A whole series of box sets for various eras, all with their own set of concise homebrewed rules, would be a huge game changer for the wargaming community; especially with the support (and gameplay videos!) you guys could provide for it

I like simple rules provided that it has flavor and not too generic.

I watched your Tombstone video and promptly downloaded Ruthless. I had a few extra days off around Easter and spent that time totally geeking-out on it. I took the authors seriously and made several low-key adjustments, wanting to preserve the streamlined simplicity, but introduce some additional variation. For example, why would you go with a revolver over a buntline special? I made the revolver slightly less lethal at long range, but I also made it a little harder to shoot a buntline in a short-ranged reaction shot (a Snap Shot). I might also have gotten carried away inventing about 20 more character traits. I've got a gaming weekend coming up with a group of friends and Ruthless will be one of the centerpiece experiences on our agenda.

We loved the rules over the Easter weekend we played several games at Molyneaux springs in 28mm and then another gamer brought his leg go town and we p,aged that !

That's a very salient point about the "durability" of gunfight-style skirmish games. Last year I bought and tried the latest Judge Dredd skirmish system - and while it looked great, the gameplay potential thinned out quite quickly (very little buzz or new online content about JD in 2021). Oh, and it certainly wasn't free. Good job gentlemen - stay well.

You guys not simply playing a usual, OK Corral game, but made it a mini-campaign game was inspiring! A tutorial video or two, on buildings, etc. for those who might want to expand on what comes with the Tinderbox set, would be great. Well Done LWTV and Mark and Brian!

Great review. This ruleset looks simple and fun. Thanks for sharing.

ordered yesterday!!! so happy and can't wait to start painting and playing

Awesome! The box set has been added to my "must-have" list!

I’m excited to hear about the other rules set you used for Tombstone, but these rules do have me tempted to snag some Wild West mins and give it a go

Thank you for sharing, this is very interesting and I look forward to giving these rules a try

could you guys do a review of Arty Conliffe's "crossfire" ruleset?

Good to finally see a game whose card suit rankings mirror those of bridge.

Time to review Fireball Forward methinks. After Crossfire of course.

I had a realization. Dnd was made as a supplement to the Chainmail set of miniature war gaming rules I wonder if I could use Ruthless as a base for a ttrpg for the wild west

HEADS UP! It looks like theres a graphics glitch at 11:44. Looks like a repeated layer that got triggered. Great review as always 😄

Fantastic review as always, never thought of the wild west for these kind of games but sounds a lot of fun and gonna try it out next time. got a couple of questions about the future fo the channel: 1) How far are you into the Pyrrhic Campaign? 2) What's next after Ruthless?

Great and fair review. I'm really enjoying playing this game. :-)

Heck ya guys, I was just kicking around with the warhammer old west rule set and just ordered some old west minis from black scorpion.thanks for the video.

It has character creation, with traits and stats. It has a morale system, and it has a cover system. The rules are 2 pages, plus another 2 for character and scenario creation. It seems to me "Ruthless" is a new gold standard. If your skirmish game is more complex than this, you need to come up with a good reason for it.

I'm guessing you guys have a fair bit planned already, but is there any chance we'll see the Bismarck in an Operation Rheinübung campaign in the future?

Already ordered your guys’ game, can’t wait to try it out!

It's enticing. I think the scenarios are what make this better. The Tombstone video shows how it is done to perfection. But each is a showdown like any other. I'd think a search for x resulting in a running gunfight might be a good scenario, or with one gang running away with the x before getting caught

I am really surprised that you fell all over yourselves about this rules set. First of all the rules are not complete in two pages. In order to have any idea about the miniatures and their characteristics (or stats) you need the five page version from the Firenball web site. So five pages not two. I do find it interesting that an old west font and a couple of red separation blocks provide a presentation higher than the majority of rules reviewed by Little Wars. The mechanics present little new, but are definitely sufficient for a short, quick set of rules. I also question the historical nature. You could change the historical flavor by just changing the names in the weapons tables, I.e. slings, bows, & javelins or lasers, phasers and rail-guns. I am glad that this rule set has reinvigorated your desire to game the Wild West and has been fun for the club. I really like what Little Wars has done for gaming. I just think this particular review was over the top.

I downloaded the Ruthless gunfighter rules about month ago, but have yet to play my first game, as I've been busy scratch building the buildings and assembling/painting the figures. I've come up with a really cool way to keep track of each character's stats. I've cut a piece 3/4" pine board into 4" x 8" pieces, then cut the piece into the shape of an old west coffin lid. At the top there's a place for the character's name and toughness rating, below that a place for traits, below that holes are drilled for 22 caliber and 32 caliber shell casings to keep track of ammo supply and below that four 3/4" holes for the LEG, ARM, CHEST and CRITICAL wounds (I'll use small diameter poker chips to keep track of the wounds). Hopefully I'll be ready to play our first game in another week or two.

Have you guys checked out Shootin' Iron? The core rules fit on a single page as well, with the optional rules and scenarios expanding it to 12 pages. It looks quite decent.

Very nice 👍

New viewer here. Love the content, especially the cotton smoke & explosions. I’m aware you guys play At least some Total war and probably other strategy video games. I’m wondering how you rank them and if you’ve played the “ultimate general” & “ultimate admiral” games.

I will have a look, certainly anything on 2 pages is quite attractive. we have been play What a Cowboy from TFL. presently in playtest. It is a lot of fun and has a good campaign system

Pity i wont get the tombstone box in South Africa,but i do like the Ruthless rules, busy working on a 3 act campaign

I wonder what your thoughts are on Basic Impetus, as a quick and easy ruleset for ancient and medieval battles.

