Guns of the Old West: Frontier FAQ
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Guns of the Old West: Frontier FAQ
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Updated for Rules Update v1.1. Answers now covered by the current Core Rulebook have been removed — always use the latest Rulebook download.
Clearer Rules for Smoother Showdowns
Guns of the Old West covers a great many situations that can arise across the frontier while keeping play moving at the table. This FAQ collects the questions that come up most often, focusing on the mission systems — Suspicion, Heat, Arrest and terrain — that sit outside the Core Rulebook.
Where a mission includes a specific exception, always follow that mission's rules.
1. Suspicion, Heat and Searches
Can Lawmen immediately attack Outlaws in a Suspicion and Heat mission?
Law cannot simply enter the Bank or Train and attack Outlaws who have not been caught doing anything. Suspicion and Heat represents the Law observing behaviour and gathering sufficient cause before the situation escalates.
Before the combat threshold is reached, Law may attack an Outlaw who has Joined the Gunfight, but cannot attack the remaining Outlaws solely because they are on the same team.
Normally, Law may initiate combat against every Outlaw when Heat reaches 5 – Breakdown.
Some missions use an earlier threshold. In Bank Heist Showdown, Law may initiate combat normally at Heat 3 or higher.
How does an Outlaw become Suspicious?
An Outlaw becomes Suspicious for the current Round when:
- they perform a suspicious action;
- a Lawman is within 2 spaces; and
- that Lawman has Line of Sight to the action.
The original witness does not need to be tracked. Once Suspicion has been created, any Lawman may act on it during that Round, provided the Lawman performing the action currently meets the applicable Line of Sight and distance requirements.
What is the difference between Detain for Questioning and Search?
Detain pressures a Suspicious Outlaw without checking their possessions. Search checks whether they are carrying stolen or illegal items.
- Detain is safer and can be performed from up to 2 spaces away. It removes 1 Attribute Token, or increases Heat by 1 if the Outlaw has none. No Accuracy token is required.
- Search is more powerful but riskier. The Lawman must be in the same or an adjacent space and risk an Accuracy token. A successful Search can uncover Loot, Gold or another illegal mission item, forcing the Outlaw to Surrender or Fight.
Both require current Line of Sight, cost 1 Action and must be performed while the Outlaw is Suspicious during that Round. A previous Detain is not required before Search.
An Outlaw may only be Detained once and Searched once per Round.
Does Search require a die roll or Check?
Search is an announced Action followed by an honest reveal. No die roll or Check is required.
If the Outlaw has no Loot, Gold or applicable illegal mission item:
- the Search fails; and
- the Lawman gives the risked Accuracy token to the Outlaw.
If the Outlaw is carrying Loot, Gold or an applicable illegal mission item, they choose:
- Surrender and become Captured; or
- Fight and immediately Join the Gunfight.
Does Heat increase whenever someone attacks?
Heat uses one shared Heat Tracker. It is not tracked separately for each Outlaw.
The first time an Outlaw Joins the Gunfight, increase the shared Heat Tracker by 1. That Outlaw's later attacks do not repeatedly increase Heat. If another Outlaw subsequently Joins, increase the shared Heat Tracker by 1 again.
Law returning fire does not increase Heat.
If an action already increases Heat and begins a Gunfight, do not increase Heat twice. For example, using Dynamite in the Bank increases Heat by 1 and begins a Gunfight, so only one Heat increase is applied.
What does "Outlaws are not forced to all participate at once" mean?
Outlaws Join the Gunfight individually.
If one Outlaw chooses to Fight after being discovered with valuables, only that Outlaw has Joined. Law may attack that Outlaw, but the other Outlaws are not automatically exposed.
Outlaws who have not Joined may continue moving, searching and pursuing their individual or team Objectives. They may still become Suspicious and be Detained or Searched, but they cannot be attacked solely because another Outlaw Joined.
If another Outlaw later makes an attack, that Outlaw also Joins the Gunfight and the shared Heat Tracker increases by 1.
The ruling, in full:
Outlaws who do not Join the Gunfight may continue taking normal Actions and pursuing their individual or team Objectives. They cannot be targeted by Law attacks solely because another Outlaw has Joined, although they may still become Suspicious and be Detained or Searched. This protection ends when the mission's Law combat threshold is reached.
2. Arrest, Kidnapping and Surrender
Why would an Outlaw Surrender instead of fighting?
Surrender is a strategic retreat, not the end of that player's game — and since Rules Update v1.1 it carries a real benefit.
Patched Up. Accepting Arrest heals the Character one step on the Health Track. Being placed in the Prison Cell heals one further step, to a maximum of Light Wound.
