Helping Hand - Part 2

Dawn shook her head, clearing the cobwebs and restoring her vision.  Looking just out the front of the windshield, she could see Mary barely conscious , kneeling in the street ahead.  Zombies were shambling towards her, sensing an easy meal.  "Get up!  They're almost on you!"  Dawn yelled as the first zombie reached out towards Mary.

Luckily, the next turn starts with the survivors going first, then the zombies and finally the agents activate.  The soldiers don't activate this turn (which is very unfortunate for them...)

Mary faces two zombies as others close on agent Jenkins

Private Olsen looked back at the ruined fire station they had left.  Desperately he cleared his assault rifle, trying to slam a new magazine in place before the gray, undead things could get to him.  Hands shaking, he dropped his magazine to the ground, seeing a shadow cross it as the closest zombie reached out for him.  "Sarge!  They're right here!"  Panic filled his voice.  "We're gonna die!"
"Shut up and fight you pussy!"  Sergeant Myers yelled back.  "You have a knife, use it!"

Zombies swarm the infantry

Agent Hammer watched the soldiers getting swarmed as a lone zombie shambled towards him.  With the barest of pauses, Hammer raised his pistol and shot the zombie in the face as it reached him.  Something in his instincts told him to be on guard, and a zombie stumbled from the ruins behind him.  Hammer spun around, locked in hand to hand combat for his life!

A zombie attacks from behind

The zombies really made a go of it this turn.  Two attack Mary, who manages to knock one down and scores even with the second.  Hammer shoots and kills one zombie, and spins around and kills the second (not very surprisingly).

The street is a bit less dangerous...

Surrounded and down a man, the infantry don't fare very well...Only one soldier passes the charge test and gets a shot off.  The others fall in melee very quickly.

Soldiers try to make a stand...

After the other had fallen, the final soldier still passes the man down test with 2d.  He's going to stick around until the bitter end...

More undead roam the street

With some rather poor rolling, the agents get a free turn - they are the only side to activate.  Not even the zombies activate.

Agent Hammer moves up and Jenkins picks up Trish and runs forward.

Hammer charges for some hack and slash

Jenkins shoots and scoots

Starting the next turn, the survivors move first, the zombies second, the soldier third and the agents will activate last.

Dawn watched the agents dragging Trish's limp form away.  She knew they would take her back to the doctor or lab or whatever hell she had manged to get away from.  "Not without a fight!"  Dawn said, checking her pistol and stepping out of the Hummer.  "Let her go!"  Dawn shouted in the street.

Agent Hammer turned, shaking off his sword.  He raised his pistol to meet Dawn.  "We have our orders.  Get your people and leave.  I won't let anyone take our subject."  Hammer gestured with his sword "There are many more of these thing coming.  The longer you wait, the harder it will be to get away."
Dawn paused, looking around the street.  "We don't leave anyone behind."

"Neither do we."  Hammer said.

Gunfire echoed in the street...

Dawn faces Hammer in the street

Dawn gets out of the Hummer and triggers an in sight check.  This is just Hammer and her, as Jenkins is out of sight, and Mary is in melee.  I really agonized over this course of action - Trish is a ganger, and very likely not a good fit for the team, there are zombies facing Mary, more in the area and the Hummer isn't running yet.  However, the team wouldn't just hand someone over to a 'mad' scientist.  She is going to try and get Trish back.  Time to walk the walk.

Dawn wins the in sight check

Dawn fires, hits once and gets a kill.  Hammer has the advantage 'Hard as Nails' and ignores the hit.  He fires back, getting two hits on Dawn.  One is a kill, which she ignores (hard as nails again!) and passes 2d for the knockdown check, and carries on as she is protected.

Is it high noon?

After the in sights, Dawn stands up and the two shoot simultaneously.  This is one of those rules I don't entirely understand from ATZ, everyone shoots again simultaneously after the in sights, it makes it hard to see why anyone moves into contact.  Both Dawn and Hammer shoot again, Hammer gets one hit, and Dawn passes her knockdown test with 2d, and carries on.  Dawn gets two hits, and Hammer passes 2d and 1d for his knock down test, and goes OOF.

Dawn wins the duel

Mary kills the zombies she is facing, easily finishing off the one she had knocked down last turn.  The zombies swarm forward towards the living...

One last soldier makes his stand

Zombies everywhere!

