ATZ: The End is Nigh!

Introduction

Last month, we played a game of All Things Zombie in which I introduced a new team: the congregation.  Nominally, this group of basic civilians is led by Reverend Green, though it has to be said that he's been showing some signs of instability.

Well, members of the congregation have decided to sally out once more, this time to look for help.  There's a police station not too far away; perhaps the officers from it can protect and reassure the community?

Taking the field this time are a mix of familiar characters and some new faces:

• Reverend Green.  REP 4, Brawler, crossbow with just a single bolt.
• Ricky, REP 4, Greedy, cricket bat.
• Laura, REP 4, pistol and machete.
• Max, REP 4, Brawler, two-handed axe
• Matt, REP 4, Dim, gardening spade.
• Barbara, REP 5, Runt, katana and wooden stake (maybe she's confusing zombies with vampires?).

The Scenario

The gang have to reach the police station, ask for help and then return the way they came.  Sounds easy, but there are some things I haven't told them:

• Most of the police are out on missions of their own (or maybe have abandoned their posts or are dead, who knows?).  There are just 2 officers left to man the building; they won't be able to offer more than advice.
• Initially there are no zombies on the table.  A wave of them will be spawned on their 4th activation; they will be placed initially on random table edges.
• A second wave of zombies will be spawned half way through the game (as near as I can tell).  This area of town is going to be overrun!

The Game

So, how did it go?  Who lived and who died?  Read on to find out...

Predictably, the party split up (lambs to the slaughter, thinks I...):

• Rev. Green decided to try to break into the gun shop, despite being told that the place was armoured like a fortress.  Max appointed himself as the reverend's bodyguard, so he went along with this plan.  Mind you, I'm not entirely certain that this was to keep the minister out of trouble; perhaps Max wanted to be on hand in case the crazy clergyman needed to be...stopped?
• The rest of the party (Barbara, Laura, Ricky and Matt) proceeded towards the police station.

Barbara outran the others and, rather than wait for them to catch up, ran into the building on her own.  The resulting Meet and Greet went poorly: I guess that the cops didn't think much of a crazy woman bursting in wielding a rather nasty-looking sword and shouting some unintelligible gibberish.  They were just about to arrest her...

...when the rest of Barbara's group of citizens ran into the police station, closely followed by a pair of zombies.  More zeds were crossing the square; too many to fight!

The Cross and the Axe

What of the others?  Max and Rev. Green had finally given up trying to enter the gun shop (for now!) and were trying to catch up with Barbara's crew.  This wasn't completely successful; Max found his way cut off by a single zombie.  Although he knocked it down several times, it always got back up before he could move away.

As Rev. Green caught up, Max was still involved in this single fight, oblivious to everything else around him...

A rare double-event came up.  In the ensuing calm, Max ran away from his zombie opponent and Rev. Green realised that his cross had a certain weight and solidity to it; if he swung it right then it might do some real damage.  Both of these characters gave up trying to reach the police station and retired to the far side of the gun shop.

The herd of zombies, having lost sight of these two characters at the corner of the building, scattered and began shambling in random directions.  Oddly, most of them chanced to be heading straight towards the police station.

Max was once again ahead of Rev. Green and was trying to find another route to rejoin the rest of the party when he was set upon by 3 of these wandering zombies.  Perhaps it the more open space gave him room to swing his axe, or maybe he'd just had enough of being pushed around - either way he was far more deadly in this outnumbered fight than he had been before.  All three zombies were cut to pieces in fairly short order.

The Police House

Back at the cop shop, there was an almighty skirmish as two zombies followed the civilians in through the front door.  The police gave up trying to arrest Barbara and instead fought for their lives.  Clouseau was knocked to the floor by his opponent; he was fortunate that his body armour absorbed the damage.  Then the player characters waded in to assist and with their help, the zombies were quickly dispatched.

A temporary truce was called between the police and the civilians, especially when they saw that zombies were gathering outside the building.

So, here is the situation:

• The cops were busy trying to barricade the front door of the precinct house against a large group of zombies.
• The civilians left the police station and, after a brief conference, scattered to try to break into and take a vehicle...
  
  
  
  
  ...or, in Rev. Green's case, the gun shop.  He was determined to gain entry to the building.
  
• At this point, the second wave of zombies arrived.

Split up and Look for Clues...

Inevitably, the arrival of so many new zombies caught the scattered players out somewhat.  Barbara was ambushed by two of the undead, but used her katana to good effect and quickly dispatched both assailants.  She then left the table discreetly and safely.

Rev. Green and Max were also surprised.  A steady stream of zombies attacked them, but these were spread out and the two characters were able to deal with them one at a time.

The others were not so lucky.  Matt, Laura and Ricky were set upon by a large group of the undead.  Laura's shots missed, then the zombies were upon them and a desperate melee ensued.  Ricky fell to the teeth and tearing hands at the first contact.

