Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Tutorial · version 1.8.0. The quickest start is the Tactics Primer on the title card: five short lessons that teach everything below by doing it.

How to begin

The title card offers 10 fights in four groups — Tombstone 1881, The Vendetta Ride 1882, Skirmish and the Tactics Primer. Choose a fight, choose your side (the lawmen, the cowboys, two players at one screen, or watch), choose the opposition (Greenhorn, Gunhand, Shootist), and press Walk down Fremont Street. If a fight was left unfinished, Resume the fight takes you back to it.

Controls

The left side of the screen is information — the turn, the Odds Slip, the man you are pointing at, the roster and the record. The right side is controls — orders, the view and the game. Everything can be done with a mouse, a touch screen or the keyboard alone.

Turn order

Each round every man still in the fight acts once. The order is rolled fresh each round from each man's quickness plus luck; the man whose turn it is wears a gold ring. He has two actions — one if he is shaken or down. When he has used them (or you press Space) the next man in the order acts. The computer's men act on their own; a fight lasts a set number of rounds (8–18), after which the townsmen close in and the shooting stops.

Movement

A move costs one action. The lit squares are where he can get to: a straight step costs 2 of his 8 points, a diagonal 3, and he may not cut a corner. A man lying flat or down crawls — 3 points. Walls, wagons, troughs, barrels, trees, rocks and water block movement; doorways and the edge of the map are ways out of the fight. Moving spoils aim, costs -10 on a shot taken after it, and makes him -10 harder to hit until his next turn. Point at any empty square to read which enemy guns could hit a man standing there; press T to tint the whole map by the guns that bear on it.

Combat and scoring

Point at an enemy before you shoot: the Odds Slip adds up his marksmanship and every modifier — range, cover within 3 squares of the target (a wagon 35, a trough or rock 30, a barrel 25, a tree 20, a fence or horse 15), men in the line of fire (-10), gunsmoke (up to -18), aim (+15), wounds (-12) and more. No shot is surer than 95% or hopeless below 3%. A hit may graze, wound (slower shooting), put a man down (he can still shoot, -20) or kill him. Hold fire, covering spends the rest of a turn watching: the covering man snap-shoots (-5) at the first enemy who fires in his sight, or — once shooting has begun — who moves in it. Men who are shot at, hit, or see a friend fall test their nerve and may be shaken or run.

At the end, each side scores for the men it put out: killed 4, down 3, wounded 1, surrendered 3, fled 2, panicked 1.

Winning conditions

A fight is won outright when the other side has no one left able to fight. Otherwise the verdict compares your margin (your points minus theirs) with par, the margin measured over hundreds of computer-played fights in that scenario at that opposition level: beat par by 6 or more for “A legend of the frontier”, by 2 for “Better than the odds”. A lesson is passed when its objective, shown on the left, is met.

Losing conditions

A fight is lost outright when none of your men is left able to fight — killed, down and helpless, surrendered, run off or fled through a door. Falling 6 or more below par is “A disaster on Fremont Street”, even in a fight you technically won. A lesson is failed when time runs out or your men are all out of the fight first; in Breaking Nerve, killing the toughs instead of breaking them does not pass.

Know when a move is reversible

Undo (U) restores the most recent move only while the same man remains active and no dice were rolled. A reaction shot makes a move irreversible even if it misses. Ending an activation or issuing another order also closes that opportunity. The Order Guide and Undo button description explain availability. Restoring a move clears its animation and targeting selections.

Inspect the replayed position

Replay HUD, casualty counts, score and character inspection follow the selected frame. Choose a roster name to follow that man's recorded wounds and status across steps. Historical ammunition, actions, aim, shaken state, activation order and odds were not recorded, so those values are labeled unavailable. Present counts men not killed, surrendered or departed; it does not guarantee fighting ability. The Battle Record shows up to 400 retained events, independent of the replay step. Closing replay restores ordinary panels without changing the source fight.

