Showcase: The Beast in the Lagoon

Introduction

For a while, I've had a feeling that a giant sea monster would be a useful addition to my collection of models.  Obviously it wouldn't fit with many of the games I play, but it should work well in the Pulp/Lost World genre, or fighting against Jason and the Argonauts.  Alternatively (and I admit that this is a bit of a stretch), it could serve as an alien opponent for a starship's away team on an uncharted, watery planet.  Or perhaps it's the "pet" for some megalomaniac evil overlord in a spy story?

Heck, I don't need to rationalise this; I just want one!

The Swamp Creature

I even knew which model I wanted for my nightmare maritime encounter: Scotia Grendel's F0070 - Swamp Creature.  Well, I finally ordered one at Carronade 2018, although I did have to wait a few days for it to be delivered.  It's now finished and I present it here for your entertainment.

The swamp monster comes in 4 parts: a thick, resin base with the head and smaller tentacles, plus 3 separate, larger tentacles that fit into recesses on the base.  These weren't a perfect fit, but a little carving and filing soon fixed that; no filler was needed.

The model was very simple to paint:

• One colour ("pigskin") for the body and tentacles.
• One colour (pale violet) for the suckers/undersides of the tentacles.
• Wash the monster all over (including the suckers) with a very dark brown.
• The eyes were painted black, then wet-brushed with silver to make them slightly sparkly/shiny.  A small, white spot was added to each eye.
• The water was base-coated with Paynes' Grey (a dark blue-grey, almost black), then highlighted with viridian green (a blue-green) and re-highlighted with a paler version of the same.
• For once, I've actually used a gloss varnish for a model!  This helps both the sea and the creature to look wet; not something I would usually do for land-based models.

So, this guy is big.  I've added a regular 28mm figure ("Crazy Joe", the lighthouse keeper) to the picture above in order to give a sense of size.  The beast isn't maybe capable of dragging ocean liners to the bottom of the ocean, but should be able to manage a steam launch, log raft, dugout canoe or sampan without too much difficulty.  And of course, those tentacles can probably reach quite a long way, even onto dry land or into a larger ship!

Sleep well, don't have nightmares 🙂!

Super Dungeon Explore: a game

Introduction

Last Thursday's club game was Super Dungeon Explore.  This won't be a blow-by-blow account, but rather an overview.  It was a very close game indeed...

The Beginning

So, the Questing Knight (in red armour) and the Thundervale Huntress (the centaur) tore through a number of kobolds and their pet hounds.  Initially, Princess Emerald (steampunk sniper) and the Royal Warden (black trenchcoat and hat) just stood and watched.  Of course I, as the dungeon consul, just spawned new monsters to replace these losses; I didn't care about such losses 😁.

After a while, the heroes seemed to realise that they weren't getting very far.  They switched to prioritising spawn points instead of destroying monsters.  This worked much better and they were working through the second tile when my mini-boss spawned.  Sadly, he was so ineffectual and was dispatched so quickly that I don't even have a picture of him; he just wasn't on the board for long enough...

The third and fourth tiles had some very well-entrenched zombies protecting their spawn points.  Nevertheless, the heroes did manage to destroy one of these before the arrival of the big boss (the Witch Queen, on her pumpkin carriage).

Now it took me a while to figure out how to use the Witch Queen effectively (call me slow if you like...).  She's not much good in a melee, can't heal very well - and the heroes were pretty well tooled up by this time.  However, she can throw curses like there's no tomorrow!

Above is a picture of the Questing Knight shortly before he expired: he is badly wounded and on fire, has hex, bane and ice curses and also is infested by a rabid squirrel and a ghost - none of which are particularly hindered by his considerable strength and armour.  He's not in a good way...

Last to die was the Royal Warden - though not before the Witch Queen had been reduced to 2 health left (from a starting value of 8).  One more turn might well have been enough for the warden to inflict 2 damage, so it is quite possible that the heroes could have won this game.  But they didn't...

Conclusion

We were playing the fan-published Lootimeter Mode rules, rather than one of the two official modes that come as part of the game, though we used 20 cards in each countdown deck rather than 16 .  I think I prefer this mode greatly; Lootimeter Mode provides some very necessary time limits and therefore imparts a real sense of urgency.  The heroes need to stick to their plan; they can't afford to deviate!

Not having destroyed the fourth spawn point made a huge difference, as it allowed the Witch Queen to activate an additional time every move.  In effect, she had 2 turns for each one in which the heroes moved; this is a big multiplier.  Heroes, you really need to kill those spawn points!

