Wednesday 5 June 2013

ATZ Game 11 (part 2): Camp Medomak

Introduction

Last week, in our club game of All Things Zombie, some of the survivors reached Camp Medomak - an old military base currently being used for refugees.  The civilians and their remaining National Guard escorts had barely entered the camp before it was attacked, initially by crazed gangsters and then by zombies, attracted by the noise.  However, our 2 hours at the venue were up before the scenario was concluded.

Normally, I run a different game each week at the club, just for variety.  However, this week I decided that we had to find out what happened next, so we set up the same table and proceeded to play out the remainder of the interrupted game.

The Situation

For those who cannot remember, or who haven't already read part 1, here's how it stands.  In the wrecked gate to the camp is the burning remains of the gangsters' truck.  Corporal Van Damme has taken an armoured personnel carrier from the vehicle park and is trying to turn it towards the wreck.  Other soldiers are running about all around the base (and outside it!).  Since Major Brosnan was shot dead in the previous game and since Sergeant Costner and Corporal Van Damme haven't stepped up to the mark, the troops are effectively leaderless.  Of the newly arrived civilians, John, Darcy and Lizzie are doing what they can to help, first by fighting a fire in the furthest hut, then by moving to the fence line.  Finally, Edna is still looking for a nice cup of tea in the administration block.

What Happened Next

Almost immediately, a large group of zombies arrived at the north part of the fence.  This fence was already slightly damaged from attacks in the previous episode, so the arrival of such a large number of attackers didn't bode well!

The mob of zombies at the north end of the fence looked very intimidating!  However, poor activation rolls meant that they didn't move very much.  Between Norris's enthusiastic firing of his minigun and John and Darcy's careful, aimed pistol shots, the numbers were quickly reduced and the pile of bodies against the fence grew and grew.  Darcy, at REP 5 and with the marksman ability seemed like he just couldn't miss.  Lizzie, on the other hand, was having a very bad day and barely hit any of the attackers with her pistol.

Elsewhere

Meanwhile, in the south, various soldiers took potshots at a little girl zombie in a blue dress (marked with a '*' on the large picture above).  She unsettled them by just standing there, as if waiting for something.  3 times she was hit by bullets and knocked down, but each time she just stood up again.  Creepy!



The pair of soldiers stationed at the southern corner of the base finally managed to destroy the girl zombie.
By that time, other shamblers had reached the fence and were tearing at it with their bare hands, trying to break through.  The fence was holding, for now, but these were ordinary troopers and not hero survivors; they weren't hitting many targets and the number of zombies was increasing slowly.

As if this wasn't bad enough, a large group of refugees now burst out of the trees to the east.  Presumably they were looking for a safe haven, but their mood was ugly and their anger was directed against the government forces.

In response, Corporal Van Damme drove his APC at the burning pickup truck; the big army vehicle shunted the wreckage out of the gateway without much trouble.

Trooper Dalton was still outside the camp at this point.  He saw the flaming wreck coming towards him and ran in the other direction.  This attracted the attention of some of the zombies on the main road; Dalton then fled into the woods with these creatures trailing some distance behind.

The soldiers at the gate fired on the rioters to dissuade them from approaching any closer.  Although their aim was appalling, the mob hesitated as one of their number fell, wounded.  However, it was the sight of the large armoured vehicle approaching that caused them to break and scatter.

"Run, little people, run!  Run all you like" whispered Van Damme to himself as he drove the APC into the midst of the fleeing crowd.  A few of the panicking civilians were able to dodge out of the way, but others were not so lucky and were crushed remorselessly under the huge wheels!

Finale

Reinforcements, in the shape of Darcy and more soldiers, raced to the threatened southern corner.  There, the pendulum swung as careful, placed shots wiped out most of the attackers.

...while back at the north end, John and Lizzie were left to finish up.

Finally, after running about from one part of the base to another all game, Sergeant Costner had found another trooper to drive the GPV for him.  They parked it in the ruined gateway and the sergeant used the vehicle's .50 calibre machine gun to wipe out zombies at long range.

Conclusion

Technically, the ATZ Haven: Safe Zone game isn't finished (because we haven't seen some of the '*'-marked encounters).  However, it's a very busy scenario and we've already spent 2 sessions on this game; I decided to call it.

So, let's see.  The rioting mob is well and truly dispersed and running for their lives.  There are still zombies on the board, but some of them are chasing Dalton through the woods and others are attracted to the fleeing refugees.  Of the few that are actively attacking the base, none really have any chance of breaking in.  The fence is sagging a bit at 2 points, but still has some way to go before being breached.

I'd say that overall there are no credible threats remaining on the board.  Most of the troops and all of the civilians have survived (I don't know if we'll see Dalton again and Van Damme apparently plans to just keep on driving), so I'm ruling this a successful defence of the camp!

We didn't roll for REP advancement on the day, since time was too short and we had to pack up.  That'll have to wait for another occasion.





16 comments:

  1. Great conclusion to the episode and I'm sure you can write this up as a success.
    Did you ever come close to running out of deceased counters ? -the final dead zombie count must have been substantial.
    Oh, and as soon as you mentioned the little girl zombie, I just knew she was going to be trouble.

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    1. Well, I certainly made inroads into my stock of "splat" markers - but I wasn't really that close to running out.

      Yes, the little girl zombie was freaking out some of the players - just standing there and getting back up after each knock down.

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  2. Lol seems Van Damme is even more homicidal than first thought!
    Great batrep once again mate.

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    1. He does seem to have a bit of hostility towards civilians, doesn't he? It'll be interesting to see where this goes...

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  3. Great Report! the fence looks ACE!

    Best Regards

    Hobbyworker.

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    1. Thanks! Yes, I'm very pleased with the fence (even though I didn't get to deploy my 'damaged' section during this game).

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  4. Nice batrep again, the APC look super and love the names mate.

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    1. Some of the more extreme heavy weapons specialists in my collection are named "Stallone", "Schwarzenegger" and the like. Sadly, it's hard to justify including that type of hardware in a second-line National Guard unit!

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  5. Are the splatter/blood markers home made or did you buy them i like them? What happen to the coward i mean soldier that ran into the woods?

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    1. I made them myself; see here for the recipe: http://colgar6.blogspot.com/2013/03/splat.html . As for Dalton, I think he's still running :-) .

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  6. Very engrossing AAR, I could not stop reading it! You know to freak the players next time you want 4 or 5 of the little girl zombie sculpts all painted the same and which ever are the first two attacked have them as tough as this one, and the rest normal shamblers. The players will assume they are all tough from then on and in future games run like heck when they appear!

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    1. Ha, I could do, couldn't I? It's pretty sneaky, though - so I like it!

      Mind you, in this game there wasn't anything special about the stats for the little girl - she was just a regular zombie. However, a combination of high activation rolls (so she didn't move) and high 'damage' rolls (so she was knocked down rather than killed) led to this situation. This is one of the reasons that I love ATZ; the story pretty much writes itself!

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  7. Creepiest fact about that little girl is vandamme shot her down with a mounted machine gun in the previous mission and she came back in a zombie form for this one.

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    1. Ha, I hadn't remembered that!

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    2. That is creepy! I must see if I can get the safe Haven book it sounds like its full of scenarios.

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    3. Yes, that's right: "Haven" is the ATZ scenario book. It has between 1 and 5 escalating games for each of police, National Guard, army, gangers and survivors. You could use it as a campaign in itself, but I prefer to take elements from it (e.g. robbery, riot, evacuation) and mix them into my own scenarios.

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