TRWNN - my take

Once more, I'll be attempting a post using the new blogger format - what a rigmarole, just to get a post!

For those that don't understand the abbreviation in the title it stands for "The Rules With No Name" and I'll be taking a look at these rules and comparing them to: a) Firstly what I'd expect from a set of "western gunfight" rules. b) Comparing them to what I've been used to since about 1970 (Old West gunfight skirmish rules) .

The photographs throughout this post are random, merely showing what I've been discovering and cleaning in an attempt to have something to post about and maybe a game or two somewhere down the line (as well as having a self-indulgent, nostalgic, trip down memory lane).

As one would expect from any set of western rules, shooting and movement rules in TRWNN take pride of place with melee rules becoming "optional". I'm used to having all the rules, not basic, advance or "optional" rules.

Characters are classed either as Citizens (yuck), Gunmen, Shootists or Legends. So four categories, from worst to best. "Citizen" is not a label I like, even "Civilian" would have been better or maybe "Greenhorn". Similarly, "Legend" is not a term I've come across, save in modern writing. Gunman, gunfighter, shootist and "pistoleer" are all better suited imho. Nevertheless, they're all better terms than the "Novice", "Average" and "Veteran" terms that I'm used to. Without delving into the 'skills' that can be added to characters, generally all characters of a class are identical in shooting, fighting, etc. - not something I'm used to. I can't have a 'citizen' with huge fighting skills, taking on a weedy 'Legend' and similarly with shooting situations. Fast draw situations are well covered (if you like Hollywood), but to my knowledge, only one definite fast-draw situation occurred, with the possibility of a couple of others.

The inclusion of “Nerve” (read morale) is a welcome addition, completely missing from my games in the 70’s, but doesn’t go far enough imo. I’d like to have seen a little less chance of fighting to the last man and a little more “running away scared”. One thing, I really don’t like is that no-one has to take a ‘nerve’ to melee with another character, strange as fighting seems to be a lot deadlier than most shooting. My characters never had morale tests, but were played according to their eight characteristics, which were in addition to their melee, handgun and shoulder arm factors (on a scale of 1 to 10) and the addition skill of fast, medium and slow draws. Other skills were also present and used when needed, whether they were horsemanship, throwing (knives, hatchets etc.), swimming etc. These are fairly well covered in TRWNN, with the addition of hated characters and ‘evil’ characters – we had many Happy, Vicious characters in comparison.

Character progression is covered, so campaigns can have some meaning with wounding enemies the criteria needed to advance. My characters advanced by taking part in fights (being shot at or shooting at others), but needed many fights to advance to the next level. The one major thing missing from TRWNN is “Doctorin”, but I have found some rules covering this online, so no problem there”

The biggest bugbear I have with TRWNN is their use of cards to initiate movement (of random variable distances), shooting and other actions. Having to prepare a minimum of six action cards and a character card for every involved figure is slightly restrictive to the number of figures that can be involved and a lot more effort needed to prepare for a game.

Overall, TRWNN are a good, simple set of rules with a lot of possibilities for fun games, but I am already looking how I can incorporate my old way of playing with these relatively new rules. That's it then for another week, once more it has been complete torture getting thiost done Thanks for visiting, commetns etc. always welcome.