Dumbarton: Rock of Ages

Introduction

I don't normally post anything which isn't directly related to wargaming, but on a very few occasions I write other articles.  Today is such a day; my son and I spent the afternoon at Dumbarton Castle's annual "Rock of Ages" re-enactment event.

Now I've posted about Dumbarton Castle before (--> here <--), so I'm not going to describe the venue this time.  Suffice it to say that it's my local historical monument and we visit it on occasion.  Today was (very) hot and sunny and there was an event on...

Rock of Ages

"Rock of Ages" is an annual, 2-day event organised by Historic Scotland (the government agency that looks after ancient monuments).  Re-enactment groups with at least some connection to the west of Scotland in general and to Dumbarton Castle in particular gather to put on a show.

There are a multitude of camps set up where you can talk to the various groups, as well as a 10-20 minute slot in the main arena for each lot to show their stuff.

We arrived too late to see the Romans in the arena, but this is their camp.  A lot of the equipment and talk was about the Roman fleet and marines, who did after all penetrate further into/around Scotland than the legions.

The Romans were first into the arena at the end of the event, as might be expected.  Recorded history in Scotland pretty much starts with Romans, after all...

Vikings played a big part in the history of Dumbarton Castle (they besieged it and took away the survivors as slaves after the fortress fell).

As might be expected, the Viking reenactors were ... enthusiastic about their battle scenes; there was a considerable amount of rowdiness.  Note that the big guy on the right (with the long Dane axe) is apparently a Varangian; he has spent time in the middle east and has acquired some silks and other unusual elements to his costume.

I missed taking pictures of the medieval, renaissance and Napoleonic groups, though some of these can be seen in the arena shot at the end of this post.  Suffice it to say that we did have long and interesting talks with a medieval archer (about bows and arrows, duh!) & weapons maker (different types of swords, mostly), renaissance ladies (the intricacies of female costume & fashion), a WWI medic (battlefield medicine), a WWI officer from the eastern mediterranean (dysentery and camels) and a Viking housewife (food; they'd just finished lunch).

Here is a WWI British motorcycle "ambulance" taking a wounded German prisoner back to a dressing station.

This isn't a real tank, or even an attempt at a direct replica.  Rather, it's the sort of mock-up that toured Britain to show to the public in an attempt to get them to buy war bonds.  Apparently (a) it is the full size of the real thing and (b) it was built from plans in the Imperial War Museum - so it's authentic!

Late in the afternoon, there was a fly-past and some aerobatics from a replica SE5a.  Since my first great love was early aircraft, this was an amazing experience, though it is extraordinarily difficult to take decent photographs of aircraft in motion.  This is almost certainly the best of my attempts.

The final parade: these are some of the WWI soldiers and auxiliaries.  To the left of the background can be seen the host (in character as a Victorian policeman from Partick), Mary Queen of Scots and her ladies in waiting (in the blue dress, with hat) and just about visible are some of the medieval soldiers from William Wallace's army (near the saltire).

So, we came away hot and sunburnt, but it was a great way to spend the afternoon.  The re-enactors have my pity, though: they need to do the whole thing again tomorrow!

SAGA v2: First Game

Introduction

I've played a few games of SAGA before (most recently, here), but this time it's different.  At least, it's slightly different, as we recently played our first game of SAGA Version 2.

There are a number of differences between v.1 and v.2, though overall the game is much the same.  Others have reviewed these changes in depth, but here are some of the more obvious alterations:

• The way that the number of SAGA dice is calculated is more even: all units & heroes generate 1 die each (though levy and warrior units have a minimum size below which they don't count any more, so there's no point in hiding that 1-man warrior unit just for its dice-generating potential any more).
• Warlords/heroes are beefed up in combat, but cannot join with another friendly unit in a fight.  All combat is therefore one unit against one unit.
• Melee is one entire unit against another.  No more measuring to try to figure out which figures are involved and which are not.
• Movement is in a straight line; no fiddling around to measure weird curves.
• All the battle boards have been reworked and at least some of the abilities are quite different.

Overall, I think these changes make everything simpler and more consistent, but we have only just scratched the surface in terms of gameplay...

Our Game

So, nothing terribly subtle here.  We lined up 6 points of Vikings vs 6 points of Anglo Danes and threw a couple of terrain pieces on the table, then set to.

