Gunslinger (board wargame)

Gunslinger is a game for 2–7 players, each of whom controls one character engaged in sudden combat in a stereotypical Western town.

Each player has a set of 12 double-sided cards that are used for initiative order, action designation and combat resolution. Each player also has a counter to represent the position of their character on a hex grid map that is formed from one or more eight 8" x 11" double-sided geomorphic tiles scaled at 6 feet per hex.^[1] One side of each tile displays rural terrain such as gullies, trees, corrals, watering troughs, wells, hitching posts, or Boot Hill , while the other side has part of a Western frontier town such as a bank, saloon or small store.^[1] Rural and town tiles can be mixed to produce the desired terrain.^[1] The hex grid is distorted to fit the buildings rather than the other way around, resulting in "hexagons" that have four, five, six or seven sides.^[1] Critic Jay Selover noted "This innovation is one of the most impressive accomplishments of the game. Hexes have always been used to regulate movement and range, but here they have finally been relegated to their proper positions as tools of the game designer, subordinated as needed to the realities of the true terrain."^[1]

Each player selects one of 48 pregenerated characters. Each character has a name, and is defined by shooting and brawling skill, endurance, special abilities, ambidexterity, and standard weapons carried.^[1] Players can also create their own characters using guidelines provided in the rules.^[1]

The players select one of 26 scenarios, each of which has several variants. The scenarios cover most Western-themed combat situations, including High Noon- and OK Corral-type gunfights, bank robberies, and barroom brawls.

Each turn represents 2 seconds of game time. Each player selects an action to take such as movement, an attack, a defense, or utilizing strength (to add power to a throw or attack),^[1] and these are revealed simultaneously. The cards are then placed in order and executed from fastest to slowest.

Hitting a target with a firearm is influenced by range, skill of the attacker, and time spent aiming the weapon. There are nine possible body locations that can be hit, and 13 types of damage that can occur, from "Lose Aim" to "KIA".^[1]

Each scenario lasts for a set amount of time. Victory points are added up at the end of the scenario to determine a winner. ^[2]

Gunslinger was designed by Richard Hamblen, and was published by Avalon Hill in 1982 as a boxed set with artwork by Charles Kibler, Scott Moores, Dale Sheaffer, and Chris White.

An identically named game of Western gunfighting had been published by Richard R. Sartore & Associates five years previously, but this had no connection to the Avalon Hill product.