Silence the witness

     "You may hear of a killing if everything works right . . . but it may be some time yet".

                                                                                         - Texas Ranger Ira Aten

      In a lack of shot painting achievements this week, I have a Dead Man's Hand battle report from a game played over the weekend instead. The game was the 3rd scene scenario Protect the Witness, with me playing as the Outlaws trying to kill the witness and Steve playing the Lawmen trying to get him to a safe house.

      To win the game the Lawmen had to get the witness (any model from the Lawman's gang - noted down before the game but hidden from the opposition) into either the sheriff's office, the bank or the two-story building next door without an Outlaw inside it as well. Easier said than done.

      Unbeknownst to me, a lucky kill in the first turn took out the guy standing next to the witness, if only I had known it was the guy next to him!

     A foolhardy Outlaw storms a shop with three Lawmen hidden in it. At this point, I was pretty confident three men storming up one side of the board had to include the witness so I went in all guns blazing.

      Some more lucky shooting clears one side of the board leaving the three Lawmen holding out in their shop and one more hiding in the saloon.

    Figuring I might as well take out the guy on his own before he took me out from behind, my dastardly Outlaw boss took a hostage and forced his way into the building, gunning down the surprised Lawmen he found. When the smoke had cleared it was revealed that this was in fact the witness they were after.

       Dead Man's Hand is one of those games that I find a little clunky in it's rules but really good fun if you are willing to put the time in, it really does feel like a cowboy game with cowboys in it. One of those games you can sit back and watch the lead fly and see who is still standing once the smoke clears and this was no exception.

Thanks for reading