It's been a while since the last blog update, different things have managed to keep me occupied over that period of time, but it's possible I can post a little more regularly now.
So this post is to update the with the final part 3 of the zombie game report that has been sitting in the draft folder for nearly over a year.
To finally finish the tale, I've put everything into a combined Parts 1, 2 and 3 post for the complete game report (the previous posts Part 1 & 2 have been removed).
I'd been painting up 20mm zombies on and off for quite a while before this game, using figures from various 1/72 and 1/76 scale sets - "useless" goofy poses, surrendering figures, other with with poses that could vaguely pass as "zombie-ish"with a little bending of heads or arms etc.
A good friend José Juan had a free Saturday and invited me around to his place to host a game and I had the chance to dig out the zombies and use them for a multiplayer game using a set of rules called "Dead Walk Again" by Planned Movement Productions.
My wargaming buddy Iván introduced our group to these rules some 15 years ago and back then he organised a campaign using 28mm figures. Two of the other guys from our group, Carlos and Alejandro contributed with their superb zombie figures and we had some fun multi-player games. These rules no longer seem to be available online which is a real pity as they are really easy to pick up as you play and make for an entertaining game and allow for various players to participate.
SCENARIO
There were five of us all together, our host José Juan, a new young guy to the group Luis, and Iván who came along with his young son. These four players controlled small groups of survivors facing off against the hordes of wandering zombies, while yours truly acted as umpire and controlled the zombies who would spawn at various points and relentlessly pursue the survivors as per the zombie movement specifics detailed in the rules.
MAIN MISSION- Players 1, 2 and 3
Three small groups of survivors have thrown in their lot together out of necessity. Food, and ammo are low and they have no other option but to go into town and raid a warehouse where they can get fresh supplies.
Crossing the town and lugging back supplies on foot is out of the question, so they need to go in vehicles if they have any chance of bringing back sufficient stocks. This also has its drawbacks, the wandering zombies tend to lumber and shuffle in the direction of any source of sound, so the group will have to be quick and avoid staying in one spot for any amount of time.
Player 1 - BIKERS - these two tough-guys have been on the road with their Harleys since the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. Both are armed with hand-guns and assault rifles
Player 2 - REDNECKS - two brothers who hail from a rural community who know how to hunt and shoot. These hard-working and equally as tough farm boys wear their "Redneck" term with pride. One of the brothers carries a scoped hunting rifle, the other a revolver and a double-barrelled shotgun and are riding out the apocalypse in their late daddy's trusty old Chevy van which has never let them down.
Player 3 - SWAT - With no functioning state or employer, these heavily armed officers of the law have given over their loyalty to the diverse group they now belong to. They've managed to procure a rugged US Army Humvee which they will use as the spearhead vehicle for the group's incursion into the town.
SECONDARY MISSION
Player 4 - PILOT AND FAMILY GROUP - A small group of civilians had tried tried to cross the town days earlier with their family members, one of whom is a commercial pilot, in order to reach a small airfield and secure a small aircraft and fly off to a more remote region. However they were set upon by a group of zombies before they reached the airfield, lost some members and were separated.
A few of the surviving unarmed family members managed to find refuge by scaling a construction crane out of the zombies' reach and sense of smell. (and fortunately for them these zombies are pretty dumb and haven't figured out how to climb metal scaffolding...)
Three remaining members of the group, including the pilot were forced to flee the town.
They enter the town again on foot from the other side of the industrial estate and will first try to rescue their stranded family members and then get to the airfield across the the table. They have managed to get their hands on weapons from an abandoned gun-shop, the pilot has a shotgun, the kneeling executive has an assault rifle and the businesswoman is now really the "business" and comes onto the table wielding an Uzi in each hand.
Player 4 was told in private by the umpire that he couldn't reveal his mission to the other players unless there is direct contact on the table with any figures from the other group. Players 1,2 and 3 don't know Player 4's mission either, nor that there are civilians hiding out up in the construction crane.
The table layout above before the game begins. I didn't have any typical US small-town type buildings, so we had to improvise and settle on using adobe type buildings for the town, giving it a kind of surreal downtown Tijuana look.
THE GAME .....
The game began with players 1,2 & 3 entering the town, the Humvee leading the way.
As they move in they discover groups of zombies wandering around on the rubble strewn streets, with more appearing around every corner they turn.
All the survivors are carrying mini walkie-talkies, they can keep in contact wherever they are on the table and with this in mind, Player 2 decides to stop the Dodge and send out on foot one of the farm boys armed with the scoped rifle.
