LET ‘ER RIP!
Killer Miller: The Man in the Iron Coat. Body armour ain’t just for Ned Kelly! Western scenario with downloadable rule set.
The Old West had its fair share of gunmen many of whom are still well known today such as Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson and Billy the Kid. Then there are those men who were famous in their day but whose names have faded into history. These ‘gunmen’, ‘pistoleers’, ‘shootists’, or ‘bad men’ as they were known (the term gunslinger is a modern title invented in the 1920s by writers of western fiction and Hollywood film makers) usually fought over cattle and land feuds, arguments over cards or were lawmen or outlaws. However there was a breed of men who were prepared to kill others for a price. Today we would call them contract killers or hit men: then they referred to themselves simply as ‘guns for hire’, ‘range detectives’ or even ‘man killers.’
One of these was James Brown Miller also known as ‘Killin Jim’, ‘Killer Miller’ and ‘Deacon Jim’, the latter because he regularly attended the Methodist Church. Yet for all his professed Christian ways he is credited with killing at least a dozen men during his lifetime,
probably more, and often from ambush. His end was equally harsh and brutal. This is his story and provides inspiration for a game set in the final days of the Old West.
EARLY LIFE: A KILLER OF A CHILDHOOD
Miller was born in Arkansas in 1861 but his parents travelled to Texas when he was young. His father died soon after they arrived so he was brought up by his mother and her parents. In 1869 his grandparents were found murdered in their home. Miller aged just 8 was arrested but never prosecuted for the crime. He was then raised by his mother, his sister and her husband. Miller grew up to be argumentative and on 30th July 1884 aged 23 he used a shotgun to settle an argument with his brother-in-law while the latter was sleeping on his porch. Miller was arrested for the murder, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison but his conviction was overturned on a technicality and he was set free.
Miller then went to work for ‘Mannen’ Clements, a cousin of the notorious Texas gunman, John Wesley Hardin. After Clements was killed by Marshal Joe Townsend on 29th March 1887, Townsend was ambushed by someone using a shotgun and although he survived one of his arms had to be amputated. Miller was suspected of the attack but nothing could be proved.
MILLER THE LAWMAN – DEACON JIM
After a period of travel Miller settled in Pecos where he served as town marshal and gained a reputation for killing Mexicans who he claimed were attempting to escape. Despite this he was well liked by the townspeople because he did not drink, use tobacco in any of its forms, was always polite, especially to women. Moreover, he was an avid member of the church where he sometimes led prayer meetings gaining the Deacon Jim nickname. In 1891 Miller married Sallie Clements, daughter of his former employer, and was seen as a model family man. He had one quirk: regardless of the season or the weather when in town he wore a long, black frock coat which was always buttoned up.
Miller soon became involved in a feud with Pecos Sheriff George A. “Bud” Frazer, who had never fully trusted him and believed Miller was a murderer. When Frazer was away from town on a trip to El Paso, he was informed that Miller had allowed his friends to take over Pecos and had threatened to kill him on his return. Accompanied by veteran Texas Ranger John R. Hughes, Frazer quickly returned to Pecos at which point Miller’s friends disappeared. Frazer arrested Miller on a charge of planning his murder but a Pecos jury acquitted him. Fearing for his life Frazer decided to strike first. On 12th April 1894 he rushed up to Miller and began shooting with his revolver initially wounding him in the right arm.
Miller tried to shoot back using his left hand but this “off-hand” shot was inaccurate and he hit an innocent bystander instead. Frazer then shot Miller in the groin and as he lay on the floor he emptied his revolver into Miller’s chest. However his bullets had no effect and – on seeing this – he fled. When Miller’s friends removed his frock coat they found it hid a steel plate that Miller wore as a kind of body armour. As a result Miller survived the attack and recovered.
Frazer doesn’t appear to have known about Miller’s trick and on 26th December 1894 he made his second attempt to kill Miller. As Miller stood outside a Pecos blacksmith’s shop Frazer opened fire hitting him in the arm and leg. Miller collapsed and Fraser tried to finish him off by shooting him in the chest but – again seeing the bullets bounce off – he turned and ran away.
