Friday 6 July 2018

"Back into the 'Burbs" -

The Search For Doc Littlelake.

The previous episode ended here East of Jacksboro part 3
The cops are tired, confused and more than a little stressed - they know Amy, so naturally wanted to take her with them to "safety". They couldn't go looking for her father since they were so busy on their own patch, and anyhow, Jacksboro was now under the jurisdiction of the National Guard.
Brad has agreed the group will try and find out what's happened to the Doc (out of Amy's earshot, the cops don't rate their chances - he's been gone a couple of days now, so he's probably on the road to Nevada.... or the worse has happened).
The group rested overnight at the Johnson's place before setting off early next morning in the pickup and Johnsn's Jeep, parking up before reaching the edge of town (and removing the rotor arms from both vehicles), and continued on foot.
Doc Littlelake's surgery is on the edge of town, situated between a pair of office buildings and opposite a diner. From a vantage point on their approach, the group can see the building and the Doc's RV parked behind it.......... it looks like he's not on the road to Nevada!

The initial set-up with the grey surgery building visible between the two office blocks - the street is clear, thanks to a jackknifed rig at the intersection.
Two PEF's are in the brownstone building, with a third  actually in the surgery. There's a single zed up ahead, with more out of sight beyond the row of buildings to the left and in the woods behind the diner to the right. Quite a horde has appeared in the bottom left corner thanks to throwing between "5 and 7 o'clock" for random placement!
Things don't look so bad from this angle,
and since the group wins the first initiative roll, they decide to press on, Brad gripping his machete in both hands as the lone zombie in the street lurches towards them arms outstretched with its jaws snapping,
fully aware that the rest are beginning to close in around them!
Both PEF's in the brownstone block made a half speed move towards the group (the change I made previously to the "move away" result), and the one in the surgery stayed put.
The group took in the scene with steely eyed determination, but Amy was looking visibly shaken by the undead as Brad swung his machete in an arc that cleaved the zombies skull.
Game on!

A long overdue return to the ATZ - FFO campaign, and the very last outing for my cork floor tiles! I've almost cured the warping problem, but the ink has really faded on the print-outs, so they're being retired and recycled after this game. It's also the first game using Hugh's (Colgar6) Event Cards, so a bit of "out with the old and in with the new" going on!

I hope everyone is managing to plod on as our heatwave continues - it's certainly affecting my painting and modelling  output. Thanks for calling in, and I hope you'll enjoy following this encounter which will have to be played over a couple of sessions due to work commitments.

19 comments:

  1. Great looking set up and lead in Greg, can fully understand in this heatwave doing small bits here and there, it's been playing havoc with casting !

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    1. Many thanks Dave - the terrain is mainly a mash-up of 'work in progress' buildings and 'past their best' pdf print outs, but they've been pressed into service because I've been itching to find out what happens next in the campaign!
      I bet the heat has been playing havoc with both pouring AND setting times!
      It's 2am and we're just back from last night's gig. We drove all the way home with the van windows down and it was still warm! It's lovely at the moment, so (heaven forbid) if you've got a "rush job" pending, maybe a 'night shift' ?? ;-)

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  2. Lovely to see you returning to your ATZ campaign, Greg. Those buildings look great and I'd love to see more of your RV that is only just visible in the first picture. I can understand how the hot weather can affect your output, Fortunately, where I live it's only mild and occasionally warm. I suppose there has to be some advantage to living so far north.

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    1. Thank you Bryan - I thought you'd approve :-)
      The buildings still need a lot of work (as you'll see if the action moves "indoors"), but this episode is LONG overdue - it's "Day 16" and I still haven't managed to get Brad and his group somewhere they can drop into 'campaign mode'!
      The RV has been built and painted during the current hot spell, and boy does it show! The paint dried blotchy, and the weathering wash dried too fast. I fear it'll need a repaint once the temperatures return to 'normal' :-(
      I believe we're up in Washington next week - does this mean we'll have a cool gig?? :-)

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  3. Terrific photos Greg, and a real pleasure to see you returning to ATZ; albeit I really enjoyed your "Test of Honour" BatReps too.

