Saturday 16 May 2020

Blog Anniversary


I have no idea WHERE the time has gone!


I sat and had a good think about how to mark the occasion, and rejected the option of a "reflective musing" post - I reckon I've done enough 'blether' for a while with the last couple of offerings, and decided it should be a game report.
But what to play?    I've uploaded a D&D episode here:  On the Trail of The Stone  this week, and there's another ECW scrap to be posted here:  "For Parliament or For King"   in the next day or so.

What seemed most appropriate would be a return to the zombie apocalypse given the current pandemic situation and it was the first campaign I started!
Yes, just five posts in and the "introductions" out of the way, the ATZ: Final Fade Out campaign began way back here:  ATZ: "Day minus One" and we followed Brad and his group as they struggled for survival. As is the way of things with us gamers, this particular story has had to give way to other tales which needed to be told, as the wargame table witnessed conflicts involving 'other' genres of topical interest.
The last time I checked in on the survivors was with a short episode which formed one part of a larger post,  but we learned that they'd found themselves in hostile territory, and after a tip off from one of the opposing gang members Brad's group are moving on.


A quick consultation with "Mythic" (the GM emulator), and it turns out that since when they left the group didn't destroy the warehouse they'd temporarily stayed in, or set fire to the petrol station across the road (the kind of mean trick the hostile gang bosses would have done!), the guy who left the note decided that he and his partner were going to cut and run and try to join this group of 'lawful' survivors.

So it was, that on the outskirts of Lorenzo, Bobby Johnson and Madelyn Hopper found the road ahead blocked. They had to clear the road and fast, not just to keep up with the friendly group, but they were worried that they probably had gang members on their tail.
(They did, and they would arrive at the table edge on a successful die roll!)

With Maddie watching the rear, Bobby stepped up and dispatched the crawler by the wrecked pickup,
before calling Maddie over to help deal with the zeds approaching the junction.
(The PEF resolved as just a bad case of nerves)
They needed to get the bike out of the way, but for the moment it provided a handy barricade,
and allowed them to pick off the walkers without having to fire a shot.
With the nearest of the undead cleared, Bobby had just flipped the bike clear when something burst through the doors of the diner -
another pair of zombies!
The zeds lurched across the street towards Maddie, but Bobby managed to get alongside her just in time
and in the pair of them quickly saw off the attack.
Bobby ordered his compaion back to the delivery truck "The place looks like it might hot up - let's get while the goin's good"
The pair climbed back into the UPS wagon and fired it back up,
then headed North at the junction towards Cone.
A while later the gang members turned up.
(Pathetic dice rolling - they needed a 6 on turn two, 5, 6 next turn, 4,5,6 the turn after etc, but failed to arrive until it was too late)
Surveying the scene it was obvious that the fugitives had passed this way, but they had no idea which road they'd taken ("Mythic" was consulted to see if the UPS van had left any telltale signs), so they had to return to Lorenz empty handed..... and their boss would NOT be pleased!

So, there we go. Just a quickie because I'm off to pour myself a cupps and cut a (big) slice of anniversary cake!
Thanks to everyone in the blogging community for all of your help, support and inspiration, without which there's every possibility I'd never have got this far with my own humble offerings.

Remember, be like Bobby & Madelyn, and even if you can't carry a machete, katana or assault rifle, stay safe out there! (and you can always leave me a quick comment if you get the chance and feel inclined - it would be most welcome)


11 comments:

  1. Very many congratulations on the anniversary and here's to many more. So pleased you marked the day with a zombie game - fabulous!

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    1. Many thanks Sir A :-)
      Marking the blog's birthday is really more about celebrating the joys of being part of such a marvelous online community. There's no doubt in my mind that I couldn't have enjoyed my hobby even a fraction as much without the inspiration gleaned from fellow bloggers!

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  2. Short and simple but you never know when these games are going to go bad, I think that's the exciting thing about ATZ. I'm pleased you did a zombie game for this post, I've always enjoyed them.

    Congratulations on making 3 years, thats quite an achievement and one I've enjoyed reading along with.

    Have you changed your board for a mat or have I been sleeping. It looks good and even the pavement edges look reasonably 3d. I seem to think you were using the World Works roads, which I bought afrter seeing Bryans table but I've not got round to printing and making them. Something else on the to do list.
    I'll toast your anniversary tomorrow, it's too late for me tonight.
    Cheers

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    1. Thanks John, and I've thoroughly enjoyed your company :-)
      It was intentionally a quick "throw down" game, mainly so that I could be sure about getting it played and posted 'on the day'.
      I've had the idea about "the deserter" attempting to join Brad's group rattling around in my head for a while, and rather than resolve it with 'possibility tables' decided to use it as a stand alone scenario.

      I knew it wouldn't take up much room, so I used a mat instead of setting up the whole board (It's the one from Mantic Games Mars Attacks and was sold separately in one of their clearout sales).
      The World Works stuff is great, but I still have to tackle the warping issue with the cork tiles they're stuck on :-(

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  3. Very very very VERY good. A fantastic change of pace which I massively enjoyed. I *do* love me a good zombie romp. Really got my apocalypse juices working and something tasty to `sink my teeth` into.

    Gratz on the anniversary, and all the best for year 4 :-)

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    1. Cheers Stevie, I've been meaning to revisit the zompocalypse for a while now - normally I can fit "real time" gaps away from the campaign around "down time" for the characters IN the game world. With the situation in Lorenzo this just wouldn't do, so this was the ideal opportunity to move the story on (by focussing on the 'newbies', did you recognise them?)

      Hopefully (fingers & toes crossed), year 4 will see a couple of new projects getting started - just to keep things interesting :-)

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  4. yummy yummy change of pace. So cool to read. I really did enjoy this one So sorry this is brief., but time for bed said Zebedee.

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    1. You little night owl! :-)
      Glad you enjoyed it T, and I really do need to move this campaign on a little further, so there may well be some more zombie apocalypse action while we continue through the pandemic.
      No worries about brief comments - enjoy your beauty sleep :-)

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  5. Congratulations, getting to a third Anniversary of Blogginh is no mean feat- I@ve noticed a lot of blogs fold after their 3rd year,I trust yours won't!I well remember Brad and co's adventure and it was good to read another adventure with them all.

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  6. I'm a bit late to the party Greg :) but congrats on the mile stone & good call on the type of movie to mark the occasion.

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  7. Congratulations on the anniversary Greg, nice to see a continuation on this series

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