11th of July, 1899: 10 A.M.  e Union Paciic Express has left Folsom, New Mexico, with 47 passengers on board. After a few minutes, the sound of rapid footsteps is heard, coming from overhead; and then, gunshots. Heavily armed bandits are mercilessly robbing honest citizens of their wallets and jewelry! Will they be able to keep a cool head and dodge bullets? Will they succeed in Stealin' the Nice Valley Coal Company's weekly payroll, stored in strongboxes that are closely watched by Marshal Samuel Ford? Only one bandit will achieve his goal: becoming the richest outlaw of the gang.

Contents

6 Train Cars

1 Locomotive

Note - Before your first game, carefully assemble the Train Cars and the Locomotive using the enclosed instructions.

Loot tokens of various value

• 18 Purses worth between $250 and $500
•  6 Jewels worth $500 each
•  2 Strongboxes carrying $1000 each

17 Round Cards:

• 7 cards for 2-4 players;

• 7 cards for 5-6 players;

• 3 Train Station cards

1 Marshal pawn

13 Neutral Bullet cards

Player Pieces for each player (x6) :

• 1 Character card
• 10 Action cards
• 6 Bullet cards
• 1 Bandit pawn

Set up the game for 3 to 6 players by following the instructions below. In a 2-player game, read the detailed adjustments later in this document

Decoding the Braille

 

On the train cards, the first row shows the player count, the second row shows the rounds.

A dash is an action card, a FOR sign is for an speeding up, t for tunnel, s for switch.

Each player has a color associated with them. The color of Django is black and the letter x is associated with him. All 64 Oz Games kits with the color black use x instead of b so it is not confused with blue. Wh is also used for white(Ghost) so that it is not confused with the letter r of red. 

The braille tokens should replace the bags. They are not labeled in print though... see how those 'sighted' people like not being able to read stuff.

Setup

Each player chooses a Character, takes the corresponding Character card and places it in front of him. He places the 6 Bullet cards of his color below his Character card, in the order of the number of Bullets. Then he shuffles the 10 Action cards of his color and places them at his left: these cards are his personal deck. Each player also takes a $250 Purse from the stock and places it face-down on his Character card, keeping its value hidden.

At the beginning of the game, your gun's cylinder is full. You will be trying to  re at your opponents in order to slow them down. Each player has an identical set of 10 Action cards. During the game, you will stock your Loot on your Character card.  e value of your Purses must remain hidden from your opponents, but you can look at your own Purses whenever you want.

In the center of the table, place the Locomotive and as many Cars as there are players in a row. - Take the cars of your choice, placed in the order of your choice. Add the Locomotive to the front of the Train.

Place in each Car the number and type of Loot tokens indicated on its fl oor. The Purses are taken at random and placed face-down with their value hidden

Place the Marshal pawn and a Strongbox inside the Locomotive. The remaining Loot tokens are put back into the box, except the second Strongbox, which is placed off  the Train, near the Locomotive. It may come into play later

Randomly draw 4 Round cards from those 7 which correspond to the number of players (either the Round cards marked 2-4 or those marked 5-6) and shuffl  e them. Randomly select one of the three Train Station cards. Make a face-down deck with these 5 cards, making sure that the Train Station card is on the bottom. Put the remaining Round cards back in the box. 

Place the 13 Neutral Bullet cards next to the Locomotive

First Player

Take the Bandit pawns corresponding to the played Characters and draw one of them randomly. The player who has chosen this Character is the First Player for the fi rst Round. This player takes the deck of the 5 Round cards and puts it in front of her.

Placing the Bandits

The First Player is Player 1, the player on his left is Player 2, and so on. The players with an odd number place their Bandit in the Caboose. The players with an even number place their Bandit in the Car next to the Caboose.

Example of a 4-player game :

 The passengers in each Car have di erent Loot, ready for you to steal!

Throughout the game, the Marshal will stand in the way of the Bandits. It is up to you to be smart and draw him away from his Strongbox at just the right moment.

In this way, you get a sequence of 5 episodes that tell the story of the train robbery. You will discover them as the game progresses.

These are the injuries that either the Marshal or a special Event might give to the Bandits.  These Bullet cards (the Neutral ones or those given to you by your opponents) are useless when you draw them.  They just decrease your possible Actions, just like a wound would do.

Object of the Game

To win, you must become the richest Bandit in the Old West. To reach this goal, you will try to get more Loot than your opponents...without being hit by too many bullets! The best shooter will receive the title of Gunslinger, worth $1000.

Starting a Round

At the beginning of a Round, each player shuffles their deck and draws six cards. These cards form that player's Hand.

Then the First Player draws the top Round card and places it on the table so that every one can see it.