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    1. Cheers Simon :-)
      ATZ is my biggest "addiction", so it'll never be too far away from a blog post - in fact, I'm surprised I've managed to abstain for THIS long! ;-)
      Having just said that, I suppose it shows just how great a distraction Test of Honour is, so I expect there'll be plenty more of that to come in the near future too ;-)

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  4. Great story, awesome minis and terrain..and good to see a glimpse of Dale's RV. One question I have is where to score those roads?

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    1. Many thanks SW.... I don't think you'll be SO impressed when you see the unfinished interiors, OR the botched paint job on the RV ;-)
      The roads are from "Fat Dragon Games" pdf collection, under the title "Streets Of Mayhem". There's various styles of roads and some great buildings which are very easy (and therefore quick) to build.
      There's an alternative that I MUST mention - "Stoelzel's Structures", but you may need a pdf editor - my printer reproduces the pdf's too "dark" without one, but the roads and buildings are superb! Look for the "Undeveloped Real Estate" before you start browsing all the other goodies available! ;-)

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    2. Oops!
      I gave you some duff info - it was late, I was tired......
      "Streets of Mayhem" pdf's are from World Works Games" (again, WELL worth checking out) and the Fat Dragon pdf's are "Capital City".

      Sorry about the glitch in the matrix, normal service WILL be resumed at some point ;-)

      allegedly

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  5. Glad to see ATZ back on the schedule dude,can’t wait to see more!

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    1. Cheers Andy - seems the campaign has rebooted just as there's a new edition of ATZ due. Have you seen the THW teasers for "ATZ Evolution"?
      It's looking very tempting :-)

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  6. Hi Greg - I agree with Blax it's good to see the return to ATZ even though I've enjoyed the Test of Honour Games.
    It's all looking good figure, roads and buildings.
    Bring it on

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    1. Many thanks John, I could say "A change is as good as a rest", but the plain truth is that it's bugging me having loose ends in the ongoing story lines ;-)
      Brad's group has picked up Amy and are pretty much 'duty bound' to look for her missing father in the zombie apocalypse, the local villagers have now been alerted to the fact that there's unnatural terrors abroad that are probably far worse than the spat between the King and his parliament, AND there's that spat itself which is due to kick off very soon (when the King raises his standard at Nottingham), then there's a replicant on the loose that has to be found before it can be 'retired', and that's not to mention a fantasy kingdom beset by evil goings-on!
      But despite all that, there's plenty more Test of Honour in the pipeline :-)

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  7. I was wondering when oyu would tie up the vrious loose ends in your ATZ campaign; looking forward to seeing how this develops.

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    1. Thanks Joe, it was only a matter of time ;-)
      "Amy" showed up in the previous game as the result of a PEF resolution, and became a useful plot device (as well as a bit of fun with her name), but I'm beginning to worry that she could now be the cause of a load of trouble for the group!

      Brad's group knows they should steer clear of built up areas, but it would be "out of character" for them not to at least try looking for Amy's dad.
      It's been a busy weekend with work, but I'm hoping to get some turns played over the next couple of days :-)

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  8. Brilliant stuff Greg! Echoing everyone else in saying it's grand to see ATZ up and running again :) Your buildings - TT Combat or Sarissa?

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    1. Cheers Ivor - ATZ is one of those itches that I just HAVE to scratch! ;-)
      The buildings (and RV) are TT Combat, apart from the grey one (the Doc's surgery in this encounter) which is from Blotz.

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  9. Hi Greg, just back from the hols but glad to see the sun putting the blocks on other studio's out put while I was gone :)

    The set looks great mate but people just keep rising the bar & we're all trying to keep up, looking forward to seen the new set while pepping out from behind the sofa :)

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    1. Hiya Frank, and welcome back from your vacation - I hope you don't get the "post holiday blues" like I do when it's 'back to the grind' ;-)

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