MILLER’S REVENGE: A MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL
Frazer was arrested and charged with attempted murder but given Miller’s reputation and the threats he had previously made against Frazer the case ended in a hung jury. However, Frazer decided to leave Texas for New Mexico but returned two years later. Miller was not in a forgiving mood and on 13th September 1896 he found Frazer gambling in a saloon in Toyah and emptied his shotgun into his head. Miller was charged with murder but – given Frazer’s previous attacks – the trial again ended in a hung jury. Before the second trial Miller led prayer meetings and a local preacher testified that his conduct was “as exemplary as a minister of the gospel” and Miller was acquitted. However, when Frazer’s sister confronted him he threatened to kill her and three weeks after the trial Joe Earp, (apparently no relation to the other more famous Earps) who had testified at the trail against him, was killed by a shotgun blast by “persons unknown”. Despite this (and his somewhat shady reputation) Miller went on to join the Texas Rangers during which time he killed a man whilst trying to arrest him.
KILLER FOR HIRE: TO KILL A FRIEND
In 1900 Miller moved his family to Fort Worth where his wife opened a boarding house. From here Miller openly began to advertise his services as a professional killer, charging $150 for each killing. (The average wage for a Texas Ranger at this time was around $40 per month.) That year Miller was accused of killing two men but he convinced a friend to claim responsibility and then acting as a witness to the shootings he got his friend acquitted on the grounds of self defence.
In 1902 Miller was employed by ranchers to protect their interests and killed four men, three of whom were alleged cattle rustlers and the fourth was a lawyer, James Jarrott, who was representing farmers building fences against cattle. Miller shot Jarrott four times and said that “He was the hardest damn man to kill I ever tackled.” No charges were brought against him for these killings. Then on 10th March 1904 he shot and killed Frank Fore. One version of this killing has it that he and Fore had
been partners in a fraudulent land deal and that when Fore challenged Miller about it he shot him. Witnesses found Miller bent over Fore’s body saying “It’s awful to have to kill a friend. I did everything I could to stop him from reaching for his gun”. Thus Miller justified the killing as self defence and gained yet another acquittal.
On 1st August 1906 he used his shotgun to kill Ben C. Collins, a lawman for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Allegedly Miller was paid $500 to kill Collins by a man Collins had shot and crippled two years earlier. Once more Miller was arrested but was not convicted and was released. Then, in 1908, Pat Garrett, exlawman and killer of Billy the Kid, was ambushed and killed near Las Cruces, New Mexico, ostensibly because of a land dispute. As Garrett had been killed by someone using a shotgun Miller was suspected of the crime as there were plenty of rumours – and some evidence – that he was the culprit. However, another man, Jesse Wayne Brazel, confessed to the killing, was tried and acquitted on the grounds of self-defence. Although most historians accept the outcome some still suspect Miller of the crime.
MILLER’S END
It was now only a matter of time before Miller’s luck ran out. In 1909 he was hired by Jesse West, Joe Allen and Berry B. Burrell of Ada, Oklahoma, to kill Allen Bobbitt. Their reason for ordering the killing is unclear but was either to acquire his land or because of a personal grudge. The fee was $1,700 (gosh – that’s inflation for you! Ed.). On 27th February 1909 Miller ambushed Bobbitt shooting him with both barrels from his shotgun but before he died Bobbitt identified Miller as the man who had shot him. At his home in Texas, Miller was arrested by the Texas Rangers and sent back to Ada, Oklahoma to stand trial alongside West, Allen, and Burrell.
When the Rangers arrested him Miller had said “I never give police officers any trouble since I prefer to take my chances with the court”. As such Miller was convinced he would be acquitted, especially as a famous lawyer, Moman Pruiett, agreed to defend him. Worried that he and his employers would escape justice the locals decided to take matters into their own hands. In the early hours of 19th April 1909 a lynch mob estimated to have numbered between 30 and 40 men broke into the jail, dragged the four men to a nearby livery stable and prepared to hang them.