Zombies move towards Mary

With all the human sides pretty much ignoring the undead, the zombies have become a pretty good size swarm.  The last soldier falls under the wave, going down fighting, but still killed.  Mary takes care of the zombie she is facing, but is still looking at four more coming at her... 

Mary takes a zed down

The last agent (who passed a man down check when Hammer went OOF) kills the zombie who attacked him.  It's then his activation.

Jenkins makes a hole

Jenkins could hear the chopper approaching.  His whole team was down, but he had the package.  "Time to be a hero."  He mumbled, placing a pistol shot square between an undead office workers eyes.  Picking up the unconscious Trish, Jenkins ran in a clumsy manner around the corner of the parking garage.  He knew the landing zone was on the top of the structure.
"Eagle this is primary.  Package en route to LZ."  Jenkins said into his radio.
"Primary, Eagle has visual.  Making final approach."  Static filled the reply, but it came through clear enough.  "Be advised there is a large zed mass moving on your position from the south.  Out."
"Just another distraction."  Jenkins thought as he shifted his burden and continued to run.

Jenkins runs past the zeds!

For the next turn, it's the survivors, then the zombies and finally the agent activate.

Dawn is torn, I could have her try and run down the agent, she has a good chance to at least get an in sight roll off at the corner, or she can make sure Mary and the rest of the group escape.  She still needs to start the Hummer, and zombies are closing in on the two remaining survivors.  It's a hard call to make, but Dawn has to let the agent go...for now.

Dawn and Mary face 4 zeds

Dawn shoots, dropping 2 zombies

Dawn can't quite get the truck started

Dawn kills 2 zombies and makes one attempt to start the Hummer.  It fails.  Mary tries to shoot the last two zombies in the street, and manages to get them both.  She runs back to the Hummer, joining Dawn.

Time to get outta here!

Time for the zombies to act.  They basically split into three groups.  One group moves down the street towards the Hummer, another chases the agent, and a final group decides to eat the soldiers.  Unpleasant to say the least.

Zombie Feast!

Start the truck...

Jenkins is just out of reach

The zombies can't quite get to Jenkins and the Hummer is still well out of reach.  The only real action is the start of a feast, which I roll a 5 for duration.  That group is going to be out of action for awhile...

The next turn, the zombies don't activate, the survivors go first and the agent second.

Dawn starts the Hummer...

...and gets moving!

Dawn tried to start the Hummer, the engine growled and died.  Trying again the engine sputtered and died.  "Come on, start!"  Dawn yelled as she punched the steering wheel.

"They're getting closer!"  Mary yelled.  "We need to move!"  Mary changed magazines in one of her pistols.

Dawn cranked the engine again and with a hard shudder, the engine caught.  With a yell of triumph Dawn shifted into gear and roared down the road.  A dull rhythmic thud sound filled the air as the Hummer started to roll.

"Is that the engine?"  Mary asked worriedly.

Dawn glanced out her window to the top of the parking ramp.  "Nope.  The agents have a chopper."

A blue helicopter descended to the top of the parking ramp as Agent Jenkins carried Trish to the landing area.  The zombies on the street were falling well behind and he allowed himself a moment of satisfaction as he was getting to the top.  The cost was high, but they were successful.

Jenkins is just about to the chopper

With Dawn driving the Hummer and Jenkins a move away from the helicopter, that pretty much ends the scenario.  The next turn the survivors don't act, the zombies act first and the agent acts last.  As the Hummer is moving, they move first and leave the table, although Dawn does pass a 2d check to swerve around the agents Hummer blocking the road.

The mission is a failure, and I do a quick keep it together check.  Dawn passes 1d (only rolling 1d!), both Blake and Larry pass 1d, and Mary passes 2d.  Everyone is ready to leave... oh $*&^%!

Mary gestured towards a side road as Dawn rolled down the road.  "I am part of a larger camp, we're just a few blocks away."  She glanced at Larry and Blake who were still shaken from the ambush.  "You can rest and maybe we can figure out a way to get your friend back."
"That sounds too good to be true."  Dawn said, casting a sideways glace at Mary.  "Maybe we should just keep moving..."
"We need to recover.  Let's check it out."  Larry said, grunting in pain from his gunshot wound.  "We can help them, they can help us."
Dawn considered for a moment, "Okay how do we get there?"

There is a survivor enclave that Mary and Nathan were ranging from nearby.  The group will head there and I will deal with the fallout of the group splitting up.

