I'm interested in running some Far West games at some point. I really like Aces & Eights, but I'm not sure I want that level of detail in both rules and setting. I would like something with more room for me to breathe in and out of game play, without running something like the Weird West RPG.

So, I want to take a(nother) serious look at Boot Hill. How does it work? Is it similar to OD&D in terms of weight and detail of the rules? Do I need miniatures to play it? Let me know.

If I recall correctly, the first version was pretty much an old-west themed wargame, but on more of an individual scale rather than squad-level.  The second (or third?) version was more of an RPG, but not by much.  The later version is probably closer to OD&D.  Very little interstitial details, but buying equipment and shooting NPCs are covered well enough.

You sure you don't want to use Deadlands? It's one of my favorite games. I can't tell you anything of value about Boot Hill, sorry. I would check out Stormie's site for a start because somewhere there's a link to a site that has every game ever made by genre.

Boot Hill is more like TFT's Melee and Wizard than a proper rpg.  Or perhaps more to the point =][=nquisitor.  Shotguns have a huge scatter diagram that doesn't really reflect shotgun scatter.  There's a wide range of specific weapon types but rather than making say a "colt peace maker" they've got a long barrelled single action revolver though Boot hill doesn't differentiate between cap and ball and cartridge.

So, it depends on what you're after, combat stats for Jesse James, train robberies and the like are all in there or at least in the modules but if you're looking for a treatise on the old west as a setting or discussion of the ecology and society you'll be disappointed.

If you want your Western game to be at least as detailed a campaign as you can get in AD&D by using all the stuff out of the DMG, then you want Aces & Eights.  Personally, I would take a look at Hackmaster Basic and retool the skill system to be compatible with that (one of the more popular House Rules).

As far as Boot Hill goes, it's more like Chainmail then OD&D.  It's a man-to-man scale wargame with stuff to make a campaign out of.  Both the first and second edition of Boot Hill were released in the 70's.  I never got the 3rd Edition by Steve Winter, but from what I understand it added a basic skill system.

Anything Coyote Trail is great for information on the Old West no matter what system you use, as of course are the sourcebooks by Gurps and Rolemaster.  Gunslingers! is pretty good too.

If you want Weird West, there's simply nothing better then Deadlands.  Feel free to dial up or down the laughtrack to taste, the system just rocks.

You love models, so definitely get Whitewash City and make your own miniature-sized town.

If you want to do skirmish wargaming with a Western theme, Legends of the Old West by Games Workshop is the gold standard.

Knuckleduster Cowtown Creator and Knuckleduster Firearms Shop are great resources as well.  Good luck finding the Firearms Shop.

and Marleycat loving Deadlands means all that Fantasycraft and Wizard at-will stuff is just washed away.  

Quote from: CRKrueger;557743and Marleycat loving Deadlands means all that Fantasycraft and Wizard at-will stuff is just washed away.  

Hey! It really is one of my favorite games regardless.  Where else do you get to actually play 5 card stud when playing a magic user? Another reason is that my preferred games are horror and urban fantasy.  For years I never looked at Dnd instead playing White Wolf,  Kult, UA, Witchcraft ......Deadlands was practically my gateway to all those games and the genre itself.

You had a Hexslinging Law Dog didn't you?

Quote from: CRKrueger;557751You had a Hexslinging Law Dog didn't you?

Hee Hee. I prefer cats and Pinkerton's.

Boot Hill 1st edition is what has been described by others above.

I'd suggest the OP might want to take a look at Boot Hill 3rd edition. It's an RPG rather than a minis wargame. No classes/levels, has 5 basic stats, and skills that can be bought/increased with XP, so you can just build your character however you like. Gun combat is pretty quick and very unforgiving and having a good value in the Luck stat increases your odds of surviving a kill shot, though 50% is the best odds you could get to. Combat deadliness can be easily dialled up or down and my group had a house rule of True Grit points that were used when lady luck had deserted us.

My group played several western campaigns using Boot Hill 3e that we still talk about and it'd be our first choice again for western gaming. I've heard it's pretty hard to find now.

Sidewinder D20 was a good western RPG if you are looking for a non-fantasy old west. But if you want six shooters vs. bogeymen, Deadlands does the job.

played a few sessions of 2nd edition boot hill years ago.  never did any campaigns with it.  

had no idea there was a 3rd edition.  may have to check that out if i can find it cheap.

Love me some boot hill not sure what edition i have think 2 (box set brown book mapbof dodge loads of counters. ) . We played it mostly as a scirmish game but ran campaigns as well.

I like the "western shootout skirmish game" approach to Boot Hill.  That's what I want out of a western game, anyway: shootouts that run all over town, across the rooftops, through windows, et cetera.  I'm not keen on role-playing a big western campaign, so the "scenario/shootout" approach seems just right.

Quote from: gale_wolf;557778Boot Hill 1st edition is what has been described by others above.

I'd suggest the OP might want to take a look at Boot Hill 3rd edition. It's an RPG rather than a minis wargame. No classes/levels, has 5 basic stats, and skills that can be bought/increased with XP, so you can just build your character however you like. Gun combat is pretty quick and very unforgiving and having a good value in the Luck stat increases your odds of surviving a kill shot, though 50% is the best odds you could get to. Combat deadliness can be easily dialled up or down and my group had a house rule of True Grit points that were used when lady luck had deserted us.

My group played several western campaigns using Boot Hill 3e that we still talk about and it'd be our first choice again for western gaming. I've heard it's pretty hard to find now.

With your description, I now recall 3rd Edition is the one I played a thousand years ago.  It was fun, but westerns were never much my thing.  Same with Gangbusters, fun system, but also not my genre.