Friday 13 July 2018

"Back into the 'Burbs" - continued.

Brad has brought the group back to the suburbs of Jacksboro in search of Amy's father (First two turns of the encounter here). During the game prep, I'd scribbled down a "decision tree" to determine Doc Littlelake's fate, but fate itself stepped in when the game started with a PEF in the Doc's surgery!
I decided off the cuff that the PEF would repesent Amy's dad. The PEF would resolve as "Nothing there" = signs that he'd been there but now missing, "Survivors" = the Doc alive and well, "Zombies" = undead Doc!

The group won the initiative roll for turn three, and Brad led them straight to the surgery door.
The door wasn't locked and Brad led the majority of the group inside, Travis and Nate were acting as 'tail end charlies' and remained outside in the doorway. Plenty of light streamed through the front windows, and he warned the group "We've got two of 'em in here!" as Amy cried out "Dad?!"
The PEF resolved as two zombies (the Doc and his assistant) and the group won the Zombie Surprise roll. I had Amy take the Zed Or No Zed test to represent the shock of seeing her father in this state - passing 0D6 she 'went into shock'
During the zombie activation phase, the pair of PEF's left the brownstone block and stepped into line of sight. ....
Something caught Nate's eye down the street - he looked closer, but it must have been his imagination because there was nothing there, hang on, what's that?! To his horror he saw another group of zeds heading their way!
The first PEF resolved as "A bad case of nerves", but the second was more (group + one = 7) zombies.
Before Nate could warn Travis about the zeds he'd spotted, a single zombie appeared from around the corner of the intersection and immediately made a lunge for them. 
Instinctively, Travis started swinging his trusty "axe" at the things head as it tried to claw and bite him!
Inside the surgery, what had been the doc and his assistant now staggered forwards and attacked Brad at the head of the group. Taking a two-handed grip of his machete, Brad was once again fighting for his life.
Outside, the hefty Ibanez guitar caught the zombie squarely on the side of its head, Travis's right-handed blow smashing it against the surgery wall, and the zed crumpled to the pavement.
In the surgery, Hannah grabbed the almost hysterical Amy and turned her away from the gruesome scene, as Brad made short work of his attackers.
Fortunately, Travis and Brad won their rounds of melee, initially, I was very worried for Brad as he faced both zombies on his own, but 6 dice for his Rep plus 2 more for his machete and a plus 1 success for facing zombies - versus 4 dice for the zombies Rep plus 1 more for the additional zed meant he managed to despatch them both in one round!
Here's the situation at the end of the turn.

The initiative roll for turn four came up with a double - and the brand new "Random Events Deck" made its debut in my campaign (Colgar6 Event Cards info)
The re-roll saw the group taking the initiative once again.

Brad headed straight over to check the rear exit, barking out the order - "Find the Doc's keys and grab anything that looks useful, but don't risk going upstairs and stay in sight!".
Zac took charge of Amy, telling Hannah "You go look for the keys while I check out my gun - it's jammed or something when I tried to cock the damned thing!"
Nate and Travis had retreated into the surgery, and Nate joined the search while Travis set about trying to secure the door as best as he could.
With the zombies approaching the surgery in numbers, it was now a race to avoid being trapped!
Sitrep at end of turn four.

Turn five initially saw "doubles" thrown for initiative,
I was hoping for a "2" when I rolled the D4 to determine which grunt would benefit form the temporary 'Star' status - I figured Amy needed all the help she could get at this point! It came up a "4" though, so Despite the horde gathering outside the building, Travis felt strangely calm and confident about the situation.
The zombies won the re-roll and closed in on the door and windows of the surgery.
Brad had found a bunch of keys in the Doc's jacket hanging by the back door - with a sigh of relief he ushered the group out, handing the RV ignition keys to Zac who bundled Amy into the vehicle before taking the drivers seat.
Brad and Hannah took up "guard" positions while the rest of the group made their way from the fire door to the RV.

The group won the initiative for turn six (phew!)
With a nod from Brad as soon as everyone was aboard the RV, Zac sent up a silent prayer before turning the ignition key.
A big smile crossed his face as the big V8 engine fired into life and was running as sweet as a nut.
The noise attracted a couple more zeds to the scene,
but with the majority of the horde on the other side of the block, the coast was clear for Zac to reverse and turn the big RV and the group drove off to safety.
The situation (obligatory comic art) at the end of turn six before driving off the following turn with no "events" to stop them.
This encounter was played over the whole week, a turn at a time, due to work, other demands on time, or just plain "too hot to do owt"! Despite that, it lost none of its continuity between sessions, and gave me plenty to think about between turns!
They set out to find the Doc, and though he'd fallen victim to the 'zombie virus' (obviously, he'd gone for equipment and supplies to take to Nevada, but had stayed behind to try and help infected locals and got himself bitten in the process), the encounter rates as a "success" for the group.