The Beginning of the End

Hearing the shots and the sound of fighting, the two police officers abandoned their front door barricade and ran out of the station's side exit.  They weren't the only ones to be attracted to the melee, though; zombies were closing in quickly.

Matt stepped over Ricky's body to try to hold the line, but he was torn down just as quickly as his colleague.  Only Laura seemed to be winning her fights...

Whilst zombies were munching on the bodies of her colleagues, she took the opportunity to escape.  There was no point in trying to assist the two police officers - Clouseau was already dead and Callaghan was surrounded and barely keeping on his feet - so she ran for it!

For the cops, the end was swift...

Last Rites

Back at the gun shop, Max finally cracked.

Even as Rev. Green finished off the last zombie in the vicinity, Max ran for it, unable to face the horror any more.  He didn't go far, though.

Laura rejoined Rev. Green and Max just in time to help clear one last shambler out of their path.  The road ahead was empty now; all they had to do was leave the board in order to escape safely and there were no zombies or other hindrances anywhere near them...

Of course, things are never that simple!  An unexpected random event caused a single zombie to be placed close to the remaining 3 characters.

Still, this wasn't a problem.  All the players had to do was leave the table and they'd be safe.  A single move would do it.  Just leave the table...

Of course, the players decided to attack!  Unfortunately, both Rev Green and Max failed their "brown pants" rolls and so Laura was the only one who actually engaged the zombie.  Even more unfortunately, she lost the melee very decisively and was knocked out of the fight, badly wounded.  Disastrously, the zombie won the next activation roll and promptly tore her belly open, killing her instantly.

At this point, Max ran away.

Rev. Green, convinced of his own invincibility, tried to stop the zombie from eating parts of Laura's body.  His melee skills were no better than hers, though; he also fell to the lone zombie.  There was no-one to save him and so he (probably) bled to death whilst the zombie feasted on the corpse of his parishioner.

Conclusion

Out of 6 characters (8 if you include the two cops), only Max and Barbara escaped.  What can I say?  It seems that each time I put players in a game where the only sensible decision is to flee, they stay and fight.  Sometimes I simply despair of humanity 🙂!

ATZ: The Lost Sheep (part 2)

Introduction

In the last installment, Reverend Green was about to be jumped from behind by a couple of zombies.  He was following a member of his congregation (Kimberley) who had run from the horror and not really paying attention to anything else.

A long way off, Ricky and George could see what was about to happen.  Could they run fast enough to save the priest?  If they joined in, would they end up as zombie chow themselves?  Read on to find out what happened next...

The Game (continued)

The two trailing zombies reached for Rev. Green, but some sixth sense must have warned him of the danger at his back.  In a bravura piece of brawling, he knocked them both down.  One of the monsters fell awkwardly, split its skull open on the concrete pavement and lay still for ever more.

Hearing the sounds of fighting, Kimberley plucked up enough courage to look back around the corner.  More zombies were approaching and the young woman couldn't leave the minister to face them alone.  She swallowed hard, then charged into the fray.

The young woman pushed the nearest zombie to the ground and started to hit it with her tennis racket - again and again.  When she had finished, the "fat lady" zombie was clearly not moving any more.

Ricky and George charged towards a third zombie which was threatening to outflank the reverend and attack him from behind.  Neither of them had ever seen a zombie before and neither had ever been involved in any violent activities, so it was no great surprise when Ricky bottled it and pulled up short.

George, on the other hand, charged straight in.  Despite being REP5 and facing only a single zed, he lost the fight badly and ended up on the ground, stunned.  This was extremely dangerous for him, as he would require a complete activation to recover his wits and another to stand up before he could defend himself to any great effect.

The players' luck was amazing, as once again the zombies fluffed one activation roll after another.  They moved like molasses, moaning and reaching for the living, but never quite reaching them.

George finally threw off his daze and got back onto his feet, just as Ricky pulled himself together, ran forward and whacked the zombie hard with his cricket bat.  It crumpled to the floor at the same time as Rev. Green finally dispatched his final opponent.

Suitably wary, the party continued in their quest to find Laura.  They hadn't entirely believed the news reports or government advice before, but zombies were real; there was no room for doubt any more.  This made their search all the more urgent!

The Long Search

Note the very large potholes all over the road at the end of the cottage, courtesy of a "rough terrain" random event card.

From this point on, the party decided on two things that they would do differently:

1. They would stick together - no more splitting up.
2. They would try front doors - no more breaking and entering.

The next house they tried was full of zombies [especially the bathroom; what's that all about?].  Fortunately, both Kimberley and George were quick enough in reacting to retreat without a fight.

"We did remember to lock the door, didn't we?"

The party became slightly strung out as they ran away from the zombie house, towards the burger bar...

...but all they found there was a single, slightly dirty man who (a) didn't know anyone called "Laura" and (b) had staked his claim to all the Doomburgers(TM) in the restaurant & wasn't prepared to share them with anybody.