Whilst West, Allen and Burrell begged for their lives Miller simply asked that his diamond ring be given to his wife and that he be permitted to wear his hat whilst being hanged. Both requests were granted. He also asked to die in his famous black frock coat which the mob refused. Miller is then reported to have shouted, “Let ‘er rip!” and voluntarily stepped off his box to hang. Thus died a seemingly devout man who was nevertheless a ‘stone cold killer’. The bodies of all four men were left hanging for several hours, until a photographer could record the moment for posterity. These photos were sold to tourists in Ada for many years afterwards as a grisly souvenir of frontier justice.
BLACK COATS & STETSONS: DRESS & ARMS
By the 1890s and early1900s most town dwellers especially lawmen wore clothes which can be regarded as ‘High Victorian’ in style. These include tailored suits or frock or ‘swallow tail’ coats and swept back jackets, shirts with cravats or ties, fancy waist coats, fitted trousers and low heeled shoes or boots. Head gear ranged from all forms of wide brimmed low crowned hats to top hats and what we call a Bowler Hat and the Americans called a ‘Derby’. Sherriff Frazer was as much a politician as a lawman and would have dressed accordingly. Miller is described as a flashy dresser always wearing starched white shirts with stiff collars, a diamond tie or cravat pin and a diamond ring. One photo reputed to be of Jim Miller shows a man with a light coloured brimmed hat and a full length buttoned up coat which reaches to his ankles.
It is also worth remembering that law officials did not always ride horses but often travelled their area of jurisdiction by horse and buggy so they could wear smarter clothes. Whilst revolvers were carried by law men, by this more ‘civilised stage’ of the Old West, they were often hidden under their coats, sometimes in shoulder holsters. If expecting trouble, double barrelled shotguns – sometimes with sawn-off barrels – were the ‘go to’ weapon for lawmen as they were great for crowd control given their potential spread of shot.
Texas Rangers did not wear a uniform and most photos from this period show them wearing a mix of town clothes and working clothes. These consisted of white or light coloured shirts, although some seem to be wearing dark shirts, some with narrow stripes. Over these are worn what the Americans call vests and we call waist coats. They are wearing dark, checked or striped trousers, often over riding boots, although in some photos the trousers are tucked into the boots which are knee high. Hats are universally wide brimmed, usually Stetson types, but pictures also show rangers in Mexican style hats, often made of straw. Their usual weapons were revolvers and repeating carbines or rifles
Cowboys still wore hard wearing range gear which could be dressed up by using colourful scarves or bandanas when going to town. A ‘pull-over’ shirt was worn by just about every cowboy in the 1890s. It could be light weight or of heavy wool, plain or patterned in stripes or checks. Another style was the ‘bib or plastron front shirts which were expensive and therefore fairly rare. A striped, cowhide or plain vest could also be worn and a ‘Saddle Coat’ or ‘Pommel Yellow Slicker’ made from heavy cloth, canvas or duck, waterproofed with linseed oil would be worn in bad weather. Trousers were usually Levis, copper-riveted and reinforced, without belt loops (these didn’t come in until the 1920s). Cowboys often wore chaps over these which could be plain or with tooled patterns on the cuffs and pockets and/or a fringe on the side seams. Often their wrists were protected by wearing fitted leather cuffs and gloves were often worn when working. By this period boots usually had round toes with a reinforced arch and large rowel spurs attached. Hats would vary from Stetsons to tall crowned hats almost in the shape of a Montana peak. Although most cowboys carried revolvers they were often poor shots with these and saw them as tools to be used, often as hammers to fix fences. They were more accurate with the repeating carbines or rifles they carried as these would be used for protecting the herds from predators such as wolves, coyotes or the occasional mountain lion or even rustlers.
SHOWDOWN IN COMANCHE CREEK
Playing a game whereby one character ambushes others from cover using a shotgun is not likely to be too much fun but Miller’s feud in Pecos with Sherriff Frazer and his return with a Texas Ranger has the potential to develop into a real shoot out, especially if Miller’s friends had not dispersed. However, given the low numbers involved, Frazer and Hughes against Miller and some unknown ‘friends’ also seems, to me, to make for a limited game, so I have used the set up to create something a little larger.
