The Dead Shall Rise... courage under fire

The ferocious battle over the body of the slain Outlaw Billy the Kid rages on.

When we last looked in on this titanic struggle, the Preacher and his wife lay dead at the mechanical hands of the dreaded LawBot.

The citizens of Wappelville knew that nothing would stop the Lawmen from training their weapons on their own homes and shops next!

This used to be the General Store...

Looks like the Department of Streets and Sanitation are gonna need a new ride!

Despite the early casualties, Jesse pushed his gang forward, to the very steps of the church.  They advanced through intense rifle fire from the Lawmen ensconced inside and outside of the church.

In fact, one of their number was able to stand right in front of the steps and blast away with his shotgun!  A few blasts from the powerhouse weapon and Pat Garrett himself fell.  This could be a dark day indeed!

To this day, the Lawmen swear that the bullets seems to pass around the shotgun toting Outlaw, which had been fired from point blank range.

They blame the robed stranger, who made odd motions with his hands as they took aim...

With their leader dead, the Lawmen were briefly stunned.  They had to fall back on their intensive training to hold themselves together, despite the deadly onslaught from all directions!

Cole and Jesse found the remains of the General Store to their liking, and they used their deadly accurate marksmanship skills to wipe away one heavy Lawman unit after another.

Things began to look even more bleak for the Lawmen as Apache kid was able to put one arrow after another into Doc Holliday, despite the cover he sought behind the outhouse.

One of the Outlaws attempted to pick up Billy's casket, but was interrupted by one of the rifle hired hands.  In a nasty hand to hand fight, the Outlaw won.

His victory was short lived, however, as he was taken down by the gyrocopter.

Still pinned down by the sniper in the church steeple, Long Tree continued to touch himself... obviously in a way that suited him.  He would gain +4 lifeblood during these later turns.

While the Ironhide vehicle had taken a lot of damage, it was still a huge threat to take away the body of the dead Outlaw.  It must be stopped at all costs!!!

The view from above shows the carnage.  Every skull counter is a fatality.  Many more would be placed where Lawmen stood as the fight grew to even more violent conflagrations...

The Wraith led Long Tree and a hired hand in a stealthy advance around Miss Fannie's House of Horizontal Refreshment.  They hoped that it would go unnoticed by the Lawmen until it was too late.

At long last, the threat of the Ironhide was eliminated, as it went up in flames. 

This only added to the misery of the townsfolk, as all the manure burned with it.  Yuck!

The battle starts to enter its final stages.  Lawmen begin to realize that the Outlaws are also using the chaos to steal away with containers of RJ-1027!  Obviously this is meant to be a down payment to Carpathian for "fixing" Billy.

Dead Eye Danny, as he would be remembered, was implacable in his bell tower redoubt.  Not only did he slow the Outlaw advance, he also killed many of their number before he himself eventually died of his wounds.

He was not the only casualty, as Nickle Back was taken down by the Wraith.  His sacrifice was not in vain, however, as he stood just long enough for an Interceptor to get into position...

Desperation is now the order of the day for the Lawmen.  Most of their number are now dead, including their Boss, and even Deputy Berenger, slain by Jesse himself.

The despicable UR-31 LawBot had also been destroyed... a huge blow to the Lawmen.

Long Tree decided to make one last fateful dash for Billy's coffin.  The hired had with him would be taken down by the Interceptor as soon as they left the burning shell of the Ironhide.

The other Interceptor, which had been guarding the RJ container, was taken down by inexplicable fire from the distant snipers.  Rumor has it that someone in a blood red robe was standing next to them, guiding their aim...

The final act of this drama plays out.  With most of the lawmen gone, they are dealt one last blow.  Doc Holliday is killed!!!

But just as all seems lost, the battered Lawmen rises to his feet... from the dead!  Could this be possible?  What strange medicine could be involved.

Buoyed by this miracle, the Lawmen pledge to fight on, even if all of them die in the process.

Doc Holliday chooses to confront Jesse... one last time.

He beckons the Outlaw to "get a pair" and emerge from his hiding place.

Jesse obliges him, shouting curses and threats all along the way.

They meet at one of the RJ-1027 containers.

This is a clever move by Doc.  He knew that an IronHorse was waiting in the distance to drop some missiles on him.  Not only had he drawn Jesse right next to him, he had gotten the brutal Outlaw boss to stand right next to a very unstable container of red death!

Any weapons fire now would probably wipe out not only them, but the entire town.

Jesse and his remaining crew turned and walked from the town.

