Dead Man's Hand Campaign Log

The Wargate Presents

The Return of Pablo Strange

A Dead Man's Hand Campaign

Season 1, 2016

Winter, 1875
Near Smokefall Ridge, The Indian Territory

They say that a few months ago, the renowned bandito Pablo Strange was killed in Smokefall Ridge.  They say he rose from the dead, and had to be put down again.  The people that live in that forsaken place are notorious for burning the bodies of those that die 'unnatural' deaths, so when tales of the scoundrel still living (and killing) began to surface, Marshal Seth Barclay at Ft. Grant took it seriously.

It didn't take long to confirm that a band of vicious outlaws was plaguing the settlements north of the Red River.  Tales of horror began to drift back to Ft. Grant, and the Marshal took action.  Now, a band of Lawmen stalk the Banditos and Outlaws of the Territory.  Along the way, they'll have help from the brave locals who can no longer stand the depredations of Pablo Strange and his band of murdering thieves.

However, the Territory itself holds horrors most folks can't fathom.  A feeling of dread permeates the air...and the hunters may soon become the hunted if the stories of the bandit leader's supernatural resilience prove true.  Perhaps through sheer tenacity and grit, the evildoers will be brought to heel - or will darkness once again hold sway over the Territory?

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The Return of Pablo Strange is a Dead Man's Hand campaign based in the Indian Territory.  Each campaign game will involve either the Lawmen or the Cowboys versus either the Banditos or Outlaws.  In addition, Desperados are present that can take on either band.

Each player will maintain a roster and play proceeds as outlined in The Legend of Dead Man's Hand rulebook.  Players can pick and choose a 3-act scenario, all the rules for which are detailed in said volume.  Model overlap can occur between gangs of the same alignment, but players can also share a team.  Gangs can fight as many times as they like during one day as long as the same player does not play twice consecutively.

Each month, there will be one day of bonus scenarios centered on the...stranger...aspects of the setting known as the Territory.  These will be linked directly to our ongoing World of Darkness game regarding the exploits of the settlers at Smokefall Ridge...for this campaign may directly affect them personally!  These will be announced just prior to the event day to account for shifts in the setting.

The campaign will continue until the end of Season 1, and the gang with the highest rep wins.  Add the total of any retired gangs of the same type with 31 or more Rep to this total.

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Campaign Updates

1. The Good, The Lead and The Ugly (01.24.16)
• The gang of Pablo Strange gets the drop on a marshal sent to find their hideout.  He found it, to his short-lived chagrin.
• Closing in on the gang, a posse of Lawmen attack the Banditos near their hovel in the Territory.  There are few survivors to return to Ft. Grant.
• Feeling that something is up, the Strange gang is waiting for the Lawmen when they return...and the Lawmen suffer another harsh defeat.
2. Red Earth Bandits (02.01.16 to 04.03.16)
• Pablo intensifies his reign of terror as few can face his wrath and survive.

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Epilogue

The Dread has lifted from the Territory, mitigating the threat of the supernatural hazards of the area.  However, as the spirits fade into the Shadow...crooks, charlatans and outlaws invade the Territory.  Now, the threat is human nature and desperation.  Perhaps the legend of Pablo Strange is special because it's the synthesis of both of the most devastating threats, mundane and mystical, to plague the people who've tried to make this place their home.

People often see him wandering the lonely trails at night, and sometimes in broad daylight.  They say he's now a skeletal spectre of an hombre from hell.  His eyeless skull is obviously no longer alive, but with eyes that burn with a green balefire.  They say his pistols don't fire bullets, but gouts of that hellish flame.  And they say he still keeps up his old trade, brigandry and robbery.

There are new tales of his terror every year.  Some hapless traveler, or farmer who strayed too far from the settlements, run across him and somehow live to tell the tale.  Despite the strife the the Dread and all that followed it being over, people still live here who very vividly remember it.  The spectre of Pablo Strange is a reminder of that dark time that still haunts the Territory, a vessel of boundless Dread that wanders lonely wilds.

Prepare for the Return of Pablo Strange!

Howdy!

