# Cowboys vs Indians, Cops vs Robbers variations **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2010, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-vs-indians-cops-vs-robbers-variations/526344 "2010-01-25T09:20:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-vs-indians-cops-vs-robbers-variations/526344/1 "2010-01-25T09:20:41Z")
What did you play growing up? Please name the time and place. I grew up in Texas in the 70’s and I don’t recall ever once playing cowboys vs. Indians or cops vs. robbers (traditional American childhood imaginary “conflict/ fighting” games). All of us in the neighborhood had plenty of toy weaponry to be sure (guns of all types from different eras, toy knives and swords, bows and arrows, ect.), but we had different “enemies.” In the non-fictional category we played: 1. US Soldier vs. Nazis (no other kid wanted to be Nazis, we had to pretend that we were under attack by unseen forces). 2. US Soldier vs. Russian (Cold War- we thought that this was really going to happen). 3. Revolutionary War Minuteman vs. British Redcoat (it was the Bicentennial. Schoolhouse Rock influence us, we did not shoot our Kentucky rifles until we saw the whites of their eyes) 4. Pirate band vs. rival pirate band 5. Native American tribe vs. rival Native American tribe We played lots of fictional characters that are too numerous to mention (Star Wars and Super Friends super heroes come to mind). ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-vs-indians-cops-vs-robbers-variations/526344/2 "2010-01-25T09:23:26Z")
Central Illinois. Always cops and robbers or cowboys vs indians. Thanks for the memories! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-vs-indians-cops-vs-robbers-variations/526344/3 "2010-01-25T13:12:05Z")
We played “The Blue and the Gray” when that miniseries was on tellie in '83.We were easily led, I guess. then there was Zulu vs Zulu when _Shaka_ was on tellie, although I was too old for it by then, but I saw younger kids playing it. Suprisingly, “Dutch vs Khoisan”, “Settlers vs Zulus” and “Boers vs Brits” were never very popular 😛 ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-vs-indians-cops-vs-robbers-variations/526344/4 "2010-01-25T17:46:03Z")
Preachers against the sinners. Yeah, I was an odd kid. ---
**Author:** ![Jules\_Andre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jules_andre/32/9334_2.png) [@Jules\_Andre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jules_Andre)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-vs-indians-cops-vs-robbers-variations/526344/5 "2010-01-26T16:53:05Z")
I’m from Arizona. Bloods and Crips of course. With real Glocks, but we weren’t allowed real bullets. There was the one time that Joe got a hold of a clip, but, he didn’t kill anyone. Shawn was fine. Kidding, kidding. I never played those x vs. y games, but we did do all sorts of toy and play fighting that would look exactly the same to an adult or an observer. We just never had “sides.” Always sorta every man for himself. Not a lot of kids on our block, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-vs-indians-cops-vs-robbers-variations/526344/6 "2010-01-26T17:10:44Z")
We played Protestants vs. Catholics in Northern Ireland. Just kidding. We weren’t playing. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-vs-indians-cops-vs-robbers-variations/526344/7 "2010-01-26T17:17:41Z")
We always played SWAT which was a big show for boys in the 70s. One of our friends would hide in the woods and the team would hunt him down and “kill” him. We had all kinds of cool toy guns which in those days looked like the real ones, no green and orange pistols for us. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-vs-indians-cops-vs-robbers-variations/526344/8 "2010-01-26T17:37:04Z")
South Dakota, early to mid-80s. There was some cops and robbers, but it quickly shifted over to HeMan, Transformers, and G.I.Joe when their shows became a staple of cartoon watching. They just had better weapons. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cowboys-vs-indians-cops-vs-robbers-variations/526344/9 "2010-01-26T17:38:29Z")
Oh, let’s see – we had: Cowboys vs Indians Japs vs Commandos Cops vs Robbers Doctor Who vs the Daleks/Cybermen/Ice Warriors/Quarks etc Batman vs the Joker/Riddler/Penguin Thunderbirds vs the Natural Disaster of the Day And probably some others, depending on what had been on TV.