The Sloane Gang is good at shooting, gaining Control Points, and has a few special abilities mixed in between. This first article will focus on the Control Points and special abilities that Sloane can bring to the table.
Allie Hensman
Allie resembles the epitome of the Sloane Gang. For only two Ghost Rock, she can earn a Control Point every turn that she is able to sit in the town square. The real test is keeping her safe while she is earning you control points. Allie is able to take advantage of the Gang’s ability to control Town Square. She is incredibly cheap with no upkeep or influence, so she isn’t a liability until she has earned a few Control Points. Her strong ability is balanced by the fact that a Shotgun or Soul Blast can easily remove her from the table.
Lawrence Blackwood
Lawrence can earn a Control Point by running over to your opponent’s deed and staying there until the end of the turn. Since you don’t calculate victory until the end of the turn, Lawrence will need to stay at the deed until the end of the turn to count towards victory. His best use will be to draw out your opponents to defend one of their locations. For 3 Ghost Rock, He can really earn his keep by taking an opponent’s location and making any deed worth at least one Control Point. Out of Town deeds will be a perfect target for Blackwood because your opponent will need to devote resources to a deed they don’t normally try to defend.
Barton Everest
Barton Everest is a great shooter and actually encourages you to cheat in shootout hands. He increases your hand rank by one when you reveal your hand. This trait comes in to play as soon as you reveal your shootout hand, so that means if you are able to use Ace in the Hole afterwards to make your hand legal, you still get the bonus to your hand rank. The increase to your hand rank can save you a casualty or even put you in the lead. The downside to Barton is that your opponent will know you are going to want to cheat frequently. A Coachwhip will hurt you more than the bonus hand rank Barton will earn. Pay attention to the cards your opponent discards throughout the game and know what kind of cheating responses they have before you plan on using Barton’s ability too frequently.
Fred Aims
Fred is one of two Aims brothers. This brother’s influence is equal to his bounty. He is one of the few characters that wants his bounty to keep going up beyond the first. Card effects like Kidnappin’ and B&B Attorneys can easily increase his bounty.
Fred can reach high enough influence that he can keep the game under control by himself. He is cheap enough to start in a large starting posse, but his influence will be low until he goes out an earns a few bounties. Fred fits into a Dead Man’s Hand build in any deck. As long as he doesn’t earn a bounty, he doesn’t cost any extra in another faction build and he can be seen as a disposable dude.
Sanford Taylor
Sanford is another Sloane member that gets better when he is wanted. As soon as he gets a bounty he has the ability to call out anyone at a deed and it can not be refused. This can’t call out Clementine Lepp while at a Saloon, but there aren’t many others the are immune to his ability.
Since the call-out can’t be refused your opponent has to accept. Unless they have a way to escape like Make the Smart Choice, they will have to survive at least one round of a shootout before running home to safety. His ability only works at a deed, so this ability won’t work at a home or in the Town Square.
Part 2!
Part 2 includes the character the gang is named after along with several characters skilled at shooting up a storm. Also, check out some of my other faction strategies.
