Random Blather

That's what I've been hearing all day from my 6-year-old, who could give James Joyce a run for his money when it comes to stream-of-consciousness.  I think he would drive the esteemed Mr. Joyce into the asylum, actually.  He hasn't stopped talking since he got up this morning around 7, even when we've asked him to.

But he did have an interesting story to tell about a "dream" he had.  No, not really, but that's what he said it was.  It was a zombie who turned people into cookies.  He had 2200 bakeries in his chocolate chip muffin fortress.  People called him Mr. Cookie because he ate so many sweets and everyone knew he was going to die.  He was 90 when he died.  I guess I better watch it, with all the sweets I eat, when I die I'm very likely to turn into a zombie who turns people into cookies.  I'm a long way from 90, however, so you're all safe for the moment. 

This "dream" of his was probably inspired by my Valentine's Day present from my sweetie:

A box of custom made zombie-themed valentine cookies.  You might not be able to make it out in the picture, but the little people have a bite out of their heads and their brains are showing.  The pink hearts are a little hard to make out, too.  They say, "Be mine or else".  The blue ones are heart-shaped brains.  And the white ones at the top say "I love you like zombies love brains". 

Never expected this one.  My wife is always full of surprises.  Last year, her gift was a box of Peanuts cookies from the same cookie decorator.  She has some standard ones she does, but I think my wife specifically requested some with Snoopy sitting on his doghouse as the World War I flying ace, because I really love Snoopy as the World War I flying ace.  Probably sounds silly coming from a 47-year-old-man, but it's true.  I have a tie with him on it.  It was my daughter's first Father's Day present.  I even have the book, Snoopy and the Red Baron.  Believe it or not, it's sitting on my bookcase alongside every book about Manfred von Richthofen (the real Red Baron) that I can find.  Yes, I'm something of a fan of his, as well.  I'm sure I posted pics of the Peanuts cookies somewhere but I can't find them now (of course) and the digital copy was lost when my computer had to be reformatted after a virus got me.  So I guess I'm out of luck.  But they were very, very cool - I really hated to eat them.  I thought for sure I'd put them on FB but no luck.

If you are interested in giving someone special some zombie-themed cookies, I couldn't find her website, but here is her FB Color Me Cookie.  She's located in Tire Hill, PA, but she'll ship anywhere. 

I have another post for you, too - maybe next week.  I haven't had time for a game since I've gotten home.  I have all the paper buildings for the next installment and I know what I want to do, I just have to find time to assemble them and game it out.  And I admit I still have to get the zombie figs out to Rebel Mike and Chris Wilson.  Chris, I need your e-mail so we can set up getting these zombies to you!

And the Winner Is...

Drumroll please...

I was somewhat disappointed that only four of you decided to offer up suggestions.  I was hoping to have several ideas to choose from.  All four had merit, but there were actually two of them that stood out - especially since they really captured the essence of what I was aiming at here.  So, without further ado, the envelope please...

Chris Wilson and Rebel Mike - will you both please come on up and take a bow!

Chris made the suggestion of people photographing a mini zombie diorama and adding a caption to it.

Mike thought it would be fun to see people paint up their favorite undead celebrities.  Or is that celebrity undead?  Either way, I think it will work. 

As a result, I'll paint up zombies for both of you!  I'd appreciate it if you guys dropped me a comment with your e-mail so I can get info on where you'd like your zombies sent (comments don't post automatically anymore so don't worry about giving the general public your e-mail address).  Thanks for playing and congratulations guys. 

I'm in the midst of playing Mr. Mom and a massive job hunt so I may be a little slow getting these out (still have a couple of Christmas presents around the house that need to get sent off - need I say more?), but I'll definitely get them to you in the near future.

A Bit of Christmas Cheer

No, I didn't get oodles of toys for Christmas.  Just a few.  And none that fit into Wanted: BRAINS! in any way, shape or form.  But my last post catapulted me well past 5000 page views (actually went from 4968 or so, to 5233 as of just a few minutes ago - that's 265 views in just the couple of weeks since my last post).  That may not seem like a lot when you consider there are blogs that have a thousand, or fifteen hundred, or even five thousand subscribers.  But I think it's a nice round number for my little zombie blog with 31 subscribers, 27 (well, 28 now) posts and which has only been in existence for a year and a half or so. 

At any rate, to celebrate, I wanted to do something for you, my readers, fans, stalkers, or whatever you consider yourselves to be.  Obviously there are a lot more of you lurking in the shadows than just the 31 zombie hunters that subscribe to the blog.  Which is a good thing.  A really good thing.  I mean, I could blog all the games and figures I wanted, but if you didn't read the posts, it would all just be for myself, now wouldn't it?  And I already know what the little suckers look like, and how the games turn out, and etc., and etc., so there's really no point in me blogging for myself.  Fortunately, I can say, with some measure of success, that I really am blogging for you!

