“Is not the history of the world no more than a record of violence and
death cut in stone.”
-Oakley Hall
A killer introduction to a killer game.
Midnight Oil’s Death Cut in Stone is a miniatures skirmish game that recreates the legendary shootouts within boomtowns of the American frontier. Gunfights whose stories are retold over a century later, even if the smoke cleared less than a minute after they began.
Fittingly, the game doesn’t waste any time to jump into things, so neither will I.
It’s a classic standoff. Two gunslingers stand in the center of town. Anyone with any sense hides within the nearest building to wait out the coming rain of lead. The quiet before the storm. A few members from each side skulk about the alleyways or crouch behind crate and barrel, irons at the ready. A lone rifleman manages to scuttle up to the rooftops, keeping low and readying their sights to hail down hell from above. The scene is set. Everyone has their place. Now draw.
That’s deployment in Death Cut in Stone, everything starts right at the heart of town. Most of the posse starts within four inches of the board’s center, with one loner that’s able to start up to six inches away. But one gunslinger from each party has to face off a mere two inches from one another. This shit rules. Not only does it rule, but it fits the fiction perfectly. It’s tense from the jump. There’s no deploying from the edges and spending the first couple of turns crawling towards each other. It’s round one and it’s already too late to turn back. Absolute cinema.
I’ll avoid going section by section and just state that the weight and design of this game is very well adapted towards the fiction it conveys. It’s Luke Gearing’s Violence, soaked in whiskey and hacked to fit .44 caliber rounds. Things happen fast, both on the table and when it comes to creating a posse. Action resolution is determined by a d20 with a simple d6 dice pool for any advantages or disadvantages. Five models on each side, with just a handful of choices for each character. Speaking of hands…
This game includes handedness, and it’s more than just a quirky add on. Each gunslinger’s dominant hand is randomly determined, using roughly accurate percentages as found in the real world. Most gunslingers are going to be right handed, with about 10% of shooters preferring the left. But a fortunate few, about 1%, take life by both hands (i.e. ambidextrous). This comes into play with the game’s injury system, which uses a die roll on a deceptively simple table to wound the gunslinger. The results are quick to determine yet meaningfully change the wounded’s capabilities. A shot to the arm could make it difficult to aim straight. And if it’s bad enough, it’ll render the limb nothing more than dead weight. Or that fated bit of lead finds its way into your unfortunate head. And if that’s the case, well, good luck with that.
The game is brutal in this regard, even more so when you meet face to face. It’s unlikely that either side will walk away unscathed when it comes to a round of fisticuffs. And none of this is bogged down by unnecessary simulationism. Everything is a single die roll with some situational advantages and modifiers, and boom; a Bowie knife carves you from nave to neck as you let out your last dying sputters.
The smoke settles as one side is left lifeless. Those left standing aren’t without their losses. Most of your friends are dead or will be in just a matter of time.
“Do you feel like a winner?”, the game asks, and things take a more serious tone for the last few pages. About half of the gang that took a beating die within a month after the skirmish. And for each character that dies, their model is placed onto the ground. A hammer is drawn.
“Dead means dead.”
At the end of this game, you destroy the models of the dead. It’s awesome, and so cool, and so completely in my wheelhouse. But on the other hand, it’s rather somber. The text goes on to describe where the title originates from, a note on handedness, and a bit about the historical accuracy of the weapons. But then it leaves you with two words, found shortly after the question Do you feel like a winner?—
“Fuck War.”
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Conclusion: The game rocks. It fits the bill perfectly. And if you’re looking for a quick and brutal experience, then pick it up. It’s completely free and Ryan’s a really nice dude, so I’d recommend supporting him. I’m looking forward to what he does next.
Check out Midnight Oil Publishing House and get the game at…
https://midnightoilph.itch.io/
Check out Ryan’s podcast, The Weekly Scroll, at…
https://linktr.ee/theweeklyscroll
If you don’t already know about Will RD, check out…
Peep some incredible art by Vil at…
This was not a paid promotion, just a genuine one. More Adepticon zine reviews coming soon!
Short Rest Press 
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