My Anglo Danes had fewer men overall than the Vikings, but more of them were armoured.  With that in mind, my central hearthguard charged forwards, whilst my warriors tried to avoid the Viking berserkers who were running a long way around a flank.

The initial clash between these well-trained & motivated fighters and their Viking equivalents was...bloody.

Elsewhere, a group of Viking warriors struggled against some unusually feisty Anglo Dane levy, who first dropped several of the Vikings with sling shots and then saw off the warriors' charge with minimal loss.

The remaining Anglo Dane hearthguards fought a war of attrition with a slightly larger group of Viking warriors.  Over a series of clashes, each side would win their charge and cause a small number of casualties, only to be driven back in turn when the other side counter-attacked.  Neither group was prepared to admit defeat and eventually they pretty much wiped each other out.

So, after a few turns, the situation was thus:

• The Viking berserkers still hadn't caught up with any enemies, though they were getting closer.
• In the centre, units from both sides were queuing up to fight each other.
• Both warlords were hovering just behind their front lines, looking for an opportunity to make a difference.
• There were lots of Vikings behind the wood on the left, but these hadn't made it into the fight yet.

Seeing a remnant of the axe-wielding Anglo Dane hearthguards retreating, the Viking warlord charged through the middle of the battle and cut them down.  This was brave, but left him tired and horribly exposed!

Vengeful Anglo Dane warriors from their second line swarmed all around the solitary Viking hero.  He fought to the last, taking 5 of the attackers with him, but the odds were just too great and the Viking leader fell to a well-aimed spear thrust.

Finally, the Viking berserkers arrived.  They charged into the Anglo Dane slingers and slaughtered them, leaving just one shocked man from the levy.  This wasn't without loss though: 2 berserkers fell as well.

In yet another tit-for-tat move, the reserve Anglo Dane warriors now attacked the depleted group of berserkers.

Knowing how dangerous these frothing loonies could be, the Anglo Dane warriors were boosted by a couple of battle board abilities: Like Rocks and Crush the Weak.  Despite this, they still lost two of their own number before they killed the remaining Vikings.

So, one more fight before the end of the game?  Anglo Dane warriors declared a charge on a slightly smaller group of Vikings.

Despite one of the Vikings declaring "Valhalla!", the defenders were wiped out.  The few remaining victorious Anglo Danes were promptly shot down by the nearby Viking archers.

Having finished off the berserkers, the last group of Anglo Dane warriors then assaulted the Viking archers.  The archers had the worst of it, though the slaughter was high on both sides.

The End

At this point, the turn limit for the game was reached.  As you can see, there weren't many survivors!

We counted up the "slaughter points" for casualties caused and it turned out that each side had exactly the same number!  But wait - bonus slaughter points are also awarded for entire units destroyed:

• The Anglo Danes had lost a large number of men, but surprisingly only 2 units were completely eliminated (one of hearthguard and one of warriors).  The other hearthguard, the other warrior and the levy unit all still had at least one figure left (and just one figure in most cases!)
• The Vikings had lost completely 2 units of hearthguard (including the berserkers) and 2 units of warriors (plus their warlord, though I'm not sure if he counts for these purposes).

Thus I declare that it was a (very) narrow win for the Anglo Danes, who have managed to drive off the seaborne invaders and defend their lands from pillage and ruin!

Conclusion

This game took just short of 2 hours, which wasn't too bad considering that we were learning and still referring to the rulebook on a number of occasions.  We had enough time to reset and play a second game; this went much more quickly (and led to a climactic battle between the two opposing leaders, where the Viking was ultimately cut down by the heavily boosted Anglo Dane hero ("Lord of War" is a very powerful ability for this type of duel 😃).

So, what did we think of the rules?

• Once we were familiar enough with the basic concepts, we fairly rattled through the turns.
• Sometimes a great plan was stymied by not throwing the right faces on the SAGA dice.  Of course, more forethought might have meant that a "plan B" could be followed instead...
• Similarly, melee (especially, but shooting as well, to a lesser extent) would produce unexpected results.  The dice could be especially kind or unkind at times, though this isn't really different from many other games.
• Warlords can be very vulnerable if they become isolated from their bodyguards!  Remember to use their free activation every turn either to move them to a place of safety or to engage the biggest threat.
• There were certainly some occasions where we forgot about free activations of all sorts (the warlord's personal activation, his "we obey" ability, the free manoeuvre for units more then 'L' from an enemy...).  This can be frustrating when you realise part-way through your opponent's next turn that you didn't make all the moves you had planned!
• Overall, I think we enjoyed both tester games a great deal.  We'll certainly play again, though I'll probably try to vary the scenarios a bit, rather than just using the single "pitched battle" setup that comes in the SAGA v.2 rules.