So a Character on Critical Wound, where the next Injury would kill them, can surrender, be patched up on the walk to the cell, spend Focus Actions rebuilding their Attribute Tokens, and then break out fighting. A Captured Character keeps their Attribute Tokens and may spend them to add dice to their Escape Stealth Checks.
What it costs: all your Blue Ammo Cubes, and your Golden Gun Team Token for that mission while you remain Captured. It also occupies an escorting Lawman, who frees the prisoner instantly if Injured or if they take any Action other than movement.
Choosing to Fight instead makes the Outlaw a legal target, increases Heat and may endanger the gang's Primary Mission Objective. Death removes the character from the remainder of the mission entirely.
If every member of a team is Captured at the same time, the mission ends immediately.
Can Outlaws offer Kidnapping, and can a Lawman refuse?
Before rolling dice for a legal combat attack, an Outlaw may offer Kidnapping in the same way that a Lawman offers Arrest.
- If the Lawman accepts, apply the normal Capture, Escort, Prisoner and Escape rules, using the Outlaws' Prison Cell.
- If the Lawman refuses, combat continues normally.
A Lawman is never forced to accept Kidnapping.
3. Protective Fire and Terrain
What do the two "+2" benefits in a Purple Outlined zone mean?
The two benefits work differently:
- +2 Protective Fire adds a fixed +2 to the defender's total. It does not add defence dice.
- +2 Accuracy adds two White Accuracy dice to an attack the character is already legally able to make.
The Accuracy bonus does not create a free attack. The character must still declare a normal attack and spend the required Ammo.
The centre of the miniature's base must be inside the Purple Outlined zone to receive its benefits.
Protective Fire from different sources does not stack — use the highest single value that applies.
Are "Protective Fire" and "protective cover" different rules?
Protective Fire is the standard term. The phrase "protective cover" in the Trees section refers to the same rule.
How do Barrels provide Protective Fire?
A Barrel provides +1 Protective Fire only when:
- the defending miniature occupies the same space as the Barrel token; and
- the centre-to-centre Line of Sight passes through the printed Barrel artwork before reaching the defender.
When a miniature enters and ends a Move Action in a space containing a Barrel, the player chooses the miniature's final position and places the Barrel in front of it at any angle within that space. This does not cost an additional Action.
Once positioned, that player cannot adjust the Barrel again during the same Action. If the miniature remains in the space, it may spend 1 Action to reposition the Barrel as though it had just entered.
If the miniature leaves and later re-enters, or a different miniature enters and ends a Move Action there, the entering player may reposition the Barrel.
How do Trees provide Protective Fire?
If the centre-to-centre Line of Sight passes through any part of a tree, including its foliage, the defender receives +1 Protective Fire. The defender does not need to occupy the tree's space.
Multiple trees do not increase this bonus. Whether the Line of Sight crosses one tree or several, the total tree benefit remains +1.
The attacker may spend one Accuracy token to ignore the tree benefit for that attack.
What is the difference between a Step Zone and a High Step Zone?
A Blue Step Zone is the first level of raised ground. Crossing the Blue Outline into the higher terrain costs 2 Movement within the same Move Action: one for entering the space and one additional Movement for the climb. The miniature moves one physical space and gains Fatigue.
A Green High Step Zone is the next level of raised ground. Crossing the Green Outline is a separate climb and also costs 2 Movement within the same Move Action.
A single Move Action cannot cross both the Blue and Green Outlines. Entering the Green High Step Zone requires a separate Move Action after entering the Blue Step Zone.
Movement between spaces inside the same coloured zone costs normal Movement. Moving out of a coloured zone into lower terrain also costs normal Movement. The additional +1 Movement applies only when crossing an Outline into higher terrain.
4. Healing and Critical Wounds
What does "turn segment" mean when Healing?
"Turn segment" means the individual Action used for Healing.
A Healing Action uses that entire Action and cannot be combined with another action. The player may use their remaining Actions normally or spend another Action to Heal again.
What happens when a Critical Wound reduces Movement to 1?
While Critical, each Move Action allows the character to move a maximum of one space, on every map — the Map Movement Scale does not apply while Critical.
The character may spend another Action to Move again, but each Move Action remains limited to one space. If all three Actions are used for movement, the normal Fatigue rules apply. A Critically Wounded character cannot climb into a Step Zone.
How can a Critical Wound be healed?
Two ways only:
- specific Red Item Cards that target Critical Wounds; or
- Accepting Arrest — see Patched Up in Section 2.
Ride On, Legends
We hope this FAQ helps everyone quickly resolve these questions and return to the positioning, planning and cinematic gunfights at the heart of Guns of the Old West.
If another question rides into town, send the mail rider our way at western@wolfstormentertainment.com and we will saddle up an answer.
Until then, enjoy your adventures and keep writing your legend across the frontier!