Helping Hand - Part 1

With a rumble, the Hummer rolled down the side street, zombies following behind.  Larry kept the speed up, trying to put distance between the truck and the horde of zombies wandering up from the highway.  "Where are we heading?"  He asked.  "We're going to run out of streets eventually..."
"North a few blocks and then we'll head to the right, go east."  Trish answered.  "We can't go too far north, the army is setup around the gas tanks up here."
"Watch Out!"  Blake yelled, dropping into the Hummer from the gunner hatch.  An explosion rattled the truck, making Larry swerve across two lanes before regaining control.
"What the hell was that?"  Dawn shouted, looking out the window.
"I saw a drone dropping out of the sky."  Blake shook his head.  "I saw a few drones and at least one helicopter flying around.  There's more smoke and explosions a few blocks southeast of here."
Larry turned a corner, avoiding a pile-up that blocked the street.  "There are a lot of wrecks out here, and more zombies too."  He said as he turned back north.  "maybe we should get off the street..."
"Keep moving, whatever is going on, if we keep moving, it will be harder for us to get caught up in it."  Dawn said.  "Let's keep an eye out for a good defensive location though, just in case."

The group has moved off the highway, and is making their way through the side streets, trying to get out of the city.  This board has a planned encounter with a pair of survivors.  They are suffering from a break down of their SUV, and will ask for help.  The PEFs will be normal, but will have a chance to be the corporate team sent to recover Trish.

This is still day 37, afternoon.  The ER is 5, zombies will spawn on a 4+ and there are 13 zombies on the board.  The team enters in the Hummer going at speed 16.

Just head down the street...

"Watch out, there are zombies wandering all over the roads."  Dawn cautioned Larry as he drove down the street.
"No problem.  I'll try and keep us moving and away from them."  Larry said, aiming for a nearby zed.
"Are there people by that SUV and camper?"  Dawn said peering ahead.  Slow down and let's see if they're friendly."
"Are you crazy?"  Trish almost screamed.  "Just keep moving, we have to get out of here!"

The first turn, nobody activates, so the only movement is the Hummer moving forward.  I hope this isn't the whole game...
As the Hummer moves forward, they clip one zombie.

It's dangerous to cross outside the crosswalks!

Passing through the intersection

Three more zombies spawn from the engine noise.  Otherwise, a very quiet start to the game.

On the next turn, the survivors go first, followed by the zombies.  Two of the PEFs will also activate, but move after the Hummer (moving vehicles move first).  Larry pulls up next to the SUV and camper, and triggers the meet and greet with the survivors there.

What do we have here?

Larry slowed down as they pulled up to the SUV.  "Stay down Blake."  Dawn said as the hummer rolled almost to a stop.  "Let's try to not intimidate these folks."
"Just go!"  Trish yelled.  "We need to keep moving!"
"Calm down.  We'll be rolling in a sec."  Blake replied.  "Maybe they can help us out.  If we never stopped for anyone, you'd be dead on the highway."
"Can we keep the argument for later?'  Dawn said as she turned towards the pair of survivors by the SUV.
"Hello!"  She yelled.

Mary and Nathan having car troubles

The meet and greet goes well, and Mary and Nathan (both rep 4 survivors, armed with BAP each) join the group.  They have an SUV that was towing a camper, but it has broken loose.  As the team stops the Hummer, planning to help either tow the camper or fix the problem, the nearby PEF moves out.

Agents Attack!

Agent Hammer saw the Hummer pull to a stop below.  He had hoped they would pause to help the other civilians, it looked like his plan was going to work.  "Eagle, we need pickup at point Sierra Four."  Hammer waited for the reply from his helicopter extraction.
"Roger.  On site in four mikes."  A choppy response came over the radio.  Hammer allowed himself a small smile.
"Team Alpha - Go."  He calmly said into his communicator.  The ambush had started.

More agents arrive

The PEF revealed as a group of corporate agents, I determined this was the strike team sent to retrieve Trish.  They gained a Hummer and 3 more agents blocking the road just ahead of the team.  The leader of the agents, Hammer is Rep 5, with BAP and Sword, he has Hard as Nails and Brawler, and is considered a Star.  The remaining agents are all Rep 4, BAP, stun gun and baton.  They all have the 'agent' advantage which gives them limited star powers, and allows them to ignore 'man down' rolls until they more than half their starting number.

