Some more great fan work, this time from Ross on the Post Apoc Wargames Forum. I don’t have a lot of details on names or statistics, but I thought I’d share his two Posses he intends to use in some playtest games. Anyways great work on the figures and the toy selection, and I hope to see pictures of them in action soon!
I was pointed to this on DakkaDakka, but it’s from Studio McVey. Although it’s not a recognizable dinosaur, the slightly sci-fi feel to the cowgirl takes it to the next level. I remember Mike McVey’s awesome Warhammer Quest diorama from White Dwarf way back in the day, so it’s great to see he’s still sculpting and producing fine works.
(Note: Scheduled vacation post. Back October 4th)
The zombification doesn’t hugely interest me, but the concept art of cowboys and dinosaurs is, of course, great. This is from a canceled video game called Dinosaurs vs Alamo (of which there are but a few scant details around).
(Note: Scheduled vacation post. Back October 4th)
NOTE: v1.0 was released on October 31st, 2011, so use that version instead.
Since I’ll be working hard on getting a final release out by October 10th I thought I’d show folks how the rulebook has been shaping up since v0.91.
There a bunch of minor changes and editing, but the biggest two changes are: Dinosaur rules have been hugely updated (Discipline, Breeds, new roster layout, etc.) and I tried putting in my historical sepia images. Here are some other highlights:
Anyways I’d like some feedback on the image integration (does it look good, does it print well, how do you feel about the increased file size, etc.) and the new Dinosaur rules (does Discipline work over Bravery, is Panic Movement fun or tedious, etc.). If all the rules make sense and continue to playtest well this is probably what v1.0 will look like. I mean I’ll have some more eye-for-detail editing and dozens of re-reads to make sure everything makes sense and flows well, but yeah, getting close!
Download the Dinosaur Cowboys Rulebook v0.91 Preview and let me know what you think!
(Note: Scheduled vacation post. Back October 4th)
You know this project has been going on for quite a while now, basically since the first egg of an idea in November 2009. Now this blog has recently received it’s 3,000th view, which is big news for a small fries rules designer like me.
So I thought I’d take a moment and reflect on the Dinosaur Cowboy roots. The pictures below are from the first game I played of Dinosaur Cowboys, basically with some early sheets and scrap paper for rules ideas. In this case I pitted two totally made up characters against each other. Originally the game was meant to be an RPG, which is why the sheets you see are so much more detailed than the simple and elegant statline on the modern roster. I like it too because you can see a bunch of old weapons, the original damage track idea (a mechanic I love from Silent Death), and so forth. You can also see similarities though, like the weapon statline which is fairly similar to what is used today.
Anyways interesting and fun either way!
I’ve been really lucky again with the interest shown by fans, in this case from Red_Starrise on the DakkaDakka forums who created a posse for use with Dinosaur Cowboys called “The Dust Bowl Drifters”. Below are the figures along with descriptive background text he wrote. Thanks for the effort and great results; it’s always wicked to see more people trying the game!
“The Drifters were formed by outlaw Tyler Blake in Southern Oklahoma. They’re a band of hired guns who are well known & feared for their callous nature. They aren’t really BAD guys, per se, but they sure aren’t the good guys either.”
“Tyler Blake, a former caravan guard & merchant guild soldier, he’s a West Texan with a quick temper & an even quicker draw. Local legend is that he’s gunned down 15 men, including lawmen, bounty hunters, bandits & outlaws. Ask him, he’ll tell you to mind your own damn business. Blake knows of his own dislike for killing, especially cold-blooded murder but that doesn’t stop him taking contracts to do so.”
“Silas Martin, a drifter from where, he won’t say. Martin threw in with Blake a few months back after a situation in a saloon in Odessa involving a card game. He found himself with a gun to his head after a trike drover accused him of cheating. Martin’s bullwhip disarmed the man but also cost the man an eye which wound him up in the local jail. Blake, having seen the whole thing, put up the fines to get him out in exchange for him signing on with the Drifters till his debt was paid off. Martin has an aggressive nature & is very much in it for #1. He’s always itching for a fight & isn’t afraid to shed blood. Many’s the time Blake’s had to tell him to leave the dynamite.”