This Round card shows the number of turns (the number of Card icons) there will be during this phase. It also shows how the turns will go

Phase 1: Scheme'n

Starting with the First Player, each player plays their turn, followed by the next player in clockwise order.

On her turn, a player can:

• either play an Action card face-up (unless otherwise specifi ed) from her Hand to the common deck;

• or take 3 additional cards from her deck and add them to her Hand.

The Schemin'! phase ends when the number of turns indicated on the Round card has been completed. Any unplayed cards remaining in a player's Hand are placed back on the top of her personal deck.

Example: Doc is the First Player during the current Round. He plays a Move card from his Hand; then Belle, on his left, plays a Fire card on top of Doc's card. Tuco, on Belle's left, decides to draw cards instead of playing a card. He takes 3 cards from his deck and adds them to his Hand. Finally, Cheyenne plays a Punch card on top of Belle's card. en the second turn begins.

Phase 2: Steal'n

The First Player takes the deck of Action cards that had been created during the Schemin'! phase and turns the deck over, without changing the order of the cards.

The Bandits' Actions are performed, one by one, starting with the top card (i.e., in the order they have been played).

Once performed, the Action card is given back to the player to whom it belongs. That player puts it back on his personal deck.

Any Action programmed during the Schemin'! phase is now obligatory. During the Stealin'! phase, each player must use her action, if it is still possible.

Ending the Round

Each player shuffles all his cards (10 Action cards and any Bullet cards he has been hit with in previous Rounds). Then he places his deck to the left of his Character card.

The player on the First Player's left becomes the new First Player. She puts the remaining Round cards in front of her. A new Round now begins.

The Action Cards

The Bandits can be inside the Train or on the roof of a Car or Locomotive.  Thus there are always two possible locations for a Bandit: in or on a Car. At the start of the game, however, no Bandit can be on a roof.

Move your Bandit:

move from one Car to the next adjacent Car, forwards or backwards, if he is inside the Train; or move a distance ranging from one to three Cars (your choice), forwards or backwards, if he is on the roof. The Locomotive is considered to be a Car. You can be in it or on it. If you have plotted this Action, your Bandit cannot stay where he is: you must move him.

You have to move fast. Running on the roof saves you time.

Floor change:

Switch the position of your Bandit from Either the roof of the Car she's in to its interior; or move her from the interior to the roof of the Car on which she's standing.

Robbery:

Take the Loot token of your choice from the Car where you are currently located and place it on your Character card. If your Bandit is on the roof of a Car, he cannot rob inside it, and vice versa. If there is no Loot where your Bandit is, then the Robbery action has no effect.

Fire:

Choose one of your opponents to be your target and give her one of your Bullet cards. The targeted player places the Bullet card she has received on her deck. You cannot target a Bandit who is on the same spot as you.

When you are inside the train, you can shoot a Bandit who is in the interior of an adjacent Car, either to the rear of your Car or ahead of it.  Bandits who are more than one Car away cannot be shot.

When you are on the roof, however, you can shoot a Bandit who is in your Line of Sight and on the roof of any Car other than your own, regardless of the distance. A Bandit is in Line of Sight if there is no other Bandit between you and she. Two Bandits on the roof of the same Car are considered as being side by side, and not located one behind the other: you choose which one gets hit.

If there is no target to be shot, keep your Bullet card: the Fire action will have no effect. If you run out of Bullet cards during the game, your Fire actions will have no further effect.

When you shoot a Bandit, you give him one of your Bullet cards.  is allows you to compete for the title of Gunslinger. More importantly, your Action will handicap your opponent for the rest of the game. Indeed, the Bullet cards are useless to the injured player.  they are "dead cards" that will clog up his Hand.

Punch:

Choose a target among the Bandits who are on the same Car and same fl oor as you are. The targeted Bandit loses a Loot token if he has one: choose a Loot token from his Character card and place it on the fl oor where your Bandit pawn is located. If you choose a Purse token, you are not allowed to look at its value. Then, move the targeted Bandit to the same fl oor of an adjacent Car (either forwards or backwards, your choice).

Marshall:

Move the Marshal inside the train a distance of one Car in the direction of your choice. 

The Marshal is protecting the passengers: he never goes up on the roof.

How The Marshall works -

Caution! When a Bandit enters a Car where the Marshal is, or when the Marshal enters a Car where Bandits must escape up to the roof of the Car (even if they have just come down from there). A Bandit can never stay inside the Car where the Marshal is located. Additionally, each one of those Bandits immediately receives a Neutral Bullet card which must be placed on each player's personal deck. 

The Bandits

Ghost

During your fi rst turn of each Round, you can play your Action card face down on the common deck. If you choose to draw three cards instead of playing an Action card during the fi rst turn, you cannot use Ghost's special ability later in this Round.

Belle

You cannot be the target of a Fire action or a Punch action if there is another Bandit who can be targeted, too.

