Lawless
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# 10 on my "Top Ten Thematic Games" list.
I have a soft spot for Blue Box games, as I’ve found them very fun, and good to play with a larger group of players. I’m also a sucker for Western themes, as they aren’t extremely common, and thus found Lawless (Eurogames, 2003 – Bruno Cathala) intriguing. I liked Bruno’s other games (Queen’s Necklace, Drake & Drake) and so was looking forward to try out the first game he ever designed.
So, my opinion? Although I love the theme and much of the game-play, it didn’t really strike a chord with my group. The game is a good one, but has so much randomness and backstabbing that it can literally be impossible to win. That being said, the game is very fun to play. This seems like a contradictory opinion, but let me explain a bit more.
A thin, long board is set out in front of the players, with six spots to place cards, each numbered from one to six. (This is known as “the Line.” A deck of 117 cards is shuffled, and three cards are dealt to each player. Six cards are turned over and placed on the Line, one in each spot. The rest of the cards are placed face-down to form a draw pile. A pile of gold pieces is formed in the middle of the board (depending on the amount of the players). One player then takes the first turn, with the rest following in a clockwise order.
During the game, a player will play cards in front of him, indicating that player’s ranch. Cards include cattle herds (poor, good, and prize-winning) –which graze on ranges and can be sold for money; ranges (scrub, good, and excellent) – which support cattle; cowboys (greenhorns, experienced hands, and veterans) – which watch over the cattle; and other special cards that accomplish a variety of things.
On their turn, a player completes four phases. The first phase is the manage livestock phase. First, a player must check to see if any of his cattle have run away. The player to their left counts up the amount of cattle herds they have on the table and adds that number to the roll of one die. The player who owns the cattle adds up the bonuses on the cowboys they have on the table, and adds that to the roll of a die that they make. The two rolls are compared, and if the player who owns the cattle rolls lower, one herd runs away. Otherwise, nothing happens. The player who owns cattle may then sell each cattle herd or let it graze. Each cattle is worth an initial amount of gold. Every time it is not sold, but left to graze, the card is rotated (up to four times). The amount of times rotated is multiplied by the base value to get a total value when the herd is finally sold.
The next phase is collecting other incomes. During this phase, any player who owns a gold mine collects money for it. After that, a player has six action points to spend. They may do four different things with their action points (which should be spent and cannot be saved from turn to turn).
- Take a card from the Line (the cost in action points is the number that corresponds to the space the card is in.
- Take a card from the pile (the cost is 3 action points)
- Play herd, range, or cowboy cards in front of them. (The cost is 1 action point per card, and herd cards cannot be played unless they are supported by range cards – each range supports a certain amount of cattle.)
- Play special cards. (The cost is indicated in the top left corner of the card.)
During the last phase, the player discards down to his maximum hand size (10 cards), and moves the cards on the line. Each card moves down to fill gaps in the Line, and the top cards of the deck are drawn to replenish the Line.
There are many special cards in the game. These include:
- Indian raid: This card can be played on an opponent’s range, locking it up, and preventing it from scoring any points.
- Cavalry: Cancels Indian raid
- Stampede: This card increases the chances of cattle running away from the player on whom the card is played.
- Rodeo Champion: Cancels Stampede
- Hold Up: Allows you to rob the bank or another player of some of their gold.
- Gold Mine: Puts a gold mine on a range, giving that player additional income.
- Hired Guns: Can be used to attack opponents’ cowboys
- Sheriff: Helps defend against Hired Guns
- And many more….
After the last card is drawn from the deck, or the last coin taken from the bank – the game is over. Each player then scores up their total points. Each player totals up their ranges, herds, cowboys, and gold. The player who has the most in each category scores five points, with the second getting three points, the third getting two points, and the fourth scoring one point. Fifth and sixth get nothing! The player with the highest amount of points is the winner!
Some comments on the game:
1.) Components: The components for this game are typical of
Eurogames Blue Box series. The cards are of decent quality, while the
artwork on them is superb – comic book style, and very Western. The money
is gold-colored Tiddly Winks, and functions well as commerce – although it
would be nice if they had included chips that were worth five coins. The
(typical) die, cards, and coins all fit easily in the box, which is the
same size as all other Blue Box games and has some good artwork on it.
2.) Rules: This is my personal biggest complaint about the game.
The rules are fairly clear (although the organization leaves something to
be desired), and printed in an eight page booklet. The booklet is colorful
and includes examples and many pictures. The problem lies in the card
interactions. There are many things that come up in the game that are just
not covered in the rules. Some cards are downright confusing to play
(hired guns). Other cards bring up questions – like can cattle be moved
from range to range? These questions are not in the rules, and it seems
like play-testing would have brought them out. We finally had to make some
house rules and spur of the moment decisions, but it would have been nicer
if the rules had covered these things.
3.) Backstabbing: I’m a huge fan of stabbing players in the backs.
However, it’s extremely easy to gang up on one player and practically
eliminate them from the game. While this may be fun for everyone, it’s not
fun for that one player. And the backstabbing cards are immensely
powerful.
4.) Powerful cards: And this brings us to my next criticism of the
game – the cards. Some cards are just too powerful, and can really change
the game. Hired guns seem excessively powerful, as are mines and several
other cards. I’m also not a big fan of cards that can only be canceled by
one card. I love the variety that the cards provide, and the chaos that is
included. But it’s just too easy for one player to draw better cards than
the next player and win based on that alone.
5.) Theme and Fun Factor: The theme is a good point, however. The
wild, wild west is simulated well through the game. Players will find
themselves talking in a western draw and making sound effects as they
shoot each other’s cowboys, rustle cattle, and rob banks. The game is a
lot of fun to play, as things move fairly quickly, and players are
involved in much of the game.
6.) Strategy: I haven’t decided on strategy yet. It seems that if
you get a card, it’s usually pretty obvious where to play it (and that’s
usually the player who is in the lead). Should a player try to get the
most cattle, ranges, cowboys, or gold – or all of them? That sounds like a
lot of strategy, but a player is fairly limited by the amount of cards in
their hands. Strategy and tactics are here, but the randomness of die
rolls and card selection can drown them out. The “Line” is a very unique
idea (it’s a little similar to Queen’s Necklace card costs), and I like it
a lot, but it doesn’t work as well in this game.
So I will recommend the game, but only to
people who like the Western theme and a LOT of chaos in their
games. I probably won’t play the game again until a good FAQ is
posted, and even then not often. It’s a sad thing, as I love the Blue Box
line and Bruno Cathala’s games, but this one isn’t that great. It’s a
mediocre game, but if you want a true, fun Wild Western game, play Way out
West.
Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
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