No need to apologizes, I assumed, and we both know what that entails.

I will admit that shootout idea did get me thinking a bit, we pay these fuckers very well and there only job is to stop bullets. I still don't think I'd hop on the bandwagon as it's a real inner battle since I'm quite content on how things are right now, but going off of that lets get progressive..

Don Asylum IWP has 73 loyal bgs in his retinue, because lets face it the man inspires loyalty. Of those 73 only 11 are still above 100hp. That SOB Don Dillon tries wacking Asylum for his winning lottery ticked, Don Dillon shoots but his water pistol doesn't seem to be able to cut through all those bgs of Asylum's. Since he has no stealth to him everyone and their grandmother sees the shot clear as day, including victim Asylum. Upon failing the shot and being discovered Don Asylums loyal bgs with hp over 100, fire a shot each at Dillon's strongest bg's, each of their guns are tied to their bosses in strength therefor would lay down the same amount of damage as their boss would've. They all aim at Dillon's strongest bgs, each of the 11 killing 1 bg per shot. NO wack stat is added to Asylum's gun though. That sure teaches Dillon for botching a wack attempt and getting caught in the process. (this would only work if the victim sees their shooter)

How's that for cooking with gasoline?

Builds on what I suggested and I for one love it. I think even if you live or die your bodyguards should shoot back to some extent. Not all of them but a % based on their HP and level trained to. They match against equal BGs of the shooter and in turn have the wackstat of the victim in place. Basically allowing for some defense and offense to take place no matter the outcome.

Let's face facts here, a cap killer shooting, except for wackback, will hit their target. However, if they shoot at 5 IWP Dons they could easily lose 50 bodyguards or so. That's 250 less kills it takes to shoot them. Gives a losing side a chance to maybe fight back a bit.

Though this still doesn't stop initial slaughters from happening it does open this door up.

Say City #1 wars City #2. City #1 wins the war but sustains a decent amount of bodyguard damage to their defenses. City #3 sitting on the sidelines knows City #1 sustained some sort of damage and thus decides to make a move on City #1 since they feel their chances of success are now higher.

You could even go as far to make it to where say someone has no bodyguards but shoots and misses a Don IWP even for just a pro. Instead of shooting at the user and since they have no bodyguards an HQ attack is automatically done.

That's cooking with gasoline and C4.

I don't like this idea simply because, why should I die because someone doesn't like my CL? To add, I am not saying that I would not be loyal and/or die for my CL, but that is not what is going to occur if this were to be implemented. Furthermore, what CL is just going to stand by and let their members be slaughtered, hmm? And this sets the bases for any group of rogues to attack simply because they wish too, some CLs only have one to four members.

This is just not a sound idea or very well thought-out, I can see where you were possibly going, but the idea in general falls flat.

Also, often CLs are removed due to someone taking an issue with their stance on something, their demeanor, or the just aren't liked. What does their members have to do with any of that? Just because they are members of the group, does not necessarily mean that they are/were in accordance or agreement with their CL.

On the revision:

Does this not just make NPC things even more important than they already are? If I can stack myself with the maximum of BGs, not only can just a small number of people actually kill me, my NPC protection is also going to hurt that person if I do die purely through my accumulation of it and nothing else? Not sure that is how I would want the game to work.

And, even if they do, so what? Invariably takedowns crush all opposition; if the guy who attacks me subsequently loses 13 BGs in the process, the monetary hit just becomes the price of doing business nothing is actually going to change because of it. Someone capable of shooting through 162 BGs is almost certainly going to shoot through 175, so it is really just academic with little practical benefit. 

Bigwood-Longdog,

13 bodyguards can be the difference in killing someone and missing very easily. Not only that but it saves shots on BG wacking as well. So 13 BGs can be pivotal. Especially with the "hot time" which the limit is being negotiated. We could extend that for 7 days. Perhaps after they die instead of being allowed to train daily on the BG rehire it's every 2-4 days. Forcing people to be vulnerable longer. Opens the doors to other cities making a move. Though they wouldn't know how many people they lost.