Got the kids into bed and sat down to watch The Walking Dead last night. The wife came down a few minutes later and sat down on the couch with me. I said, "You might want to change the channel" and handed her the remote, knowing that she wouldn't appreciate zombie brains splattered across the screen. Instead, she watched for a few minutes, then started asking me about the characters, what's going on, where are they, etc. I have to admit, it was the first episode I've seen this season, so I wasn't entirely sure. In the end, she watched one and a half episodes with me. I did have to remind her a couple of time that I told her she might want to change the channel, but she kept watching! This morning when she came in from walking the dog and saw I was doing a zombie game, she asked how it was going, then said, "Don't worry about it, we've all wanted to shoot Darryl at some time." Had to laugh at my wife quoting from The Walking Dead!
Well, we're finally on to the third adventure here: the zombie hunters are figuring out what's going on (that is, I'm getting the hang of the rules) but they still have to make it back to the safety (?) of the cabin and their cars, and decide what to do from there. At first, they thought since they were running from the fire tower, that the zombies would be behind them, but they found out in their last adventure that the zeds can be anywhere so they are going to be more careful this time.
The cabin and outhouse are actually from Eric Hotz's Whitewash City 25mm Old West collection. I just shrunk them down to about 15mm/18mm size and printed them on regular paper. They were just a tad small, but worked pretty well.
Initial Move:
Angel rolls a 3 so the team moves 6-1/2" in their first move. The team moves on to the board with Bob watching the right, Angel and Ahmed watching their front, and Joe watching the left. I roll a 2 for number of zombies, plus the ZAL gives me 3 to start. Is zed activity slowing down already? (Ha! Never!) Zombies are placed left front, right front and rear. The team's surrounded. Sort of.
Turn 1:
Fortunately for them, the zeds roll a 6 on their initial activation and can't move. The team rolls a 2 and will try to squeeze through between the zeds to their front. Angel rolls a 3 again letting the team have a reasonable move, but probably not enough.
Turn 2:
The activation rolls tie with 1s a piece leaving everyone in place for the turn. The team checks their ammunition now knowing that nasty surprises could await them around any turn.
Turn 3:
The zeds rolls a 5, so can't move, but the team rolls a 6(!) and also can't move. This is starting to look like Sitzkrieg all over again.
Turn 4:
Again the activation roll is tied 1s. No movement on either side.
Turn 5:
And this time it happens - the zeds activate with a 3, but the team is still immobile with a 6. All right, zombies - bring it on! Bob is charged by the zombie on the right. The one on the left can't quite reach Joe, though. (oops, directions reversed in the photo - Bob is on the left and Joe is on the right. I wrote the descriptions from their perspective.)
Bob fires while the zombie is still moving and rolls a 6, 2 x 3s and a 1, giving him two hits. He rolls an OD and is safe from having to melee the nasty critter. Joe only fires one barrel of his shotgun just in case, rolling a 6, a 4 and 2 x 1s and scores one hit. He misses the OD, but the zed is knocked down.
Only one zombie is attracted to the gunfire and appears to their left rear.
Turn 6:
Again! The zombies activate with a 3 while the team is rooted in place with a 6! What is going on? Have they lost their nerve? This does not bode well for the future!
At least Angel thinks to check their back and sees the two zombies coming up from the rear. They won't be surprised if they get stuck here another turn. Joe's zombie regains his feet and charges, so he fires his second round. No hits! This is going to get interesting! Angel fires past Ahmed and also gets no hits. Bob has a pump shotgun so he chambers another shell and lets loose: 3 x 6s and a 1. He gets his two hits but fails to OD the zombie, knocking it back and down again. With one at their feet and two more closing in from behind, the team is having trouble with their zed control this time. Fortunately, the six shots yield no new zombies this time around.
Turn 7:
This time the zeds roll a 6, rooting them in place, while the team just passes with a 5. And they're not hanging around to see what happens! But wouldn't you know it - Angel rolls a 5, slowing the team down to 5-1/2" for the turn. They have their camp in sight and are looking forward to its security, such as it may be. Everyone reloads on the go.
Turn 8:
Again there is no activity - both the zeds and the team fail their activation.
Turn 9:
Everyone is active this time around, with the team moving first. Angel rolls a 4, slowing the team to 6" - they are just keeping up with the zombies.
Turn 10:
Both sides roll a 5 so the zombies fail to activate while the team just passes. Angel only slows them down a 1/2" this time so they bolt into the cabin and lock the door. Safe! Or so they think. . .
At the last minute, Bob thinks to check both rooms of the cabin. Yes, they are clear. No zombies entered while they were out. They still have three zombies to deal with and any that gunfire might attract but for the moment. . .
Turn 11:
Both sides activate, but the team is just watching and waiting as the zeds approach the cabin. Unfortunately, there is no window in the back of the cabin so the team has to wait for the zeds to work their way around the sides and front.
Turn 12:
The zombies activate, but the team doesn't this time. Doesn't really matter since the team is inside the cabin and not moving anyway. One is at each window and the door so that everyone will know when a zombie appears.
Bob is not surprised when a zombie appears at the window and naturally fires in reponse, rolling a 6, a 5 and 2 x 4s. He's hit it twice and ODs it, but the gunfire attracts another zombie.
Turn 13:
The team activates, but the zombies don't, so nothing happens. The team wonders what they should do.
Turn 14:
Everyone's active. The team waits. Two zombies appear at the window. Bob lets loose another round rolling 2 x 5s, a 2 and a 1. He gets two hits, but can only select one target due to the range. The second zombie at the window has been following them all the way across the board. There are still two zombies to deal with, but the gunfire attracts yet another one to their right front while one that was in the trailer climbs out and starts for the cabin! Wow! Ahmed just realized he had his bow in the trailer and was thinking of sprinting out to get it. Good thing he didn't!
Turn 15:
Both sides activate again and the zombies move first. Bob fires, getting one hit and ODing one of the zeds. Joe and Ahmed change places so that Joe can use his shotgun against the zombie coming out of the trailer. He gets two hits from one barrel, rolling 2 x 6s, a 4 and a 2, and ODs the zed in the yard. No new zombies come out of the woods this turn.
Turn 16:
Both sides activate and Bob leads the turn by firing at the last zombie in the window. A 5, a 4, a 3 and a 1: he gets two hits and ODs it. Both Joe and Ahmed are somewhat surprised when the last zombie rounds the trailer and heads for the door of the cabin. Joe gets two hits with a 6, a 5, a 2 and a 1, and ODs it. The gunfire attracts another zombie so it's not quite over yet.
Turn 17:
The team can't see the new zombie because the outhouse is between it and the house. They decide discretion is the better part of valor, though, and decide to wait a bit before venturing outside again. Everyone reloads, just in case.
Turn 18:
A tied 1 on the activiation roll results in no activity.
Turn 19:
The zeds can't move while the team just passes its activation. "Dang," Angel says. "I have to go to the bathroom."
Turn 20:
The zeds are still inactive so Angel ventures out the cabin door. Rolling a 6 she's only able to move 5" and doesn't make it to the outhouse. She is completely surprised to spot the zed next to the outhouse. She fires getting 2 x 6s a 3 and a 2. Even with her surprise, she gets two hits and ODs the zombie.
The battle for the cabin is over and peace returns to the woods. For now.
Evaluation:
Not as many zeds this time led to not as much happening and a more manageable game. They probably needed it after the excitement of the last game, although Bob and Joe were both charged at one point. The biggest problem was getting stuck in the open for so long - 6 turns without being able to move. In the end they prevailed. That was a long game with 20 turns, but it went relatively quickly - mainly because no one could do anything!
