Gatling Fortress

published Apr 04, 2016 | | |
Card draw simulator
Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
None yet

Zeetoois 121

The strategy is much the same as Spirit Fortress with some key differences. As with Spirit Fortress, you're going to want to build up on a deed (it can even be the starting deed!) using Auto-Gatling and camp out there until you can get Nic out. BONUS: Inventing the Auto-Gattling with Wagner Memorial Ranch will increase its production in addition to unbooting your MS! Oh, and Margaret Hagerty can always invent QUATs AND reduces their upkeep if you keep them at her location!

ECONOMY: You'll notice that I run very few in-town deeds--and for good reason. The only two I do run are both on-value and are worth the risk (imo)--Yan Li's Tailoring and Circle M Ranch. The rest are out of town so that they can't be easily contested, so Arnold can find them (when he hits the field), and/or so you can use the home ability with Irving Patterson OR William Specks's ability to play them for cheap. Outside of deeds, X3 Disgenuine Currency Press will ensure that you've got money to spare.

SHOOTOUTS: The main difference from Spirit Fortress is that you actually shoot in shootouts instead of sending as many people as possible away. You'll notice that the draw structure is still fairly tight, though, so shootouts aren't so bad! You'll want to get a Force Field out ASAP in case a shootout goes awry, and having QUATERMAN out isn't a bad idea either--both can help soak up those casualties. Don't forget A Slight Modification to stop their power-actions (in this deck, all gadgets' abilities can still be used even if booted), and Sun in Yer Eyes to bullet-reduce/get rid of their studs.

WINNING THE GAME: The win condition is identical to Spirit Fortress: Get Nic out, and boot all your dudes to give him control points. You can even use a Ballot Counter (with one influence counter) to give influence-less dudes (like QUATERMAN or Jake) an influence, and then pass it off to a second influence-less dude (just remember, it can only be traded once per day). As a bonus, if you're losing, you can spend some extra GR on the Ballot Counter to stay in an extra day!

That's it! Overall, it feels very similar to Spirit Fortress, but the shootouts are VERY different. My only regret is that I can't find any space for Howard Aswell. If he were even a MS 1 (or hand an influence instead of 2 bullets), I'd consider starting him to basically guarantee an Auto-Gattling. But as-is, I think Jake is the better way to go. Any thoughts/comments are appreciated.

8 comments
Apr 05, 2016 mplain

I just found out yesterday that Ballot Counter is broken in tournaments - when the time is called you just dump all your money in it and win by tiebreakers. @swider wiped out all my dudes save one, and I still had 45 influence at sundown :)

Apr 05, 2016 Gozik

You cannot boot Quaterman for Nic purpose even if you give him influence.

Apr 05, 2016 AdmiralGT

@mplain Ballot Counter isn't that good since you can only pay 1 GR at a time so you can only get 3 influence out of it when time is called, 1 for each action. Of course you can still use it several times before time is called but you risk losing all your cash if you get to sundown before time.

Apr 05, 2016 mplain

@AdmiralGToh, I thought we play until sundown when time is called, but if it's only three plays, then there's no point :(

Apr 05, 2016 Zeetoois

@GozikI didn't consider that the "cards" on QUATERMAN would include himself. Thanks for the heads-up! It still works with the other 3 sans-influence dudes (Brute, Jake, "Aces").

Apr 05, 2016 Gozik

As far as I remember this ruling, rule team said that Nicodemus is source of booting or something like that. (Personally I dislike this wording very much.)

Apr 05, 2016 Prodigy

@mplain It's still pretty good in tournament play, even at only 3 influence over 3 turns. I've seen someone drop a Steven Wiles to win at time on many occasions.

Apr 09, 2016 streatim

@Zeetoois- Yeah, QUATERMAN can't use abilities that require it to boot according to the FAQ. I didn't see the reasoning that @Gozikmentioned, but I did find this forum ruling that basically says that the whole "cards can't boot QUATERMAN' meant that the only way QUATERMAN can boot is through rulebook effects.