Cheyenne

When punching a Bandit, you can take the Purse he has just lost. If he has lost a Jewel or a Strongbox (your choice), the Loot just falls on the fl oor (as usual).

Tuco

When shooting a Bandit, make him move one Car in the direction of fi re, bearing in mind that Bandits can never leave the train. If ever your Fire would make your target move beyond the Locomotive or the Caboose, he must stay where he is.

Django

When you are the only Bandit in or on a Car, you can play the Fire action against any other Bandit of your choice anywhere along the whole length of the Train, provided the Bandit is on the same fl oor as you. Django ignores the Line of Sight rule if he is on the roof.

Doc

At the beginning of each Round, draw seven cards instead of six.

The Round Cards - There are various icons on the cards that have different meaning.

The Action cards must be played face-up during the current turn.

Tunnel - The Action cards must be played facedown during the current turn.

Speeding-Up - During the current turn, each player plays twice (taking 6 cards or playing two cards in a row or taking 3 cards and playing a card).

Switching - The current turn is played counterclockwise, starting with the First Player.

The Events

Angry Marshall:

The Marshal shoots the Bandits who are on the roof of his Car. Those Bandits get a Neutral Bullet card each. Then the Marshal is moved one Car towards the Caboose. If the Marshal is already in the Caboose, he does not move at all.

Pivotable Pole

All the Bandits that are on roofs move to the roof of the Caboose.

Breaking

All Bandits on roofs move one Car forward (towards the Locomotive).  

Get it all!

Place the second Strongbox inside the Car where the Marshal is currently.

Passenger's rebellion

The Bandits who are inside the Cars get a Neutral Bullet each.

Pickpocketing

Each Bandit who is alone in his spot can take one Purse token from that spot, if there are any Purses there.

Marshall's revenge

Each Bandit who is on the roof above the Marshal loses the least valuable Purse token she has on her Character card. If a Bandit has no Purse, she loses nothing (even if she has Jewels or Strongboxes).

Hostage Taking of the conductor

Each Bandit who is either in the Locomotive or on its roof receives $250 ransom. You can use Loot tokens from the stock to represent this money.

Expert Variant

If you wish to have more control in the game, each player can have a discard deck on the right of your Character card. The following changes would also be required:

• At the beginning of the Schemin'! Phase, discard any Bullet cards you have drawn. In this way, your Hand is lightened.

• At the end of the Schemin'! Phase, you are allowed to keep in your Hand the cards you are interested in holding for next Round. Discard only the Bullet cards and the Action cards you do not want to keep.

• During the Stealin'! phase, place the performed Action cards you get back from the First Player on your discard deck. The Bullet cards you received that turn from your opponents, however, go on top of your draw deck.

• At the beginning of each Round, draw cards from your draw deck and fi ll your Hand up to six cards.

• Each time your draw deck is depleted and you have to draw cards, shuffl  e the discard deck to make a new draw deck. You can look through your discards at any time

Special Rules for 2 players

Set Up

Make the train by using the Locomotive and the four Cars of your choice. Each player chooses a team of two Characters. He takes the corresponding cards and pawns. For your fi rst game, we advise you to use the following teams: Tuco and Cheyenne vs. Django and Doc. Place one Bandit pawn from each team inside the two Cars at the rear of the train. Place the two Character cards of your team in front of you and place the six Bullet cards and a $250 Purse on each of them. From among the Action cards of each Character, get rid of all the cards in duplicate as well as one Marshal card from the Character of your choice. You will have 11 cards remaining in your Hand: 2 Fire (1 for each Character), 2 Punch (1 for each Character), 2 Move (1 for each Character), 2 Floor Change (1 for each Character), 2 Robbery (1 for each Character) and 1 Marshal. Shuffl  e all of them to make your draw deck. Each player then plays with the mixed Action cards of the two Bandits.

Rules Adaptations

The game with two players is played with the Expert Variant described earlier. The goal of the game is to have the richest team at the end of the game. However, no one wins the title of Gunslinger in the 2-player game. When a Bandit is shot, the Bullet card is placed on the top of the player's draw deck. It may very well happen that a Bandit will inadvertently shoot his own teammate! Dajngo can shoot his opponents if he is alone or with his team-mate at his spot.

Clarifications

You can never leave the train. If a Punch, a Tuco's Fire or an Event make you move beyond the Caboose or the Locomotive, you do not move. If the Neutral Bullet cards' deck is depleted or if there are not enough to go around, the Bandits do not get Bullets when they meet the Marshal or when an Event at the end of a Round card causes Neutral Bullets to be fi red. The Neutral Bullet deck is removed from the game then.

Thanks

To my little brother Adrien without whom the idea for this game would never have germinated. To Cédric and Anne-Cécile who drove the train brilliantly! And to all the nice playtesters!