Check a move for covering fire

Inspect a reachable empty square to see which loaded enemy covering guns could react on arrival, in the engine's reaction order. Odds include snap-shot and target-movement effects. Movement reactions begin only after the fight's first shot. Earlier reactions can change later odds or prevent your follow-up shot. Your projected shots after moving retain stance, shake, wounds and target movement, remove aim, and apply the movement penalty. They assume no intervening reaction changes; previews never consume actions or RNG.

Check your saves

The Save Ledger shows the latest autosave result and the tactical snapshot's scenario, round and local saved time when available. If storage is full or blocked, the failure remains visible. Retry autosave writes your current fight without spending an action or changing the snapshot. Failed snapshot writes preserve an earlier branch; older snapshots without timestamps still work. Watch mode leaves the player autosave untouched.

Understand your orders

Expand the Order Guide below Orders to read each order's cost and current availability. Reload shows its ammunition gain, Change weapon identifies the next weapon, and Take aim warns when it would leave no action to fire this turn. The guide explains disabled orders and temporary restrictions such as Pause or computer turns. Matching descriptions are attached to the buttons. Reading the guide never issues an order.

Review key exchanges

After a fight, choose Watch the replay. Select a round to jump to its first recorded step, or use Gunfire buttons to skip between steps containing shots, including reaction fire. Shift+Left/Right provides the same gunfire navigation; Left/Right steps once and Home/End goes to the ends. Seeking pauses playback so you can inspect the position. Play or Space continues it. The minimap hides during replay to leave the controls clear.

Choose your shot

Inspect a shootable opponent to compare Fire now, Aim then fire and Fan the hammer in the Odds Slip. Each choice shows its chance and action cost, or explains why it is unavailable. Aiming then firing needs two actions and assumes the same position and target. Fan odds describe the opening shot only; smoke and wounds can change later shots. Covering fire can interrupt shooting. This comparison never issues an order: use the existing Orders or Survey controls when ready.

Review the Battle Record

Search up to 400 retained fight events by name, action or event, then filter Lawmen, Cowboys or other events. Search ignores letter case. The latest 100 matches appear in chronological order with round numbers. Earlier entries loads 100 more; Latest matches returns to the newest matching results. Clear filters restores all events. Older entries expire at the 400-event limit; if your starting entry expires, the status explains the move to the earliest remaining match. New events follow automatically only when you are at the bottom; scrolling up lets you read without being pulled away. During replay, the record shows up to 400 retained events, independent of the replay step.

Compare your targets

The Target Ledger ranks opponents by the active man's current hit chance. It explains blocked shots and identifies unarmed targets, covering guns, cover and men in the line of fire. Select a row to inspect without firing; with Survey enabled, use the separate order button to commit. Q cycles legal shots and Shift+Q cycles backward. Fan percentages apply to each shot. Collapse the ledger to make room. The Odds Slip names intervening men who may be struck by stray fire.

Take a breather

Press J or choose Pause to stop computer turns and orders while you inspect the battlefield. Resume with the same key or the pause notice. Opening Help or hiding the tab automatically suspends computer turns and replay playback; returning resumes them unless you paused manually. Help keeps keyboard focus inside its dialog; Escape closes it and returns focus. Starting, loading or restoring a fight clears the temporary pause.

Survey before you act

Press D or choose Survey in Orders. Click or tap a square to inspect it without moving or firing; keyboard players use Shift+arrows and Enter. Read the Odds Slip and projected firing lanes, then choose the labeled move or fire button to spend the stated actions. Escape clears the plan. Other order buttons still act immediately. Survey is off by default and remembered between visits. Tab also reaches each roster and initiative name for inspection.

Saving and restarting

The fight saves itself when you start and after every action, in this browser only. Leave at any time; Resume the fight on the title card picks it up. Undo the move (U) takes back a move as long as no dice were rolled because of it. New game (N) returns to the title card. When a fight ends you can Play again, Choose another fight, Watch the replay, or, after a lesson you passed, go on to the Next lesson.

The full rules, with every table, are in the manual (manual.pdf, beside this page).