“Wallaby Jones, hailing from the Land Down Under, he comes from a long line of poachers & bushmen. When the continent of Australia was mostly drowned in the great floods, his great grandfather caught a ship for America hoping to hunt some of the dinosaurs that had begun to roam the lands. He hired on with the Drifters when they passed through California hunting down Tom Mulligan, the man responsible for the Texarkana Christmas Eve Massacre. They passed through Shasta into mountainous terrain, knowing that Mulligan would be holed up in the mountains he offered Blake his skill with a rifle seeing as the Drifters were all pretty much gunslingers.”
“Pablo Ortega, a Mexican outlaw & former gun-runner, Pablo rides with Blake due to owing him his life. A gun deal went sour in Albuquerque with the local drug gang, the Esperanzas. They reneged on the agreement when time came to pay & gunned down his crew. Pablo ran into the desert & stumbled upon the Drifters camp. When the Esperanza enforcers found them & demanded Pablo, Blake told them to go pound sand. A vicious gunfight erupted in which two enforcers lay dead at the cost of Blake’s gunsmith. Pablo volunteered to take his place in repayment for saving his life. The situation earned Blake the enmity of the Esperanzas, making Albuquerque one more place he’s not welcome anymore.”
I thought I’d post an updated picture of my collection of Papo toys. These are super detailed and durable toys that really it well with Dinosaur Cowboys. I’ve been hoping to find some inexpensive bulk collection for herd animals and the like, but I’m never happy with the quality of others. What I think would be fun would be modeling a saddle and other features onto a few of these, at the cost of durability since then I’d have to baby them just as much as miniatures.
Full collection as of September 2011:
Detail shots:
Say cheese!
UPDATE 2014: New collection picture viewable here.
Today is a really special treat, as a forum poster has completed his own Posse using the v0.9 rules. But he went above and beyond doing just that, and actually ordered and painted up a slew of cowboy figures to go with his Ankylosaurus figure. The creator is cody20 from the DakkaDakka forums, and I really have to thank him for his interest in the game and dedication to assembling a terrific looking Posse!
Without further ado (since most of you recent readers are probably coming from the DakkaDakka thread in the first place :)) I give you the Utah Water Rustlers:
I guess this means I really need to get on having a similarly dashing looking force available for my battle reports, instead of the hodge podge of figures I’ve used in the past. Anyways with luck this won’t be the last we hear of from cody20, so hopefully I can post some bonus battle reports from him in the future!
Dear Sir Quinton Masglou,
I hope this letter finds you well, with both your health and your prosperity at hunting in the northlands. Cecilia and I are doing most excellent on the ranch, and have but a pair of months before the harvest season begins.
I write to you concerning the most important and wholesome of activities – that of the great dinosaur hunt. Although I have been entertaining myself teaching Cecilia the finer art of pistol shooting, my mind is never far from our fateful encounter when you visited last winter. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you how stormy the night was, or the sound of that terrible roar in my furthest field. I grabbed my bolt action rifle off the mantle and you slung a musket from your pack as we ran to the door. The image of that Tyrannosaurus Rex shall forever be with me.
Although a few hasty shots scared the beast away, I have often wondered from whence it came. As you know the area surrounding Perico in Texas is not known for the larger carnivores, mainly from our horrendous heat and proximity to the dead wastes. But I spent many a day and night restlessly researching local tales and alehouse yarns and I think I have finally discovered the home of the great beast.
To this end I write to implore you to visit me no later then two weeks hence. Bring your finest firearms and equipment and we shall track the Tyrannosaurs Rex to it’s lair and destroy it. I have already taken care of hiring a guide, a strong arm, and pack dinos for the road. I know your matters in the north are of the utmost importance, but if you could but rent a flapper and visit us we shall truly have a hunt worthy of years of campfire tales.
