The Old West was achaotic time in America's history where violence was common placem, life was hard and short and criminals had almost as much power as the law enforcement trying to stop them. In today's battle we pit two fictional outlaws with large bounties on their heads and the willingness to do whatever ever it takes to survive in a lawless world. When the clock strikes noon and guns are drawn a small town in the Badlands will be soaked red with blood but only one person will be getting out alive as;
Dutch van der Linde: The maverick outlaw who was driven insane by the encroachment of modern civilisation.
takes on
"Lucky" Ned Pepper: The notorious outlaw of True Grit and leader of the gang harbouring Tom Chaney.
Who is Deadliest
Dutch van der Linde[]
| “ | This place... ain't no such thing as civilised.
— Dutch on America
|
” |
Dutch van der Linde is the leader of the self named Dutch's gang. Originally the gang included John Marston, Bill Williamson and Javier Escuella but the gang disbanded after Dutch slowly began to slip into insanity. Dutch disappeared for many years until resurfacing as the leader of a gang of disenfranchised young Native Americans in West Elizabeth. Originally robbing banks to give money to those in need, Dutch's slip into insanity lead to him adopting a more nihilistic approach and he was eventually hunted down by his former friend John Marston, where he committed suicide to avoid being killed by the government.
Custom Smith & Wesson Schofield Model 3"
Dutch's weapon of choice when going into combat is a pair of customised Schofield Revolvers. A single-shot revolver with a .44 S&W round, the Schofield Model 3 has a muzzle velocity of 244 m/s, a six round chamber and a range of about 45 metres.
Evans Repeating Rifle
The Evans Rifle is a lever action repeating rifle with a massive magazine of 28 rounds, a maximum range of 450 feet and a .44 calibre bullet. Despite it's range, powerful round and large ammo pool the weapon failed the standard issue dust test and was considered unreliable after significant wear and tear.
Winchester 1897
The Winchester 1897 shotgun was pump action with a 12 gauge round,a 5 round tubular magazine and a range of about 20 metres.
"Lucky Ned Pepper"[]
| “ | I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man!
— Ned Pepper to Rooster Cogburn.
|
” |
"Lucky" Ned Pepper was the leader of a gang of outlaws he is well known to law enforcement for his various crimes and is hiding out in Indian Territory to the north, out of the jurisdiction of law enforcement. Dragged into a fight he wanted no part of because of fellow gang member Tom Chaney, he strikes up a deal with Rooster Cogburn to release the captured Mattie Ross in exchange for his freedom. However Cogburn went back on the deal and confronted Pepper as he tried to escape. In the ensuring firefight Pepper's luck ran out and he was gunned down from a distance by the Texas ranger La Boeuf.
Remington Model 1875
Ned Pepper's weapon of choice is a Remington 1875 with a four leaf clover engraving on the handle. It is a single action revolver and has a .45 Colt round, a 6 round chamber, a muzzle velocity of about 224m/s and a range of 50 metres.
Winchester 1866 "Yellowboy"
The Winchester 1866 "Yellowboy" is a lever action repeating rifle with a magazine of 13 .44 henry rounds. It has a range of 300 feet and was modified to be more portable and usable on horseback at the cost of sacrificing the accuracy.
Colt 1878 Coach Gun
A weapon commonly carried by coach drivers in order to fight off bandits the Colt 1878 comes with two 12 gauge barrel and would've been used exclusively in close quarters.
X Factors[]
Experience: Dutch van der Linde=80/Ned Pepper=70
Dutch has been an outlaw since a young age and in that time has fought against rival outlaw gangs, lawmen and bounty hunters from numerous states, government agents and even the US military on two separate occasions. Ned’s rating suffers because we don’t know all that much about him other than he’s a notorious outlaw with a bounty in at least one state. It’s safe to assume he’s had his fair few run in with the law and possibly other outlaws as well but it’s unlikely to be as extensive as Dutch’s experience.
Leadership: Dutch van der Linde=90/Ned Pepper=80
Dutch is a brilliantly charismatic leader and is able to create a sort of cult of personality around himself, gathering a large gang of devout followers and later rallying disenfranchised Native Americans into fighting against the government. Ned seems to be a fairly good leader in as much as none of his gang members seem dissatisfied although it is worth noting Tom Chaney ignores his demand to leave Mattie alive so make of that what you will.
Mental Health: Dutch van der Linde=50/Ned Pepper=80
Driven insane by encroaching civilisation and the taming of the wild west it’s safe to say Dutch is hardly the most mentally well individual. His plans get steadily more convoluted as time goes on and is incredibly paranoid about being betrayed, not to mention his narcissistic and psychopathic tendencies. Ned Pepper on the other hand seems pretty well adjusted and never shows any signs of mental health problems.
