Dangerous Ground (Part 1)

"We should just clear out."  Brenda said, worriedly looking up the road towards the FEMA camp.  Wandering forms shambled along the road and among the debris filled fields, zombies or shocked humans was impossible to tell.  "This feels very dangerous."
Jack barked a short, humorless laugh.  "That's an understatement sweetheart.  This is downright stupid."
"Enough."  Dawn said, turning back to face the group.  "We're going to see how bad this is while it is still here, not at our house."  Dawn looked towards the camp as a smattering of gunfire echoed in the distance, catching everyone's attention.  "Sounds like someone is still alive in there.  Maybe we can help."

Dawn and company arrive at the Camp

The group is approaching the FEMA camp at Somerset.  It is afternoon of day 58, the area is ER 6, 24 zombies start on the board, and zombies appear on a 4+ from noise.  Success for this mission for Dawn is surviving, everyone else surviving and everyone exiting the board edge opposite the one the team enters from.  Everyone else is just trying to survive for a success.  If the group exits inside the fence, the next scenario will be investigating the compound, otherwise they will enter the town.

There are several special rules I am going to use for this scenario:
1.  As in the previous scenario, I am using scarce looting (I need to match two draws from the loot deck to find something) with the exception of there will be 'something' (a straight draw) in the tent marked as a first aid station.
2.  Each tent, trailer, building and some of the vehicles have black markers.  These are all treated as PEFs for when any model 'enters' or investigates the location.  None of these will move, they just count for the search.
3.  There are four markers that are "zombie generators" and marked by a d6.  Each turn that the initiative dice come up doubles a zombie will spawn at each location that is equal to or greater than the number on the marker.  There is a 1 in 6 chance that any zombies spawned will be 'special' - as the previous scenario had.  A model may reduce the number on the marker die by 1 for each activation spent in contact with the base.
4.  Any PEF resolution that results in an increase to the ER will reduce the spawn number for zombies (from 4+ to 3+, etc.).
5.  Really Tight Ammo - per the normal rules.
6.  Slightly modified "new" melee rules (my new standard house rules.)
7.  The main fence has a break in one section, this will be randomly determined when the first figure (zombie or human) reaches 6" from the fence.

The group should really just leave...

Finally getting started, the game starts with a random event, from double 4's so each zombie generator spawns a zombie.  Hopefully not a sign of things to come.

Not the worst that could happen

 A barricaded/locked door is the random event.  There's not many options, rolling off between them, it seems the front doors of the liquor store are securely barricaded. 

These doors are secured.

Resolving initiative, the zombies go first.  The PEFs move around a bit, but nothing moves into contact.  The zombies shamble forward and the team has to decide how to deal withe the horde.

Here comes the horde

"Ha!"  Jack yelled as he fired his SMG until it clicked.  "Awww, man!  Empty!"
Dawn stepped forward and fired her pistol into the mass of zombies, watching two lifeless bodies flop to the pavement.  "Reload!"  She yelled, looking at the zombies falling around the group.  "Brenda!  Be careful!"
Brenda ran past with her spear held tight.  "I've had it with these things!"  She yelled, charging ahead.

Brenda charges the zombie

Brenda passes her brown pants check and charges the lone zombie left from the group of five.  She wins melee easily (rolling 6d vs 3d).  All the shooting (14 shots) spawn more zombies than were killed (8).  At this rate, the group will be overrun in no time.  If they are going to move forward, time for a plan...

More zombies appear

"Head for the liquor store!"  Dawn yelled, pointing with her machete.  "We'll swing around the back - that front gate should hold them back!"
"What if the back is as secure as the front?"  Joyce asked, loading her shotgun.
Dawn looked up the road before replying.  "We'll just make it up from there."

Dawn charges some zombies

The group is trying to get to the liquor store to get off the street.  I'm hoping to limit the number of zombies that can attack and more easily use guns.  I normally don't have gunfire inside attract zombies outside the building, and with how easily zombies are appearing, I need to limit the chances to spawn more.

Dawn easily handles the zeds (7d vs 4d) before being charged by 2 more.  Tina also gets charged, and after a round of being tied, she wins (rolling 5d vs 3d).  The new melee rules make it a bit more touch and go, even with a 2 die advantage, plus a free success, Tina still tied the first round.  That made things a bit scary.

