The Mexicans surge forward to meet the threat.

These are well equipped Indians! Several rifles and a shotgun. No running across the field to fight here: they take cover behind a wall and in a building. Some of the hired guns take position on a hill for better view.   

The Tequila boys tangle with the Pinkertons on the south end of town.

The balcony draws far more fire than they expected.  Rosarita gets gunned down early, but Jorge has 2 wounds and high grit, and will draw at least 20 shots before being taken out. 

Indicative of a lot of our luck: The hired explosive expert throws his dynamite at the Indians behind their wall:

1.

Ouch.  The Peon running cover will die... a goat for his family is on its way, but the dynamite man was fine!

But.. so were the Indians. 

With Rosarita and Jorge out of action, the balcony is reinforced by a tough, a pistolero and Madre Ortega herself!  It must be said these suns of snakes took great pleasure in shooting at the poor old woman! 

Meanwhile, the Pinkertons over run the south end of town and begin to sweep to the center, as the remaining bandits there also head in to try to route the Indians.

But the Indians are secure.  They dispatched the Vaqueros, and when they finally shot Madre Ortega, it was too much for El Rojo: a tear came to his eye seeing his dear tough old Abuela fall, remembering fondly her strength from her repeated beatings. He called retreat. No Cardinal was worth the life of his Grandmother.

It was a fun season of Legends of the Old West!  Thanks to my partner in banditry and congrats to the Comanche & Pinkertons on their win!

MoMo : Matron of the Bandidos of El Rojo

Madre Ortega

Call her Madre Ortega, or as most of the men call her, 'MoMo', for 'Must Obey Madre Ortega',

but call her Abuela and expect to be cuffed on the ear, with the butt of her shotgun:

She's sensitive about her age.

Seen here with her Grandson, Diego, known to his men and throughout the West as El Rojo.

Just a speed paint but I'm happy with the result.  

The Bandidos have extended their roster to the full 6 heroes, and have more rifles, so I decided the band could use some more character.  No battle report in awhile since the last meeting it seems no one showed up to play.  Hopefully there will be a few more games before the season closes, which it is then time to gear up again for Blood Bowl! 

Old West: All in a Day's Work for Bandidos: Battle Reports pt.II

When we last left our (erm) 'heroes' they'd just returned to the pueblo which El Rojo uses as his personal fiefdom with the hard-earned loot from the morning's bank heist.  One of his men had selected a strong looking peasant lad to replace the man who'd been killed and Rosarita slipped in and out of consciousness from the effects of her 'medication'.  Feliz told her not to worry, he'd find the peddler and gut him for her.  

Always a softy that Feliz. 

But as El Rojo and men made their way piecemeal to the center of town, it became clear that some interlopers were hunting the town, looking for them and their gold!  

Cowboys who'd decided it'd be easier to rustle his men than cattle?  They'd soon learn better. 

This is the pueblo of Leche de Cactus, before the violence erupted.

El Rojo, Feliz (with his new rifle), Julio Iguana and a tough make their way toward the center of town with a few peasants to run interference, while the rest of his gang have not yet arrived.

A couple of the Riflemen of the gringos make their way around a building in secret.

At the other end of town Pappy and the Rancher move to take cover in a domicile's courtyard

A buzzard circles overhead, impatiently awaiting his next meal. 

A Vaquero gallops onto the scene, taking cover behind a building from any rifle fire, waiting for his campagnero to catch up. 

The second Vaquero is not far behind.

As the Cowboys took secure positions, the layout of the town required the bandidos to boldly move in the open.. behind their peons.

The Vaqueros manage to rope the cowboys and haul them over the wall to attack them close.  You'd think cowboys would have anticipated some finer ropin' skills.  

A shootout begins.

The bandidos dispatched a cowpoke who was in the house, then took to the roof to get better shots. Meanwhile El Rojo moves in for some close action.