So to show my appreciation for reading, I wanted to do something for you.  (I guess I said that in the last paragraph, but I had to segue into the next line somehow and that seemed the best way to do it.)  I have been mulling over a competition of some sort, with the prize being a handful of painted figs (painted by me, that is) to the person that I deem to be the victor of whatever nefarious scheme my madness generates.  Problem is, my madness isn't generating a whole lot of anything at the moment, except for an annoying buzzing sound inside my brain somewhere.  In discussing the idea with my significantly better half, she said when she's seen blogs do this sort of thing, they just ask a question of some sort in order to generate a lot of comments, then pick randomly from among the comment posters.  OK.  That's one way to do it, but it just didn't seem like a lot fun to me - for either me or for you.  Let's face it - this blog is all about having some fun for both of us! 

Since I'm not coming up with any good ideas, I thought for my first contest, competition, or what have you, I'd ask you for the good ideas for a contest, competition, or what have you.  Yup, that's right.  The first contest is a contest to come up with cool ideas for contests.  If you want to play along, just post a comment with your idea for a good contest for a zombie gaming blog like this one to host and the poster of the idea that I like the best will receive a handful of painted (by me) 15mm Rebel Minis zombies in the mail.  I'm supposed to go to some more military training in January for a month or so, so you might not receive them until February or March, but I guarantee you will get them.  I'll give you until midnight on December 31 to get your ideas posted.  No, you don't have to post at midnight on December 31, that will just be your last chance to post. 

That reminds me, I changed how comments are posted on the blog.  Now, you don't have type the two messed up words that you can never read into the box ('Is that a lower case 's' or an upper case 's'?  Can't tell - stupid thing!').  Instead, just type your comment and hit 'Post', 'Send' or whatever it says for you to do with it, and it magically pops up in Blogger for me to check the box and and click 'Post Comment' or whatever it says for me to do with it.  Then, BINGO, your comment appears on screen.  It's amazing. 

OK, so on with the contest.  READY. . . SET . . . POST!

3b: Back to the Sheriff's Office

The sheriff noticed the men standing around the office door as soon as he turned off the highway.

"Well, howdy, Jeb," the sheriff called as he stepped out of the car.  "What can I do you for?"

"Sheriff, these things are taking over the county!  We insist that you arm us immediately," Jeb, who seemed to speak for the group, said firmly.

"You knows that I can't do that, Jeb," the sheriff responded.  "We don't have 'nough weapons for everyone in the county, and those are official police weapons.  If they were to be used in the committing of a crime, well, that just wouldn't be good." 



"Well, you better do something, sheriff, because here come a whole bunch of those things," Jeb pointed, surprising everyone.

"Aw, heck."

*          *          *

 

Turn 1: Everyone activates, with the police going first, the civilians second, and the zeds last.  Two of the deputies open fire, getting one OD between them.  The one with the shotgun isn't sure whether to cover the civilians or the zeds. 

 

"There's more coming this way," one of the boys shouts, pointing to the rear of the building. 

The sheriff and the shotgunner move to the sides of the office.  "Get behind us," the sheriff yells to the civilians, who mass together by the office door.

 

The zeds just take their move forward.  Two more appear as the result of the gunfire.

 

Turn 2: Zeds move first, followed by the police, and then the civilians.  This is not looking good!  Four (!) zeds surround one of the deputies and another zed reaches a second deputy.  In the second match, each side passes one and melee will continue, but in the first match, the zeds overwhelm the deputy and knock him down.  They will spend the next turn feasting on him.  Three of the four civilians pass 1d6 on the See Zombie Death table.  Two of them Duck Back to the front of the police car and huddle there - these guys cannot move until game end, while the third Ducks Back, then collapses.  He will have to check on the Crazy About My Job table at the end of the game.  The fourth civilian is unaffected.  The sheriff and the other deputy maintain their positions and don't see what happens to their buddy, yet.



The sheriff and the unengaged deputy now move to help their comrades.  The sheriff takes out the zed in melee with his deputy, while the other deputy moves to help his friend who's down.  When he first gets a look at the zeds munching on the deputy, he runs away, but gets a hold of his wits and will activate normally next turn. 

 

The one good civilian runs up to the group of zombies that is munching the deputy and starts to bash one on the head with a rock.  Melee will continue as he did not achieve an Obviously Dead.

 

No new zombies this turn.

Turn 3: Most of the zombies are busy this turn but the others will move after the police, while the civilians failed activation. The two good order deputies and the sheriff now run to help their comrade. The sheriff passes 2 on his See Zombie Death check and carries on, while the other deputy, who was fighting the one zombie, Ducks Back behind the police car, but will activate normally next turn on the Sanity Table. The sheriff and deputy each OD one zed in the pack.

