I took this deck to third place with a 3-1 record at the 11-player OP6 event in Hartlepool 14/05/16.
As the deck name states, it’s the latest iteration of my Sharp Dressed Man Eagle Wardens shooter. The recent errata wasn’t in use at the event, but wouldn’t have changed anything as I never ran Hot Lead Flyin’ in it anyway. I made a few modifications since its last outing and had some new toys from Ghost Town and The Curtain Rises to play with.
Starting with the new cards, if you haven’t yet experienced the awesome safety net that is Turtle’s Guard, build yourself a shaman deck to try it out. It massively helped the deck’s resilience when faced with a bad round of shooting. Epidemic Laboratory was in because it works well with the Wardens’ strength in defending a position. While it didn’t hit play in the tournament, I first tested the deed in an earlier version of this deck and it won me a couple of friendly games. Bethany Shiile is perfect for this deck - she’s on value and she buffs dudes with attires. Unfortunately I never saw her in action.
Structurally I cut out some of the dudes and deeds that were filling out the values and added in some doubles of the cards I really wanted to see. The Eagle Wardens home helped with cycling away any dead cards and my experience with the deck previously was that I always ended up with the filler cards in my play hand. I felt it worked a lot better for it. It also helped out the deck’s economy as there were more copies of the cards that were cheaper to get onto the table.
Economy was also one of the reasons behind me deciding to drop the star of the show, Joseph Dusty Hill, from the starting posse. The low GR start, two upkeep and a fairly tight structure meant that the deck often struggled with raising funds. The Zachary/Enapay crime fighting duo had proved capable of deflecting early aggression or for staking my place in the town square, whereas it took a couple of turns to assemble Dust-tron to do the same job. Plus, Enapay with a Hat makes Zachary whistle to the tune of four stud bullets and with a Winchester and Faster on the Draw for backup I found I wasn’t missing Dusty at all early game.
The other reasons were a lack of an expendable body in my starting lineup, and the lack of a grifter. Good ol’ Travis Moone fit the bill for his replacement, with the bonus of if he survives long enough he’s no slouch with a Winchester Rifle and is well suited to a Fancy New Hat. Travis got the nod over Butch Deuces by virtue of being cheaper and higher value. The deck doesn’t run heavy on Spirits so not starting two shamans didn’t actually cause me problems.
On to the games! As usual, apologies if I’ve grossly misremembered events.
Round 1 Vs Peter’s Law Dogs
An early Strength of the Ancestors for Enapay saw me move on the Town Square early on. Peter responded with Steven Wiles and some Law Dog backup. While Zachary proved to be Fastest on the Draw the shootout ended in a tie. Travis Moone and his evil twin took one for their respective teams, and I decided to withdraw home. Next turn Enapay got a Turtle’s Guard and I tried to retake the town square, but despite drawing a stupid number of cards the best legal hand I could manage was a Full House, and I didn’t fancy trying my chances with a cheatin’ 5oaK with Tommy Harden and a Quickdraw Handgun on the other side. No real casualties, but my dudes were stuck at home again.
Next time I tried for the Town Square Peter called out Enapay and then used Rope & Ride to drag him to fight at the Jail, away from his backup posse. I made the mistake of reflexively using Turtle’s Guard before checking the difference between hand ranks which meant Enapay was discarded rather than aced earning a control point for the jail. Dusty came to town but I couldn’t get Dust-tron assembled quickly enough and time was called. I wasn’t in the best position to begin with and was going first, and then when Steven Wiles appeared on Peter’s first action there wasn’t really anything I could do to eke out a win.
Round 2 vs Jay’s Den of Thieves Hucksters
A rare loss for Jay’s Den deck saw us paired in the second round. His day wasn’t getting any better as I got a pair of Coachwhips in my opening hand and thanks to Rico he was well aware how dangerous it would be to cheat. I moved into town and started getting some deeds set up, while Jay found a couple of Paralysis Marks but couldn’t manage a successful casting with his skill 0 hucksters. Steven Wiles, Travis Moone and some Hired Help made an attempt to remove me from the town square, and Cheatin’ 5oaKs from both posses saw both Travises enact their bullet catching routine. I held back on my Coachwhips and retreated home; Wiles and the Gunslinger wouldn’t be there next turn and I could head back.
Head back I did, armed with a Turtle’s Guard and an Election Day Slaughter. Jay opposed the job with pretty much everyone and while it didn’t succeed, Turtle’s Guard and a couple of Coachwhips meant that Jay came out of the shootout worse off with only Maria and Antheia left in play while I got a nice windfall from collecting the bounty on Rico and only lost Zachary. The bounty money was used to hire Jacqui to replace him. The next turn saw Milt arrive and attempt a Kidnappin’ on Enapay but a Faster on the Draw saw Enapay and Jacqueline put that plan to bed. More reinforcements arrived for me in the guise of J.W. Byrne, and I re-established control of the Town Square. Next turn I drew my Whateley Estate which decided the game.
Round 3 vs Bryan’s Beyond the Veil Spirit Fortress
If I hadn’t known that Bryan was playing a Spirit Fortress deck from other players’ comments, I’d have guessed it from the familiar starting lineup. It turns out he wasn’t playing my deck, but one very similar. I knew I had to rush him before he got set up, and luckily got the cards to help me do it in my opening hand and two Faster on the Draws from a use of my home ability. Bryan built a General Store, set up a Spirit Trail and started moving all his dudes over. I played Marcia and used her to ‘borrow’ the General Store’s ability to get Zachary a Winchester, and Enapay learned Turtle’s Guard. I sent Enapay, Zachary and Travis to say hello, Doomtown-style. Faster on the Draw and the Winchester tipped the shootout in my favour, and a legal 5oaK ensured the demise of Mazatl and Jake Smiley. Butch “Bullet Soak” Deuces was at home booted after grifting so couldn’t die in place of anyone more useful.
Next turn, and Bryan tried again to set up a Fortress, this time with a Huntsman’s Society and Red Horse’s Tail the other side of his home. I used the Spirit Trail to move Zachary so he was unbooted and could benefit from his rifle, and then Enapay and Travis booted across to contest as Bryan moved all his dudes over. I’d won lowball, so wasn’t too worried about the totem, but Bryan booted it anyway with his home ability which made life easier for me. Another shootout that went pretty much the same way as the first, this time with added Coachwhip to make sure Lydia Bear-Hands was among the fallen. Bryan was out of ghost rock, influence and unbooted dudes and the control points belonged to me.
Game 4 vs Lloyd’s Sloane Gang
This game was over quickly as Lloyd didn’t have any luck with his shootout hands. Lloyd built an Undertaker. I moved into the town square and used my home ability to fish for a Faster on the Draw, but didn’t find it. Allie boldly ignored the threat and walked into town, and I let him boot her for the control point before calling her out. Sanford and Lawrence moved in to back her up but only managed two pairs to my 4oaK. Next turn Lloyd used the ghost rock gained from their deaths to hire Clint Ramsey. I ran an Election Day Slaughter that Clint and Marion Seville were unable to stop. More ghost rock from the Undertaker, but unfortunately Lloyd didn’t have any more dudes.
