Sunday 30 July 2017

Wichita Falls - continued.



As the nearest zombie tried to get past the back of the pickup, Hannah rained a flurry of blows around its head and shoulders
- knocking it to the ground, obviously dead!
As this was going on, the zed approaching across the intersection was being targeted from across the street,
 before it too fell to the ground with a feathered shaft through its skull!
Hannah failed to notice the bow shot as she gasped and gripped the edge of the truck, dropping to a crouch clutching a twisted ankle (random event after throwing "snake eyes" for activation!).
Up in the apartment, Travis saw his sister fall from view and assumed the worst!

As he and his companions rushed down the stairs, out on the street a zombie was shuffling along the sidewalk towards the intersection and the third PEF emerged into sight from the alley...
... which Hannah saw was another group of the living dead as she regained her feet, pain lancing up from her damaged ankle.
Suddenly the door to the apartment swung open and Travis emerged onto the street with two of his neighbours!
Sarah and Dwayne faced off against the advancing zeds, while Travis ran over to see if his sister was OK - Sarah's arrow found its mark just as Dwayne overcame his revulsion of seeing the zombies up close for the first time and fired - knowing he couldn't miss at this range........
........ but they must have been "body shots", because they just kept coming! (and of course, more zeds and the Police were now on their way thanks to his gunshots)
Sarah tried to help, but couldn't get a clear shot as Dwayne started flailing away with his knife,
all she could do was look on in horror as Dwayne was grabbed and the hideous creatures started biting him!
With their victim on the ground, the zombies went into a feeding frenzy - Sarah froze to the spot in shock as the zombies attracted by the gunfire started closing in.
Brad, Hannah and Travis spotted the danger and went to help, Brad supporting Hannah with her sprained ankle confronting the waitress coming down the street, while Travis went to grab Sarah who was still paralysed with fear!
Things weren't going well, as the attracted zombies closed in and the ones chowing down on Dwayne's body turned their attention to the group - there was nothing for it but to open fire and risk the consequences. Brad gave the order........ "AIM FOR THE HEAD!" and three pistols barked.
With the nearest of the 'monsters' out of the way and Sarah kinda back to her senses after the shock of the gunfire, Travis suggested holing up back in the apartment, but Brad instinctively ordered them back over the intersection.
The gunshots had predictably brought in more zombies, and a siren could be heard in the distance -
with Hannah injured and Sarah obviously in bad shape, Brad decided their best option was to head back out of town towards the RV (he wasn't happy that the folks running from the diner had headed that way, followed by a pair of zeds, but he kept that to himself), leaving the streets to the living dead...
... for now!

Footnote: I had to quickly knock up stats for Sarah's bow (I didn't realise before I started playing that they're not covered in the ATZ:FFO rules) and simply increased the "impact value" of the crossbow example by one - I'd be more than interested in hearing how anyone else handles them in the game, a quick google on the interweb came up empty.
I also "fudged" a couple of the rules - first off, the cops arrival. To 'improve' solo play, instead of them arriving in a set number of turns after the gunshots, I used an increasing chance of them turning up after the prescribed number of turns. In this instance it was two turns (in the rules) and they'd arrive on a six - then a 5 or 6 the following turn, 4, 5 or 6 the turn after etc until they did show up. The uncertainty of their arrival time helps rule out any "gamesmanship".
Secondly I increased the distance for the "See The Feast" test from 6inches to the standard move distance of 8inches, which just seemed more "realistic" to me at the time if you're that close, you're close enough!

I thoroughly enjoyed playing through this encounter and am now even more hooked on the game than ever, I just hope you've enjoyed reading through the write-up enough to come back and see how the team get on from here!




8 comments:

  1. A grisly encounter mate, really enjoyed it. I did the same with the bow but the game allows for it so...

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    1. Cheers buddy, she's almost out of ammo now, so the "problem" will cure itself until she finds some more - or another bow toting character turns up!
      I hadn't counted on Sarah and Dwayne appearing, so I need to find a suitable mini for her if she evolves from citizen to survivor.

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  2. Great aar, and bows in most games seem to have less impact than crossbows , but I'm pretty sure bows have appeared in one or another ATZ supplements or scenarios. Bows, imho,are a terrible choice of pa weapon; arrows/bolts will be difficult to find along with many other problems, such as most people who think they could easily shoot a bow soon find out they can't!

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    1. Thanks Joe, I figured a reflex bow with its pulley system firing a heavy arrow (compared to a bolt) would have a higher "impact" - plus, I immediately think of the 'pistol' style "crossbows" as a reference point.
      Definitely only any use in (highly) trained hands, so no chance of another member of the group "just picking it up" and hoping to hit anything with it ;-)
      And yes, if they don't find any 'specialised sports shops' that haven't been emptied it'll soon be useless - I'm keeping count of arrows used, rather "tight ammo" as per the rules :-)

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  3. Greg, here are the stats I use for bows in ATZ:FFO. Range = 24", Targets = 1, Impact = 1. Silent weapon. These were taken from other THW products and added to the ATZ list.

    I very much enjoyed you batrep. Sheer bad luck about Hannah twisting her ankle but such is life in a zombie apocalypse. On the plus side, you now have four characters in your party. That has to be a big plus.

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    1. Yay! Thank you Bryan, much appreciated!

      The doubles roll resulted in "one of the group" twisting an ankle, so it was a straight roll-off between Brad and Hannah - I didn't even modify the roll for her 'heels' ;-)
      Travis will probably stay with his sis, but I've yet to find out if Sarah has her own agenda - I haven't even worked out how long the supplies will last with two extra mouths to feed (or even if the RV is still there WITH the supplies!) - just one of the beauties of the game!

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  4. Corking stuff, Wargame Addict. Well-written and full of tension. Its sounds that you were having a tip-top playing this scenario out. Poor Dwayne, but at least Hannah made it out alive.

    I've never even read ATZ, but you really make it sound like a lot of fun. Looking forward to the next instalment, so please do keep 'em coming :-)

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  5. Thank you Simon, glad you enjoyed the write up (and BTW, that last photo was given the "Comic Art" treatment especially for you as a nod towards your "Brown Bag")
    ATZ is a cracking set of rules - the solo play elements work extremely well, and the general system seems to blend "skirmish gaming" with "role playing games" seamlessly! HIGHLY recommended ;-)

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