So we head to the fictional west Texas town of Comanche Creek. This town serves the local ranching community and is a stop off for Wells Fargo. It has also been designated the County seat for the new county of West Pecos. County Sherriff Lew Fraser arrived to find that Town Marshal Wes Miller with the help of his in-laws, the Mannings, have taken over the whole area, extorting ‘local taxes’ to guarantee that businesses are protected from harm, moving stock across the border into Mexico sometimes without the owner’s permission (no one is willing to accuse them of rustling!) and riding rough shod over the community. With little local support Sherriff Fraser has travelled to Austin and convinced the Governor that law and order will only be re-established in Comanche Creek with the help of the Texas Rangers. Legendary Ranger Captain Tom McCloud and three rangers have been assigned to accompany him back to Comanche Creek, arrest Miller and the Mannings and restore order.
RULES
The rules we used for this showdown were our own Quick on the Draw rules .These can be found on the magazine’s web site. However, the games can equally be played with any set of western gunfight rules which concentrate on individual characters and their abilities, such as Fist Full of Lead, Dead Man’s Hand, Legends of the Old West, Gutshot, the Rules with No Names and Dracula’s America (if you ignore the fantasy stuff).
THE PROTAGONISTS
I have given information about the characters on both sides designed for Quick on the Draw but there is enough information to allow them to be adapted for other sets of rules using the details.
THE SET UP
Play the game on a 4’ x4’ table representing Comanche Creek. Using whatever suitable western building players have, line two of the opposite sides of the table with buildings, leaving a 12” wide gap running between them from one table edge to the other. This is Main Street. Ensure there is space behind and between the buildings to form alleyways and back lots, together with lots of suitable cover such as horse troughs, parked wagons, crates, barrels and other suitable debris to provide lots of cover. Nominate a suitable building to use as a livery stable at one end of the town and nominate a building at the other end of the street furthest away from the livery as the Town Marshall’s office.
Place Fraser with McDonald and his Rangers at the livery stable where they have dismounted. Their objective is to walk down Main Street from their starting point to the Marshall’s office and arrest.
MILLER AND THE THREE MANNINGS
Miller starts outside of the Marshall’s office on Main Street with at least three other characters. Any characters not with Miller can be put in any other locations they choose but no closer than 16 inches to Fraser/the Rangers’ starting position or the Marshalls office. They all intend to resist arrest and if fired on will try and inflict as many casualties as they can.
SPECIAL RULES
The Quick on the Draw rules will need some special elements for the scenario:
MILLER’S ARMOURED COAT
Most gunmen fired at the body as it was the biggest target and the easiest to hit so Miller wears a special coat which hides a steel plate covering his vital organs. This is a secret so depending on the system being used he may reroll the dice when testing for the outcome of his wounds and keep the most favourable result. However, the plate leaves his head, groin and limbs uncovered. Thus after a few shots at him his opponents may catch on. If an opponent has fired at Miller and hit him on at least two occasions and he has survived, they may roll
to see if they guess his secret (they do so on a 4+ if using D6s or 5+ if using D10s. After that providing they aim at him, thus targeting his less protected parts, and hit him he may not reroll the outcome of that wound.
THE MORAL HIGH GROUND
This scenario is all about demonstrating who is the law in and around Comanche Creek. It’s also about ensuring that if violence breaks out (which it will...) any courts will rule the shootings and possible killings as self defence. As such neither side will want to instigate a shootout but if one occurs then they will want to win it. So some special ‘shoot out’ rules apply as soon as the two sides come within 15 paces of each other.
The character whose card is next drawn from the pack can decide whether to walk into pistol range or draw and shoot if within range or stand his ground and hold. If they do not shoot they may also try to make a Put-Down line; walk, draw and shoot; and/or make a comment roll the action dice and check on the chart below. A character that is holding or responding to an opponent drawing his weapon, if he has cards remaining, can choose to respond to the action. Roll their action dice and check on the chart below. (If using a D6 based system then use that line). If two characters are quick draws and both shoot first then it is simultaneous!