He quickly runs into the high-rise ruins to climb to the top floor so he can spot for the rest of the group and keep them informed, and at the same time take out as many zombies as possible from a high vantage point.
The Humvee and the Dodge find that their speed is limited to a mere crawl as the streets are cluttered with abandoned vehicles and all kinds of obstacles left over from the post-apocalyptic nightmare.
As the group moves through town, new zombies appear and the bikers who have no vehicles to protect them begin to get nervous as they are swamped with undead approaching from all sides.
Their bikes here are a liability and they have no way of speeding their way out of danger, so Player 1 decides that the bikers will have to abandon their beloved Harleys.
They leave the bikes with the engines still running while they hastily make off out of harm's way, while the zombies stumble towards and lunge at the bikes only to find that metal and rubber don't taste anything like human flesh.
Player 1 made a wise choice and he knows the rules well, because in the Dead Walk Again ruleset zombies will move toward any loud source of sound if there are no humans within either "smelling" distance (20cm) or within visual range (40cm).
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| The dismounted bikers |
Meanwhile over on the other side of town, Player 4's small group cautiously heads over on foot towards the warehouse and industrial estate where their family members are up in the crane hiding.
They enter the industrial estate cautiously, trying to avoid any contact with wandering zombies while taking out any individual zombies they might encounter with blows to the head so as to not use their automatic weapons which when fired would alert other zombies to their presence.
However, as they enter the industrial estate they are suddenly surprised by a huge group of zombies milling around the base of the crane.
They're overwhelmed by the sheer number of zombies and have no choice but to use their guns, and start shooting out zombies left, right and centre.
Just as the Humvee and Dodge turn into the industrial estate they hear the sounds of automatic gunfire.
They call the others over the walkie-talkies and the sniper tells them he can see a group of people waving from the top of the crane and can see others at the base shooting and being pursued by zombies.
The lead Humvee turns into the industrial estate and a horde of zombies swamps the vehicle, pounding on the doors and windows, all the while the vehicle keeps moving forward crushing the ones in front and rumbles onward to the other new group at the base of the crane.
High up on the crane platform, Player 4's unarmed stranded family members look down on the events unfolding below.
The bikers have also arrived on foot and help to take out zombies, while Player 4 moves his survivors towards the Humvee to make contact with the other players.
CONTACT !
Now that direct contact has finally been made with the Player 1, 2 and 3, Player 4 was allowed to reveal his mission. He tells them about his original plan to cross the town, rescue the family members
trapped on the crane and then reach a small airfield on the edge of the
area.
A quick discussion followed and it wasn't long before everyone agreed
that the possibility of leaving the area by air was a far more
attractive option than continuing to search for food and ammunition in a
town that seemed to contain an endless supply of zombies.
The players first concentrate their efforts on clearing the area around the base of the crane so the stranded family members can climb down and reunite with Player 4's group.
The survivors pile into the Dodge and the group sets off towards the airfield.
The Humvee again leads the way through the cluttered streets while the Dodge followed close behind. The sniper remained in radio contact with the others and took advantage of his elevated position to thin out the groups of zombies
The survivors move further across the table but every burst of automatic fire attracts yet more undead and ammunition supplies start beginning to run low, but eventually the airfield comes into view, but it's far from deserted, zombies lumbering around and heading toward the gunfire appear from behind the hangars and airport buildings.
The sniper sees the group reaching the airfield and makes his way quickly and silently across the town and reaches the other survivors there.
One by one the survivors scramble aboard as the zombies converge on the runway, and while the pilot is on board the Swat team pick off the approaching zombies and are the last to board.
With the doors secured and the undead closing in from all sides, the engines were started. For a few moments everyone wondered whether the aircraft would actually get underway before the zombies reached it, but the dice-gods were in evidence and the engines roared into life on the first throw.
ESCAPE TO VICTORY
The aircraft began to move and lifted clear of the ground and climbed away, leaving the town and its undead inhabitants behind.
During the game several players were running short of ammunition and things could easily have gone differently had the airport been any further away, but good teamwork and a little luck saw everyone make it out alive.
A final picture below showing how we were recording
the zombie body count placing "dead" zombies (can zombies be dead ? lol) eliminated by each player
placed on their stat cards. The coloured chips represent the
clips/magazines that each weapon has available and as they change an
ammo clip the counters are dropped into the cups and once they are gone,
no more ammo.
Hope the report was worth waiting for, and maybe on the next update something completely different.
Cheers, John
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