However, Jesse made it clear that he would be back.  As many times as it took.

Sleep well, citizens of Wappelville.

Billy the Kid strikes again in: The Pony Express

Rich and I spent many hours doing some decent size demo games in the Open Gaming area at Adepticon.  It was very nice to have that space to work with, by the way!

We set up lots of terrain on Rich's new battle mat, which leveled off the tables nicely.

The Outlaws return to Wappelville once again, this time to heist some RJ-1027 and a group of very valuable ponies.

Billy the Kid had been in Jesse's doghouse ever since the great Drapery Disaster, when many yards of exclusive French drapes (destined for Miss Fannie's establishment) were destroyed.

The plan was for Billy to ride in, grab the RJ_1027 and the Ponies, and high tail it out of town.

Here's what he brought along:

The task of stopping this heist fell on Warren Earp, who had just arrived in town himself.  He was there at the request of Judge Stern.

Warren was a bit befuddled at the odd looking stranger standing in the Judge's chambers, dressed in robes such as Earp had never set eyes on.  He felt it best not to say anything at the time...

The repaired Judgement heavy support was also ready to go, and the crew was eager to play some Hangman!

You can see the ponies running through town.  One of Billy's gang had gotten to the livery door and let them out.

The RJ-1027 canisters were also scattered around the town.

Miss Fannie was having a lovely Sunday morning conversation with the Preacher and his wife, unaware of the chaos soon to follow.

They thought it very odd that such a rare commodity of horse flesh would be running loose through the streets.

It was not long before the alarm was sounded, and the Lawmen took up positions behind the Jail, the stable, and the Power Generator.

Why this canister needed to be placed by the outhouse was a mystery to everyone.

The mysterious robed stranger appeared again, and he seemed to be pointing Warren in the direction of the church.  They would get there by using the small gallows as a screen...

Billy had decided to surprise the Lawmen by driving through the church cemetery, hoping to use it as a screen from the Jailhouse.

Yet another city vehicle was claimed by the Outlaws to secure the canisters of RJ-1027.  The disgruntled workers of the Wappelville Streets and Sanitation department are not at all pleased with the wages offered by the current Mayor.

As a result, they frequently cast in their lot with the Outlaws.

A scattering of other Outlaws came from the hills and brush outside of town, including Apache Kid.

The Judge would lead his own contingent of pistol packing Hired Hands towards the water tower.

Fortunately for the Lawmen of Wappelville, the robed stranger had hinted that an attack might be coming, and a few mines had been placed in key areas.

The Outlaws were not expecting this, and they fired wildly at the deadly traps in the hopes of destroying them!

The Interceptors held their positions behind the stable, hoping to rush out and herd the very frightened horses back in.

With their Sunday morning once again shattered by impending violence, the Preacher ran toward the Jail to plead with the Lawmen to spare the town.

The Interceptors jumped out earlier than expected in the hopes of dropping some ordinance on the frazzled Outlaws, who were still shooting at the mines.

However, the frightened thieves were running around too quickly, and some cowered behind rock formations.  This made them almost impossible to hit.

Judge Stern used the distraction to advance to the mesa, and then on to the water tower.

Does Billy the Kid redeem himself in the eyes of Jesse?  Will Warren Earp earn the respect of his brothers and stop the Outlaws?  Wait and see as we continue in part two, Hang 'em High!

A doggie and a buggy

Here's a few more views of the Wild West Exodus Mercenary Sand Buggy, this time putting it in more context next to other figures.

The Sand Buggy is the Adepticon special miniature, limited to 300.  I believe a few are still available for purchase.  If you register for Adepticon, you can purchase it from the web store.  There might be some available at Adepticon itself...

The Sand Buggy is a light support, along the same lines as the Interceptor or Iron Horse.

Light support choices are some of my favorites in the Wild West Exodus game.  When you have a number of light support vehicles on the board, the game takes on a whole new dimension... fast, furious and lethal!

A little more context for you, as I team up the Mercenary Sand Buggie with the Copelie Sisters, Interceptors, and the massive Judgement Heavy Support of the Lawmen.

Light support choices such as this have a variety of "fighting halos"... some can even perform ride by attacks.

I got one for myself, to add to my growing Mercenary collection.  The mercenaries are an interesting and unique way to change your posse dramatically.  These hired guns can provide a little help in areas where your posse needs a boost, or change the entire theme!

The kickstarter for Wild West Exodus looms large... it's just 13 days away!!!  Wow!