With the ornry Pappy proving difficult to bring down, the cowboys split up.  Not being fooled, both vaqueros head after the leader, rope him a second time and try to horse-stomp him.  (horse? pretty sure those aliens are riding giant capybaras!) 

The Rancher took out one Vaquero before being knocked out himself, and the rest of the town was cleared of cowboys, leaving only Pappy left, who took it in mind to skedaddle. 

Afterwards

No real lasting damage was done to either team, but benefits are yet to be determined: the store was closing soon at this point, so we decided to save rolling for cash, finding rare items & skill rolls for next time. 

It was a great game, and like so many games of this sort it was very close until it wasn't. 

Old West: All in a Day's Work for Bandidos: Battle Reports pt.I

The Bandidos of El Rojo had their 3rd night out last night, and this time there was a photographer on hand for the Creekbed Gazette.

The Morning (Game 1) started out like a typical daily grind for the Bandidos: Wake up, have some tequilla, grab your sombrero and head into town to rob the local bank. It was going well, they had 3 sacks of gold and most of the gang was already out of doors ready to head back to the pueblo.. until they saw that down both ends of the street were men from a Lawman's posse, aimin' ta stop them.


The bandidos start within 3" of the bank door, inside or out.  the two Vaqueros had to begin dismounted. The Sheriff seemed to know which way the Bandidos must head out of town, so he and his top men were at the south end of the street, but were immediately accosted by the CCCC: Concerned Christian Citizens of Creekbed who wanted to know what was going on and just what the sheriff intended to do about it.
The deputy was shy around the ladies.

The bandidos used their peasants to try to block sight on what was going on, but the men of the law were havin none of it. (The Vaquero conversions are not done, so a couple visiting Quar cavalry helped the Mexicans in their wealth redistribution program)

Some of the Bandits remained inside to keep the bank workers quiet and try to get some shots out the windows.

Rosarita, a real crack shot takes out a deputy who had tried to circle around them.  Moving past the citizens, the lawmen opened fire: again and again aiming for Rosarita.  These men may wear a badge, but they certainly are not chivalrous. They continue firing until Rosarita is brought down.

Fearful of scatterguns, El Rojo's men spread out, sending the peons in before them. A vaquero lassos the sheriff and he's surrounded. Duos guards their rear from the approaching posse men.

The other vaquero makes a break for it, while the sheriff is tied up, El Rojo himself trusts as little as possible, so carries a sack as well. The third sack of gold is carried by Feliz, a man with a fierce reputation that even the lawmen are hesitant to draw notice from.

The Sheriff was taken out and the hidden bandidos in the bank opened fire on the posse trying to catch the escaping bank robbers.  Their way now cleared with little threat of being followed, the Bandidos headed for the safety of the Pueblo which El Rojo rules with an iron fist.

A peon lost his life, but he wasn't the first, nor will he be the last.  More distressing, Rosarita was given an elixir to aid her healing and seems to have done her no good. She'd be in bed with fever when the band was attacked next: sooner than they'd be expecting.

The Bandidos made a small fortune however, enough to buy two rifles, pay a local grandmother the pre-burial fee for her grandson to work for El Rojo, replacing the man who died, and as a gift to show she still was favored, an Indian Tomahawk for Rosarita, who despite her injuries seemed much stronger than before, and the heavy dangerous axe would be a deadly weapon to one with her eagle eyes.  El Rojo was discovered to have even grittier huevos than previously known, and on top of that picked himself up a boiler plate.

Before they could enjoy the fruits of their labors however, a ruthless gang of cowboys had heard about the heist and came to the pueblo fixin' to steal it for themselves.

But that's a story for another day... which will be soon, don't you fret.

A couple other encounters going on in other parts nearby:

Some Lakota Souix tangled with another gang of Mexican Bandidos.

While this sleepy pueblo was about to erupt in an armed shootout between rival ranchers.

Stay tuned for the fighting coming its way for El Rojo's Bandidos that very evening.