Yours in Arms,
Gordon Glenbrook
Setting up the Posse
So sets the backdrop for the big game hunters who will tackle the custom t-rex I created the other day. When creating this Posse I went for flavor and matching the figures instead of just raw power (which is why you don’t see a bunch of bazookas and burst rifles, haha).
The battle would take place riiiiiight on the edge of the super hot southern desert of the futuristic USA. I decided Gordon Glenbrook’s ranch would be around Perico, Texas, and the lair itself would be further south. The desert is too hot to travel during the day, even with the finest dinomounts, so it’d be a bit of a trudge for the crew.
My main priority was a believable group who would provide a cinematic battle. I opted for a full 5 members, which basically ate up my Neodollars just in recruitment costs. I decided instead to just buy reasonable weapons and equipment and hope they didn’t end up costing too much more than the T-Rex.
When I actually play this game I won’t have the figures pictured below (from Reaper Mini, but they looked perfect for a hunting group. One of these days I’ll get some hobby motivation beyond just writing rules and playing games and actually sit down and paint some cowboys. For now your imagination will have to do.
Now to the details of each member, plus their respective background information to help flesh out the characters:
General Notes
I did a lot of voluntary weakness for Bravery, which had two benefits. The first and most obvious is recovering some bonus IP that could be spent elsewhere. The second subtle benefit is that Fleeing from close combat doesn’t provoke a Snap Attack in v0.9, and against a T-Rex there really isn’t a downside to getting further away. I figured if a member doesn’t get one-hit killed, they will probably Flee next turn which can set up the rest of the team for better shots. I guess the downside is it might move the Fleeing person into perfect Charge range for the T-Rex, but it’s unlikely ANYONE will survive two rounds in melee with the beast.
Gordon Glenbrook
Gordon was once a Neotechnoist but found the adventurous lure of the outside world too much for him. He left the jungle when he was barely an adult, and slowly built up a fortune through trading, leading expeditions, farming, etc. He met Cecilia while driving some triceratops through Colorado, and they were married soon after. Now he’s getting older and a bit slower, and has settled down on a ranch in the one remaining hospitable part of Texas. The t-rex hunt is mainly a chance to relive some of his old glories and feel a little more useful around the ranch.
I wanted Gordon to be the toughest of the bunch, which was easy with his Duster allegiance and Leader benefits to HP. I matched the figure as best I could and opted for a Bolt Action Rifle as his primary weapon. In terms of stats I reduced his Bravery from 6 to 4 for +5 IP for the reasons I stated above. Otherwise the main improvement was RMC, from 8 to 6 for 25 IP (which was really 20 due to the bonus from reducing my Bravery). I figured Armor would be a waste against the T-Rex’s 4 MMC, but I definitely didn’t want to miss a shot. Besides the Bolt Action Rifle I gave him a basic 80kW Six-Shooter and a Small IRP. For a bit of benefit and a bunch of flavor Gordon took the “Big Game Hunter” Passive Trait.
20 IP, $170. MV 3, AR 0, RMC 6, MMC 8, BRV 4, HP 12, Big Game Hunter. Bolt Action Rifle, 80kW Six-Shooter, S-IRP
Cecilia Glenbrook
Cecilia may seem a strange match for Gordon. She was raised in a rich family near the coast, and never really knew hardship. She married Gordon at the height of his power and influence, when he was most attractive as a suitor. Now in his older years she sometimes has doubts about their suitability, especially with how taken Gordon has been with hunting. In the interest of maintaining their marriage she has started to learn to handle a gun, ride, rope, and sleep under the stars.
I went for basically the same build as Gordon for his wife. I dropped her Bravery from 6 to 4 and boosted her RMC from 8 to 6. She didn’t get a Trait, but instead I gave her the SUPER handy Stun Gun, plus a Derringer for backup and flavor. She didn’t quite match the figure (which had a shotgun), but I really like the idea of Gordon helping his wife master the Stun Gun, since it’ll be an important part of keeping the T-Rex from reaching the lines and basically rolling over the team. Anyways she ended up costing 20 IP, just like Gordon.
