Showing posts with label Survival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Survival. Show all posts

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Slow Times, Small Survivors

I'm still alive, but the recent releases in Fallout have taken my free time.  Survival mode is much more fun and brutal, much more like what the game should be.  Now with mods support for the Xbox One (which I am playing on) it's been like a whole new game, a couple of times over!

I did manage to clean up my workbench area, I added a couple of new lights and some shelves.  I still need to to organize a ton more, but it's coming along nicely.  As part of the clean up, I found a couple of children figs I was working on and finished them off.  I am using a play/replica plastic penny for their base (I have a ton of these type coins) as it's cheap, a bit smaller (they are kids) and once textured, works just fine.

The zombie apocalypse will be fun for kids!
Three of the figs are Horroclix, two of them are from the same miniature, Monster Patrol.  I didn't modify the miniatures at all, just gave them a wash and some dry brushing.  The first mini is the Horrorclix Little Damon, again just with some repainting.  The girl with a pistol and the boy with an SMG are both Wargames Factory survivor models, using parts from the sprues.
A Zombicide zombie meets the kids
Inspiration for the kids came from this wonderful illustration: (from Jason Chan, and well done IMHO)
That's what playgrounds are for!
At some point the Commonwealth won't need my help (as much) and I'll get back to the zombie apocalypse...
I'm a wanderer...

Friday, October 9, 2015

Leaving Town (part 2)

Zombies everywhere!
Dawn was surrounded, but she could see the street open behind the nearest zombie.  "Gotta make run for it."  She muttered as she fired and ran.  
Dawn on the move
The SMG barked and then clicked, jammed.  Dawn checked the weapon, finding a round jammed in the action.  As Dawn worked to clear the jam she heard a scraping sound from the rock wall across from her.  Looking up she could see a lone zombie stand up and start towards her.
Gun jammed next to a zombie!
Dawn activates, but the zombies don't (my crazy initiative rolling continues!) She fires at the closest zombie and gets one hit (which kills the zed) and runs out of ammo again with the SMG.  She runs (fast move) to a fence/gate area about as far from the zombies as she can get.  I figure if things seem to be going poorly, Dawn can at least escape.

The next turn the zombies activate and Dawn is stuck standing there with a weapon that is jammed.  I see my luck is holding!  The nearest PEF moves right up behind Dawn, hiding out of sight just behind the gate she is standing beside.  Meanwhile, the closest zombie charges her, and they are locked in combat.
Dawn faces one zombie with more on the way
Dawn ducked the swipe of the undead arm, responding with a swing of her machete.  The arm came off at the elbow, flopping to the ground.  Quickly, Dawn reversed her swing, bringing her machete down on the zombie's head, smashing it to the ground, dead.
More zombies shuffled from the driveway of the nearby house.  Dawn checked the SMG, unable to clear the jam.  She slung the useless weapon and pulled her pistol from it's holster.  Aiming at the leading zombie, Dawn calmly faced the remaining zombies as they approached.
Dawn switches to her pistol
Dawn passes 1d for the tight ammo check.  This means that the SMG is reloaded, but another out of ammo means she is out of ammo for the rest of the scenario.  Instead of risking it further, I switch to her BA pistol she keeps as a back up.
Dawn fires and kills the nearest zombie.  Then she gets to act the next turn before the zombies, shooting two and charging the last to finish it off in hand to hand.
Dawn shoots the first zombie
More zombies on the way

Dawn shoots two before charging the last remaining zombie
Dawn faces the last zombie chasing her
Dawn fired her pistol twice at the zombies across the street.  With grim satisfaction she saw two zombies foreheads burst in gray-green rotten flesh.  Gripping her machete, Dawn charged the last zombie which was standing swaying next to its dead companions.
Dawn finishes off the last zombie
After finishing off the zombie, I decided to go ahead an check the SUV and house nearby.  The PEF was still lurking nearby, and one zombie had spawned among the shipping containers.  I figured it was pretty safe to try and find either a ride or something useful.
Orange is a sporty color
The orange SUV is empty, and out of gas.  I guess I'll try the house...
Is anyone home?
Zombies!
Dawn shouldered open the front doors, surprised at how easily they opened.  As she stepped into the gloomy front room, the shuffles and groans told her she wasn't alone.  Three zombies dressed in tattered rags stumbled from the shadows.  Dawn fired twice, watching one zombie tumble back on the blood stained sofa.  The remaining two zombies crashed into Dawn, jaws snapping.
Dawn's machete flashed in the sunlight streaming behind her as she quickly sliced the first zombies head, dropping it to the floor.  As the second zombie grabbed for her, Dawn slashed its legs out from under it, knocking it to the floor.
Dawn fighting in the house
Dawn killed two the zombies and knocked the third down.  She fired her pistol as she entered the house, and while one of my own 'house rules' is gunfire inside doesn't spawn more zombies, it will draw them.  I check the rest of the house (a total of 4 rooms) for occupants, somehow the rest of the house is empty.  Meanwhile, the zombie from the container yard wanders over...
Why did the zombie cross the road?
Yearrgh!