Brutality: Dutch van der Linde=90/Ned Pepper=85
Both are notorious outlaws and killers so naturally neither have many qualms about killing people. However, what gets Dutch a higher rating is that he despatches his enemies in a much more brutal way as well as being quick to resort to violence even against people who pose him little threat. Ned is far more reasonable as shown when he insists on dropping Mattie off alive somewhere instead of killing her. In a way this X Factor is linked to the Mental Health X Factor above; Dutch is significantly more unhinged and so is more likely to resort to brutal violence rather than saner Ned Pepper.
Voting System/Notes []
Dutch and Ned will initially start with only their personal weapons and their men will be armed with the other weapons listed.
This will be a five on five with Dutch and Ned being joined by 4 of their gang members.
Battle takes place in your stereotypical Wild West town.
In order to be counted in full, votes must be at least 5 lines long or have been done in an edge format.
Anything less than 5 lines but which is competently argued and thought out will be counted as a half vote. I will inform anybody if their vote is considered a half vote and allow them to amend it to bring it up to a full point.
Irrelevant votes will not be counted at all.
I reserve the right to award a vote as half or discount it entirely for reason not mentioned here if I feel it is applicable.
Battle[]
Ned Pepper: 
Meekwood is not a town that sees many visitors. To even call it a town would be generous as only a few battered buildings adorn the settlement and many of those have been long since abandoned. The only reasons anybody has to visit this squalid place is the saloon, which stands tall in the middle of the town. Five men approach the town on horseback, covered in dust from days of hard riding. The few townspeople who are around watch curiously as the group pulls up outside of the saloon, dismounting and hitching their horses up. Four of the men are Natives; strong, youthful and angry and the other is a white man, black hair tinged grey with age and clearly the leader by the way the other four men defer to him. Dutch van der Linde gestures to his gang and they walk through the door. The place is mostly empty apart from a group of four men sat at the bar, clutching at shots of whiskey.
“I’m looking for Ned Pepper” Dutch says. The men at the bar swivel to face them, eyeing them suspiciously. After a tense silence a man in a battered brown hat replies.
“Who wants to know.”
“My name is Dutch van der Linde. We here heard he was heading this way. We have some business to discuss with him.”
“Business you say? What kind of business.”
Dutch smiles warmly. “Well since you ask so nicely. My associate Quanah has been wronged by a member of his gang. He killed his brother in a drunken argument in a tavern. Tom Chaney was his name.” The man in the brown hat sighs.
“That goddamn fool keeps gettin’ me into trouble. Yeah, I’m Ned Pepper.”
“A pleasure to meet you my good sir.”
“Enough with the pleasantries. Yeah Chaney used to ride with us, but we had to cut him loose, he was a liability.” Dutch’s smile evaporates.
“Cut him loose you say. And where exactly did you cut him loose.”
“I dunno,” Ned replies finishing his whiskey with a gulp. “Must’ve been a few days ago now.”
“I see.” Dutch says suspiciously. It’s at this moment a side door opens, and a man steps out with dark scruffy hair and dressed in battered muddy clothes. He stops suddenly as he spots the group and one of the Natives steps forward angrily.
“That’s him. That’s the bastard that shot my brother.” A gun leaps into his hand but before he can shoot Ned Pepper and his gang draw their own guns and open fire. Dutch’s gang scramble to draw their own weapons and flip over the tables to use as cover, while Ned Pepper and his cronies leap behind the bar. The two gangs trade fire with each other, blasting holes in the walls and furniture and shattering the glass bottles arranged carefully in the bar cabinet. One of the outlaws slumps forward, a hole blown in his face from a revolver round.
Ned grabs the terrified barman cowering alongside them. “We’re going to get slaughtered if we stay here are there any other way out of this place” he snarls.
“There’s a room where I store all the liquor, but it’s locked from this side.”
“Well then you’d better unlock it then hadn’t you.”
“If I go out there, they’ll kill me,” the bartender says nervously.
“They might kill you. Might. Whereas I will kill you right here, right now. So, which one is it going to be?” He shoves the man away and he shuffles dejectedly out from behind the bar, unlocking the door to the storage room. He’s quickly gunned down in a hail of bullets as Ned Pepper and his gang dash through the door, firing back at the van der Linde gang to cover their retreat. One of the natives rushes after them but as soon as he makes it to the door, he is thrown back by a shotgun blast. 
The others cry out and in anger go to avenge their fallen comrade, but Dutch stops them.
“They’re going to try escape round the back. Come on boys, let’s cut them off.” He leads the gang out through the saloon doors and back round to where their horses are hitched. The natives grab their rifles and shotguns from the back of their horses, just as the Pepper gang burst from around the back of the saloon guns blazing. Caught out in the open they are forced to use their horses for cover as the Pepper gang make their way over to their own horses. A brief lull as they take the chance to reload gives the van der Linde gang the chance to fire back and an outlaw topples backwards with a bullet through the chest.
