Dinosaur Cowboys – Tabletop Skirmish Game

This post is meant to summarize different points of interest inside the blog so that new readers can skip to the best parts without having to browse post by post and month by month. Also a list of related media (comics, books, video games, etc.) that feature genre mixing of dinosaurs and humans in various forms.

From This Blog

• Category: Game Sessions and Category: Campaign – Any of the battle reports under these categories are great for giving you an idea of how the game plays. Some use older rules (since I was recording playtests), but there are plenty of pictures and descriptions of an action-by-action look at different Posses fighting. If you want a continuous, connected story look at the Windy River solo test campaign or Battle to Seattle group campaign.
• Category: Fiction – Various works of fiction written for Dinosaur Cowboys. Mostly created during the National Novel Writing Month initiative.
• Dinosaur Gallery – This shows my collection of toy dinosaurs, and should help give an idea of how they look on their own. All the toys are highly detailed and from the company Papo.
• v2.0 Release – Another big celebration for the highly refined release of v2.0 of Dinosaur Cowboys.
• v1.0 Release – The Halloween celebration for the “finalized” release of v1.0 of Dinosaur Cowboys.
• Decision to Rewrite as Skirmish – Older post from 2010 wherein I decided to move the game to a 90/10 skirmish/rpg ratio instead of a 50/50 split. This is the basis for the rules you know today.
• Original 2009 Brainstorm – My first draft of the rules after a big brainstorm of mechanics. I like how the core combat system hasn’t truly changed since then, which is a good sign to me.

Comics

• Xenozoic Tales comic eventually made into the TV show Cadillacs and Dinosaurs.
• “Flesh” 2000AD comic about cowboys harvesting dinosaurs for meat.
• Turok comics about a hunter trapped in a dinosaur filled valley.
• Bone Sharps comic that may be vaguely related.

Books

• The Lost World book by Arthur Conan Doyle.
• Journey to the Center of the Earth book by Jules Verne.
• Bone Wars and Two Tiny Claws books by Brett Davis.
• The Fallen Cloud Saga about Indians taming dinosaurs.
• Ring of Winter book set in the Forgotten Realms with dinosaurs.
• Dinotopia artwork book about Victorian era humans and dinosaurs on a lost island.
• Rex Riders book for youth.

RPGs and Tabletop Games

• G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T is a skirmish ruleset in the Victorian era intended to be used with sci-fi elements. Dinosaur encounters or safari hunts seem like a common theme.
• Broncosaurus Rex D20 RPG with great black-and-white artwork in their rulebook.
• Saurian Safari rules focused on asymmetrical hunting of dinosaurs in an alternate reality, as compared to a more traditional skirmish.
• GURPS Dinosaurs is a thick tome containing a huge number of detailed stat blocks for various dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures. Great for brainstorming for enemies in campaigns.
• Adventures in the Lost Lands wargame for use with various human eras mixed with dinosaurs.
• Dino Wars tabletop game pitting the army against dinosaurs.
• Jurassic Reich tabletop game featuring Nazis riding dinosaurs, plus some custom figures.
• Pulp Alley a generic pulp ruleset with support for dinosaurs.
• Weird West gallery of figures including some great mounted cowboys and indians on various dinosaurs.

Movies and TV

• The Valley of Gwangi movie about cowboys capturing a dinosaur for a circus.
• Aztec Rex low budget movie about Aztecs with a dinosaur defending against Cortez.
• Terra Nova short lived TV series but has some interesting human/dinosaur interactions.
• Cowboys & Aliens not related to dinosaurs, but has some good brainstorming material for normal wild west cowboys interacting with an overwhelming sci-fi opponent.

Video Games

• ARK: Survival Evolved upcoming survival game with trainable dinosaurs, crafting tech trees, base building, and much more. Very promising
• Dinosaur themed games at MobyGames. A great list of older games containing dinosaurs as a central element.
• Dino D-Day multiplayer first person shooter game with playable dinosaurs and an Axis and Allied team.
• Primal Carnage multiplayer first person shooter game similar to Team Fortress 2 but with dinosaurs.
• ORION: Dino Horde (was Dino Beatdown) multiplayer first person shooter game with coop elements and a dinosaur horde, similar to Left 4 Dead.
• Paraworld video game involving RTS elements and dinosaurs. Not technically reading material, but still in this genre!
• Dino Storm browser game featuring cowboys on dinosaurs with laser pistols. Sound familiar?

Other

• Dinosaur Kingdom tourist attraction in Virginia about dinosaurs in the Civil War era.
• Dinosaur Toys Collectors Guide is a great site with info on the various brands of dinosaur toys available. Good place to start when looking to build a collection for your posses.
• spohniscool Gallery of a very skilled artist who provided the cover art for the main rulebook and some of the interior art for the Quickdraw rules.