"Hey, watch out!" the sheriff yells to his deputy just in time, as a zed is ready to pounce on him. He is surprised, though, and cannot react fast enough. He will only have 1d6 in melee. The sheriff is able to get a round off at the zombie charging him, but it has no effect. The sheriff and his attacker will continue in melee, while the deputy is knocked down and munched, the zed spending the next turn focused on its lunch.  (GRK!  Due to a technical glitch beyond my control, I lost all of the narrative beyond this point, but I will summarize the rest of the game as well as I can.)

Turn 4: The zombies fail to activate, but the police and civilians both activate.  The sheriff gets a Knock Down in melee followed by a Pop Goes the Weasel.  The civilian with the rock bashes in the head of the one zombie, leaving the one eating the deputy and the one facing the civilian.

Turn 5: The zombies and civilians both fail to activate while the police move to get better shots at the zed in front of them.  All shots miss, though.  At the end of the turn a black Suburban pulls up and Sculder and Mully jump out, armed with shotguns this time.  Unfortunately, neither has seen a zombie death and must roll.  Mully only passes 1, ducking back behind the Suburban and she'll have to roll on the Crazy About My Job table at the end of the game.  Sculder immediately lets off at the zed munching the deputy and gets an OD.  Miraculously, no zeds appear.



 

Turn 6: Zeds, police and civilians all fail activation, so Sculder runs up and takes out the last zombie without attracting any new ones. 

 

The final tally is two deputies munched, and both Mully and one civilian degenerate to blithering idiots as a result of the See Zombie Death table.  The other civilians recover at the end of the game. 

 

*          *          *

Wow!  Another crazy game with people and zombies falling left and right.  It could have been a lot worse, especially with those See Zombie Death rolls. 

 

I'm done with my training this week and heading home on Friday.  Unfortunately, the sheriff's office won't survive the trip home, but I might need to rebuild the sheriff's office as with the sheriff acquitting himself so admirably (as well as Sculder - who knew?  Especially with that Wuss attribute), the sheriff's office might become a bastion of sanity amidst the zombie wastes.

 

Don't know when the next game will come, but happy gaming, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in the meantime!



The Fine Art of Zombigami

So, if you'll remember, my wife got me Zombies for Zombies link last year for my birthday.  I have to say that I find it funny that my wife would get me a book like that. While I have seen the classic Romero zombie films and some of the newer ones, like Zombieland, as well as a lot of The Walking Dead episodes, I'm not necessarily a die hard zombie fan.   I like ATZ because I can play it solo pretty handily and it doesn't require tons of terrain, figures, vehicles, etc., to play. 

On top of that, my wife is actually generally quite the prim, proper type. I must have 'turned' her (heehee, yes, bad pun intended), though, when she caught me watching The Walking Dead one night and rather than take me up on my offer when I suggested she might want to change the channel, she dropped onto the sofa beside me and started watching it with me. She even went so far as to record it each week so I wouldn't miss it! 

This year, being 1550 miles away from home on my birthday, I just got a box in the mail from my wife and kids.  Inside, I found

Yup, that's right - it's a book of zombie themed origami.  Silly as it sounds, it's actually a pretty cool book.  Like all half way decent origami books, it has directions for the various folds, as well as directions to make all kinds of neat zombie-oriented kinds of things.  Along with Suzie Gravemakeer and Seymour Guts, featured on the cover, you can make Starvin' Marvin

And the Re-Animator

 

In addition to nine other projects.  It also comes with 50 sheets of origami paper to get you started making all of your favorite living dead folding friends.

 

So if you're still looking for something to get that favorite zombie fan for Christmas or birthday, consider Zombigami and "create your own zombie apocalypse"!  





Day 3a: The Roadblock

First, I want to thank Sapper Joe (his blog can be found here) for passing on the Liebster Blog Award to Wanted: BRAINS!.  Thanks, Joe!  I appreciate your support, as well as the support of all my readers.  As I write this the blog shows 4, 341 views.  I guess that means a few of you enjoy reading each new installment, and that means a lot to me.  I enjoy coming up with ideas for the games and playing them out to see what happens, and it's equally fun to share the results with all of you.  Thanks for viewing!

I need to pass the award on to five other blogs that I enjoy.  The problem is that I'm not a big blog reader (that would be my wife) and even with the few I do read, I read them pretty irregularly.  Having said that, here are a few of my faves (in no particular order):

1. Mike Murphy's Bongolesia. link Mike's been a bit busy lately, but Bongolesia has provided a lot of entertainment for fans both on the site itself as well as on The Miniatures Page (if you're not familiar with TMP, check it out link ).

2. Although not a gaming blog, I have to give kudos to Allegria Images by Lynn. link  LEGAL DISCLAIMER: This is my wife's blog, but passing on the Liebster Award will be a complete surprise to her.  I am NOT passing on the award out of any sort of anything other than to let her know that I enjoy her blog.