The zombie makes pretty good time...
Dawn dispatches the last zombie, and sees the lone zombie wandering up the driveway.  She has the time, so Dawn searches the main room quickly, but finds nothing.  She waits, setting a trap for the zombie when it enters the house.  Of course, the game throws a random event my way...
The zombie is armed!
Dawn waited behind the door, she could hear the zombie stumbling up the front steps.  A strange metallic clank sounded with each step the zombie climbed.  "What the hell is that noise?"  Dawn thought as the undead dock worker pushed through the doors, still clutching a crowbar in its mangled left hand.
Jumping out Dawn hacked at the zombie with her machete, working to avoid the large steel bar being swung by the zed.
One more zombie to fight
Dawn easily dispatches the zombie after it stumbles into the house.  Even with the weapon, it is no match for her in melee.  There are no more active, mobile zombies left on the table.  There is still a rep 2 PEF mostly staying put in the container yard, so the next turns go pretty fast.
Dawn searches the house and doesn't find anything useful, which is disappointing, but hardly surprising.  Still in need of a vehicle, Dawn moves out looking for fuel and any other useful supplies.
Dawn leaves the house
Dawn checks the vehicles
Dawn finds 2 units of fuel in the sports car, but nothing else useful.  Dawn moves to the blue SUV, and finishes off the zombie still strapped in.  The shot doesn't attract any more zombies.  The SUV is empty, but Dawn does get a unit of fuel from the truck.  Dawn drops the fuel in the orange SUV and moves to investigate the last PEF (which has been moving around the nearby container yard) which will remove the last unknown on the tabletop.
It turns out to be nothing...
Dawn crossed the now empty and quiet street, approaching the container yard.  She could hear a rustle from the gate shack, and slowly Dawn moved to see what was lurking there.  As she moved to the fence and leaned out enough to see, a calico cat bolted from his hiding spot, running off into the yard.  Startled, Dawn nearly shot the cat.  "Good hunting to you."  She said to it's retreating form.
Looking at the containers, Dawn paused and listened for any other movement.  Looking at the various shipping containers, Dawn could see many had already been looted.  Boxes and cans were spilling out of a few, others still seemed to be closed.  A small office near the gate caught Dawn's eye, maybe it would have a list of cargoes.
Keep Out?  I don't think so.
The office is empty
Searching the office didn't yield anything useful.  Again, not surprising given the difficulty with looting now.  I have Dawn move out and search the containers.  I'd like to find some fuel (assuming Dawn gets the SUV started, she needs 6 units of fuel to start her trip) and get a move on.
Dawn searches the containers
After searching the containers (and the two trucks in the yard) Dawn finds a unit of fuel and a unit of food.  I finally hit a deck reshuffle, and decide to quit while I'm ahead (there were no zombies in the containers, which was a surprise!)  Dawn gets back to the SUV and loads up, still with no keys.  Luckily, Dawn is logical, and gets a bonus on the chance to hotwire the SUV.  She manages to pass 2d, and get the truck started.
Time to try and find some place for fuel...
Time to leave.
Dawn shoved the trash out of the back of the orange SUV, the empty boxes and bits of junk made barely any sound, but it still made her pause and look around.  Stowing the case of soup she had salvaged from the container earlier, she closed the back and walked warily to the driver's side door.  Getting in, Dawn dropped her pack on the passenger seat, making sure her weapons were all within easy reach.  Pulling out a small multi-tool Dawn started to work on the ignition.
The SUV roared to life as Dawn got it started.  "I need more gas."  She muttered, looking at the low fuel gauge.  Digging out a folded map from her pack, she scanned for likely places to go for fuel.  "Where to next?"

Friday, October 2, 2015

Leaving Town (Part 1)

Dawn moved forward, trying to move quietly.  She could see several zombies wandering the streets ahead.  "No need to draw attention to myself."  Dawn thought as she watched the undead shuffling aimlessly.  Cautiously Dawn moved forward to a low brick wall, pausing before entering a rubble strewn alley.
Dawn starts behind a handy brick wall
It is daytime, day 41, in a suburban area with an ER of 4.  Dawn has a primary objective of exiting the board opposite her starting side.  If she can find a vehicle and fuel and drive off the edge of the table, that is a complete success.  All the buildings can be searched (even the ruins) all of the vehicles that are not burned out can also be searched, vehicles can possibly  have occupants, as determined by the Risk and Rewards deck.  any zombies found in a vehicle are trapped (seat belts, etc) on a 4-6.

