CoffinWood and staying focused

G’day gang,

For a while now I’ve been tinkering with the idea of a Wild West skirmish game. I’ve finished some very basic rules and have started acquiring models for gangs, old west buildings and even a Wild West battle mat. I call the game CoffinWood.

As many of you are gamers I feel a little reluctant to share the rules because they’re so basic haha. I guess I’m sharing them because I’d like input and suggestions etc.

I’m not really a gamer. I don’t get to play much and when I do, with friends, the rules are always so simple but also evolve organically through the game itself.

For example my friend might ask if he could drive his tank through a fortified wall? I’m always up for stuff like that so I’ll say yeah ok but you need to roll two even numbers to do so and can only try it once per turn. For me, and I hope my friends too, it makes the game almost like an RPG, or choose your own adventure type thing. Sometimes the suggestions are quite funny. I remember once a friend asked if he could strap explosives to a dog and get the dogs to run under a vehicle and then detonate haha. Poor dog 😕

So the game of CoffinWood will definitely employ the same approach but I also like the idea of using a deck of cards as well as dice for certain things too.

I bought a themed deck of cards from eBay that I think look very cool and will suit the game.

There will be about 8 (10 man) gangs to choose from and, of course, I’ve named each character haha.

Characters like Bear Man Bob, Gilbert “No mercy” Norris, Dead eye Daisy and Miss Bloody Dawn. Haha

There will be scenarios like “Bank Robbery” and “Gunfight at the NOT SO okay Corral” 😊

Anyway, here are the basic rules. Remember that I am not a gamer so go easy on me and don’t start throwing weird terms and complicated rule ideas at me because I’ll zone out hahahaha. In all honesty though I’m open to any suggestions but yeah the simpler the better for my simple brain 😊😉

CoffinWood 

CoffinWood is a Wild West skirmish game based in the old town of CoffinWood.

A deck of cards is used and dice to determine outcomes from three phases. 

• movement 
• shooting 
• assault 

Up to four gangs can play at once each using a suit from the deck, ie Hearts, Clubs etc. 

Number cards determine how far the gang can move and how far each men ever can shoot. 

Jack allows the gang to stay hidden during opponents turn

Queen is a healing card that can be used to bring a gang member back to life 

King will increase the shooting range and strength of an individual gang member

Ace is like a wild card that can be used as a Jack, Queen or King. 

Joker card can be played at anytime even if it’s not your turn. The joker card will allow a gang member or leader to flee 12 inches away from a predicament or situation/fight 

Character cards can only be used once in a game but the number cards are used each turn. 

Dice are used for hits and saves 

Gang leaders have a saving roll of 3+

Gang members have a saving roll of 4+ 

Gang leaders can hit on 3+

Gang members hit on 4+ 

10 members per gang. 

Special characters like citizens have a whole suit to themselves and can be utilised by any player during their turn. They have a saving roll of 3+ and hit roll of 3+ 

Hard cover is no line of sight. Solid buildings or behind walls etc.

Medium cover is (approx) 50% visual add 2 to saves. Eg a gang member has a saving roll of 2+ instead of 4+. Medium cover could be behind waist high walls or pocket fences. 

Soft cover the gang member has an extra 1 added to the saving roll. Soft cover includes things like shrubbery and bushes or behind windows. 

Same rules apply but in reverse for hit rolls. Eg a gang member loses 1 point for hits if behind a bush. 

In episode 34 of the Imperial Rebel Ork Podcast I discussed Hobby Butterflies and how I had decided to embrace mine. It’s also the same episode I interviewed Roger from “Rantings from under the wargames table”

As much as I have embraced my natural hobby butterfly ways I also like the idea of being focused to get certain things done. I certainly apply myself when it comes to my work. Partly because there’s no other choice but also because there’s a real sense of pride of achieving something.

My recent hobby project for Fembruary 2021 has also shown me that I can stay focused when needed to within the hobby. I think when I’m left to my own devices is when I start to be distracted by other shiny and new exciting projects haha.

I’m hoping to stay focused on CoffinWood. Wish me luck haha. To do so I’m going to keep watching Wild West movies and documentaries because I find that’s often the route cause to why I get distracted.

Episode 52 of my podcast will be released tomorrow and it’s all about “Focus”

Cheers

IRO