Cinematic Wild West Gunfights, Powered by the D12 System
General Glen’s Showdown – Wild West Shootouts is a small-scale skirmish wargame designed to bring cinematic Wild West action to the tabletop, while remaining accessible to new wargamers and veterans alike. Designed to be miniature and scale agnostic, General Glen’s can be played with everything from highly detailed metal or plastic miniatures, to bargain bin toy cowboys. General Glen’s is also flexible in terms of game size and duration. Games can range from small engagements where two players each control a single squad, to epic battles where eight players controlling allied squads struggle for supremacy. Where Showdown really shines is in its detailed campaign system. Over the course of multiple games, players’ models change and evolve as they accumulate new skills and equipment, or suffer debilitating injuries. Be careful, as survival is never guaranteed.
Players create their own custom squads in Showdown, first choosing their faction from a range of Wild West cinematic archetypes. The four factions, Gunslingers, Hombres, Soldiers, and Warriors, have access to different equipment and skills that lend themselves to different playstyles. After choosing their factions, players create the members of their squad by assigning them levels of experience and training, then outfitting them with a range of historical weapons and equipment, as well as useful skills. Choose carefully. The choices made for each model not only determine how they will start a campaign, but how they will improve as the campaign progresses.
Although Showdown uses the same D12 System as Red Shirt Games’ other products, there are a few differences. The largest one is the campaign system, while another is the ability for models to kneel or drop prone. This limits their field of view, but makes them harder to spot or hit in the process. Crafty players can use this to take full advantage of cover and concealment.
Along with the rules needed to play the game, this purchase includes:
· Sample Unit Record Sheets
· Blank Unit Record Sheets to make your own squads
· Quick reference sheets
· Counters
The D12 System
Showdown uses the same core D12 System as many other Red Shirt Games products, which is designed to be easy to learn while rewarding careful tactical thinking by each player. A few highlights of the system are included below:
· Ease of Entry: D12 System games are easy and affordable to start playing, requiring only a rulebook, a deck of standard playing cards, a play area marked into three- or six-inch squares, a few D12s, and between five and ten models or toy soldiers per player.
· Grid-Based Measuring: The D12 System measures all distances in “zones”, three- or six-inch squares that make measuring quick and easy, without the need for tape measures.
· Unpredictable, Card-Based Initiative: Instead of players taking turns activating their whole squad, or alternating activating single models, the D12 System uses a randomized, card-based system to determine initiative. Players can never be certain which model will activate next, and must be willing to adapt their plans on the fly, as any good soldier learns to do.
· Dynamic Movement: Movement in the D12 System is flexible, with models able to move or attack first, or even take their attack partway through their movement. This creates more dynamic battles where models can better take advantage of both cover and careless opponents.
· True Line of Sight: The D12 System uses true line of sight, rewarding players who make good use of terrain and cover to keep their models safe.
· Opportunity Fire: Models in the D12 System are able to sacrifice their combat action to go on opportunity fire, allowing them to make an attack at any time on another player’s turn. This is perfect for laying an ambush or firing at an enemy when he breaks cover to make his own attack.
· Injury Effects: Models in the D12 System have a variable number of hit points and can usually survive multiple attacks. However, their combat performance degrades as wounds pile up and injuries take their toll.
· Power Ups: The battlefield can hide any number of surprises, and the D12 System represents these with “power ups”. Throughout each game, power ups will appear in random zones. The first model to enter one of these zones receives the power up, which can be a minor or major boon, or a concealed hazard.