Plus I gave her a Medpack to try out the slower healing feature compared to an IRP.
20 IP, $225. MV 3, AR 0, RMC 6, MMC 8, BRV 4, HP 10. Stun Gun, Derringer, Medpack
Sir Quinton Masglou
Quinton is much younger than Gordon, and learned about the man while reading historical records inside the Neotechnoist compound. They eventually exchanged letters and met a few times for hunting expeditions. Quinton looks up to Gordon, but also finds him a bit stuffy (mainly because of their age gap). Gordon treats Quinton like the son he never had, and is very eager to entertain the youth and give him the best advantages in life. Quinton was exploring north of Haven and the Neotechnoist jungle, but flew all the way south for the chance to hunt a t-rex and see his old mentor, perhaps for the last time.
For Quinton I knew I couldn’t get his HP too high due to the Neotechnoist weakness, so I opted for a bit of armor instead. It made sense too since he’s a bit younger and bit more unsure of his abilities. Plus the figure just screams “Guy trying to be woodland-ish”. I went for a more barbaric weapon, the Blunderbuss, to try to keep the rustic image he’s been living up north. A Stick of Dynamite was a nice simple touch, and again felt like an “old school” weapon compared to lasers and the like.
For stats I weakened his Bravery from 6 to 4 for +5 IP again. Then I dropped his RMC from 7 to 6 for 15 IP, and finally gave him +1 AR for 10 IP, plus a suit of Padded Armor. I had a few points left over so I ended up giving him +2 HP for 12 IP, which counteracted his Neotechnoist frailty.
32 IP, $320. MV 4, AR 2, RMC 6, MMC 8, BRV 4, HP 8. Blunderbuss, Stick of Dynamite, Padded Armor
Walter Thunder
Walter has seen it all as a guide, and is very worldly as a result. He’s competent with a wide variety of weapons and is terrific at hunting, trapping, tracking, and getting out of trouble. His dashing good looks lead to a brief affair with Cecilia (of which Gordon never found out), so there is a tension between the two as a result. Gordon, blissfully unaware, considers Walter an upstanding young man, and sometimes compares his younger self to the life Walter has lead. Walter puts up with it in good humor because of the solid, steady pay Gordon offers. He feels the t-rex hunt will give him a lot of fame and further his reputation in the south.
Walter was pretty simply to make, and ended up being the least improved of my characters. I made him Bandit Allegiance to kind of simulate the knockabout life he’s lead. For guns the 400kW Six-Shooter seemed to make sense, although I still kind of like the 4-3 of the 300kW compared to 3-4 of the 400kW model. He’d take a Saber, and maybe could sneak in a desperate, heroic charge with it.
All I did for statistics was weakening his Bravery from 6 to 5 for +2 IP (he’s the bravest of the bunch from his travels, I figured), and then RMC from 8 to 7 for 10 IP.
As part of his “guide” image I gave him the Active Trait “Retreat!”, which will let him grant an additional +4″ of Movement to an ally within 8″. I figured this would help him get someone out of trouble a bit, and maybe he can charge in afterwards to cover their escape.
8 IP, $160. MV 4, AR 0, RMC 7, MMC 8, BRV 5, HP 8, Retreat! 400kW Six Shooter, Saber
Allen
Allen is the strong silent type, and has acted as a bodyguard for Gordon in the past. Early in Gordon and Cecilia’s marriage a rival rancher tried to use violence and intimidation to get Gordon to give up some land in the west. Allen cleaned up the problem quickly and quietly, and Cecilia was never the wiser that her husband had hired such a mercenary. Allen does not have the best attitude or morals, but he is extremely competent and a legend in a duel. Gordon has kept in contact through the years for certain difficult situations where a rough hand might be needed. Allen has a strong, yet unspoken sense of loyalty to Gordon which is his main motivation for coming on the hunt.