3. Shelldrake's Zombie Wargame Blog link has the most original idea of Play-By-Blog.  He sets up a game and the gamers send their moves in, which he diagrams and posts to the blog along with the results of that turn.  Awesome idea!

4. Gunfreak's Apartment of War link , like the Lurker, always has something interesting on his blog.

5. Obviously Zed link is an enjoyable read and has had some interesting - and inspiring - situations set up for his zed hunters to deal with.

I was going to pass this on to The Angry Lurker, but he has over 1000 members so all he gets is an Honorable . . . er . . . Honourable Mention, and I had to pick another blog to replace his in the line up.

The rules are you have pass on the award to five other blogs with membership under 200 subscribers.  Thanks for sharing!

Now, on with the game...

*          *          *

Leaving Ahmed to watch over Angel, Bob got rid of the dead zeds and buried what was left of Joe.  There was plenty of food in the pantry of the farm house and Bob thought about holing up in it for a few days until everyone had some rest, but he thought it would be best to get back to Suburbia and get Angel what help they could get for her. 

Since he had to carry the three of them, plus gear and food, he decided to take the Land Rover with the Caravan and leave the Carmen Ghia.  He got the Rover gassed up, bringing a couple of five gallon cans of gas he found in the shed, switched the Caravan over and got everything packed up, getting Angel and Ahmed into the vehicle last. 

They drove in silence, traveling the unfamiliar route through Nowhere and Blowdown County instead of the more direct route they had tried the day before.  Only the day before?  It felt more like a century!

"Now what?" Ahmed wearily asked, indicating the blocked road ahead. 

"Looks like another accident or something," Bob answered.  He slowed down and maneuvered the trailer around the Jersey barriers. 

"What's up, sheriff?"  He stopped, rolling down the window.



"Howdy,  we're just trying to keep those things out of Blowdown County and Suburbia.  Any of y'all sick or had any run-ins with those things?"  the sheriff looked quizzically at Angel.

"Yes, we've been fighting those things for two or three days now.  Killed a whole bunch of them.  Yesterday one of them got our buddy, Joe.  It wasn't pretty."  He shuddered.  "It really damaged Angel and shook up Ahmed pretty bad." 

"Anybody hurt?" the sheriff asked.

"No, none of us are hurt," Bob explained.  "We're just trying to get back to Suburbia to get Angel taken care of." 

"We got an ambulance here," the sheriff pointed behind the sheriff's car.  "We can take her for you."

"That would be great - could Ahmed ride with her?"

"Absolutely," the sheriff assured him.  "Just pull up beside it there."



Bob pulled the Rover to the side and helped Angel and Ahmed to the paramedics.  Suddenly, he heard shouting and turned back.  He gathered that the police saw something down the road and, leaving Ahmed and Angel in the paramedics' care, he ran back to the barricade.

"What's that?" a deputy asked.

"Don't shoot," the sheriff instructed, "they could be just someone hurt or not sure of what to do."

Bob took one look and ran for his shotgun.  "Wrong, sheriff.  That's one of those things.  I suggest you shoot as soon as possible.  And watch for more.  There are probably more around."

"There's some in the woods."

"And look.  There.  There's more over there."

'Oh, shoot, hear we go again,' Bob thought.

Turn 1: The zeds fail to activate, as does one police team.  Bob has run to get his shotgun, but the other police team activates.  The zeds are just a little out of range, though, so no one moves or shoots as the police prefer to remain behind the barricades.

Turn 2: This time, the zeds activate with a 1 after Bob and one police team activate.  Bob moves up to the forward barricade, yelling to the police on his left (the active ones) to take on the zeds in the trees to the left.  Bob hits one of the zeds to the right and gets an OD result.  The police fire all their weapons.  The shotgun and one pistol both get hits with OD results (because of the range they roll against their Rep rather than weapon impact).  Despite three kills, four new zeds appear. 

"Hey!  There's more of those things coming!" 

Turn 3: Everyone activates!  Bob starts with a 5, but everyone gets a 4.  The police will move first since their team leads are Rep 5s.  Bob gets another hit and OD vs. the zed closing straight down the road on him.  One of the police on the right gets the last zed over there with a hit and an OD and one of the police on the left gets the same result against a zed on the left.  All the pistol fire is to no avail. 

"Hey, there's some behind us!"  Fortunately, a couple of the officers thought to look behind them and to the flanks, noticing the zombies coming in from behind.

Unfortunately, the fire draws four more zeds.

Turn 4: This time, everyone activates again, but the zeds go first, followed by the police on the right, then Bob and the police on the left.  One zombie reaches a deputy on the left and they begin melee.  The deputy passes 2d6 while the zed fails, but the deputy doesn't get an OD, leaving the zed knocked down. 