The first turn, Dawn doesn't act.  The zombies wander about aimlessly, and one of the PEFs moves up next to Dawn.  There may be more action than I expected right away...
Is something out there?
For the next turn, the zombies return the favor, Dawn acts but the zombies do not.  She steps around the corner, revealing the PEF.

Contact zombies!
Dawn heard the shuffle and crunch from the opposite side of the wall.  Checking her SMG, Dawn stepped around the wall, face to face with a pair of zombies.  Glancing around, Dawn sprinted the opposite direction, running for a nearby ruined house.  Pausing at the corner, she raised her weapon and fired on the zeds...

Dawn turns and fires at the zombies
Dawn fired three times, and only managed to run out of ammo.  Sigh.
Out of ammo and zombies nearby...
Dawn passes 0d the next turn and reloads her SMG.  Under the very tight ammo rule, you roll versus the max target rating of the weapon.  Thus, the higher the target rating, the less likely you are to fail, and so passes result in out of ammo.  The SMG has a rating of 3, which makes the check a 'normal' pass/fail.  A BA pistol has a rating of 2, a SAW has 4, so the pistol still has ammo on a 3+, the SAW on 5+.  I found the rule to be a bit confusing until I used it.

Once she has reloaded, Dawn moves to the middle of the street, getting distance from the zombies.
Dawn keeps moving
At the start of the next turn, I get a random event.  The zombies 'pause'.
Can we take a moment?
Dawn fires, killing one zombie and runs into the nearby ruined house.  The zombies pause...
Just keep moving around
Dawn crouched in the ruined kitchen, watching through the front windows as zombies shuffled through the streets.  As Dawn watched, she could hear the drag and crunch of more zombies in the rubble strewn streets around her position.  Dawn paused, wondering what her best course of action was.

For the next two turns, Dawn doesn't activate.  She finally activates and goes second as the zombies approach the ruined house.
Done waiting yet?
Dawn stepped out of the rubble and triggered the nearby PEF.  It turned out to just be 'nerves' and was nothing.  As there wasn't anything at the PEF, Dawn runs onward to check out the nearby SUV.
Dawn checks the SUV
Dawn ran past the rubble wall, approaching a blue Explorer.  "This could be a good ride."  She mumbled as she opened the passenger door. "At least it doesn't look like it burned..."
A snarl and snapping teeth greeted her as the door opened.  Dawn backpedaled from the door as two zombies stumbled out trying to bite her.  A third thrashed in the back seat, still buckled into its seat.
Dawn faces two zombies from the SUV
Dawn found three zombies in the SUV, one of which was still strapped in and unable to attack.  Dawn moves away (as if she had just entered a building) but the two mobile zombies charge after her.  Dawn decides to handle these in melee, no need to attract more.
Dawn handles the two zombies
The next turn the zombies go first, and the zombie Dawn had knocked down jumps up to try and kill Dawn again.  I decide that the lone zed in the SUV is making enough noise to attract the wandering zombies, but not to spawn any more.  The zombies close in on Dawn as she finishes off the zed in melee.  She does a shoot and scoot - firing at three of the zombies and heading for the nearby intact house.
Zombies spot Dawn
Dawn gets to the trees
Dawn fired her SMG as she sprinted for the treeline.  With some satisfaction she saw two zombies collapse to the shattered pavement.  As she entered the brush, Dawn paused hearing a rusty creak from the wrecked sports car nearby.  A lone zombie pushed its way out of the wreck, reaching out at Dawn with dead hands.
A zombie appears near Dawn
Dawn doesn't activate the next turn (it's like all I can roll are 6's today) and the zombies close in.  The closest zombie manages attack Dawn in hand to hand.
Dawn faces a lone zed
Dawn handles the zombie easily, and looses initiative.  The zombies close in and Dawn fires and kills one before running through the hedge into the front yard of the house.
The zombies don't quite catch Dawn...
...and she runs into the empty yard.
Dawn paused next to the topiary, its overgrown shape still recognizable as a spiral.  She held the SMG tight to her shoulder, ready to shoot the zombies as they stumbled through the bushes in front of her.  Branches snapped and broke as the undead started pushing through the undergrowth.  Each snap and crack made Dawn wince, how many were there?

A crunch of gravel behind Dawn made her break her concentration and glance over her left shoulder.  A zombie stumbled past the overgrown shrubs at the edge of the driveway.  Dawn started to turn and face the nearby zombie when she heard the under brush crack and the thud of a zombie breaking through.  "I'm surrounded!"  She thought, feeling panic creep in.
Dawn is surrounded
Yet again, Dawn doesn't get to act.  At least the zombies are far enough away that they can't get to her this turn.  Hopefully Dawn can activate on the next initiative!

To Be Continued...