A Crowd Favorite Returns

I ran a scenario I called "Hell Comes to Frogtown" (name borrowed from the excellent Rowdy Roddy Piper cheese flick from the 80s) last year at camp. It was an amusing swirl of Sharpshooters, the Undead, Prussians, Killer Robots, Cattle Stampedes and what have you. At this year's camp, I had planned on running a Tavern Brawl game (54mm, using the All for One cinematic swashbuckling rules) instead, but there were many requests to run this game again from the lads who were at camp last year. I had no problem recreating the scenario as many of the figures were still secure in their boxes from last year.

The Dramatis Personae had not changed from last time, and aside from some terrain pieces being added to avoid easy long distance shots, the layout was similar to last year's game, if somewhat more spread out.

The Rules are THE RULES WITH NO NAME, a simple (free) skirmish rule set set in the Wild West, and one that I have had some association with since 1997. This scenario would be scaled just a little bit up from man to man skirmishing, and likely would have been better run in GASLIGHT, but the lads like the "Big Bucket of Six Siders" approach to Game Design, and I have so much stuff for TRWNN it was easy to run and warmly received.

Since Hell Comes to Frogtown, Texas was really a small unit skirmish game, I created factions and had the leader be a shootist and the rest of the faction were "schnooks" or gunmen. Movement of the squad keyed off the leader and it went very smoothly. For more details on how to adapt TRWNN to squad level, see the AAR Post I put up last year, which explains group movment and a few VSF concepts, like programming HERMAN THE GERMAN ROBOT.

The scenario is essentially a hodgepodge of straight TRWNN, with a dash of SCARY MONSTERS OF THE GOLDEN WEST thrown in, and a dash of GASLIGHT. Like the long ago HELL COMES TO COW TOWN, the scenario pits factions with different victory goals against each other and assigns the winner to the faction that achieves their goals best.

SETTING: The town of Frogtown, Texas.. a major transhipment point for Coal Gas.

SCENARIO PLAYERS:

Prussian Squads A, B, and C: 1 Shootist and 6-7 Gunmen. Shootists=Leaders. A Detachment of Prussian Soldiers sent to secure the town from the Texans and capture the transhipment point for Coal Gas.

Doktor D'eth and Herman the German Robot: Mad Inventor and Clockwork Programmable robot.

Ah Pook the Destroyer (three gangs of zombies-- western style). Zombies are essentially brainless gunmen who blaze away until they unload, then close in for melee and munching.

Texas Rangers: Here to defend the bank (1 Shootist, 6 Gunmen)

U.S. Cavalry Scout Squadron: (1 Shootist, 6 Gunmen)..here to "observe" a gang of Mexican bandits they have been chasing. Note in this world, Texas is a Republic, the US is still fighting the Civil War, and the U.S. Cavalry has no jurisdiction in this town. Not that it matters.

United States Sharpshooters (all shootist, 1 leader). An elite gang of spies/saboteurs/agents of the United States Government. Crack shots that can snipe from afar. They are here to observe and foil the efforts of the Prussian Detachments sent to secure the town, whether the government of Texas objects or not.

Cappy's Mercenary Rocketboys (1 Shootist, the rest gunmen). A group of rocket assisted infantry who had been serving as mercenaries for the Texas Government until the great collapse. They haven't been paid. They are upset, and looking for work.

Local Cowboys Out For Trouble (1 Shootist, rest gunmen).

Thomas (my energetic TA) loves this game and since he is now an old hand at TRWNN, I kind of eased back on the tiller once the game got started and let him run things. He kept a rather detailed list of what transpired, which is given below. I so rarely have an AAR of such clarity, I thought it would be fun to post this.

Hell comes to Frog Town. Courtesy of Thomas (and thank you).

Turn 1-

Zombies shamble towards bandits, use gunmans’ action to engage Banditos and kill one.

Banditos promptly flee in terror towards the barn where the Cowboys are hiding.

The Flyboys blast off towards Dr. D’eth and hash out an a deal of mutual protection..

The Texas Rangers shoot at the Flyboys but do nothing.

The US cavalry scout mission sits in its’ barn.

Same for Cowboys.

Prussian squads A & C advance, C towards the mansion where the USSSS is skulking, A to cover the center of town.. Squad B aims, and the combined fire of the squads kills one of the two USSSS members perched on the roof of the governors’ mansion and knocks two others down.

Herman the German Robot Tramples his way around a large square, and ends precariously close to a table edge.

Turn 2

As the Bandits cower in terror, the Cowboys wander towards the USS mansion.

The Cavalry Aim at the encroaching Prussian squad C.

The USSS wounded stand up, move inside, and a member of Prussian Squad A is knocked out and seriously wounded.

Herman Tromps along the board edge as Dr. D’eth runs after, waiting with new instructions for turn 3.

