Gettin' The Drop On Cheatin' Varmints

By John Goff

The game mechanic used by the Doomtown collectible card game to represent combat is unique among the Texas-sized stampede of card games to hit the market since Magic: The Gathering hit the market back in 1993. In keeping with the game's theme, its designers have incorporated a variation on the game of poker to simulate shootouts between each player's dudes as they struggle for control of the mining town of Gomorra. This innovative mechanic is one of the CCG's many strong points and helps provide a dusty, western atmosphere to game play, much like the use of a poker deck and chips does to the Deadlands RPG.

If there's a drawback to this nifty mechanic, it's the very fact the game is a CCG. Like most other games of its kind, Doomtown lets players pretty much design and build their own decks, including whatever cards they see fit. Now, it didn't take the cardsharps too long to figure out they can build a deck designed to win shootouts by "cheating" on the poker hands. Before somebody gets riled up and rousts up a lynch mob, let me explain what "cheating" in Doomtown means. If a player has two cards of the same suit and value in a normal poker game (say, two aces of spades), he's cheating. But since Doomtown players can build their own decks, it's fairly commonplace for this to happen in this far-from-normal poker game. It's not a violation of the game's rules, but it's called "cheating" simply as a game term to describe the situation.

All an unscrupulous snake's belly has to do is stack his deck with a passel of cards of the same value, virtually guaranteeing he'll draw at least 3 of a kind, a full house, or even better on any hand. And with the variety of cards available now that the Rolling Thunder distribution system is under way, it's not hard to build a viable deck with one or two values alone -- 3s, 5s, 6s, and 9s seemed to be the favored values of these sidewinders.

Until recently, a whole herd of anti-cheating cards kept the worst of these decks in line. Any bandit counting on cheating poker hands ran the risk of losing a deed to Foreclosure, provoking someone to Get a Rope or even having a dude die from Snakebite. Then along came the card No Funny Stuff, which prevents any further actions or reactions from taking place during a shootout -- including those anti-cheatin' cards. Now, cheatin' decks are pretty much top dog when it comes to slinging lead on the streets of Gomorra. Don't get me wrong -- I don't disapprove of this strategy. On the contrary, I've got plenty of decks designed to cheat myself. But I know from experience how frustrating it can be playing a theme deck designed for fun against one of these quickdraw specials. After one too many of my own dudes ended up in Boot Hill, I sat down and came up with a few strategies to beat these bottom-dealing hucksters. The Law of the West dictates I share them with others.

Anti-Cheatin' Cards

No Funny Stuff stops anti-cheatin' cards during shootouts, but that doesn't make them useless. During the opening phase of each turn, there's still the lowball poker hand to determine who wins the ante and gets to go first that turn. While most anti-cheatin' cards work best during a shootout, a few are just as nasty at punishing your opponent during the lowball hand.

Foreclosure, which forces the varmint to discard one of his deeds in play, can be downright painful for cheatin' decks. It works fine during the lowball hand and, if you choose wisely, can cost your opponent ghost rock production, Control Points, and even send his dudes home booted -- effectively out of action for the turn! The only drawback is if the dudes have squatted on your own property and are using it for Control Points or abilities. Foreclosure only works on deeds owned by the cheater.

Run Out of Town gives you a pretty good chance at sending your opponent's weaker dudes running to the discard pile. This can put a hurting on his firepower, but, more importantly, his influence. Run Out of Town can help regain control of deeds, swing influence to your favor, or even put you in a winning position. However, it's doubtful the card can take care of the high value shooters in your opponent's posse -- and those often are the toughest gunslingers or have the highest influence!

Yellow Traitor, a relative newcomer to the card mix, costs the cheater a Control Point permanently. Since it can be played several times during a game, it can almost guarantee a serious cheatin' deck has no chance of winning by Control Points. On the other hand, Yellow Traitor has no effect on Victory Points, so outfits like the Law Dogs and the Agency, which can earn Victory Points, can still win. Also, Yellow Traitor doesn't help your outfit win the game; it only prevents your opponent from doing so. It is possible to stalemate a game in this fashion.