Black Powder: the Bridge at Ebelsberg

Introduction

It's been a very long time since I've played Black Powder.  It might even be as much as 2.5 years ago - that's when I last reported on such a battle: Grochow, 1809.  But despite all this, we haven't forgotten about the game and how much we enjoyed it.  Indeed, last Christmas I got the "Clash of Eagles" supplement.  Although this officially covers the 1812 invasion of Russia, it does have a wealth of stuff that is suitable for my 1809-ish Austrians, French, Confederation of the Rhine &c.

The Scenario

So, armed with this new inspiration it was time for a game.  We pitted my relatively small French & Allies force against Steve's much larger Russian army.  We couldn't really put these numbers head-to-head; the Russians would have a considerable advantage in numbers.  Instead, I took a scenario from the "Blunders on the Danube" Piquet supplement and adapted it.

The Battle of Ebelsberg

In the original battle of Ebelsberg in 1809, a large French army tried to catch a smaller Austrian group as it retreated towards the single bridge over the large & impassable river Traun and into the town of Ebelsberg.  There's a catch, though: the Austrians were waiting for one last, straggling brigade before they could retire.

Historically, most of the Austrians were extracted with a mixture of skill and luck, but the French managed to seize the bridge before the Austrians could demolish it.  This led to some vicious fighting within the town on the next day.  We'll be gaming the approach on the first day.

Our Version

Firstly, the forces are all shifted around to suit the armies available to us.  The Russians would be attacking (instead of the French) and the French would be defending (instead of the Austrians).

French Forces (General LeBeaux):

• 1 relatively strong French brigade is deployed across the road to Ebelsberg, in the middle of the table (Brigadier Gerard).
• A weak brigade of mixed units from France and Hesse-Darmstadt holds the village of Klein Munchen (Brigadier Meier).
• A weak Bavarian brigade enters from the south, starting on turn 1 (Brigadier Shultz).

Russian Forces:

• 2 small brigades of cavalry are already on the end of the table.
• An entire division of infantry (plus their artillery, of course) is approaching from the west.  Their light brigade is already on table; the two line brigades will enter from the left, starting respectively on turn 1 and turn 2.

So, the Russians outnumber the allies by somewhere between 3:2 and 2:1 (I didn't bother to count).  As per the Clash of Eagles supplement, they have a weak command structure and aren't good at musketry, but are stoic against casualties and well motivated to get stuck in to melee.

We decided that we'd randomise command values for officers.  Each of the commanders-in-chief would have a base rating of 9 and would add the roll of a fudge die (i.e. '+', ' ' or '-'), whilst each of the brigadiers would have a command rating of 8 plus a fudge die.  The result:

• The Russian C-in-C was a brilliant general with a rating of 10.
• The 2 Russian cavalry brigadiers were (from memory) a respectable 8 and 9.
• Every other commander rolled a '-', thus leading to a command value of 8 for the French C-in-C and a 7 for all the French brigadiers and all the Russian infantry leaders. It looks as if this is the dregs of the French army; either that or they are under-supplied, tired, hungry and dispirited.  Ooh, err...

Our Game

On turn 1, the wayward Bavarians started to arrive.  Their somewhat plodding general assumed that they were too far from the enemy to need to deploy for action, but he was wrong.  A dashing Russian cavalry leader led a wild charge which saw one infantry column caught in the flank whilst still in column-of-march [for anyone who doesn't know about horse & musket warfare, this is an extraordinarily bad thing for the defenders.  Indeed, for the cavalry involved in such an attack it's possibly the highlight of their entire careers].

Amazingly, the Bavarian 13th Line infantry didn't disintegrate immediately.  They took enormous casualties and were driven back a long way, but they passed break test after break test and just hung on.

As more elements of the Bavarian column arrived, their own cavalry charged the approaching Russian cossacks.  For a few moments, it looked as if the situation might be stabilised...

...but the Russian cavalry, having pursued the 13th Line almost to Klein Munchen, finally dispersed them.

At the same time, the Bavarian cavalry, having seen off the cossacks with some enthusiasm, encountered a fresh unit of Russian dragoons.  The clash between these squadrons was brutal: the lighter Bavarian Cheveaux Leger were swept away - but the dragoons were hit hard as well.  Indeed, that loss caused the demoralisation of the Russian heavy cavalry brigade; they played no further part in the game.