Cursing Ned grabs his Yellowboy from its holster and returns fire. Targeting one of the riflemen his first shot hits him in the shoulder causing him to fire instinctively, the bullet whizzing miles wide. The next shot strikes him in the neck, and he drops the rifle, hand going straight to his neck. Even as he is falling another shot slams into his skull finishing him off for good. Switching targets he fires off a bullet that grazes Dutch’s shoulder before he ducks down before he hides behind his horse. Chaney fires off wildly besides him and his erratic gunfire spooks the horses who wrench themselves free of the hitching post and gallop off.
Now exposed Dutch and his remaining two men go on the offensive, marching forward firing rapidly. Chaney goes down in a hail of gunfire, riddled with bullet holes. Outnumbered Ned and his last outlaw flee towards one of the abandoned houses, kicking down the rotting front door and taking cover inside. Quanah checks the body of Chaney and satisfied holsters his gun. “I’ve avenged you brother,” he says mournfully looking up to the skies. Dutch joins him eyes blazing with anger.
“Our job isn’t finished yet, there’s still two of them left. I want you to sneak round back while me and Naalnish distract them at the front.” Quanah nods his head in agreement and carefully sneaks round the side of the house and Dutch and Naalnish take their position on either side of the doorframe. “Come on now gentlemen,” Dutch says loudly “I’m sure we can work something out.” His request goes unanswered and the two carefully make their way into the house. Dutch mimes for Naalnish to search the second floor while he searches the ground one. The kitchen is empty but as he walks through a corridor to another room a body blocks the path. Pointing his revolver at it, he turns it over with his foot only to realise that it’s Quanah’s body, his throat slit.
He catches a glimmer of steel in the corner of his eye and throws himself to the ground as a shot goes off. He empties his revolvers at the location of the gunshot, a small storage cupboard built into the wall. A man’s body topples out and Dutch inspects it, seeing that it is not Ned Pepper but his last remaining outlaw. Naalnish rushes around the corner shotgun raised, only lowering it when he sees Dutch. “What happened. Are you alright?”
“That goddamn maniac almost blew my head off.” Dutch says in a rage. “They killed Quanah and used his body to try and lure me out. Kid had one goddamn job and he couldn’t even do that right. Tell me you found Ned Pepper up there.”
“Sorry Dutch, there wasn’t a trace of him anywhere.”
“Goddammit. That slippery bastard must have snuck out.” Dutch barges past Naalnish and storms out of the house, with the native following closely behind him. A shot rings out and Naalnish drops to the ground, stone dead . Dutch looks around wildly and sees Ned Pepper mounted on his horse and clutching his Yellowboy “You’ve made a big mistake here Mr Pepper,” Dutch says, “You should’ve just handed over Tom Chaney when you had the chance.”
“Ain’t nobody gives demands to Lucky Ned Pepper and lives to tell the tale.” Ned replies. He aims his rifle once more and squeezes the trigger but just hears the click of an empty chamber. He throws it to the ground in frustration and draws his Remington Revolver, engraved with his trademark lucky four-leaf clover. He spurs his horse into action and Dutch draws his own Smith and Wesson revolvers. The two men mentally count down the distance until they are in range and open fire simultaneously. Most of the bullets miss their mark but Ned takes several shots to the stomach and Dutch grunts as bullets hits him in leg. Ned’s horse slows down to a canter and he sloops over in the saddle before falling to the ground, breathing heavily. Dutch limps over to Ned.
“Looks like your luck has finally run out then.” Dutch says mockingly.
“Sure, looks like it.” Ned says coughing up blood. “Can’t believe it wasn’t the law that got me but some crazy son of a bitch and his gang of savages.”
“Savages?” Dutch says slowly loading bullets into the chamber. “We’re all savages out here buddy.” Flicking the chamber back in place he levels the barrel at Ned’s head and fires, finishing off the notorious outlaw. He bends over and picks up Ned’s engraved revolver and turns it over in his hands admiring the craftsmanship. He gives a short sharp whistle and the Count wanders over from wherever it had hidden itself during the fight. Dropping the revolver in his saddlebag he hauls himself into the saddle, wincing at the pain as it shoots up his injured leg. Without even taking a moment to mourn his gang he rides off into the sunset, leaving Meekwood residents to clear up the dead.
Winner: Dutch van der Linde
Final Verdict []
Dutch held the majority of the advantages in this match-up. He swept the weapons category and the X Factors especially in experience where his decades of fighting outlaws and law officials meant there was nothing Ned could bring that would surprise him. Despite this his poor mental health dragged him down considerably and could’ve cost him the match if he flew off the handle at the wrong moment. However expert’s agreed that this wouldn’t necessarily effect his combat ability and was not a problem shared by his men, who with the superior firearms had the advantage over Ned’s outlaws.