I had hoped to have this ambush in another scenario later, but the dice decided to move along sooner.

The agents attack the survivors

As the agents jumped out of the Hummer, Agent Hammer pulled out the flash-bang.  "Remember we need the primary target alive.  Eliminate all others as needed.  Agent Williams, disable the truck please."  He calmly said over the communicator.

We go to in sight checks...

It could be worse...

The first of the in sights are threes, two of the agents and Dawn get to act.  The first agent is "Williams" who fires a special weapon (think one of those EMP weapons from Fast and Furious) to disable the Hummer.  He scores a hit, and the successfully kills the Hummer's engine.  It will need to be restarted, but only after two turns have elapsed can the survivors even try.

The Hummer is disabled as Dawn returns fire

Dawn fires back, hitting Williams.  She kills Williams, for what its worth.  One agent from the ground fires at Mary, but misses (she has cover from the SUV).

Man down!

The twos go next, with Larry and Mary firing on agents, knocking one out of the fight, killing another.  Larry is hit by one of the agents and goes OOF.  Agent Hammer throws his flash bang, with devastating results.

Hammer throws the flash bang

 I used the flash bang rules from Better Dead Than Zed.  In short its a 6"blast, each model takes a test - pass 2d, keep going, pass 1d, stunned, pass 0d take knock down test.

Ouch.

Dawn, Mary and Trish are stunned.  Blake goes OOF.  Nathan is the only survivor to pass the test.  He also still gets to act.

The last agent and Nathan take aim at each other

Nathan reeled from the explosion, he shook his head and looked around.  Bullets pinged off the pavement, and Nathan saw an agent firing from a nearby roof.  He raised his pistol and fired...

They both manage to kill each other

The insight checks are done, the agents on the ground pass a received fire check, and Agent hammer, being a star, passes 2d for his man down check.  I roll to see if the agents activate, and they do, acting before the zombies.  Hammer moves down and out the front of the building.  The two agents on the ground run to the Hummer and pull Trish out. (On a side note, I had declared the Hummer stopping during the survivors turn, otherwise the agents would have had to wait until next turn when it was stopped by the EMP.)

The agents grab their target

Trish couldn't focus her eyes and the ringing in her head was making her head ache.  Suddenly strong hands pulled her from the truck, easily knocking the pistol from her weak hands.  They dragged her out and into the street.  "Just stay calm, we'll get you to safety."  She heard one agent say.

The agents are making a run for the top of the nearby parking ramp, a helicopter is inbound to the top in 4 turns.  As they reach the end of the Hummer, I realize they draw line of sight to another PEF.  While zombies ignore PEFs, I figure other people can trigger them.

Another PEF comes in sight

"Hammer, we have movement in the street ahead." Agent Jenkins said into his communicator.  As the two agents cleared the end of the Hummer, he saw a military foot patrol.  As he spotted them, they saw the agents, and raised their weapons.  "Contact!  Military infantry in the street!"  Jenkins yelled, bringing his pistol up to ready.

Soldiers surprise the agents

The PEF resolves to a 4 man team of military infantry.  The dice are really pulling out all the options today.  I figure they spotted the military Hummer come under fire and are moving to support/recapture it.  The current situation makes the corporate agents enemies of the military anyway, so once they spot each other, it's time for in sight checks.
The soldiers are all Rep 4, armed with assault rifles and pistols and are protected.  The 'leader' which is the figure with his rifle pointed up, has a grenade as well.

Military in sight checks

Agents in sights

Hammer turns out to be too far away to be able to fire, so his 4 passes are wasted.  Agent Jenkins manages to fire and  knock one soldier OOF.  The remaining soldier fire on the agents.  They fire on the agent carrying Trish, one soldier misses completely, and runs out of ammo!  The other two soldiers manage two hits, one hits Trish and she goes OOF, the other shot kills the agent.  Really poor shooting from the soldiers.

That's just...terrible.

The soldiers roll, and don't activate this turn.  Finally it's time for the zombies to act...

Zombies crash into the soldiers

In melee, the soldiers fare a little better.  They manage to kill one zed, and knock down another.  After all the shooting another 12 zombies spawn, attracted by all the gunfire.

Zombies roam the streets

Finally that ends turn 2.  Hard to believe that was all one turn.

To be continued...

On a side note, this has been a crazy month.  No excuses, just lots of work and family stuff.  I'll get the next part to this up soon, no 3 week gap this time!