Fight on Your Own Terms

While anti-cheatin' cards can help balance out the advantage a cheatin' deck has, it's still up to your outfit to win the game. That usually means going out into the streets of Gomorra and using influence to gain control of important deeds. Unfortunately, that also exposes your dudes to the guns of your opponent. With all the cards that allow shootouts in an outfit's home, even decks that could previously win while staying hidden at home are now at risk of having some pistolero come in and throw down on them. It's almost certain you're going to risk facing a shootout with a cheatin' gunslinger at some point. The secret to winning a gunfight with one of these varmints is to pick when you fight them.

Cheatin' decks aren't likely to win the lowball hand at the beginning of each round. That means you're probably going to go first in the turn and get the first Shootout Action in any gunfights that do come up, so you get to play a Shootout Action before your opponent can shut you down with a No Funny Stuff. Also, your opponent is losing 1 ghost rock to ante each round in addition to any upkeep he's paying. If you can further shut down his income, he'll be limited in his own actions each round.

Scout Them Out

Knowledge of what your opponent's holding in his play hand before getting into a gunfight is a necessity, especially if he's using No Funny Stuff. Two dudes, The Amazing Xemo and Sandra Harris let you look at a card at random from his hand, so unless he's down to one card when you use it, you'll never know what else he's holding. Friends in Low Places tips his entire hand to you, but since it's an Action card, you can only use it when you draw it in your play hand. Probably the best spy in the game is the drifter huckster Sir Whitmore. For a mere 1 ghost rock, he'll tell you everything your opponent's holding. Since he's non-unique, there's no reason to not put him in your deck -- or possibly even start the game with him in play.

Once you know what your opponent's holding, you can easily plan your own strategy. If he's got a No Funny Stuff, maybe you'll want to pick a fight with his dudes using one of your less valuable dudes in the hopes of drawing it out of his hand. If he guts it out and doesn't play the card, his dude's vulnerable to your Shootout Actions and Reactions; if he does play it, you can start another shootout later that round with out worrying about it!

Hog Tie Them

Another key to avoiding a shootout until you're ready is to keep your opponent's dudes tied up. A number of cards provide the ability to boot dudes, and booted dudes usually can't call out other dudes . . . or at least they can't run them down and then call them out. Once you've locked them down, you're free to avoid them or even pounce on them if the time's right. Action cards like Bad Tequila and The Fear can help, but if you don't draw them, you can't use them. Some Events, such as The Fair Comes to Town or Long Arm of the Law, boot large numbers of dudes at a time, but they're even less reliable than Action cards. The dudes Meredith Singleton, Basil Whateley and Will o' the Wisp and the Goods card Still provide the ability to boot a dude fairly reliably turn after turn. Finally, the Hex Texas Twister is probably the single best card for confounding an opponent's dudes -- it easy to cast successfully, works every turn, and, best of all, the ever-useful Sir Whitmore can cast it!

If All Else Fails, Run Away!

If all else fails and you find one of your dudes facing down a cheatin' gunslinger, don't be afraid to turn tail and run! Refuse the shootout and head for home, booted if possible. If your poor sod's already booted, Ignore 'im can still get him out of a contest of six-guns (hopefully, you won the lowball hand this round!). Best of all, Ignore 'im's value is a King, which works great for casting Hexes, Miracles, or Spirits -- like Texas Twister. A new Miracle, Calm (also a King, by the way), works great for stopping a shootout once it's underway with the added bonus of sending everyone in it home booted!

The Latest Dispatch

As of right now, No Funny Stuff does stop anti-cheatin' cards. However, there's some pretty serious talk among the Doomtown design team about errata for the card stating that anti-cheatin' cards are not affected by it. Even then, No Funny Stuff will still prevent a host of cards folks depend on to protect them in when the lead starts flying. Cheatin' decks will still hold the upper hand in a shootout -- after all, a cowpoke can only fit so many anti-cheatin' cards into his gunbelt. Even so, as long as you pick your gunfights carefully, odds are the undertaker will be fitting your opponent for the pine box instead of you.

Copyright © 1999 by Steve Jackson Games. All rights reserved. Pyramid subscribers are permitted to read this article online, or download it and print out a single hardcopy for personal use. Copying this text to any other online system or BBS, or making more than one hardcopy, is strictly prohibited. So please don't. And if you encounter copies of this article elsewhere on the web, please report it to [email protected].

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