Gunman's Law Print [BUNDLE]

Jonathan, you're right that the cards are currently an impediment to virtual play. It's something we hope to address in the future, perhaps with an app.

Michael, I'm a long time player of Gunslinger and can tell you that it does not have 'full solitaire rules'. The solitaire rules are listed in the optional rules and are referenced in rules section 9 as Automatic Characters

Michael, pages 64 and 65 of the rulebook provide guidance for making decisions for NPCs. In addition, most of the scenarios are staged such that NPCs have pre-determined starting positions from which they will realistically shoot their gun(s) until picked off. There is not a comprehensive AI for NPCs, but hopefully those pages in the rulebook provide enough suggestions to enjoy solo play.

For Gunman’s Law to be compared to Avalon Hill’s seminal product Gunslinger is a well-received compliment. Of course, as the designer of Gunman’s Law, I have a biased opinion that in many ways my game is better. If I didn’t feel that way, then I should not have released the product.

To answer the question about similarities and differences in great detail would be a very time-consuming task, requiring a feature-by-feature breakdown. However, in general I think a fair response would be as follows:

Any game that duplicates a genre that has been explored in another game is bound to have some similarities; and the closer the games are to covering the same ground, the more similarities will logically exist. Because Gunman’s Law and Gunslinger both focus on combat during the period popularly known as the “Wild West”, overlaps are inevitable. Still, It pays to clearly state that something similar does not make the two things the same.

Here are the major similarities...See more and as you will see, they deal mainly with thematic approach and basic concepts:

• Both games deal with the same basic concept of man-to-man or group-to-group encounters with weapons from the time period.
• Both games offer multi-player and cooperative modes of play.
• Both games feature turn-by-turn movement, multiple phases within turns and a variety of combat.
• Both games employ a system that uses cards to activate and resolve actions taken.
• Both games have rated characters and make use of famous figures from the Old West.
• Both games provide maps and scenarios with which to construct the “game” being played at the time and a way to link the scenarios together.
• Both games allow for role-playing elements so that a game player can develop a character from a novice stage to a legendary gunman stage.
• Both games attempt to meld realism and historic nuances with the excitement found more often in the cinematic and novel portrayal of the period than in real life.

Here are the major differences in the two products (and please understand that I should preface many of the following with the phrase “In my opinion . . . “:

• Gunman’s Law factors more overall details, more individual characteristics and possibilities than Gunslinger yet is easier to play
• Gunman’s Law plays and feels much faster without sacrificing realism.
• Gunman’s Law has far more possible but unusual events that can take place during a gunfight, made possible by a Special Action Deck that allows for everything from a typical misfire to feral camels (they really existed) to wander into town during a shoot-out.
• Gunman’s Law is playable solo.
• Gunman’s Law is expandable and will be augmented with everything from additional deck types to full blown supplements like an RPG town and additional scenarios.
• Gunman’s Law, in play-testing, seemed to be more accurate overall in its results, when compared to similar scenarios played using Gunslinger, which might be a good thing or a bad thing, depending upon whether or not you like your game experience to be greatly slanted toward your player character and less deadly overall.
To be fair to Gunslinger, which is a classic game, it has at this point in Gunman’s Law’s evolution, advantages that I am happy to recognize:
• Overall, its components are of a better quality, although, frankly the 200 cards that make up the various decks in Gunman’s Law are the top-of-the-line and comparable to any similar component anywhere, as is the rule book (after editing and revisions). However, its game boards, box and counters give it a clear edge for now.
• Gunslinger includes rules for certain events that take place in the Wild West that have yet to be addressed in Gunman’s Law and in that sense is broader than Gunman’s Law.
• Gunslinger has a more highly developed system of movement and cover and, in these instances, offer more specific details than Gunman’s Law.

Summary:

In truth, comparing the two games is tricky because in many cases you are comparing apples to apples; but in just as many cases, you are comparing apples to oranges. At that point, it becomes a matter of taste. The games are certainly different enough in playing mechanics that choosing one over the other could boil down to individual preference.

Avalon Hill’s Gunslinger is a finely polished product and shows the care and revisions and hallmarks of the company in its components and presentation. Gunman’s Law is still undergoing iterations: moving eventually from PDF and PoD to a boxed product with better components.

If I were to try to draw a parallel between the games and gunfighters, Gunslinger is the experienced veteran with all the rough edges smoothed by time and tests; Gunman’s Law is the rising young gun, slicker and faster, with the potential to be better in all ways, given time.

And that seems fitting: no matter how fast you are with a gun, there’s always someone faster coming along. Our fervent hope is to be the fastest gunfighter, or in this case, the best gunfighter-based game available.