We begin 2016's battle games with Dead Man's Hand, a nifty skirmish game we've talked about before on this site.  It will be a vicious fight, taking place in and around Smokefall Ridge.  The results of this campaign (and the World of Darkness rpg chronicle) will shape the future of the Territory for decades to come.

So what's all this about a strange Pablo?  A terrifying bandit roams the Territory, and the brave citizens and lawmen of that forsaken place have banded together to hunt him down and bring his posse to justice.  Check out the Dead Man's Hand section of the site!

The interesting bit of this campaign is the "bonus" rounds every month.  These will focus on narrative scenarios dovetailing with the World of Darkness games.  This is part of our "nesting" of the games this next year - which we will talk about more at a later date.

In addition, one of the first painting projects of the New Year will be to bring to life our Western miniature collection.  We've got a fine set of miniatures, and we'll be adding a few more before the season is out.  It won't take very long to finish the entire case, and we're for sure to add more Banditos to the box...Strange will have a large posse, dressed to kill!

2016 will start off with a bang - of a six-gun!

Getting Into the Wild, Weird West!

It might come as a shock to you that in Oklahoma, in the center of the United States, it's almost impossible to find a Western game.  We went a long way to find a game that fit the genre and our needs, and it traveled across the ocean to get to us.  It seems as if the entire countryside full of gamers has absolutely no interest in this genre.  Well, except us here at the Wargate.

It really should be natural for us to get into this genre, but although enthusiasm is built up pretty high there's very little actual historical knowledge about this period with most gamers, especially those here.  Let me clarify we had everything we need as far as roleplaying games go - what we started looking for was a way to bring the action to our miniature battles!

Since we started the World of Darkness Wild West game a few years ago, we've been looking at how to bring it to the table.  There's a lot of different game systems out there, but it was difficult to find a new-ish game to help bring the enthusiasm level up.  As I said before, our game stuff had to travel a long way to get to Oklahoma.

It took a little searching around, but Wargames Illustrated has some coverage of all eras.  In that esteemed magazine, we saw a little about a game called Dead Man's Hand.  We searched for it high and low, but were only able to get a copy in from the United Kingdom.  This, for a wild west game.  We live in OKLAHOMA.

Great Escape Games has done a great job - Dead Man's Hand seems to fill all the criteria we were looking for in a skirmish game.  We had a few Wild West miniatures lingering around from various purchases previously, but most were Reaper...and a few of them I've been unable to identify.  Not even really sure where some of these came from, but there were at least four different manufacturers in our Wild West case before we started this project.

After looking through several manufacturer's catalogues, we settled on what we were going to use to populate our Weird West.  In addition to the Dead Man's Hand range (which is nice and has great sculpts, it's rather limited) we will be using Black Scorpion Miniatures' Tombstone range.  There's a wealth of cool miniatures in there, and they are FANTASTIC sculpts.  The resin Black Scorpion casts in is also one of the finest materials on the market and I suggest you check some of their work out.  With Great Escape, Black Scorpion and Reaper's model ranges leading our charge into the West, we'll have more than enough stuff to keep us busy for this season and the next.

"Badges?  We don't need no stinking badges!!"

Yet as any wargamer knows, you can't just have the miniatures without building terrain for the milieu.  Lucky for us, 4Ground's American Legends range has the makings of our dusty Territory township.  Those are great terrain pieces, and since we intend to build the town square of our main settlement we can expect to see several of these constructions building in Smokefall Ridge very soon.  Not only that, but the Blackwater Gulch range has EVEN MORE great kits we're going to grab up to help populate the Settlements.

"Get a rope."

It's not hard to imagine the entire place.  Dusty roads, a dirty well and a few facade buildings.  Livestock will be kept, and fences.  It's almost a model railroad project but for the fact that this is all centered around gaming.  There's all sorts of variety.

Whatever the case in Smokefall Ridge that would necessitate the construction of a gallows, one thing remains certain:  you're probably going to need one, eventually.  And for me that's good enough reason to build one - notwithstanding how cheap it is!  Going forward into this project with our group is going to be a blast.

We don't need a HUGE amount of new items, and can afford to focus on the whole thing as a collective.  As we build up our model collection and terrain set, the Settlements will become a more solidified place in our hearts and minds.  Welcome to Smokefall Ridge partner - in miniature.