The police on the right react, by firing a the zed from the rear and the two from the right front.  The shotgun gets both of the zeds on the right front with ODs, but all the pistol fire fails to stop the zed from the rear.  Bob gets an OD versus the zombie to his front.  And turns to prepare for melee with the zed behind him.  The other police on the left fire at various zeds, getting one with an OD, but not getting any ODs from the rest of the shots. 



This round, only two new zeds appear.

Turn 5: Bob activates first with a 5, followed by the police on the right with a 4.  The zeds go last with a ,1 while the police on the left don't activate this turn.  Bob hits the zombie right in front of him with an OD.  One cop on the right (the shotgun) gets the zed behind them with an OD. 

The zeds move forward, and the detective being attacked by the zed on the left, again knocks the zed down.  Reacting to their movement, the shotgunner on the left hits the zed closing on the barrier and gets an OD. 

Since they didn't fire as much, only one new zed is attracted to the area. 

Turn 6: The zombies fail their activation roll, while everyone else activates with the police on the left going first, followed by Bob, and the police on the right.  The shotgunner on the left tries to take out the zed causing so much trouble, but trips and fires into the ground - completely missing his target!  Bob gets an OD against the zed in the road in front of him.  The shotgunner on the right also also gets an OD against the zed on the right front.  The field is almost clear, but one bad roll will ruin their day.  The ambulance is finally ready to roll and heads off towards Suburbia. 



Turn 7: Everyone activates, but Bob and the cops on the right go first, followed by the cops on the left and then the zeds.  Bob gets an OD against the zombie down the road and the shotgunner on the right gets the same against the zed in the trees, leaving only the one on the ground.  This time, the shotgunner on the left gets it right and rolls an OD versus the problem zed.  The field is clear but will the fire attract any new zeds?  No.  And it's game over for the good guys. 

"How did the zeds get behind us?" one of the deputies mused.

"We must have been wrong about them all being in front of us," the sheriff answered.

They all realized that didn't bode well for Blowdown County, Suburbia or any of the other areas to the south and east.

"And maybe it's not such a good idea to man a roadblock out here in the middle of nowhere," he added as an afterthought.

Day 3: Interlude

"And now, the Suburbia News Network has a special on-scene report from Sandy Miles.  Sandy?"

"Thanks, Jackson in the WSNN newsroom.  Hi, this is Sandy Miles from WSNN reporting from the roadblock jointly established this morning by the Sheriff of Nowhere and the Blowdown County Sheriff's Department on Route 45 on the north side of Blowdown County."



"The roadblock is intended to help keep the plague that some of the regions to the north and west are experiencing at this time from spreading into these counties and eventually into Suburbia.  Reports have been coming into to Suburbia regarding the things that are prowling throughout the region and spreading some kind of disease or pestilence.  The CDC has been contacted and is also sending agents to the area to investigate the nature of this disease." 

"With me now is Sheriff Blanding from Blowdown County.  Sheriff, what other measures are being taken to ensure this plague doesn't spread further?"



"Well, Sandy, with our limited resources this is pretty much all we're able to accomplish.  However, my cohort from Nowhere has assured me that the FBI is putting its full weight into investigating the reports and that they are doing everything they can.  I'm sure it's only a matter of time until they will return to assist us and provide an explanation for everything that's been happening over the past few days."

"Thank you, Sheriff.  Is there anything that people should be aware of or that they can do to assist law enforcement with this endeavor?"

"No, Sandy.  Residents should let us handle this situation.  They can help us by calling in sightings to the special hotline that's been established.  They should call only when they first see one of these things and not everytime they see one." 



"Second, they should stay indoors as much as possible.  We still don't fully understand what we're dealing with here.  Along with that, they should keep their children and pets indoors as well."

"That's about it, Sandy."



"Sheriff, thank you for your time.  That was the Sheriff of Blowdown County taking a few minutes from his busy schedule to talk with us about the developing situation.  I'll continue to be in the area for the remainder of the day in case of any critical information coming to light, but for now, this is Sandy Miles signing off.  Back to you, Jackson."

"Thank you for that report, Sandy.  And now, in other news . . ."

Day 2d: Out of Gas

So today being Thanksgiving and I'm several hundred miles from home, when the wife told me to do something fun today, the ONLY thing that came to mind was a zed game.  Of course, I'd been planning that for a while anyway.  Now that the game's over and posted, I can go to mess hall to enjoy my turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  Apparently they go over the top for holiday meals at the DFAC.  My instructor, a retired sergeant first class, brings her family in for Thanksgiving dinner every year, spending the time with her family instead of spending it cooking.  So anyway, here's the game and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there in zed land!

*          *          *

"Darn it!  We're almost out of gas and it's getting dark.  I guess we should have stopped at the crossroads to tank up but I just wanted to get out of there . . ."  Angel hit the steering wheel with her fist.  "We could have spend the night at the motel there, too."