Things are getting dicey

Two more zombies spawn from the three shots.  At least Jack manages to reload his SMG (he passes 1d, the next out of ammo is it for his SMG this game).  Eric has been firing each turn, but his rep of 2 is making it difficult to hit anything.

Zombies everywhere!

Two PEFs move towards the group.  First is the PEF in the store, it decides to leave and moves to contact.

What now?

Dawn paused, looking at the rear of the liquor store.  Slowly the back door swung open, she could imagine it creaking like a horror movie.  A shadow passed across the alley, but nothing came out of the store.  "Looks clear..." She muttered as everyone else yelled from the parking lot.
"More zombies in the street!"  Brenda yelled.  "Let's go!"

The PEF turns out to be "something out there" so instead of the ER increasing, zombies now spawn on a 3+.

A second PEF in the street

It's Zombies!

Everyone legs it to the store, Tina taking a couple of shots as they start running.  Once they get to the store, Joyce fires her shotgun to help cover the move.  Jack and Dawn head into the store to clear it out...

Heading towards the store

Dawn and Jack check inside

"Whew, what a smell."  Dawn said as she stepped into the dark liquor store.  Dawn looked around the small store, broken bottles were strewn across the cheap tile floor.  "Smells like Miller time."

"You know what I say when it's Miller time?"  Jack said with a grin, turning to face Dawn.  Before he could continue, a scrape and crash of glass told them they were not alone.

"Look out!" Dawn yelled as zombies shambled from the shadows to attack.

Zombies fill the shop

I check for zombie surprise, we move right to melee.  I'm not sure how to handle a mixed melee under the new rules - it says all the zombies that can, will fight.  With two humans and six zombies, I figure I can go with an even split.  Dawn handles her three pretty easily (7d vs 5d) killing them in two rounds of fighting.  Jack (5d vs 5d) ties for two rounds, kills two in round three and finally wins in round 4.  Another round and he would have to check for infection.

The zombies mill about

Real life gave me a break, I had to step away from the game and lost track of the turn.  The zombies end up not moving this turn, though I believe they were supposed to.  Oh well.

Joyce, Tina and Eric watch the horde shamble towards them

Will the liquor store turn out to be a safe move, or a big trap?  The game continues...

Fun in the Desert

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I just got back from an extended vacation in the southwest USA.  My wife and I flew to Las Vegas and drove to visit my brother's family (we met our new niece!) in Sacramento, CA.  We stopped by Death Valley as well as Lake Tahoe.  I took a few pictures, some of which I figured might be interesting...

McCarran Airport Welcomes us to Las Vegas...

North of Las Vegas we passed to the west of a military base.  For being so secret, everyone seems to know about it!

Just over those hills is Area 51...

Apparently there's aliens around?

Being Nevada, of course there's a brothel attached!

Entering Death Valley, we stopped a couple places to get some pics.  It was about 1PM and 113 degrees F (about 45 degrees C) outside.  Nice and cool!

We stopped at a ghost town just outside Death Valley as well.  It's called Rhyolite, and can be found on google maps, if you are curious.  I found the ruins interesting, I kept expecting some sort of apocalyptic survivors to emerge from the shadows!

Abandoned caboose

Great weathering on the inside!

Most of the town was just partial ruins.  Still cool and inspiring for scenery.

This used to be the bank

There were several cool buildings in ruins.  A couple felt a bit more creepy...

Graffiti in the small room.

 

Another day, and Lake Tahoe.  It was pretty, less inspiration for gaming, but good looking.

Landslide!

 

After a few days in Sacramento we headed back to Vegas.  Our trip took us near Edwards Air Force base, including an aircraft boneyard.  Still it was mostly desert...

Miles of this.  Sand and Cactus.

Aircraft boneyard, pretty far off.

A solar power setup.  Pretty cool to see.

We finished up back in Vegas.  The strip is pretty crazy, and goes from family fun to adults only.

From off the strip - pretty cool view

It was a fun trip, but tiring.  I'm glad to be home.  I'm planning a return to gaming once I've rested a bit.

