We were able to get through two games, after the first players swapped out and I had a go at it. I was getting more and more excited during the first game because everyone was hollering and having a good time - right up my alley.
When we all sat down for the second game themcfadden went over the rules and we started playing. There was a bit to the rules, but it was all very straight forward. You start with a bit of money, three cowboys (your workers) and then you pick your role (which also determines your ability and turn order.) Once that is all done you take turns placing your cowboys until all have been deployed, you then work out the results.
Working out what happens in a turn is easy - you just follow the path and work out the event when you come to a square with a cowboy on it. If a square houses two cowboys, they duel. To duel you each roll a d6 and add your bonuses to it (you can get bonuses from buildings, your role, and even by placing a cowboy on one of the squares on the track.) As you work through the action track you collect income, build buildings, and score victory points. Once the track is finished you start over. There are four turns in a game, so it is fairly fast - you spend the most time planning your moves, and then you work it out.
I really enjoyed this game. Right at the start I was told it was one of those games that after you play it and understand it better you would be like "Ah man! I would have done that so differently" and it sure lived up to that. I tried to corner the market on mines early in the game, and it ended up costing me. I bought up all the good mine land, but could never get a mine bought to start collecting income. Since we were playing with five players the map got crowded real fast, and there were lots of duesl. With a smaller amount of people you would have more breathing room but it would still be a crazy tactical game.
I really enjoyed this game and would be more than willing to get another game in.