So most if not all of us who backed the Kickstarter to fund the 2nd edition of Dead Mans Hand will by know have recieved their deliveries. I am aware that several players of the first edition from the clubs I am involved with did not get involved with the kickstarter and I have been asked “Has much Changed?,” so I thought I’d do a couple of posts to share my understanding of the changes.
First up the production quality of the delivered product and internal examples are a dramatic improvement over the 1st edition and I would advise new players to go straight for the redux.
The core game mechanics have not changed dramatically –
- gangs still have 21 rep points,
- models still get 3 actions per activation,
- gangs still have unique jack, queen, king and aces,
- The 2 to 10 cards are still standardised across the suites,
- Shooting still uses a d20 and Hand 2 Hand still uses a d10 as do nerve tests.
- Model activation is still managed through dealing cards out
- Players still have “hands” from which they can play special cards.
- The game continues the consept of 3 scenes make an Act.
There is a plethora of new rules as well, which add flavour to your games, including
- Rules for trains
- Rules for wagons and stagecoaches
- Rules for Livestock, stampedes and town folk’s- which are now potentially more integral to the game.
- Campaign rules are included in the core book – previously to get these you had to buy “The Legends of Dead Mans Hand”
I will review the 4 core gangs Lawmen, Cowboys, Outlaws and Desparados in seperate posts and highlight changes/opportunities.
So first up – The most common question is “I know the back of the cards has changed – how about the specials on the front?”.. or “I can I still use by cards from the previous edition for my gangs – especially for those that have yet to recieved the Redux treatment?.”
So Lets start by looking at the 2-10 cards. – Back in December I compared the original DMH cards with those of The Chicago Way – So I am going to do the same but this time DMH original Vs DMH Redux.
Card | DMH Original | DMH Redux | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2 | Out of ammo – after 1st shot | Out of ammo – after 1st shot | Identical |
3 | Remove all aiming bonus’s from a shooting model | Causes the first shot action a character takes to automatically miss | Different |
4 | Swap 2 of the opponents initiative cards over | Swap 2 of the opponents initiative cards over – but only after swaps for low card have been done | Small Change |
5 | Automatically end an opponents models move action and cancels all further actions. | Automatically end an opponents models move action and cancels all further actions. Now includes Wagons and Stagecoaches | Small Change |
6 | Adds a free move to the end of a models actions | Enable a model to interrupt play and take a free move action, can also be used to break from H2H combat | Different |
7 | Cancels duck back when declared. | Provides activating model with a free shoot action prior to declaring actions for the turn, or use to cancel duckback or quick shot when declared. | Different – enhanced |
8 | Turns “Out of action” results to “under fire and nerve test” – lasts till end of turn. | Turns “Out of action” results to “under fire and nerve test” – lasts till end of turn. | Identifcal |
9 | Forces opponent to fail Nerve test due to “under fire and nerve test” shooting result. | Forces an enemy to fail a Nerve test even if they would normally automatically pass, regardless of reason for nerve test. | Small Change |
10 | Ignore to hit penalties for cover and target movement when shooting. | Ignore to hit penalties for cover and target movement when shooting. | Identical |
Red Joker | Swap 3 of your initiative cards with 3 of the opposing players initiative cards. | Swap 3 of your initiative cards with 3 of the opposing players initiative cards. | Identical |
Black Joker | All shots on both sides get a +1 to hit modifier for the turn. | All shots on both sides get a +1 to hit modifier for the turn. | Identical |
So to summarise
- 5 cards have not changed – the Black and Red Jokers and 2, 8 and 10
- 3 cards have had small changes – 4, 5 and 9
- 1 card is does what it did before and more – 7
- 2 cards have changed completely – interestingly the new cards are similar to ones from TCW – 3 and 6
Personally I’d say that the differences are small enough that continueing to use your existing core cards when playing against some one using the redux cards would not be a big issue – you both could of course pre agree to either use the Original versions or the Redux and record the impacts on a table for reference to be used instead of the text on the front of the card.
So thats the first look – next I’ll have a look at the Lawmen.