Team für historische Simulationen
Team for historical Simulations ________________________________________

home                                                         11/2008

Once Upon A Time In Mexico

Best Participation Game at Crisis/Antwerp 2008.
Have a look at our comic (sorry, only german version available).

Gallery

zum Vergrößern Einzelbild anklicken / click on piture to enlarge
a) Posses
French Foreign Legion
Priests of Quievera
Archaeologists
Peones
C.S.A. Renegates
Chasseurs d'Afrique
McFly Cowboys
Mescalero Apaches
Miners
Bandidos
Texas Ranger
Outlaws
Federales
Cimarrones
US-Cavalry
Rainforest Dweller
b) Selected Scenes
Viva la Revolution!
Shopping in Quievera
All quiet in town
Mescalero Raid
Vuelta al Zocalo
Gecko Gangs arrival
Siesta
What's for dinner?

La Diligencia or
We break for nobody!

La Mina
"Perdido Holandés"
El Convento
"Nostra Madonna con
Los Grandes Melones"


Perditas Pink Palace
At your selvice Mistel!
Rumble in the jungle
c) Crisis 2008

Game Concept

This participation-game is designed to create a maximum of fun investing a minimum on games procedure. The game will be run throughout the day and can be joined (and left) at any time by a participant using ready-to- play groups (posses) chosen randomly. For each posse there is a special briefing, have a look at the samples listed below:

The rules we use are Legends of The Old West with fewer special rules to keep it simple. Our team will not only umpire the game, but also help newcomers get their posse into action. In addition certain terrain-features and miniatures on the table will trigger special events, when passed, such as Zorro turning up or all Mexicans dispersing for their siesta. Not to mention the monster from the black lagoon, deadly rattlesnakes and other horrors of the desert and the jungle. Have a look at the layout of the game.

Initial Situation

The year is 1864 and the American Civil War is at its height. In Mexico international troops fight the republicans of Benito Juarez in order to keep Emperor Maximilan on his throne. The small town of Puerto Pinata, is situated somewhere in Mexico, directly on the border between dry desert and the steamy impenetrable rain-forest. The town recently became a traffic junction connecting the national railroad with a stagecoach-line and a pier for steamers from north and south. From here you can venture further into the Mexican heartland as well as the US-border No wonder that Puerto Pinata became a retreat for outlaws, gunslingers, deserters and soldiers-of-fortune from all nations. The wealth of the town also attracts bloodthirsty Apaches and pistoleros of all kind. Meanwhile Imperials and Republicans fight for he supremacy of the territory and US-troops constantly violate the border venturing deep into Mexico, even up to this small town. Life is not easy fort the local peones and is further made difficult by the recently discovered vein of gold in the vicinity, rumours about a legendary Aztec treasure hidden deep in the jungle and the arrival of an ambassador and his escort from the land of the rising sun.

Miniatures & Terrain

Additional Information

Selectet Bibliography

For informaton on landscape, vegetation and wildlife we strongly recommend The High Sierra (Die Sierra Madre) by Ezra Bowen, Time Life Books.

Remark:
Nearly all of the before mentioned books are part of the extensive THS-library at our HQ.

Wargame Rules

Legends of The Old West (LoTOW) plus its supplements Frontier, The Alamo and Showdown all by Mark Latham, Warhammer Historical Wargames / BL Publishing 2004-2006
Remarks:
For the purpose of this game, we downsized the posses and slightly modified the rules. Individual briefing including objectives, special rules and starting positions have been designed for each posse. Gamers may join in at any time, using one of these predesigned posses. Special events are being triggered when posses pass certain miniatures and terrain-features on the setting.

Novels

First of all, we have to mentiont Karl May using the Maximilian Adventure as background for the novel-cyclus Das Waldröschen. We owe much of the idea for the“Lost City of Quievera” section of the game to Heart Of The World by Henry Rider Haggard and especially Thunderhead by Preston/Child.

Movies

For our game and characters, we plundered numerous Western movies such as:
Cat Ballou, The Magnificent Seven, Major Dundee/Sierra Chariba, El Mariachi, The Mask of Zorro, Red Sun, Der Schatz der Azteken and Three Amigos
plus the TV-Series Bonanza, Deadwood, High Chaparral, Maverick, Yancy Derringer, Wild Wild West and many more.

Comics

Ok, here we get carried away a bit, but perhaps you would like to take a look at the series and one-shots: Angela, Blueberry, Mac Coy, TrioGrande, Tequila Desperados or Wayne Redlake not to forget the funnies Lucky Luke and Cotton Kid

Background Music

We recommend spaghetti-western soundtracks by Ennio Morricone and any Mariachi- or Country-music. Amongst our favourite are Acapulco Goldie by Dr.Hook, Hey Joe by Mink De Ville and the soundtracks from Desperado and From Dusk Till Dawn

Decoration

Use any Mexican souvenirs such as Ponchos, Sombreros, flags and so on. Your local decoration-supplier or the internet will certainly provide you with further ideas. Perhaps you even care to build your own piñata or serve tortilla-chips with the game.

Credits

"Once Upon A Time In Mexico" has been presented for the first time at Crisis in Antwerp in November 2008. The whole idea for the game, the design and most of the paper-work stem from the twisted mind of Karl-Heinz Kieckers. The concept is based on the "El-Paso" presented by the same person at Rat-Con in Dortmund in 1998. In order to breathe life into this concept the whole team (more or less) volunteered and made the best of it. But just in case something does not work out properly blame the author (and him only).