"It's alright," Ahmed assured her, "we'll find something soon."

They drove on for a bit in silence.

"Hey, there's a farm up there.  Sometimes they have their own gas tanks," Ahmed pointed out. 

"OK, let's see if the farmer will let us have some,"  Angel replied, pulling off the road into the farmyard.

As they got out of the car, Bob called from the Land Rover, "Hey, what's up?"

"Out of gas!" Ahmed called back.  "We're going to see if this farmer can spare any."

Bob and Joe got out of the Land Rover to stretch their legs while Angel and Ahmed walked up to the house.  There was no answer at the door, so they walked around to the back, knocking at all the doors they found.  Nothing, but they did hear noises like someone was walking around inside.

"We can't get much farther on the gas we've got. Take a look through the window - I'll knock on the door again," Ahmed told Angel.

Peeking through the window, Angel staggered and almost fell down, stepping back off the porch.



Ahmed started towards her, concerned.  Hearing the commotion, Joe called "What's going on?"

Angel, the fear registering on her face pointed to the house, "Those things are in there?"

The others stopped in surprise.  "How many?"  Bob asked after a second.

"I . . . I only saw one," Angel told him. 

Ahmed thought for a second.  "Well, the doors are all secured, so it's either the farmer and his family inside, or a couple of the things got in there and the family left."  He peered through the window, cupping his hands around his face to get a better view inside.  "Either way it's good for us.  We can take care of the things and spend the night in relative security."

The others considered this and decided it was a good plan, especially since they had already noticed the fuel tank at the back of the yard.

"All right," Bob said.  "Let's look in the windows and try to get a feel for how many of the things are in there and the layout of the house.  That will make it a lot easier." 

*          *          *

After scouting around the house, the met back up on the porch.  They determined they could only see one zed inside, and they had a pretty good feel for the layout of the ground floor, noticing that there were a cuople of closed doors, and knowing there was a second floor and a cellar. 

"Ahmed and Angel, you stand guard out here."  Bob looked at Joe.  Ready?" Bob asked.  He nodded.  "Let's do it!"

Turn 1: The group automatically activates since the zombies can't do anything. 

As they went through the door, Bob went straight to the living room where the one zed they had seen and was still milling around.  Joe went in right behind him and stopped to watch the stairs and the hall to what appeared to be the kitchen.  Angel and Ahmed moved to opposite corners of the house to watch the yard. 



Bob's first shot hits the zombie, but only knocks him back and down. 

Shortly after that another zed appears at the top of the stairs, and starts down towards Joe.  He passes his In Sight test with 2d6 and fires one barrel of his shotgun.  He hits and gets an obviously dead against what was apparently the farmer's daughter. 

Since the sound is contained within the house, I've modified the zombie appearance roll and none show up outside the house this turn.

Turn 2: The zeds activate with a 1, while the group is inactive with a 6.  Bob's zed gets up and charges, while another zombie charges from the kitchen towards Joe. 

Bob passes his Being Charged check with 2d6 and fires, again only knocking the zed down and back. Joe passes his In Sight check with 1d6 and fires the other barrel, getting one hit, but only knocks her back and down. 



Still no new zeds appear.

Turn 3: Zeds activate first with a 2 over the team's 1.

The zeds both get up and charge.  Bob passes his Being Charged check and fires, getting two hits and an Obviously Dead, finally finishing his zombie off.  Joe also passes his Being Charged check, drops his empty shotgun and grabs a baseball bat that was sitting in a corner by the door.  And disaster strikes!  The zed passes its 1d6 Melee roll, while Joe passes none.  The zed gets an Obviously Dead result and will spend the next turn feasting on him. 



Angel and Ahmed hear Joe screaming and run to the door to see what's going on.  Angel passes 1d6 on the See Zombie Death check.  She ducks back out of the door and fails her Sanity test, putting her Out of the Fight until she can be checked on.  Ahmed fails his See Zombie Death check, running away.  But he then passes one on his Sanity check.  He will recover at the end of the game.

No zeds are attracted to the gunfire.

Turn 4: The team activates since the one remaining zed is otherwise occupied.  Bob turns around to help Joe and also fails his See Zombie Death check and runs away.  However, he passes 2d6 on the Sanity table and will recover next activation.



Still no zeds appear.

Turn 5: The team (or what's left of it) activates first with a 5 versus the zeds 4.  Bob has a big decision to make here.  He can either get to Ahmed and try to rally him, or he can run back into the house and try to kill the zed.  He doesn't know what's become of Angel, so he decides to head back into the house.  He fires at the zed's back and gets two hits, both of which result in Obviously Dead.

His shooting attracts one zed, as yet unknown to him. 