PSC moves towards the USS, determined to drive them off the building.

PSA fires to no effect at the USS.

The Rocket Boys, with their gunman action, blast onto the roof of the Mansion from some 36 inches away. However, they are unable to do anything.

The Cowboys run towards the Mansion to aid the USS. They are followed by the Banditos.

The Zombies shuffle forward along the outskirts of town.

The Rangers, having emptied all their rifles, stand and reload.

Turn 3

PSC continues to march towards the building containing the USS.

PSB once again fired at the USS, knocking one down.

PSA stood and Aimed at the Cavalry.

The Cavalry kill one of PSC.

The Cowboys rush into the lower floor of the Mansion.

The Banditos stand inside the Tavern to blaze away at the flyboys, but nothing happens.

The Zombies continue to shuffle.

The Flyboys jumped down and engaged the cowboys to a stand-still.

The USS kill another of PSC, as well as one of the Flyboys.

Herman marches towards the bank, but breaks down.

Turn 4

Herman the German...Robot spends a turn still as Dr. D’eth repairs him.

The Rangers leap down from the bank and prepare to fire on Dr. Death.

The flyboys jump back to the roof to avoid the zombies.

PSC hides along the building to avoid more fire from the Cavalry. They shoot the USSSS and knock a man down.

The USS kill a member of PSB.

The Zombies use a gunman action to move in for the kill.

The Banditos hold in place.

The Cowboys hold in place.

The Cavalry run out towards PSA.

Turn 5

Unluckily, the Rangers kill Dr. D’eth after he repairs Herman. Herman marches forwards and kills 4 of the 6 rangers and crushes a small hut.

The Rangers flee in terror.

The Flyboys blast ineffectually at the Banditos.

The Zombies charge PSC and devour two of them.

The Cavalry run across the street towards PSA.

PSB reloads, owing to Byrons’ roll of 11 ones out of 36 dice. (The Blazing Away UNLOAD rule happens when you roll more 1s than 6s on your to hit dice).

The USS shoots at a member of PSA and kills him.

The Cowboys hold in place.

Turn 6

The Zombies continue to fight with PSC.

The Cavalry shoot at PSA and kill one.

PSA charges the Cavalry and kill three!

The Flyboys attempt to shoot a cow and start a stampede. Sadly, they kill it before it can tear down a fence.

The USS shoots at the zombies but does nothing.

The Banditos run towards the bank to complete their mission.

Herman tears through the Bank and rips both roofs off.

The Rangers walk towards the melee in the Mansion.

Turn 7

The Zombies finish off PSC and charge the fight between the Cavalry and PSA.

PSA sacrifices their Shootist Action Card in order to flee.

The Cavalry lose a man to the Zombies but also flee.

The Zombies play a gunman action and catch and kill the PSA.

PSB shoots at one of the Zombie Controllers and knocks him out, but he awakens with a roll of a six.

The USS kill a Controller of the Zombies.

The Flyboys shoot at another cow, but kill that one too.

The Cowboys and Flyboys declare a truce and the Cowboys run to the roof of the Mansion.

Herman Tears down the Stables, then marches into a fence and is destroyed by a stampede of horses.

The Banditos shoot and kill a ranger.

The Last Ranger charges the Banditos but fails to kill them.

Turn 8

The Cavalry fight the Zombies. When the smoke clears, a zombie is dead, but only the “.22" McGee survives the carnage.

The Zombies are unable to beat “.22" McGee.

The USS kill the Shootist level character (leader) of Prussian Squad B.

The Flyboys fly down to the fence. They open the gate, and instantly lose four men as bulls trample them.

PSB does nothing.

The Cowboys shoot and wound the sole remaining Zombie Controller.

The Banditos lose one man to the Ranger, but then kill him.

Turn 9

The Zombies kill “.22.” McGee, then blast a Cowboy off the roof with their pistols.

The USS kills the remaining controller, and the Zombies turn on Iggy the Hunchback. Iggy actually kills one in hand-to-hand.

The Bandits run towards the bank.

The Flyboys fight the bulls, fail to wound any, and lose a man to the raging bulls. Only their Shootist level Leader remains.

PSB kills a zombie with rifle fire.

The Cowboys shoot at the Zombies to no effect.

The stampede takes a freak turn, crushes the Zombies and poor Iggy, then kills 4 of the 5 Banditos.

Turn 10

The last Flyboy escapes the Cows.

The last Bandit, Antonio Smyth, runs into the bank ahead of the cows.

PSB, down to three members, retreats away from the Mansion.

The USS congratulate themselves on a job well done!


Victory for the Bandits, as they were the only ones to complete an objective.

Total Body Count- 47 of 63 dead.

Once Again, A Slideshow, this time in context:

Cool Slideshows!