George might have tried to reason with him, but the man had a very functional-looking rifle and was clearly getting a little bit agitated by their continued presence, so they left him to his food.

On to the next house, then.  This time, Kimberley kept watch outside whilst George opened the bedroom door.  There were 3 more zombies in there, but the little man quickly shut the door again, then started to drag the settee across the opening..

Ricky went into the bathroom, where his natural propensity to acquire things kicked in [remember that 'greedy' trait?].  The Reverend followed and started to remonstrate with him, reminding Ricky that this was someone else's house and in any case they really didn't expect to find weapons, booze or car keys in a bathroom.

And so it was that no-one was looking in the right direction when another zombie crawled out of a broom cupboard in the corner.

Mind you, I should read my own event cards more carefully.  The zombie ought to have attacked straight away, but we played it that the monster was just placed.

George was too busy holding the bedroom door shut to notice anything amiss, but Ricky and Rev. Green left the bathroom before the zombie could move.  Without hesitation, they both set upon it and by the time that Kimberley came to see what all the noise was about, the creature had been pummeled into the ground.

Cornered!

Hoping that the barricaded bedroom door would hold, the group ran from the third cottage into the fourth and final home.  This time, George stood outside whilst Rev. Green and Ricky searched the main room.  The minister found a crossbow hanging on the wall, though was somewhat chagrined to find that it only had a single arrow [courtesy of another event card, a few turns later].  Ricky hunted through the cupboards and came away with a number of tins of food [fruit cocktail, chopped tomatoes, cherry pie filling...].

Meanwhile, Kimberley investigated the bedroom.  Again, there were 3 zombies in it; all young women in various states of undress [another WTF? moment; the models were drawn semi-randomly from the box...].  Once more, the zombies were slow to react and Kimberley shut the door quickly - but only just in time to prevent the zeds' reaching arms from grabbing her.

Rev. Green ran over to help Kimberley; between them they piled trunks, the TV and chairs against the bedroom door.  On the other side, the zombies were tearing at the barricade with their bare hands, but weren't making much impact on it.

George stepped into the cottage's front room.  "Guys, it's getting quite busy out there!" he said.  "I think we should be leaving".  Several zombies were approaching from the square, but there was probably still time to escape.

"I'll just have a look in the bathroom", replied Ricky - and there was Laura, cowering in a corner.  Of course, Ricky then wasted time by looking for stuff that he could take [greedy, remember?].

I love my random event cards.  Sometimes [quite often, really], they're just so appropriate for the story.  On this occasion, the bathroom door couldn't be reopened.  Maybe Ricky had locked it inadvertently behind him and was panicking too much to realise?  Or perhaps the door was badly fitted and stiff?

Whatever the reason, the party now found that Laura and Ricky were locked in the bathroom.  There were 3 zombies in the bedroom and more approaching the front door.  What would you do?

The party quickly locked the cottage's front door, then Rev. Green and George tried to force their way into the bathroom.  Meanwhile, Ricky and Laura climbed through a back window and out onto the street.

What with the zombies trying to break their way in as well, there was a fair amount of tense action happening!

For some reason, the zombies found the locked and barricaded doors to be quite tough going.  In contrast, Rev. Green kicked the bathroom door in quite easily.  Seeing the open window, they guessed where Ricky had gone and a few moments later the party was all reunited in the street.  They paused for a moment, hugging the building's gable wall to avoid being seen by the zombies who were all congregating on the house.

"OK, everybody ready?  Let's RUN!" called the minister - and he took off without waiting to see if the others were indeed prepared.  "Wait, what?" responded George, but everyone else took to their heels and he had to follow.

Zombies in the square saw the fresh meat and moved to intercept the people.  Although slow, they were able to cut the corner and one of them got close enough to George to trip him up.

This time there was no miracle respite and the zombies tore George apart in a brief, but violent, feeding frenzy.

The remaining humans fled, appalled at the sight and in no mood to do anything other than escape.  As they did so, Laura screamed imprecations at Rev. Green.  "You IDIOT!" she shouted.  "We could have waited until they had gone the other way.  We would all have made it!" [courtesy of an 'Argument' random event card.  Laura won the argument's first round very convincingly (and very loudly!), but soon ran out of breath].

As a final kick in the teeth the heavens opened and it started to pour, soaking the survivors and lowering their spirits even more [one last event card.  Tragicomic, really].

Conclusion

As so often happens in games of All Things Zombie, the party ended up with a similar number of people as it had at the start; it just wasn't the same people.  I suspect that the zombies' early inertia had given the players a false sense of security, so that when the double zed activation came [as it always does at some point], they lost a party member.

Still, for a bunch of citizens, half of whom didn't even have an improvised melee weapon, they didn't do too badly.  The mission goal was achieved [how unlucky was it that Laura was found only in virtually the last possible hiding location?!], so perhaps they should be eligible to test for REP increases after all?