Gun/Side missions

Along his path, Colton will encounter a variety of side missions in the West. He can earn money by helping out farmers, assisting the local sheriff, keeping regular folk out of harm's way, and even hiding a card up his sleeve and playing some Hold 'Em. Side missions are also vital in upgrading Colton's skills. The side missions are listed below and come up in random places on Colton's journey.

Pony Express
Use your trusty horse to deliver items and get from place to place, all within the allotted time.

Ranching
Earn some money and hone your horse-riding skills by helping local farmers corall up their livestock.

Bounty Hunting
Every town in the Wild West had outlaws running rampant, with the tagline "Wanted: Dead or Alive". Catch these outlaws to bring some order to the West and money in your pocket. The Bounty Hunter missions are triggered by reading Wanted Posters in Empire and Dodge.

Target #1 - George Mahonee
Wanted: Dead or Alive

The easiest mission of all eases you in to Bounty Hunting; Mahonee is holed up in the Alhambra. You can either go in through the front door if you want to risk it and Quickdraw his ass, or you can move around the side and attempt to kill him from there - shooting the windows once will break it, and Mahonee will move past them periodically. It's just a matter of getting a decent shot.

Target #2 - Butch Mainard
Wanted: Dead or Alive

Butch is located around Piper Lake, near the Indian Hunter. If you began this mission in Empire, it's a fairly easy trek on a horse - just go across the bridge and locate the small passage in the hills. Butch is between the Indian Trader and the Indian Hunter, and he'll attack you when you get close. As always, your strategy will vary depending on how you like to play, but I prefer to hit him in the head with a Quickdraw and finish him off with the shotgun.

Target #3 - Johnny Greed
Wanted: Dead or Alive

Like Butch, Johnny is to be found north of Empire, but unlike Butch, Johnny bolts as soon as you get in range and you have to chase him down. If he gets too far away, he'll escape and you'll fail the mission; also, if you don't kill him quickly enough - before you reach the lakeside cabin - his henchmen will appear and you'll have to kill them as well. The best course of action here is to use your rifle and try to get a couple of headshots; if that doesn't work, Quickdraw his henchmen and use your shotgun once you get close. You can either take out his horse if you want to subdue him, or kill him if you're not concerned about the cash.

Target #4 - Shifty Scholz
Wanted: Dead

This is the first mission to not have the option to subdue the target, Scholz is wanted dead. However, you can't do this by killing his horse then taking him out once he's on foot because the horse was stolen and it's wanted back in one piece. Scholz is to be found in the Canyons along with the rest of the gang, and by the far the easiest strategy is to come from Dodge and Quickdraw as many of the gunmen as you can - you should be able to kill them all with some luck. After that, Scholz is easy pickings; he's difficult to hit with your rifle because of his speed, so if you have any Quickdraw left, do as much damage to him with that as possible. If that doesn't kill him, you'll have to use your rifle unzoomed and just keep firing. Once he's dead, ride his horse back to it's owner in Dodge.

Mining
The West was built on opportunity, dreams and gold. In your travels, you may come across gold no one else has found. Make sure you have a pickaxe handy, or that nugget you see may be nothing but Fool's Gold.

Texas Hold 'Em
You can work for your money, or you can just win it from the local gamblers in the saloon. Out-bluff your competition in a Texas Hold 'Em tournament. Play your cards right, and you'll come up all Aces.

Keep the Peace
Every sheriff in the west could use an extra hand. Help out the local deputies by stopping trouble before it starts and flushing out the bad guys in each town.

Hunting
The Old West wasn't wild just because of the people. Even the animals wanted a piece of the action. Hunt animals that come across your path, and maybe everyone will get dinner tonight. These missions are triggered by talking to the Indian Hunter near Piper Lake.

Beast #1 - Grey Wolf
The Grey Wolf can be found in one of two places - either by the bridge to Dodge, or by the ranch where you chase Chavez y Chavez. Either way, the strategy is clear - sneak up on the wolf and shoot it in the head with the bow. Using the bow is CRITICAL in these missions, as if you use your guns, the result is that you destroy the pelts and lose money for it; for the same reason, only use the Apache or the Blackfoot Fire bows, not the Dynamite Bow.

Rescue
With outlaws running around, it's tough to catch 'em all, especially when they take innocent people hostage. Stop the criminals from running roughshod and rescue the victims by defending towns, taking out the bandits and keeping people safe. These missions are triggered by talking to the Federal Marshal in Empire; strangely, this is the only side mission strand that doesn't give an achievement for completion.

Mission #1 - The Miller Gang
The easiest Rescue mission without a doubt, you have to ambush and kill the Miller gang. All you have to do is throw the barrels of TNT down into the intersection and use them to kill the gang members - if you get them all in the intersection, one well-placed shot could kill them all. You simply have to be sure none escape, because that will cause you to fail the mission; you can pick some of them off before they hit the intersection if you're a good shot with the rifle or if you have a sharpshooter, but once they hit it, blast the barrels and Quickdraw the survivors.

Mission #2 - The Smallpox Vaccine
This one's not so easy if you do it the wrong way; namely, this is climbing up to the rooftops first then trying to kill the renegades. Doing it the other way around is much simpler; you can pick off most of them with just the rifle by leaning from behind the buildings. The gatling gun is dangerous, however, and is probably this mission's main sticking point - there's no easy way to do that unless you have a sharpshooter.

Mission #3 - The Hostages
If you even consider using your shotgun during this mission, quit your game and break the disc; using it inside the mine equals a very big explosion from the TNT. Use the same tactic here as you did to save Jenny at the Alhambra, I prefer to activate Quickdraw and plug the hostage-takers once in the head for simplicity but using the rifles works just as well. Even the bow's fine, as long as it's just the Apache bow - both others would set off the explosives. While you're there, mine the gold that's in the back of the shaft as well.

Mission #4 - The Hijacked Coach
Be ready with this mission. Once you locate the coach and talk to the driver, it turns out the "driver" is one of the bandits who took out the stage coach and they ambush you. Quickdraw the first ones to attack, and do what you will with the next wave (a number of riders who come from Dodge-way. After this, you have to blow up the blockage with a barrel of TNT, which is completely non-taxing as you're not under attack. If you notice the gold across the gap from the barrels, it's best to get it now by jumping the gap with your horse.