Mini Gangs By Ramshakle Games Review

There are lots of games out there with fantastic miniatures and some rule books that take a while to really get to grips with playing.

This can sometimes put off a lot of new gamers and even make it hard to introduce younger people into wargaming.

Well Ramshackle games may have the answer to help get new players into wargaming while also being able to keep the most seasoned wargaming veteran happy with their game Mini Gangs.

Ramshakle games kindly sent over their starter pack and its packed.

Inside this pack you get

One colour rule book with the 3 modes of game play which I will explain later.
The artwork and pictures inside give a grate feel of what this game is about.

Some equipment and action cards and of course a dice..

You also get a quick start rule sheet and 4 gang roster sheets which shows off all 4 factions Ramshackle Games has on offer for the game.

Also in the set you get one of the gangs call the Smollockton Scarecrows and 4 bomb tokens.

I decided I would go and paint the minis and the tokens first.

After a quick wash in soapy water I under coated the minis in Dragon Red Army Painter spray and began work using Lead Belcher for all the metal areas and used Tin Bitz to give a warn rusted effect to all the metal areas.

I then painted the hands using Matt black and the axe handle using Model Colour Flat Brown.
For the Healers bag I used Steel Legion Drab Brown and Matt black for the pipework.

For the roap on the Leader I used Bone White and Codex Grey for the trim.

The bases were painted game Colour Beasty Brown and a little dry brush of Bleached Bone.

The tokens were all base painted Beasty Brown. The Grenade was painted Knarloc Green and the rest were painted with Lead Blecher. 

I added more Tin Bitz to some of the metal work and used some Mechrite Red, Mordian Blue and Knarloc Green for the buttons.

These were the all washed with Nuln Oil.

Now lets talk about the rules..

The rules come in 3 sections Gateway, Casual and Hardcore.

The Gateway rules are very simply explained in the 4 page rule sheet and in the main rule book.
Movement for all miniatures is 10cm (thats including going up platforms etc) and you can only do one action per turn move/shoot/attack/heal/charge. Charging allows you to make a full movement and an attack.
If a model is injured it can only crawl 5cm and needs to be healed by the Healer to regain its full actions and movement.
(The 4 page rules can be downloaded here)

In a turn in the Gateway rules one person does their actions first then its over to the next players turn
(in hard core its suggested you do the you go I go systems as you can have more then 4 minis)
The dice mechanic is easy to follow as its just one dice system which is summarised on the back of the 4 page pdf and main rule book.

Each model is good at its own ability so the Leader can use hand to hand and shoot. The Fighter mini is good at you guessed it hand to hand combat while the Shooter can shoot very well but not that good at hand to hand.
The Healer's main job is to heal your gang and needs a high number to be able to win in hand to hand.


A Gateway Game

I had a quick game of the Gateway rules to test out the mechanics of the game.
The aim of the game here was to injured all your opponents gang so they are faced down or if some decides they give up.

Now one thing I did not see in the rule book was what happens if the Healer is injured? can he heal himself?
I decided that the Healer can heal himself other wise we would just go for the Healer and win the game effectively.

The game is set to be on a 50cm board or bigger so I went with a 60cmx60cm  game mat and set out some terrain.

I played Tookey's gang of Chaotic minis vs Smollockton Scarecrows





We both raced towards the middle of the board and at this point no one could shoot as minimum range is 30cm.





Tookey manages to hit my Leader with a shot and knocks him down lucky my Healer was near by.



My Shooter runs to the left flank but close by is Tookey's Fighter who makes short work of my Shooter and charges.
( There were no rules to say that you needed line of sight to any mini when charging so we made it that you can charge any mini as long as it was in 10cm and ended base to base)



My Smollockton Scarecrows continued to stand their ground with my Leader hitting Tookey's Leader but only to be healed straight away...

The noose begins to tighten as Tookey's Fighter creeped round to attack my Healer not before I managed to heal and get a few shots back..It was to no avail as marks shooter and leader piled the shots in to my gang. The final death blow was from the Fighter on my poor Healer..
That was game.

 

Tookey and I have played many different games and we both had a smile on our face while playing this game as it was fast easy to follow and just a lot of fun and was very quick!

Tookey even said this game is not just for children but for anyone who has not played war gaming summing up my thoughts exactly.

So you want more..

The next stage of this is the Casual rule set that includes the same rules you have played in the Gateway games but adding a deck of equipment and upgrades such as armour so theres a saving throw added, Grenades and actions which can happen during the opposing players turn.
This adds another layer to the overall game.

Hardcore mode uses a points system so you start with 100 points and use the cards which you now uses the points cost printed on the cards to help build your squad. You are also not limited to 4 minis you can start expanding and even base you army on pure shooting or Fighting if you like.

Also in the main rule book are some scenarios that can be used for different one off games or even if you wanted to do a campaign.


So My thoughts.

The rule set its easy to pick up and learn with the clear aim to get people into gaming and its open enough to allow you to add your own elements to the game like allowing the Healer to heal themselves etc
As you get used to the game the cards add another element which allows you to pick at random or chose them.
The point system is something most gamers are used to so in Hardcore this is another way to allow you to build a team in the style you like weather it be more shooty of more fighting based.

The great thing this game does is to spark the imagination. Ramshackle have 4 factions that you can buy for this rule set but the ability and they way your are encouraged to make your own war band is great.

We all have a box of bits and this game allows you to start modelling your own characters and what a great way to get someone into the hobby by giving them some bits and going make a mini.
This sparks names for characters and builds a narrative for your gang.

Ramshackle games offer a lot of ways to get access to this game weather its the free pdf of the basic rules, a direct download of the rules which is less then most coffees these days or the Core set which I have reviewed here or even the Full Set which has everything in the Core set but comes with all 4 factions.

Ramshackle games have made a game that is easy to follow, fun to play and allows you to create a gang of minis to start your narrative journey into wargaming.
If you have never playerd any tabletop games or want to introduce someone young or older to this hobby you cant do wrong having a go at this game.

Visit Ramshackle games for more information

http://shop.ramshacklegames.co.uk