Turn 6: The team activates first with a 5 over the zed's 1.  Bob heads out the front door, looking for Angel.  He finds her huddled on the porch, terrified, but also spots the zed shambling across the road.  He passes his In Sight check and fires, getting two hits and an Obviously Dead. 

Bob does a quick check of the farm house to make sure it's safe, then pulls Angel through the house and into the mud room, shutting and locking the outside door and closing the inside door so she wouldn't see the mess that used to be Joe.  Ahmed fails his Rally roll but lets Bob lead him into the house also.  Checking on Angel again, she's pretty much done for.  She eventually declines totally into insanity and will have to be watched 24/7. 

Finally, the ordeal is over!

Wow!  That sucked!  The team survived several games, fighting off several times their number of zeds without a scratch only to lose one team member munched, one insane and one pretty much useless fighting three zeds!  Only Bob is functional, but he won't desert his friends.  This has taken a pretty interesting - and devastating - turn.  Certainly screws up my vision of what the team's going to do next. 

Day 2c: The Sheriff of Nowhere

Sculder and Mully, on their way to their next stop, happen to venture through the town of Nowhere and stumble on the sheriff's office.

"Do you think the sheriff will be cooperative or do you think he's just trying to push this off on the Feds?"  Sculder asked Mully as they got out of their vehicle in the parking lot.



"Don't know.  Depends on how much of a hick he is," Mully answered her long-time partner.  After a second of thought she added, "Although I'd think the hicks would prefer to deal with this kind of stuff themselves."

"Well, let's see what he has to say."  Sculder led the way to the door of the office.



As they entered the building and their eyes adjusted to the darkness in the office, they found a rather shaky sheriff and his equally shaky deputy pointing guns at them. 



"Um...sheriff, if you'll just let me get my badge, I'm Agent Sculder and this is my partner Agent Mully."

"Yeah, alright, let's see it," the sheriff drawled, holstering his weapon.  He indicated his deputy should put his away as well.

Inspecting Sculder's credentials, the sheriff asked, "so what do you Feds intend to do about this?"

"About what?  A couple of random zombies wandering the countryside?"  Sculder attempted to chasten his counterpart.

"Zombies!" the sheriff exclaimed with astonishment.  Recovering, he continued, "a couple of random zombies?  Agent Sculder, you don't know the extent of this yet do you?"

This caught Sculder off-guard.  "What are you talking about?"



"Every county to the north and west of here is covered with these things.  Haven't heard from anyone south of here, or what's going on in Suburbia, but this isn't just Nowhere's problem."

Sculder and Mully looked at each other.  "That explains all the calls we've been getting."

"No point heading north if it's more of these things," Mully offered up.  "Except we might find where they're coming from."

Sculder thought for a minute.  "That would be helpful, but at what risk?  Let's head for HQ and get more info on the extent of this - then we can plan a proper course of action."

Turning back to the sheriff, Mully asked, "Sheriff, can you join up with whichever agencies around here you think are most useful and set up roadblocks to keep these things from heading south, if, indeed, they aren't there already?"

"Well, sure can.  The sheriff down in Blowdown County is a friend of mine.  I'm sure we can work something out." 

"Good.  We'll be in touch," Mully assured the local law enforcement.

As they were leaving they could hear the sheriff already getting started.

"Now Barney, I need you to go fetch Gomer and Goober and the rest of the gang so's I can deputize them..."

*          *          *

 

The sheriff's office was made out of construction paper.  Didn't turn out too well because my only resources were a pair of kid's scissors, glue stick, construction paper, graph paper and a ruler.  If it proves useful for the future, I might recreate it later since it won't survive the trip home.  For now, though, it will do the trick.  You don't see much of it in these pics, but it has five cells in the back and three separate rooms - at least one of which presumably holds weapons and ammunition.  A useful fact in the zombie apocalypse.

Day 2b: Meanwhile...Down on the Farm

While our newly minted, yet intrepid, zombie hunters are making their way towards that Mecca of civilization known as Suburbia, the FBI has sent two of its best to investigate strange events that have taken place on a random, isolated farm in Nowhere.  (Yes, that's the name of the town.)  Agent Fox Sculder (Rep 4, Pistol, Wuss) and his partner Agent Dana Mully (Rep 4, Pistol, Hard-as-Nails) arrive at mid-day to question the farmer about what he had seen and heard.

*          *          *

 

The farmer came out the door, seeing the two FBI agents approaching the house.

 



 

"Good afternoon, sir, I'm Agent Sculder and this is my partner, Agent Mully from the FBI.  Did you report some weird events here yesterday?"  

 

"Yeah, I called the sheriff in Nowhere, but he he couldn't help me.  Said ta contact you fellas." 

 

"Where was the sheriff you called?"  Mully wanted to be sure she had the facts straight for her report.

 

"Nowhere," the farmer faced her.

 

"But...if you called nowhere...how could anyone have told you anything?" she asked, a little bewildered.

