Planning Grizzlyville --   

One of the things about a "Convention game" is that it needs to be reasonable easy to transport and to set up.   In the case of my Grizzlyville game, because I might well have players all the way around the town, I don't want to have a simple, one street town either -- I want a more complex playing surface.

My solution is fairly simple.  Since we will apparently be on 6'x4' tables, I picked up four sheets of 2 foot square 1/8" MDF (medium density fibreboard).  I'm using Whitewash City paper buildings, which come with floor plans.  I will glue these floor plans to the sheets of MDF and then simply place the buildings over the floor plans . . . a quick and easy setup.

Click on any of the photos (such as the one to the left) for a larger view.  It is my current plan for the layout of Grizzlyville.

Well, for the major buildings, that is.  There will be lots of small "out buildings" (outhouses, storage sheds, etc.) which are not placed on the current layout.  In addition, there will be a few other features in some of the "empty" spots.

Yes, I still have three buildings yet to construct . . . although I've placed their floorplans down.  In addition, not all of the current structures are completed.  Many do not yet have their covered walkways, outside stairways and such  . . . but they will.

The upper left quadrant (left to right to top) features the Longhorn Saloon (facing the Hardware Store across the street), a Bath House, the Grand Hotel (which still needs its balcony, etc. attached).  Not yet constructed will be a Gunshop.

I should note that there is a basic "cross" street pattern, with streets about 5" wide.

The upper right quadrant  (top to bottom, then to the right) features four main buildings and a corral.

The green roof is the Bakery (across the street from the Gunshop), blue roof is a Cafe, then the Frontier Hotel (across the street from the Grand Hotel).  On the right side of the photo, is the Livery Stable and a corral.

The lower right quadrant has four buildings and the floor plan of a fifth.  Also I have plans for the "empty" area in the corner.

Starting from the right this time and moving left, we have the Dry Goods store (on the edge, across the street from the Livery Stable), then the Sheriff's Office and Jail, then the Imperial Saloon. 

On the corner of the main intersection is the floorplan for the Gold Star Saloon (kitty corner from the Grand Hotel) and below it is the Undertaker (dark roof and fenced area).

The final quadrant (lower left) from left to right, has the Hardware Store (grey roof), the floor plan for the Medical building (doctor on ground floor, dentist up the outside stairs to the second floor). then the Bank (facing the Grand Hotel, it's side across the street to the Gold Star Saloon.

Behind the Bank (facing the Undertaker) is the Blacksmith, with a small corral next to him.

My current thinking is that I will be seated at the "top" of this setup . . . and the players on the left right and bottom sides.

And, of course, this all might change between now and the end of February when the convention takes place . . . but it at least gives me a good starting place.

Oh yes, I will be running a playtest of the rules and my town layout the weekend before . . . so there will be time to fix things if necessary.

-- Jeff

Grizzlyville Painting Day --    

Well Murdock and Pete stopped by yesterday (Sunday) and we managed to get 44 figures painted for the Grizzlyville games at our local Dak-Kon convention (end of February).

To the left you can see what we painted.  There are six gangs of six.  Each gang has its own hat color (white, grey, black, yellow, tan and brown).

(note -- click on photo for larger image.)

You will also note eight "North-West Mounted Police" figures . . . well you probably thought that they were British Colonial figures, didn't you? 

Well the NWMP (precursor) to today's Royal Canadian Mounted Police did indeed look like British Colonial troops . . . including having tropical "pith helmets" as their official summer headgear . . . which wasn't very practical . . . the modern Stetson "Campaign Hat" becoming their standard headgear after the Boer War.

Anyway, thanks to the help provided by a couple of friends, I now have enough figures for the Convention.  Aren't friends great?

-- Jeff

Grizzlyville Planning, Part II --  

So, what kind of a scenario have I got planned?

First of all, I must plan on a variety of scenarios depending upon the number of gamers who wish to play.

But my primary scenario for 6 or 7, would feature six gangs . . . representing a number of surrounding ranches.  Each group would have an enemy and a friend.

They will be recognizable by their hat colors -- white, black , grey, tan, brown and red-brown.  Of course there will also be some townsfolk to confuse the issue . . . and, if there's a seventh player, some mounties to provide law and order.

By the way, the photos above and to the left show some of the "Whitewash City" buildings as well as some of the "townfolk".  

Note that the gangs will be based on pennies while the townies are on Games Workshop bases . . . but does anyone care to wager against some of them being shot by "mistake"?

(more later)

-- Jeff

Grizzlyville Game Planning --

We have our annual local "Gaming Convention" coming up at the end of February . . . and I've committed to running a game for it.

First you need to know that there probably won't be very many attendees . . . and most will be playing Role-Playing or Collectable Card games . . . although I think one other fellow will be running a role-playing game with miniatures.

Because we do not have a knowledgeable base of miniature players in the area, I've decided to run a very simple system -- Fistful of Lead -- which is available in .pdf format for only $6 from WargameDownloads.com. 

(note -- I've also just realized that these rules were written by "Emperor vs Elector" member contributor "Baron VonJ" who writes the "Baron's Blog".)

Why did I pick "Fistful of Lead"?  Because, as Eric Hotz (of Larry Leadhead, Whitewash City, Roman Seas, Hotz Maps, etc. fame) wrote about them:

This game allows for fast and easy play, and players can play using more than one miniature without being burdened. May very well be the ideal convention game.

The mechanics of the rules are simple and easy to learn . . . and I suspect that I'll have some youngsters who want to play and these rules will work for them.

Is it the perfect set of "old west" rules?  No, for an extended campaign I'd prefer something like Gutshot:  but for a "one-off" game or just an occasional evening's game, "Fistful of Lead" is excellent (and the price is pretty good too).

I've built a bunch of the "Whitewash City" old west buildings and a friend had a couple of cowboy moulds and cast up a bunch of figures for the game.  I've got them primed and mounted on pennies . . . and on Sunday, Murdock and Pete are dropping by to help do a mass painting. 

So, I'll have rules, figures and buildings . . . all I need now is a scenario.  The rules include several good ones, but I've got an idea or two of my own.

Oh, yes . . . what is "Grizzlyville?"   It is the name that I came up with for the town where the scenarios will take place.

(more to come in a few days)

-- Jeff