Some of the dudes in the Sloane Gang are designed to earn Control Points and mess with your opponents by taking the offensive in shootouts. The remainder of the Sloane Gang has some of the best natural shooters in the game.
Sloane
Sloane is the best natural shooter in the game at 4-stud. Sloane’s first trait means her bounty rating won’t go below one once she earns a bounty. B&B Attorneys can’t be used to reduce her bounty here. The upside is that she can start benefitting from cards like Bad Company for the rest of the game.
Her second ability prevents her from booting when joining a posse and any other dudes that share her location also gain the benefit. This doesn’t allow booted dudes to join a posse, but it will make Sloane able to react to multiple shootouts in a turn as long as she is in the right location. The Town Square will make her a threat to nearly any location on the table.
Jonah Essex
Jonah is the only Huckster affiliated with the Sloane Gang in the core set. His huckster skill is low and he doesn’t have an ability to take much advantage of his skill like the Fourth Ring hucksters do. His skill can be used with Soul Blast to escape from bad situations or Ace in the Hole to fix those shootout hands and combo with Barton Everest. Sloane usually depends on actions that have values in the middle range, so choosing spells with low target numbers will help out Jonah.
Essex also benefits your other wanted dudes in the posse. Since you only get to choose one main shooter, it may seem useless to give them all a +1 to their bullet rating. If every potential lead shooter has a high bullet rating, your opponent won’t be able to lock them all down with events such as Sun in Yer Eyes or Pinned Down.
Marion Seville
Marion shares the same value as Sanford Taylor, making it easy to build a deck around other cards such as War Paint and Dead Dog Tavern with a 4 value. Marion gets a +2 bullet bonus when he is wanted. With the addition of dudes like Jonah Essex and actions like Bad Company, Marion can quickly reach a bullet rating high enough to make a Shotgun terrifying.
You could just give Marion a Pearl-Handled Revolver to turn his Draw into a Stud.
Pancho Castillo
Pancho doesn’t have a special text, but his bullet rating is second only to Sloane’s. With a bonus from Jonah Essex, he will be just a strong a shooter as Sloane.
Pancho makes a great dude for taking control of the Town Square and keeping it. His naturally high rating doesn’t need any buffs to make him an excellent shooter. He will be a target for actions such as Sun in Yer Eyes or PInned Down. Be sure to protect him with Hiding in the Shadows if you want him to be your lead shooter.
Silas Aims
Silas, just like his brother, gets a bonus based on his bounty. Be sure to take advantage by boosting his bounty with cards like This is a Holdup! to quickly make Silas’ bullet rating sky-high. Pair him up with a Shotgun or a Pearl-Handled Revolver to make him truly dangerous.
He is an incredibly cheap dude with no influence, making him a dude you can mix into any deck. He won’t cost you any extra upkeep and he fits in with a Dead Man’s Hand build.
Sloane Gang’s Guns
The Sloane gang depends most on their high bullet ratings. They can take control of the Town Square easily and hold it. Once they have it, they have the best guns to hold it. The Control Points that the Sloane Gang can earn draw out opponents into making desperate moves to win the game.
