[DL] RangeWars promo

[Xotzil@aol.com]

While at my FLGS looking around today, I happened upon a promo flyer for the RangeWars game.

One side is a colourized advertising blurb, which gives you a peek at some of the disks, and a listing of the eight "factions" that will appear in the game.

They are:

Beauchamp's Rebels (what appear to be a Confed. outfit)
Blackjacks (seem to be straight from Doomtown)
Collegium (as above)
Morgan Cattle Company (I don't have my books here at work, but weren't they mentioned in Boomtowns, or am I misremembering? I know there were some cattle companies mentioned in there, but I don't remember which)
Sweetrock Mining (also from Doomtown)
Whateleys (also from Doomtown)
Wretched (absolutely no idea. John?)

They also give you a very bare bones set of rules, and a dissection of what the stuff on the Dude disks mean.

There are seven relevant bits on a Dude disk.

Influence (how easy s/he can take over deeds)
Pace (number of times s/he can move/flip a turn)
Brawlin' (how much damage a dude does if it "pins" another disk after moving)
GR Cost (how much to bring the Dude into play)
Vigor (how much damage a Dude can take)
Shootin (some Dude disks have a gun and bullet icon on it. If it's a pistol, the dude can aim at dudes within 6", if a rifle, can aim at dudes up to 12". Damage by bullet type [silver/brass])
Text (including special abilities and traits, etc)

Along with Dudes, there are also Terrains and Deeds.
 
Deeds appear to generate one or two types of things.

Victory Points
GR Production

Unfortunately, the one Terrain disk they show us is covered by a majority of the deed, so I can't see any more.

You also appear to get 13 cards with your disks, from A-K, A being lowest. At the beginning of each turn, you (optionally) deal one card to each disk, and this "activates" the disk, or allows you to use it that turn. You may, however, want to hold some cards in your hand to power spells with (this version of the rules doesn't go into a lot of detail there).

Another mechanic mentioned (though not fully explained) is the use of Joker disks. At times, you are told to "toss Jokers." You put them in a cup and let them fall randomly onto the table. White side up is called a "live Joker" and dark side up is called a "dead Joker."

Judging by the graphic for the latter, getting a "dead Joker" is a Bad Thing (tm).

The flyer states that the starter boxes (priced at $9.95 per box) will be shipping in late June. It does not say whether or not they will be selling mini-expansion packs (as they do with Diskwars), nor does it say how many flats will be in a box, nor does it say how many different flats there are (I think the original Diskwars set had about 75 different ones, with each box having four fixed flats and four random ones, but I don't remember).

This looks like it could be a lot of fun if not taken in too serious a manner. As Allan mentioned sometime last week, the artwork is somewhat cartoony (much in the same vein as the One Shot book, and the comic in the Epitaph were), but would certainly not qualify as "bad."

Wish I'd gotten into the event at Origins. At worst, maybe some of us could meet up for a pick-up learn and play session.

--Jacques