The damage had been done, however.  The Bavarian brigade was also demoralised; it retreated off the table (and presumably found somewhere a bit quieter to huddle until they could surrender and be taken prisoner).

[In reviewing this now, I realise that the Bavarian brigade should not have broken at this point, though they were indeed perilously close.  I had miscounted the number of units in the formation; they had lost 50%, excluding artillery, but not over 50%, as we require for a brigade to become demoralised.  Oh, well - it probably wouldn't have made much difference in the long run anyway...]

Elsewhere, large columns of Russian infantry plodded forwards, although their commanders didn't seem to be in any great hurry.  The more advanced units started to engage the nearest French, though 

true to form their shooting didn't achieve much other than to make a noise and a lot of smoke.

Since there were no survivors from the Bavarian contingent and therefore no need for them to stay where they were, many of the French units started to move back towards the bridge.  There was still a long way to go, mind.

The Russian advance was most active on the far right of the table.  Their leading infantry came off rather worse in an exchange of volleys with the French 4th Line, but there were plenty more attackers nearby to fill the gap.

A single unit of French heavy cavalry tried to fend off a Russian hussar brigade.  Both sides were wary, but in the initial clash both the French and one of the Russian squadrons were devastated.

With the French cavalry out of the running, the other Hussar squadron fell upon the flank of the exposed French infantry and sent them routing in all directions.

About this time, the Russian C-in-C all but gave up trying to get his subordinates to move their forces.  Instead, he took over command of all the units that were near his position and formed them into an ad hoc task force, which then proceeded to steamroller forwards.

The French continued their retiral, hoping to put some distance between themselves and their pursuers so that they would have time to negotiate the bottleneck of the bridge.  However, at least some of the Russian units kept up with them and stayed within musket range.

For a brief moment, it looked as if the bulk of the French infantry had indeed outdistanced the enemy.  The leading Russian battalions were pinned in square by the threat of a lone unit of French light cavalry, whilst the intermittently-rallied Carabiniers again slowed the Russian cavalry brigade, though at some cost to themselves.

The Russian commander was wary of the garrisoned village of Klein Munchen; past experience suggested that this type of position would be tough to crack with just infantry.  However, the Hesse-Darmstadt artillery was in the field outside the village.  A battalion of Jaegers assaulted the small battery and overran it; despite being lashed with canister and shot they simply ignored the casualties and came on regardless [by rolling a double '6' to save hits and thus managing to avoid the need for a break test]!

So, did the French escape?  For (I think) 3 turns in a row, Brigadier Gerard failed to give a coherent order to any of his units!  The French C-in-C ("LeBeaux") was too busy trying to shore up the right flank to intervene, so nothing moved.  Maybe a wagon was stuck on the bridge?  Or perhaps there were arguments over which unit should go first, or engineers were busily trying to prepare the bridge for demolition?  Whatever the reason, the delay was costly.

Russian infantry poured around the village, keeping carefully out of musket range, whilst (some of) their artillery pounded the buildings and their occupying Hessians.  The only good news for the French at this point was that a blunder sent a second Russian battery retreating at full speed back to where they had just come from.

Finally, a few French units formed into column of march and hightailed it along the road and across the bridge, whilst the French cavalry tried to slow down the Russian advance.  But there were simply too many attackers and the retreat had been delayed for too long; most of the remaining French units were caught in a pocket; we called the game rather than play it out to the inevitable end.

Conclusion

4 French units made it to the bridge (in column of march) and escaped; this was definitely not as many as I'd hoped.  It's just as well that Brigadier Gerard was captured, else I'd have had him court-martialed and shot!  I also note that not a single Russian unit was routed, though a number of them were shaken and only just survived break tests.

It sounds like a very one-sided massacre, doesn't it?  The early (and incorrect!) loss of the Bavarian brigade didn't help, yet the game felt remarkably even.  Right up to the very end it was possible that another 4 or 5 French units might have escaped, possibly even more.  Both sides had their chances and their frustrations, so it was engaging all the way through.

The bottom line: both players enjoyed this battle immensely, it was refreshingly different from the traditional "encounter" game and the way events unfolded with surges and pauses in the action felt like a real Napoleonic battle (as we understand it).  I don't think we could ask for more, really 😄.

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 🙂!