Friday Filler: Colt Express: Bandits

Published in 2014, Colt Express is a super fun game of bandits raiding a train in the Wild West, which would go on to be the 2015 Spiel des Jahres Winner. From one round to the next, each player programs the actions of his bandit and then at end of each round, these actions are played out in order, and as each action happens, the bandits aboard the train interact with each other, plans go awry, and chaos ensues! The fact that this takes place aboard a cardboard model of a train that sits on the table in front of the players and they get to program their bandits’ maneuvres up and down and along the train, only serves to make the game more entertaining. In the years since, Colt Express has been supported by a handful of expansions, such as Colt Express: Horses & Stagecoach, including even a Delorean! However, as good as it looks and as fun as it is to play, Colt Express is at its best when there are six players sat round the table and all six bandits are involved, and a game can devolve into maximum chaos and in the space of thirty minutes or so, tales of how each bandit successfully—or unsuccessfully robbed the Colt Express. So, what do you do if there are fewer than six players? Five players is fine, four maybe… With fewer players how do you back up to that maximum fun? Well, publisher Ludonaute has a solution—the Colt Express Bandits series.

The Colt Express Bandits series consists of not one expansion, but six. One for each of the six bandits in Colt Express—Belle, Cheyenne, Django, Doc, Ghost, and Tuco. Each expansion replaces its particular bandit in the game, but not when the bandit is being played by a player. Rather an expansion takes the place of a bandit who is not being controlled by a player and hands that control to the game itself. Each Colt Express: Bandits expansion adds new deck of eight Action cards which will control the bandit from one turn to the next and two special moves or effects.

So, what can each bandit do?

In Colt Express, with a “Liddle ol’ me?”, Belle cannot be targeted by a Fire or Punch action if another Bandit can be targeted instead. In Colt Express Bandits – Belle, her Action cards consist of Move—always towards where there is the most jewels to be picked; Punch—everyone in the same carriage and always towards the back of the train!; Theft—steal a Jewel from every Bandit in the same carriage; Robbery—jewels if she can; and Charm—make all of the Bandits aboard the train move towards her. Lastly, when she encounters the Marshal, she charms him into not shooting her! Belle is all about using her charm to steal as many jewels as she possibly can.

In Colt Express, Cheyenne is a pickpocket and when she punches a Bandit, also steals a Purse from her victim. In Colt Express Bandits – Cheyenne, her Action cards consist of a Double Move—two carriages if in the train or four if on the roof, or a Single Move—one carriage if in the train or two if on the roof, and always towards the most Bandits, after which she pickpockets a Purse from a random Bandit in her new location. She also a Bow Attack which replaces her pistol attack, enabling her to fire poisoned arrows at her rivals. These are treated like bullets as in the standard game and clog up a Bandit’s Action Deck. A poisoned Bandit must grab one of the Antidotes—to be found throughout the train—to be consumed per Poisoned Arrow taken. A Bandit who has suffered one or more Poisoned Arrows cannot win the game. Thus, Cheyenne is all about stealing Purses from her rival Bandits and preventing them from winning with her Poisoned Arrows. 

In Colt Express, Django is a crackshot and when he shoots another Bandit, he or she is knocked into the next carriage. In Colt Express Bandits – Django, he still has that capability, but here he fires a volley, the bullets hitting the nearest group of Bandits rather than a single Bandit! In addition, at the beginning of the game, each other Bandit receives two Ejection tokens, and at the beginning of each turn, Django places a Dynamite token in the carriage he is currently in if it does not have one. When the Explosion Action card is draw, all of the Bandits caught in the explosions are ejected from the train and must use their next action to reboard the train. Any Bandit ejected from the train in this fashion must give one of their Ejection tokens to Django and these are worth money at the end of the game. Django then, is also about using brute force, with a big gun or a big bang to drive everyone off the train and enable him to scoop up the loot.

In Colt Express, Doc is in smartest Bandit and always starts each round with seven Action cards rather than six like everyone else. In Colt Express Bandits – Doc gets to be cleverer too. First the Bandit who shoots or punches Doc earns his respect and his Respect card, allowing that Bandit’s Player to control Doc until another Bandit shoots or punches Doc. Doc also shoots special bullets which deny the shot Bandit particular actions, such as Fire, Floor Change, Punch, or Move, depending on the card. Doc also sets up a Poker Game, which forces every Bandit with loot to participate by contributing one of their already purloined loot, with Doc adding one from his stake. The player controlling Doc gets to redistribute this loot, Doc receiving two, and everyone else one bar a single Bandit who gets nothing. This is a slightly fiddly, slightly more complex expansion, the player controlling Doc getting to feather his Bandit’s own nest whilst ensuring his rival Bandits, including Doc does not receive as much.

In Colt Express, Ghost is the sneakiest of the Bandits and can place his first Action card face down into the common deck rather face up as is standard. In Colt Express Bandits – Ghost, he is after the Special Suitcase which replaces the Strongbox which begins play in the locomotive, guarded by Marshal. Any Moves he makes is always towards the Special Suitcase, but he also has combined action which enable him to do a Floor Change and then Fire, and his Fire and Punch actions affect every Bandit in the same carriage. Ghost is all about obtaining the Special Suitcase and will win the game if he has at game’s end, so when Ghost is in play, the game becomes about denying him the Special Suitcase as much as it is stealing as much loot as possible.