Atomic Liquors! (Papercraft Building)

I am slowly coming back from Fallout 4.  Setting up my next game I decided something I needed was a commercial building, and I decided to make Tommygun's "Atomic Liquors" liquor store.  For anyone not familiar with him, Tommygun has made a string of very nice paper models of various buildings.  They are designed to be shells, but are very easily fleshed out.  I recommend them highly, especially as he has tons of little extra details for them as well.

It's usually taller...

As I started the build, I decided to separate the second floor and roof, to make them playable areas.  I ran into some trouble with the second floor, and until I get a chance to print off another set of walls, I am going to have a one story version of the building.  <sigh>  The best laid plans I guess.

Jack looks through the doors at Dawn

I cut out the front and rear doors, using a basic paper hinge to make them 'functional'.  For the front doors, I cut out the frames and inserted clear plastic card for a glass look.  Overall, I am happy with the results, although the front doors do not open as well as they could.  The small frames are hard to make flexible enough to open.

A basic interior

The interior is reinforced with thick card (from a cereal box) and then lined with scrapbook paper.  I have found quite a few nice wallpaper and floor patterns in scrapbook paper.  It's a great resource - pretty cheap and the paper is usually a good quality for cutting and gluing.  I haven't finished the interior yet, I will add some various bits when I play next until I decide what the final floor plan will be with the second story.

This place needs a new roof!

So the roof is messed up.  It works. and looks okay if you squint and don't stare too long...  When I was putting it together I managed to build it backwards, and the glue was not forgiving.  I made the best of it, and I'll use it for now.

Overall I'm happy with the basics so far.  When I finish the second floor and new roof, I am sure it will look better.  If anyone is interested, I found this site with much of Tommygun's models:
Tommygun - One Drive

It's a Microsoft One Drive location, not mine, just found it on the web.

Keep wandering...

The wasteland awaits...

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...

More for the Horde

Things have been slow on the zombie apocalypse, Fallout is still draining most of my free time.  I did manage to get some more zombies painted and based.  These are all various Horrorclix, I picked them up at some online clearance sales.  Re-positioning some arms, repainting and basing them is all I had to do.

Group shot

I have three delivery men, originally in a bright green uniform.  I painted one in a USPS/FedEx blue and the other in UPS brown/yellow.  It's hard to tell, but the brown uniformed zombie had it's arm re-positioned, otherwise they are all the same pose.

Sign for the packages...

The next group is four construction workers.  I replaced one arm and re-positioned two others.  The re-positioned arms didn't want to stay very well, so they all have a very similar look.  I painted them with different shorts and pants, but they are still all more or less the same.

Someone have a hammer?

The last fig is a strong man of sorts.  He is quite large and holding a top half of an unfortunate victim.  All I did was give them some paint and a "zombie wash".  He'll make a decent 'special' if I need one, or just a scary fellow to run into.

Ouch.

These were hanging around my painting table, I've been working to clean the area up a bit and these were an easy project to finish.

Now, if Fallout would just be less fun...

New Survivors

In the last batrep we met Joyce, Brenda and Eric.  They are civilians, hopefully soon to become full survivors.  The two women are rep 4 and Eric is only a rep 2.  I figure at Rep 2 Eric is either old or young, I roll a 50/50 chance and he comes up as a youngster.

Brenda, Joyce and Eric

Eric is based off of a Horrorclix, the Monster Patrol, the young boy with a slingshot.  I added a bolt action rifle from the Survivors: Men set from Wargames Factory.  I did a bit of a repaint, but kept the basic colors more or less the same.

Eric in action

The business end of Eric

Eric takes aim

Joyce is a Survivors: Women build from Wargames Factory.  I added a large backpack from Secret Weapons, but otherwise she is a pretty stock miniature.

Joyce in action

Joyce looks left

Ready for action

Brenda is a Heroclix figure with a repaint and a spear from the ancient Persians sprue that was available from Wargames Factory a while back.  I had tried some more fantasy looking as well as more sci-fi looking options, but I didn't like the results.  The hand on the heroclix is a bit small for a much larger weapons, and I tried to reinforce the joint with the weapon to make it less likely to break during play.  We'll see if it lasts!

Brenda readies her spear

Brenda at the ready

Is she going to throw?

 The group together was pretty fun to make and didn't take too long.  Let's hope they last in the game!

Dawn and Jack with the new survivors (someone forgot Tina!)