 

"Because Nowhere is the closest place to here," the farmer answered her with shrug.  "And anyways, that's what the sheriff told me to do."

 

Seeing the continued confusion on his partner's face, Sculder shook his head.  "Well, that doesn't really matter now, sir.  Please, tell us what you saw or what happened."

 

"Well, I was headin' out ta the barn when I saw ole John Hazen comin' across the field."  The farmer gestured behind him, suggesting the barn and field were somewhere behind the house.  "Somethin' looked funny 'cause ole John, he can't walk too good no more."  He shifted uncomfortably.  "I started towards him when I could see he looked like he was hurt bad with blood and guts all over him and then I smelled that stink."  He made a face.

 

"Can you describe the smell?"  Sculder prompted him.

 

"Yeah, smelled like dead, rottin' meat."  The man stopped.  "An' he was makin' a funny sound.  Kinda groanin' like,"  he added after a moment.  Continuing he said, "I ran back ta the house and called fer an amboo-lance.  Then I called the sheriff.  He said there was sumthin' funny goin' on all over the county and I should call you.  He said he already had a call in ta the FBI hisself."   

 

Sculder pointed down the length of the house.  "Is that kind of what your neighbor looked like?"

 

The farmer peered around the side of his house.  "Yup, that's just what he looked like."

 

"Oh, crap!"

 

Sculder and Mully drew their weapons as Sculder shouted, "Stop! FBI! Hands where I can see them!"

The thing kept coming

 

*          *          *

 

Turn 1: Zeds roll a 4, while the Feds roll a 2.  The zeds close in on the Feds and Sculder takes a shot.  One round hits and since the zed is just over 6" away, he rolls against his Rep and ODs the zombie. 

 

"Got one!" he gloats. 

 

"Yeah, but there's two more comin' up behind ya," the farmer points out.

 

Mully shoots past Sculder at the zed coming in from behind him.  She hits with one round, but only knocks it back an inch.

 

"Another one's comin' across the road," the farmer yells.

 

"Oh, here we go!"

 

Turn 2: Zeds roll a three, but the Feds roll a 5 and are stuck in place.  All zeds advance, and one is about to jump Mully when Sculder fires.  He gets one hit, but no OD - just knocking it back an inch. 

 

"Dang!  Why don't these things die?"  He asks of no one particular.

 

"And there's ANOTHER one comin' now," the farmer points down the road a bit.

 



 

Turn 3: This time, the Feds get a little breathing room - they roll a 3 to the zeds' 6. 

 

"Zombies!  They must be zombies!" Mully calls out. 

 

"Well how do you kill them?" Sculder yells back.

 

"You have to shoot them in the head or bash their brains out!"

 

"Screw that!  Let's get out of here!"  Sculder makes a command decision.  "Quick, into the vehicle!" 

 

Realizing the farmer is still on his porch, he shouts, "You too.  Come on, let's go!  We can protect you!"

 

"No, I've got ma farm ta tend.  Ya'll go on an' git!"  With that he turns and heads back into his house, slamming the door behind him.

 

Sculder and Mully jump into their vehicle and start it up.

 

Turn 4: The starter balks (just like in the movies!) and the Feds are stuck in place when they roll a 5 to the zeds' 3.  They shamble forward, surrounding the SUV.

 



 

Turn 5: This time, the Feds activate first with a 3, while the zeds have to wait with a 1. 

 

"Argh!"  The SUV still won't start!  The zeds can't do anything but mill around outside it.

 

Turn 6: Feds activate with a 2, while the zeds are immobile with a 6.  And they still can't start the car!

 

Turn 7: The Feds again activate with a 3, while the zeds remain immobile with a 5. 

 

This time, the engine roars to life!  Sculder throws it into gear and jams his foot on the gas, mowing down the zed in front of the vehicle.  The zombie is knocked down, but not OD! 

 

Turn 8: This time, both are active with the Feds rolling a 4 and the zeds rolling a 2. 

 

Sculder drives around the building, and the zeds shamble on their way, now that the vehicle with those tasty morsels inside are gone.

 

Turn 9: Neither side activates.

 

Turn 10: The zeds activate with a 4, and the Feds activate with a 1. 

 

The zeds continue to scatter, but Sculder catches one with the SUV.  Again he only knocks it down, but he and Mully aren't stopping to worry about it. 

 



 

Turn 11: Only the Feds activate this turn, and Sculder punches the pedal to the metal as they pull onto the road and exit.

 

In just a couple of turns, the zombies all shamble off the board, and peace and quiet again return to the farm.

 



 

*          *          *

 

In case you're interested, the farmhouse is another Whitewash City building shrunk to appropriate size.  The SUV and the pickup truck are both HO scale Model Power models, and the liquid storage tank is the 20' Tank Container from Walthers' Cornerstone Series.