In Colt Express, Tuco can shoot up or down through the roof of the carriage he is, targeting a Bandit who is on the roof if he is in the carriage or a Bandit who is in the carriage if Tuco is on the roof. In Colt Express Bandits – Tuco, he can still do that. When he takes a Move Action, it is always towards the largest group of Bandits and as with other Bandits, his Punch and Shoot attacks affect multiple Bandits in or on the same Carriage. Tuco’s double-barrelled shotgun fires more bullets though and although Tuco cannot win by expending all of his bullets, he gets extra bullets and receives loot for each bullet fired. In addition, Tuco can swap places with the Marshal and if another Bandit forces Tuco to be in the same carriage as the Marshal, the offending Bandit receives a Wanted token. Each Wanted token adds to a Bandit’s final score, including Tuco’s. So Tuco wants to avoid the Marshal if he can because he is wanted and rival Bandits want to get Tuco and the Marshal together.

Set-up is simple enough. The Action deck for each Colt Express: Bandits expansion is placed to the right of the first player. Between the first player’s action and the second player’s action, one card is drawn randomly from the Bandit’s Action deck and added to the common deck which will be resolved at the end of the round. Each of the Bandits in the Colt Express Bandits series can be shot by his or her rival Bandits and when shot three times, he or she loses her next action.  Each also has his or her own winning conditions. Belle wins by having the most jewels at the end of the game. In which case all of the actual players and their Bandits lose! Cheyenne wins by being the richest of the Bandits at the end of the game who has not been poisoned. Django wins the game immediately if he gets all of the Ejection Tokens—essentially if every other Bandit is blown or shot from the train twice! He can also win by being the richest Bandit. Doc wins by having the most loot. Ghost wins by having the Special Suitcase at the end of the game or having the most loot. Tuco wins by having the most loot.

What is interesting is that elements of the Colt Express Bandits could be incorporated into the main game. So Belle could use her charm on the Marshal, Cheyenne could use her Poisoned Arrows, Django could seed the train with Dynamite and set off the explosions, Doc could play the Poker game, Ghost by possessing his Special Suitcase, and Tuco by avoiding the Marshal. However, they are not necessarily designed for that and they are not designed as written to be used as more than one entry in the Colt Express: Bandits expansion at a time. This is not to say that an enterprising group could not do that, or even an enterprising player, with the latter actually controlling his own Bandit, whilst the game controls the rest. This would make it fairly complex in working out what happens and when, but if the players are methodical about it, then it should not necessarily be an issue.

Physically, each entry in the Colt Express: Bandits series is well done. The cards are the same quality as those found in Colt Express, the tokens are on thick cardboard, and the little rules leaflet—print in French and English is generally easy to read. However, the English translation is not quite as smooth as it could have been and it could have done with another edit.

Each of six entries in the Colt Express: Bandits series is, to varying degrees, interesting and engaging, and brings out more character from each of the Bandits. The owner of the game is free to pick and choose which of them he wants to, but the likelihood is that he will want all of them, to give him and his gaming group the option to play the Bandits that they want and still have the equivalent of six Bandits in the game. However, this does feel like an expensive option, when perhaps all six expansions could have been collected into the one box (that said, all six expansions in the series will fit the box for Colt Express) and then expanded perhaps with advice on using them for solo play—that is, one player Bandit and five game-controlled bandits and how they might interact. Or on adding the abilities given in this series to the standard play of the Bandits with any of the entries in the Colt Express: Bandits series. As it is, a gaming group, and possibly a single player will have to find that out for themselves how the entries in the series for themselves.

Colt Express is still a great game and the Colt Express: Bandits series adds further flavour and character to each of the Bandits in play. Some options are more complex than others, but overall, adding one or two of these to game should keep the game play fun and add a little challenge and chaos at the same time.

Friday Filler: Super Colt Express

Published in 2014, Colt Express is a super fun game of bandits raiding a train in the Wild West, which would go to be the 2015 Spiel des Jahres Winner. It has been supported by a handful of expansions, such as Colt Express: Horses & Stagecoach, including even a Delorean! However, as good as it looks and as fun as it is to play, it can be slightly fiddly to set up, being played as it is, on a cardboard train along which the players move their bandits, grab bags of loot, punch and shoot their rivals, all the while avoiding the US Marshall protecting the local mine’s payroll. This of course, is done through pre-programmed movement and then resolved in a chaotic slew of actions. The latest addition to the Colt Express family is designed to counter all of that—it is a pocket-sized, pocket-friendly, time-friendly game in which the bandits race up and down a Union Pacific train, guns blazing at each other as the train crew uncouples Train Car after Train Car. Which bandit will be the last standing on the speeding train and so be the one to get away and win Super Colt Express?