I was looking forward to a weekend off to get this AAR posted, but a phone call asking us to replace another act who have been taken ill (I hope it's not zombie related!!) has scuppered that plan, so I hope this 'rush job' is OK.
Many thanks for reading it, and as ever, your comments and questions are most welcome.

22 comments:

  1. It sounded like a calm, safe mission - though I suspect that it was anything but that! Everyone got away safely (well, apart from Amy's dad...)

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    1. It all went pretty well for the group - except for Amy losing her Dad and Zac breaking his gun....thanks to your Random Events Deck ;-) but it could have gone pear shaped at just about any point.
      All Things Zombie is definitely still my favourite game :-)

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  2. DOn't you love it when a plan comes together (well almost), great little aar.

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    1. Many thanks Joe.
      If the initial placement of the zombies had been different, or if the PEF's in the brownstone apartment block had resolved differently, or if the Doc wasn't in the surgery, things could have gone very badly for the group - come to think of it, even how the above turned out, losing one or two of the early "initiative rolls" COULD have spelt disaster!
      I love ATZ! :-)

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  3. Excellent AAR, I really enjoy your zed games, the rules always give a tight nervy game in my opinion and it's never over until it's over.
    The board is looking good especially inside the office, the furniture makes a big difference, who makes the stuff you're using?
    Top notch, next game Monday after your interupted weekend :)

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    1. Thank you kindly John - I can't praise the game enough. The THW solo mechanics and zombie "AI" just works so well!
      I'm pretty sure the office furniture is from Ainsty Castings - I'll double check later (I'm just about to climb Jacobs Ladder) and correct myself if I'm wrong though.
      Actually, the next game might well be on Monday - well, started at least (before we head up to Heckmondwike) because I NEED to get Brad and his group safely camped somewhere for the campaign :-)

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    2. I'll look forward to it, still waiting for my parcel to arrive before we leave so I might get to read it at home, but the mifi is hopefully sorted so I should have a connection at least.

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  4. All in all that was a good result for the group, although Amy might think differently. What I love about ATZ is the unpredictability of it all. You just never know what's going to happen or who's going to turn up until you roll the dice. A great read, Greg.

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    1. Many thanks Bryan, it ended up being a great result for the group (they got out in one piece AND now have the RV), but I have a "shell shocked" Amy to console.

      I have a problem you could help me with.......
      "Keeping It Together" has results for the Star scoring 'Twice as many' successes, 'More' successes and 'Star and Grunt throw no successes'.
      What happens if the Star and Grunt roll 'The Same Number Of Successes'??
      (I've treated it the same as both rolling none - which in my mind is more-or-less the same thing??)

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    2. That is exactly how I'd play it as well. After all, neither of them beat the other so that logically is the same as rolling the same number of successes, whether it be none each, one each or more each.

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  5. Another terrific visit to your ATZ world, Greg. Love the cards as they really do add an element of uncertainty to the games. Thanks for putting this together - great stuff :-)

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    1. Cheers Simon, it was an enjoyable game to play and a fitting "Swan Song" for the cork tile streets.
      Hugh's event deck is the bees knees :-)

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  6. Great report! Your table is cracking and love the tale being told in your narrative.

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    1. Thanks very much Simon - I find "All Things Zombie" just so immersive, it's almost like a role playing game and the narrative writes itself :-)

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  7. Brilliant Greg! Been looking forward to this one :)

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    1. Cheers Ivor, knowing the group HAD to go back into the suburbs (when they SHOULD be looking for a safe place in a rural area somewhere) gave the encounter a bit of an edgy feel.
      Now I just need to find out if they manage to find somewhere suitable :-)

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  8. Really love your board Greg, looks brilliant especially those interior details

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    1. Cheers Andy mate - they're not a patch on your home-brewed masterpieces, but thanks for the compliment :-)

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  9. Another fantastic AAR Greg, thoroughly enjoyable read, now I'm back from the show. Keep them coming mate

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    1. Many thanks Dave, unfortunately there's been a bit of a glitch in the matrix, and hobby time is under the cosh at the moment.
      "Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible"

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  10. Good to see them get in & out all in one piece Greg, I know you want the guys to find a safe place but you'll forgive me for hoping they don't :)

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    1. Cheers Frank - "safe" is only a relative term in "All Things Zombie", so even if the group manages to establish a camp somewhere, there'll STILL be plenty of action ;-)

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