How to Play

Western Legends

2-6 players 60-90 min 7.6 Board Game Geek Rating

Players embody historical Wild West figures in this open-world sandbox adventure. Each turn, draw poker cards, gain cash, then choose three actions: move across the map, perform location-specific activities like mining or gambling, duel opponents, or play action cards. Victory goes to whoever accumulates the most Legendary Points through various deeds.

Published 2018

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Prepare the play area

Set up the board as a usual 2-player game, including the Man in Black and Legendary Tokens variant

Set game length

Recommended setting is 20 Legendary Points (LP)

Gather Automa components

Take a player mat, scoring cubes, story disks, ring, and wound marker of the same color for the Automa player

Select Automa character

Randomly choose a character card for the Automa player

Collect starting resources

The Automa gains all items, money, poker cards (kept face-down), MP or WP listed on the back of its character card

Position Automa hand

Place the Automa's poker cards face-down near its player mat

Place Automa miniature

Choose a miniature and place it on the starting space listed on the character card back

Create Action deck

Shuffle all 16 Automa Action cards to form the Action deck

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Gain income

The Automa gains $10 and draws 1 poker card

Bonus card draw

If the Automa has $120 at the start of turn, it draws 2 poker cards instead

Equip weapon

The Automa equips the most expensive upgraded weapon it has

Take three actions

For each action, draw an Automa Action card from the deck and resolve its instructions

Reshuffle when empty

If no cards remain in the Action deck, shuffle all discarded cards to form a new deck

Apply consequences

Unless a card or rule specifies otherwise, the Automa performs actions and incurs consequences as if it were a human player

Skip between locations

The Automa does not move like a human player but skips from one location to another like the MiB

Ignore mount movement

The Automa can have and upgrade mounts but ignores their movement effects

General Store/Saloon placement

When moving to these locations, place the Automa on the northern adjacent space

Bandit Hideout tiebreaker

When two hideouts are equidistant, move to the one furthest northwest

Sheriff encounter

If Wanted and moved to the Sheriff's space, the Sheriff initiates a fight; if arrested, the Automa loses all WP, moves to Sheriff's Office, and forfeits its action

Use poker cards

The Automa uses poker cards from its hand in fights

Reveal cards by weapon

Reveal poker cards based on equipped weapon upgrade cost: $20 = 2 cards, $30 = 3 cards, $40 = 4 cards

Apply weapon bonus

Reduce opponent's card value by 1 if the Automa has an upgraded weapon equipped

Resolve ties

NPCs and MiB win ties against the Automa; Automa wins ties against human player when attacking

Suffer defeat penalties

The Automa takes 1 wound and loses 1 poker card when losing a fight

Gain rewards for bandit victories

Marshal Automa gains 1 MP; Wanted Automa gains 1 LP

Pay entry cost

The Automa spends $10 and draws 1 poker card

Reveal the flop

Turn over the top 3 Fight cards from the Fight deck

Match cards

Reveal up to 4 poker cards one at a time, placing matches under corresponding flop cards or previously revealed cards

Collect winnings

Gain $20 for each match (maximum $60), then gain 1 LP, discard revealed cards, and draw 1 poker card

Steal gold nuggets

Take half (rounded up) if the human has at least 1 nugget and Automa has 2 or fewer, or if Automa has $120

Steal money

Take half (rounded up) if the human has at least $10 and Automa has 3 or more gold nuggets

Check Story cards

Determine if the Automa triggered any Story card requirements and place story disks accordingly

Discard excess cards

Randomly discard poker cards down to the hand limit (5 minus wounds)

Check for game end

If the Automa has LP equal to or greater than the game length, trigger end of game

Winning

How to claim victory.

Trigger end game

When the Automa acquires LP equal to or greater than the set amount (recommended 20 LP), finish the round, then each player takes one final turn including the Automa and MiB

Determine winner

The player (human or Automa) with the most LP at the end of the game wins

Score Legendary Tokens

The Automa can collect more than 3 Legendary Tokens but only scores 3 of them at game end

Gain tokens from stories

The Automa receives 1 face-down Legendary Token for each of its story disks on resolved Story cards