Published by Ludonaute, Super Colt Express is designed be played by between three and seven players, aged eight and up, and in just fifteen minutes. Inside the little square box can be found seven Bandit meeples—one each for Belle, Cheyenne, Django, Doc, Ghost, Mei, and Tuco, eight Train Cars and one Locomotive card, a First Player card, and six sets of Action cards, one for each Bandit. The Train Cards have a Loot value on their reverse which is only revealed when there is a tie between the Bandits—the highest Loot value wins! Each Bandit meeple holds a revolver in his or her hand, and whichever direction the gun is pointing, that is the direction in which the Bandit is facing. Apart from the artwork, each set of Action cards is identical, providing four manoeuvres. ‘Flip’ changes the direction in which a Bandit is pointing his or her gun—up the train to the Locomotive or down the train to the last car or caboose. ‘Change Floor’ enables a Bandit to climb up to, or down from, the roof of the train. ‘Move’ enables a Bandit to move to the adjacent Train Car in the direction he or she is facing. ‘Fire’ enables a Bandit to shoot the first rival Bandit in his or her line of sight. Any Bandit who is shot, is knocked back one car and onto his or her back, stunned. If a Bandit is shot and is knocked off the train, then he or she is out of the game, but if not knocked from the train, a player can use any Action card to do a ‘Wake Up’ Action and get up.

Game set-up for Super Colt Express is simple. The Locomotive card and one Train Card per player are placed on the table in a line with the Locomotive at the front. Each player receives his Bandit meeple and four associated Action cards—‘Change Floor’, ‘Flip’, ‘Move’, and ‘Fire’. One player is randomly determined to be the First Player and his Bandit is placed in the penultimate Train Car, and then the other players place their Bandits in the next Train Car, one-by-one. The Bandits in the rear half of the train face towards the Locomotive, the other facing away from it towards the rear of the train.

From Round to Round, Super Colt Express is played out over two phases. In ‘Phase 1: Schemin’!’, each player chooses three of his Bandit’s Action cards and places them face down in stack. These will be played in order from the top down, so a player needs to be careful to get the order right to reflect what he wants his Bandit to do in a Round. In ‘Phase 2: Shootin’!’, beginning with the First Player, each reveals his topmost Action and carries out that Action. So the Bandits will move, shoot, change direction or ‘Flip’, and climb up or down from the roof, or ‘Change Floor’. At the end of the Round, once all Action cards have been resolved, the last Train Car in the train—the Caboose—is unhitched and left behind by the train. If a Bandit is aboard this Train Car, he or she is out of the game. The Bandit furthest towards the front of the train is awarded the lost Train Car for its Loot value on te back of its card.

A new Round then begins with a new First Player. Super Colt Express ends when the last Train Car has been unhooked and only the Locomotive remains. If the one Bandit survives, then he or she wins and gets away. If there are multiple Bandits on the Locomotive, then the Bandit with the most Loot—as determined by the value of the Train Cards in their hands, is the winner.

In addition, Super Colt Express comes with two expansions. These are optional and can be used with each other or on their own with the core game. ‘Extension: Horse’ gives each Bandit a ‘Horse’ Action which enables him or her to ride to the Locomotive at the front of the train, whilst ‘Extension: Reflex’ allows a Bandit who is stunned to get up and shoot the first bandit he or she sees. If not stunned, a Bandit instead shoots himself or herself in the foot and consequently, is stunned! Neither expansion increases the maximum number of Action cards a Bandit can play—they are still limited to three per Round.

Physically, Super Colt Express is very well presented. The artwork is excellent, much of which players will recognise from Colt Express. The rules are easy to read and grasp, and Super Colt Express can be played almost out of the box, with no more than five minutes preparation. The cards are of good quality and the meeple Bandits sturdy and attractive.

Super Colt Express plays quickly and easily as intended. However, the fewer number and similarity of actions in the game when compared to Colt Express does mean that some of the flavour has been lost from the original game and thus less scope for table talk and interaction between the Bandits and the players. Certainly, anyone who has played Colt Express will miss that.

On initial play, the temptation is to try and blast away with the ‘Fire’ Action, but the ‘Move’ and ‘Flip’ Actions quickly become as important as Bandits closer to the rear of the train need to move forward to the front before a Train Car is uncouple and lost and Bandits closer to the front of the train need to turn round if they are to move away from the soon to be uncoupled rear of the train. As the Bandits move from Train Car to the next and climb up or down from the roof, then there is room for more chaos and random results. Once issue though, is if a stunned Bandit gets up after a ‘Wake Up’ Action has been played and is then shot again, effectively meaning that not only does the Bandit lose his or her current action in getting up, but his or her next action too because another Action card has to be played as ‘Wake Up’ Action—and that is no fun. Thankfully, this does not last as there are only three Actions per Round and it is quickly over.

Super Colt Express is a quick-playing, fun blast ’em sort of game. However, it gets better later in the game as there are fewer players—their Bandits having been knocked off the train—and becomes a bit more of a ‘cat and mouse’ game of trying manoeuvre into the right place, at the right time to keep your opponents from the front of the train, as Train car after Train Car is lost from the rear of the train.