THE LEGAL OUTCOME
Given that Miller was regularly acquitted when his killings came to trial, players may want to test the judicial system in Comanche Creek. As soon as it is clear who won the shootout, test for the injuries inflicted by the losing side on the winners to see if the charges are for murder or just wounding. Depending on the rule system players are using roll either 1D10 or 1D6 for each character who was Wounded (i.e. had cards remaining at the end of the game) and for each character who was ‘Out of It’ (had lost all of their cards). Tough characters or those with access to a trained medical practitioner (available on a 4+ if using D6s or 5+ if using D10s) may reroll their dice but keep the second outcome.
Any survivors from the losing side then have to face trial for murder or wounding. To determine the jury’s decision on each character on trial and depending on the rule system players are using roll either 1D10 or 1D6:
If the losers opened fire in response to being shot at by the winning side then they can claim the woundings or killings as self defence and may reroll their dice but keep the second outcome.
If any of the survivors from the losing side shot their “victims” from ambush during the shoot out or back shot them or shot them when they were already down and not able to shoot back then they may not claim self defence.
Note that the Rangers may automatically claim that any woundings or killings were justified in the pursuance of their state duties and thus may roll 2 dice and take the highest score as their outcome.
Hung Jury
The jury cannot decide on the outcome and so a second trial has to be held - roll again for the outcome of the second trial and the character will be acquitted on a score of 4+ if using D6s or 5+ if using D10s): Otherwise they are found to be guilty as charged and sentenced accordingly.
Acquitted
The character is found to have acted in self defence and is set free.
Ranger Justice
If the character found guilty is a Ranger then they will be held in jail until they can be escorted to Austin where their case will be reviewed by the Governor before the sentence is confirmed.
OTHER OUTCOMES
Depending on the outcome of the ‘trial’ further games may arise.
◗ An invite to a ‘necktie party’: a band of citizens decide to take justice into their own hands and will try to storm the jail in an endeavour to seize the prisoner or prisoners and lynch them. This is best played out using all minor characters as a lynch mob, so perhaps 10 such characters against 3 or 4 defenders of the jail which is holding the prisoners.
◗ Set them free: another version of this type of game is an attempt to free the prisoner(s) by their friends. This could be either an attack on the jail or on the transport taking them to Huntsville.
◗ Execution Day! The day of the execution has arrived and crowds have gathered to witness it. However, this is the last chance friends have to try and free the prisoner(s). This scenario requires a gallows to be set up in the centre of town to which the prisoner(s) must be escorted with a crowd of onlookers watching proceeding. These will panic once the shooting starts.
WHAT FIGURES TO USE
These scenarios require less than 20 figures so, even – if you don’t yet have any Old West figures – the outlay to get some is not huge. We play our Old West games in both 54mm and 28mm.
54mm figures can be found in the UK from suppliers such as Steve Weston Toy Soldiers, but toy shops and E-bay are also a good source. There is a plentiful supply of 54mm Old West figures available in the US which can be imported but check out the postage and any import costs.
Assuming that most players will choose 28mm they have a wide selection of manufacturers to choose from. As this story is set around 1900 any figures dressed in frock coats or town clothes with a few in range clothes can be used. Obviously players can use any western figures they want for the games but Wargames Foundry Old West packs OW091to OW117 and pack VOW31 are all appropriately dressed for this time period and setting whilst the ranges from Artizan, Black Scorpion, Blue Moon Manufacturing, Dixon and Great Escape Games all contain figures which are suitably dressed. The latter now produce a set of hard plastic multi part figures which allow players to make their own characters, just great for a game like this. Probably the best range at present comes from Knuckleduster’s Gunfighters Ball range. These figures are all characters, some of which are modelled on historical figures and others on recognisable characters from film and TV.
As for buildings and scenery, Great Escape Games, Sarissa and other manufacturers produce a wide selection of suitable buildings, wagons and scenic items or you can try and scratch build them as we do – clap board buildings are not that difficult to construct.
So will Miller and his friends continue to dominate Comanche Creek or will Fraser and the Rangers bring law and order back to town: only you and the Gods of the Dice will decide! Happy Gaming. ■