This is one of the extra gangs available for Dead Mans Hand and is nominally aligned with The Curse of Dead Mans hand, and provides an interesting alternative gang option which would fit in any of the .
They are available as a set of 7 Metal Figures from Great Escape Games and come with their rules and unique cards, all photos on this page are from the Great Escape Games website as I currently dont own the figures and so havent painted them.
The cards and rules can also be bought seperately also from Great Escape Games
So who were the TONG?.. well thanks to the wonder that is Wikipedia
A tong (Chinese: 堂; pinyin: táng; Jyutping: tong4; Cantonese Yale: tong; lit. ‘hall’)[1]: 53 is a type of organization found among Chinese immigrants predominantly living in the United States, with smaller numbers in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. In Chinese, the word tong means “hall” or “gathering place”. These organizations are described as secret societies or sworn brotherhoods and are often tied to criminal activity.
Tong (organization) – wikipedia
They were also involved in the “Tong Wars” of the late 19th century – again for more information I recommend wikipedia.
How are The Tong introduced in Dead Mans Hand – well from the rules that you can buy seperately or are included with the figures.
The Chinese first came to Dead Man’s Hand with the railroad. After some time they began to diversify, introducing new businesses to the town and some of them made a tidy profit.
The Tong – Great escape games
FOr some though a tidy profit is never enough. Adept at obfustration and armed to the the Teeth, the Tong are bringing a new type of crime to Dead Man’s Hand!
So there are 4 model types introduced with The Tong
Clan Leader – armed with a pistol – he leads his underground crime syndicate with ruthlessness and efficiency.
Boo how doy – chinese for “Hatchet men” is the 2nd in charge and an optional model for thegang. Historically these “Hatchet men” were salaried soldiers who enforced and protected the gangs operations.
Highbinders – (chinese for Hit man) at least 2 highbinders – they can be armed with either a PISTOL or REPEATER, also 1 may take a shotgun. This gang also has the standing rule that at least 50% of them must have a pistol as their only weapon.
Laundrymen – upto 4 may be “pressed” to support the Tongs enforcers each comes armed with a pistol.
So the gang comes with 2 special rules – one which can be used once a game and the other which is a perma rule.
- HAND TO HAND FIGHTERS – all of the Tong are well practiced in H2H combat and carry heavy cleavers and sharp knives. As such in H2H combat any of the gang may chose to reroll and roll of 1 or 2- the second roll must be used.
- SECRET SOCIETY – this can be used once per game before initiative cards are drawn. The TONG player may activate this rule and draw secretly enough cards to give each model a card, they the review tham, choose which card will be shown openly (and hence influence initiative), and then which card each of the other models will have. The first card is placed open, the rest are placed face down until all initiative cards are shown. This is an extremely strong rule and a potential game changer for the TONG player.
But what are their Ace, King, Queen, Jack cards?
- ACE – “Hidden Blades” – playable at any time, once played all TONG gang members gain +3 in H2H for the rest of the turn.
- KING – “Now you see me” – play this card when one of the TONG have completed their actions for the turn. Once the card is played – the nominated figure is removed from the table. In the following turn before initiative cards are dealt, the model is replaced on the table on any table edge. It is then dealt an initiative cards as usual and the game proceeds.
- QUEEN – “Didn’t I just see you over there?” – again this is playable at any time, when played 2 TONG models are identified and their positions are swapped, any unused initiative cards move with the model.
- JACK – “Opium Wars” – and the last card can also be played at any time. Choose 1 enemy model, that model has been “roofied” and loses all their actions for this turn, or you can nominate 2 enemy models and each lose 1 action this trun.
Now I think that this is potentially the strongest h2h gang in the game, especially if you get to play the ACE and have you gang setup ready to get into H2H combat.
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