Finally I had Allen. He’d rock dual pistols, that much I knew. I went for a Handcannon and a Snub Pistol, so a bit of modern tech mixed with old. I made him a Duster since he seemed more like a roaming desert wanderer than a real Bandit, although I think either would have worked. I wanted him to hit a bunch so I boosted his RMC from 8 to 6. Then the usual Bravery drop from 6 to 4. To top off his equipment I gave him Cloth Armor and Tangle Grenades. Those grenades, which apply Stopped on hit, could be a real game changer. With that in mind I actually gave him the Active Trait “Speed Reload” with the intent of throwing a grenade, free reloading, and throwing another, which would keep the T-Rex locked down for 2 whole turns. Plus of everyone he seemed the most likely to fight slightly dirty like that, and also to come overly prepared.
20 IP, $510. MV 3, AR 1, RMC 6, MMC 8, BRV 4, HP 10, Speed Reload. Handcannon, Snub Pistol, Tangle Grenades, Cloth Armor
Final Words
The last step was to name the Posse. I went for “Glenbrook’s Desert Triumphateers” because it had a fun, slightly goofy ring to it, just like most of the members (who are kind of in over their heads). With luck this expedition will be successful for the gang, and won’t just be a giant three turn buffet for the T-Rex.
All in all the Posse came out at exactly 100 IP. Due to recruiting costs of $800 I ended up waaaaaaaay overbudget. The equipment ended up being $1385, so yeah, $2185 in total. I think it’s fine though since I didn’t buy any really crazy weapons, and mostly just went for theme so it should be balanced with the T-Rex.
Anyways I’ll be playing this game through tomorrow afternoon, so expect a battle report sometime next week!
I think I had mentioned in the past that I wanted to do a custom type of Dinosaur Cowboys game where a group of big game hunters battle a single Tyrannosaurus Rex. Well I recently bought the Papo T-Rex toy, which looks awesome:
And then I mocked up some stats for him that are equal to a new Posse, that is $1,000 and 100 IP. Now I just need to make a themed hunting Posse to take him on. I’m thinking some old British style hunter like those that went to Africa on expeditions. Then maybe his loyal friend, his wife, and two porters or guards. A classical mix of shotguns and so forth would be perfect.
As for the T-Rex here is how I built him. The original stats are:
MV: 5
AR: 2
MMC: 5
BRV: 7
HP: 24
A-D: 1-7
Cost: $500
The first thing I did to make him truly deadly was boost his weapon, for free. This was mostly a balance issue and also a fun issue, since I wanted an attack heavy roll instead of one focused on damage. So instead of 1-7 I made him 10-1. I figured this would balance with him being a single target and not having Leadership benefits. Plus it should be a BLAST to roll!
Then I started to make purchases. I opted for survivability and mobility as two priorities. I spent 10 IP to boost his AR from 2 to 3, which was a pretty obvious choice. I spent another 12 IP for +2 HP, and my remaining $500 for +10 HP for a total of 36 HP! Since his HP was so high I didn’t expect he’d ever need a Bravery Test, so I opted to voluntarily weaken his Bravery down to 3, which gave me +9 IP. Then came the big spenders, first MMC from 5 to 4 for 33 IP, just to ensure he never missed. Finally mobility which I achieved by spending 54 IP (wow!) to boost his MV from 5 to 8.
Next were his Traits. Normally a Posse gets 3 Traits, which is handy since that’s the maximum a single entity can have. So I needed to allocate 3 Traits to my T-Rex, which was a real treat. I wanted some hard hitters but some passive stat boosters would be nice too. For Passive I considered Bonus HP (always helps!), Charger (would hate to fall short), Runner (he’ll be using the Run action basically every turn he’s not in close combat), or Climber (ignoring terrain would really help his speed overall). There are a ton of Active options, like Clean Shot (pretty much guaranteed enemies won’t have previous damage when I hit them), Go For the Eyes (a classic, and with 10-1 guaranteed to help), Inspiring Shot (his only real way to heal), Lucky (could help against a brutal enemy shot), Rush (would help get to close combat, and then Slowed doesn’t matter since he’d be fighting), Shake it Off (helpful since here will likely be Slowed from Stun Guns or grenades), Try Again (re-rolling 10-1 would be sweet), Turtle (would be great when in combat already), and finally Whirlwind (if I could ever catch two enemies together).
