Monday 16 October 2017

Recce - Part One.

As mentioned in a previous Zomtober post, it's time to address the gaming withdrawal symptoms - and since it is Zomtober, what better than to play another episode in the ATZ:FFO camaign!
I've still got other 'distractions' to deal with this week (and of course mini's to paint for the challenge), so I'll be playing this out over a number of sessions.

It's the morning of day 13, and the group have spent the best part of a week at the farm, making the perimeter more secure and building a second line of defence around the house itself. They've collected everything useful from around the site and even managed to improvise some melee weapons and a petrol syphoning kit, but now Brad has decided to split the group and lead a recon / scavenging mission before food becomes an issue.
They're heading over to a fishing retreat that Travis remembers out in the woods surrounding the lake, a few miles South East of their position.
Leaving Travis and Zac to "guard the fort" Brad, Hannah and Nate set off on foot.

Arriving at the woods without incident, they followed the track and made a cautious approach towards the cabin.
With the pickup parked outside, things were looking promising.........
The PEF's were generated and placed with rep's 5,4 and 2 in areas 1,2 and 4, and the initial zombies were diced for after the short move entering the table: 1/2D6 per group member since it's a 'rural' encounter, but I still ended up with eight zeds in the reception committee after rolling a 5,5 and a 4!!
Using a D12 (as per Bryan's house rules), this is how they "clock faced" onto the board.......
This was looking a LOT tougher than I expected!

As Brad closed up the group and headed for the cabin door, two of the PEF's broke cover, with one heading towards them and the other directly away...
 ... Hannah spotted them, so they were resolved against the Encounter Rating of 1.
The first turned out to be just a bad case of nerves - probably a critter running for cover,
but the second one indicated that SOMETHING was definitely out there, and the ER was raised to 2!
Meanwhile, the group had a fight on their hands as the zombies were closing in and the first three attacked.
As Brad embedded his machete into the skull of one of the zeds attacking from the flank, Hannah rained down blows with her hockey stick on the head of the one blocking their path. Nate used the length of bar he'd found at the farm to smash in the face of the other zombie coming at them from the side.

Having quickly dealt with the first attack, the group headed straight for the cabin, confident they were going to reach safety before the trailing zeds reached them - then it all went crazy as a guy appeared at the door and the third PEF came into sight from around the side of the shack!
A woman shouted from inside the cabin and the decidedly unfriendly looking guy in the doorway raised his pistol......
.... while the PEF was resolved .......
........ against the increased Encounter Rating as a "Contact!"

"To Be Continued"




14 comments:

  1. Great to have you back gaming again, Greg, and what an exciting offering. What I love about ATZ is that you never know what's going to happen. The dice can be your best friend or your worst enemy. You just never know until you roll them.
    I love your scenery, by the way. Nice to see your new trees getting an airing.

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    1. Thanks very much Bryan, whether the dice are good or bad, it's STILL nice to have them rattling after a lay-off ;-)
      In all seriousness, I don't think ATZ can be beaten for the solo experience.
      I've spotted my "schoolboy error" with the trees, and as soon as this encounter is over I'll be sorting out the edges to the bases!!

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  2. Echo Bryan’s comments mate, I love ATZ and the way it can turn in an instant! Great setting and reminds me that I need to get on with my own campaign. ;-)

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    1. Cheers Andy, and yes please - I'm itching to find out what's happening down in Thanet during the outbreak :-)

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  3. day 13 already, Greg, boy time sure flies when the zombies are slowly encroaching upon civilisation in their endless quest for brains!! Great little write-up, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing just what the increased Encounter rating will mean for our survivors...

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    1. Well Simon, if the hostiles in the cabin start making a racket with their firearms, the excrement could hit the air-con for our little group exposed out there in the zombie infested woods ;-)

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  4. Nice report dude. Could never get into playing ATZ but I do enjoy reading the reports. Keep up the good work it looks great.

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    1. Thanks Simon - it was the enjoyment I got from reading other peoples write-ups (especially here: http://vampifansworldoftheundead.blogspot.co.uk/p/atz-ffo-campaign.html) that got me into the game. Glad to hear you're enjoying my own humble efforts :-)

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    2. The same reason I found my ATZ bliss!

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  5. Ooh, I think some really bad things are about to happen. It's going to be exciting, that's for sure :-) !

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    1. I think you're probably right Hugh, I reckon Ed totally 'nailed it' when he came up with these rules!

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  6. Just when you think all is going well, in ATZ it has a way of turning everything on its head and no doubt it will again!
    Great cliff-hanger of to end the post on.
    I like the terrain and can't figure where you;ve gone wron with the trees (?).

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    1. Couldn't agree more Joe, the simplest of encounters can turn into real nightmares!
      As for the trees, I put the textured paint on the top surface, but forgot to paint the edges - just one of those things that once I'd spotted it, it's going to irritate me until I get it sorted ;-)

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