Looks like a fun, relaxing, beer & pretzels type game that isn't too taxing on the brain. A minor observation, however. Although you don't need many figures, it looks like it might soon get boring if you don't invest in scenery also (so it's good that your tinderbox includes buildings, etc). Going by the look of your games, like model railroads, the trains are only half the story. Additionally, it's not simply two pages (which is still great, btw) - as you mention later on, you also have to print out character cards. But, of course, that's not much more either and it is free. Good review.

Hmmm.... Something that I think the Little Wars crew could find interesting to do as a a series of scenarios with these rules would be history of the Kelly Gang. For those who don't know, the Kelly Gang were a group of Australian Bushrangers (outlaws) lead by Edward 'Ned' Kelly, their last stand at the Glenrowan Hotel being a staple of Australian folklore. Of particular note, they made armour out of plate steel for the last stand, protecting them from the bullets of the colonial police sent to arrest them. Well, at least until the Police realised that the gang hadn't made leg armour, and started shooting low.

I wish you guys still had the box set available.

Hopefully there's a printer friendly version, or else this will ruthlessly murder my toner cartridge.

Greg, you didn’t age a bit! 😁 Looking forward to the tinder box!👍

First, great review! I'm excited about the Tombstone Tinderbox. I hope I'll be able to buy it from Argentina! That said, I do share the worry you mentioned at the end of your review: Wild West wargaming doesn't feel tactical. I mean, even in your (otherwise awesome) Tombstone videos, it seems it's just guys shooting at each other, barely moving or maneuvering. Is there more to it than just two posses facing each other and shooting it out? (To be clear: I want the answer to be YES, 'cause I'd love to paint some cowboys and build some Western town!). Is the main advantage of Ruthless that you can create a linked campaign, but each individual scenario remains just minis standing and shooting at each other?

Anyway to get an editable character cards document? Love the rules but hate my handwriting😅

Is there any gameplay application to do the battle of Okracoke inlet, where Blackbeard was killed?

Where can I order this blessed box set

The only thing I can really see being added right off the bat to these rules is black powder guns with longer reload times (and in the case of rifles, fewer shots) buntline special....how many made?? not more than a handful? I'd leave that out lol (btw, I LOVE High Plains Drifter too)

I am a Big Wild West player. I have played Dead Man's Hand, Shootin Iron, Desperado, Knuckleduster, and Fistful of Lead. And I have played two games of Ruthless. This is a good set of rules. The only drawback for me is the Character cards. I don' like record keeping. It is hard to compare this game to DMH because it is kind of like comparing "apples and oranges". Their styles are so different. All in all. I still like Fistful of Lead the best. (No record Keeping) and it plays fast like Ruthless. If you like or want to try a little Wild West fun. Now's a good time. There is a lot to choose from. So go to it partner.

How would you use dynamite in the game? What would the rules be?

Mmmmmmmm sarsaparilla. Yummy.

Never seen a set of rules that can fit on just one page!

I like the simplicity of this game in one way. And I sure do appreciate the fact that it is free! The following may sound like negative criticism… but I would like to share some comments and questions of this system. First of all… I’d like to echo another commenter by saying the rules aren’t on two pages, but rather 4. There ARE rules on these extra pages. The game doesn’t talk about how to assemble a gang as far as I can tell. Can you equip more than one weapon? Aren’t there any kind of point costs for each character? Or are they all equal? All I can see is that it works best with 2-5 characters each. Do all players play with the same number of equally equipped characters? Is this agreed beforehand? Where is this explained? It doesn’t really explain how to assign a toughness score. Indeed it doesn’t mention assigning toughness values until the third page of a ‘two page’ rules set. How are these numbers assigned to your models? Why wouldn’t I want to give all my models a great toughness score to begin with? Character traits are a great idea … but isn’t assigning two good traits to a character making that character more valuable than one with one negative trait? Why would I want to assign negative traits and a lousier toughness unless it decreased the ‘cost’ of that character. And in a game where there is no apparent building cost per model, how is that relevant? So far I like the rules for Fistful of Lead by Wiley games. It isn’t nearly as simple as Ruthless, but far less complicated than Tombstone or Gunfighter’s Ball for example. Could you please tell me what I’m missing in my understanding of the Ruthless rules?

14:42 where is that Clint Eastwood type cowboy from? I didn't see it on Old Glory/ Blue moon pics. Any help? Thanks.

Is it ok to share your videos on social media? Have some gamer's on there that would enjoy this

Hello, I wanted to ask about the rules. Roll 1 die when shooting with a shotgun? After the shot, cross out 1 or 2 rounds?

Have you guys played dead man's hand wild west ruleset?

Free and worth every penny! 😉

I am interested in the Lincoln County War being given the Ruthless treatment.

Second viewer and ordering this i love it ;)

I can only pre order Tombstone Tinderbox??

Good afternoon. No access to site

I'm not really a western enthusiast, I never hear many western Warhammerish games out there. Can the game let u play Billy The Kid and other notorious true to life characters ?

share unit cards

Tracking ammo sounds a bit tedious.

come on, give it a 10 for presentation, be generous :-)

I must admit....fireball forward and their $25 scenarios...ridiculous I think especially when they're based on history or some movie somebody else wrote ...just watch one of a MILLION western TV shows or movies and use their scenarios for free or (shock) make your own You guys said you lost interest in wild west shootout games....I think the key with wild west shootouts are the SCENARIOS, the shootouts have to be an Outgrowth of the scenarios or they just don't matter. there's Got to be some emotional investment and that's done through the scenario

2:58 so Tony's 10 would be a game that was free, with miniatures and terrain that is only one page? I think he needs to explain what gets a 10 so it is clear why he only gave it an 8.

Why don't you just play Boot hill and be done with it.

first viewer!