So out of everything I opted for Runner, Inspiring Shot, and Turtle. This means he can move 8″+5″ Run, so 13″ arc. He’ll get 7 HP back after a kill one time. And finally he can boost his AR to 6 for a turn at the cost of being Stopped. Anyways that was definitely the toughest choice of the build.
His final stats were:
MV: 8
AR: 3
MMC: 4
BRV: 3
HP: 36
A-D: 10-1
Traits: Runner, Inspiring Shot, Turtle
Cost: $1,000, 100 IP
So yeah, against a new Posse he should be quite the menace. The downside is he’s likely to get shot all the time without Cover since he’s so big, but AR 3 against starting RMCs (normally 6 to 8 or so) should help a ton.
And I just wanted to say that at this rate of Papo dinosaur toy purchases I’m well on my way to being like this avid collector.
I’m hoping to write up the hunting expedition Posse tonight and then play the game sometime this weekend, so expect a battle report soon after!
Thanks again to Felix for some weapon images. A lot of these (especially the six-shooter, lever-action rifle, and hand cannon) are exactly how I visualized them. They’ll eventually make their way into the rulebook under the weapon and equipment section, but for now here’s how they look.
I stumbled across a neat little game thanks to someone on their forum (originally in Dutch, translation here) stumbling across me. They have some great looking scenes with simple plastic dinosaurs that were painted to improve their appearance. The rules themselves are kind of interesting because the game is more about surviving for a certain amount of time (hard to tell for sure using a Google translated version of it :) ) during prehistoric times.
Regardless I thought it fit well with Dinosaur Cowboys, so here are two of their cool photos:
Anyways I’m out of here until the start of September. After that my life will have settled down enough to get steady battle reports going.
Felix helped me out again with a cool new Overland Map. It’s textured and really shows off the jungle feel to the area surrounding the volcano. I am fairly certain I’ll put it into the rulebook, my only concern being filesize bloat (it bumped the ODT file from ~700kb to 2.1mb). But sometimes style is worth it. I do like having consistent fonts on there (“Future West” and “West Test” that were used on the Posse Roster and Quick Reference Sheet), and I’ll likely apply them to my old, plain map as well.
See the results for yourself and let me know what you think!
PS: The full size is huge.
Some more inspirational material, although less wild west and more Victorian era: Dinotopia. The book details a shipwrecked crew who find a lost island where humans and dinosaurs co-exist. It looks like some terrific art. I figure I might get the 20th anniversary edition when it’s released in September.
Not much else to say about that, but I did add it to the “recommended reading” section. Now to just resist the temptation to add airships (that is always, always a temptation).
Today I have a real treat thanks to a fan of Dinosaur Cowboys named Felix. He’s a graphic artist who was inspired by the rules and setting, and so far has made a nice new logo for the game. The first draft is posted below, so let me know what you think! I’m hoping he’ll produce some more artwork and I can use it in the rulebook instead of the old sepia images I had planned to use before.
His second draft (with some recoloring to match the greenish theme I’m aiming for with the blog) looks like:
Otherwise I haven’t had much of anything related to the game going on. I bought an Allosaurus from Papo (artistically pictured to the left), and I intend to use it first of all in a safari hunting scenario where it’s a full Posse against a super powered Allosaurus. I think I’ll allow the Dinosaur to spend IP (normally not something you can do) to balance with the rest of the Posse. Then I’ll go for a bunch of flavorful characters with shotguns and that kind of thing, then pack a bunch of terrain on the table and start the hunt. Should be a nice fun game with a different feel.
No real rule changes recently, although I thought of a bunch of wild “expansions” I could make that modify the core rules, like Pterodactyls and air combat and that kind of thing.
Horizon Games (main blog)
Dinosaur Cowboys - Tabletop Skirmish Game 