Things Fall Apart, Part 1

Everything was a blur, Eric ran as hard as he could, his breath coming in ragged gasps that burned his chest.  Dodging left and right, Eric weaved around grasping figures.  He crashed through a yard gate, tripping over an abandoned trike.  Adrenaline and fear pushed him on, crawling along the ground until he could get back on his feet.  In blind panic Eric kept running...

At the end of the last scenario, Eric failed a received fire check and ran away.  The rest of the team is following behind - Eric is just a kid, so no way are they going to just abandon him.  They don't know where he is exactly, or what has happened, so they need to search for him.

In addition to the normal setup, I have six markers I have numbered creatively 1-6.  These will not move, and can be revealed by a figure getting to 6" away and drawing line of sight.  They have the following effects:
 
1.  Eric - Found!:  Eric is found.  His condition is determined by a d6 roll, with a +1 per other marker found; see condition chart below.
2.  Signs of Life: Signs of Eric moving through the area.  The group may take an additional activation (free turn).
3.  Pack of the Dead: A group of zombies, 3+d6 spawn in the same manner as a PEF.
4.  Feast of the Dead: 2+d6 zombies feasting for d6 turns. The first group member must pass a zed or no zed check to verify the victim is not Eric.
5.  Ambush!: roll a d6 - [1-2] 3 random gangers attack (go straight to insight checks) from nearest cover [3-6] 5+d3 zombies attack from hiding, spawning in equal numbers in melee with each living figure.
6.  Help!: 1-2 civilians being chased by 3+d3 zombies.  Civilians are Rep 3 with improvised weapons, follow normal meet and greet rules.

Eric's Condition from d6 roll:
1: Dead
2: Hurt, Infected
3: Not Hurt, Runs off
4: Hurt, not infected (considered Out of Fight for keeping it together)
5: Missing weapon, not hurt, ready to return
6-9: Okay, ready to return
10: Okay, ready to return has one random draw from resource deck
11: Okay, ready to return and has one random living person (civilian, ganger, survivor) ready to join group

The rest of the setup is normal, with 10 zombies starting on the table and 3 PEFs.  It is still afternoon of day 58, the ER is 5 and I am using the house rule that if any of the PEFs raise the ER beyond 6, it will increase the spawn chance of zombies by 1.  If doubles are rolled for initiative twice, night will begin to fall and sight distance will drop to 12" over the course of three turns.  Victory conditions for everyone is surviving and finding Eric, or whatever happened to him.  Dawn's victory conditions are the same, plus nobody else dying.  If this mission is successful, she will have a normal keep it together roll after this game, otherwise she will start on her check as a  mission failure.

Starting the search

Dawn followed the muddy footprints along the road.  A burned out house near a cemetery was on her left as the tracks faded into the pavement.  Looking around, the rest of the team paused with her.  "He must have come this way."  Dawn said, pointing towards the ruined house.  "We'll check this neighborhood."
"I hope that isn't a sign of things to come."  Tina said pointing at the cemetery.
"No need to be so grim."  Jack said, stretching his arms.  "Let's go find Eric and then head back to the house."

Moving up

The group moves up to the ruined house, getting close to the first search marker.  Tina takes two shots and misses the nearest zombie.  The shots spawn one more zombie.  The next turn starts with doubles and a random event.

Handy, but not yet!

Brenda looked across the street at the utility company shack.  "Hey that looks like it could still be pretty secure.  I bet we could hole up in there for the night if we needed to."
"Good idea."  Joyce said.  "Maybe we head there once we find Eric and then decide what to do."

The small garage is the designated safe house.  There is a PEF inside currently, but if the team gets inside, they can end the scenario once it's cleared.  When initiative is finally settled (with the survivors going first) two PEFs move in closer.

What's moving closer?

The first PEF is revealed to be 'something out there' and the ER moves to 6.  Dawn decides to kick off the search and steps out of the ruined house, revealing both the PEF and the search marker.

Dawn steps out...

Rustling from the nearby bushes drew Dawn's attention as she crossed the ruined entryway.  Shuffling along the road and dragging through the shrubs was a group of zombies.  "Not that way."  Dawn muttered, looking around the front of the house. 

The PEF is a horde of zombies

Search marker is 4

Dawn reveals the search marker, it is a 4.  I roll a 5, and we get 7 zombies in a feast.  At least I roll a 6 for number of turns, so that helps a bit.  Dawn passes the zed or no zed check, the poor victim isn't Eric at least. The feast will draw away some of the other zombies - any that come into contact with the group will join the feast.

Zombie Feast!

Dawn still has plenty of movement left, so she moves back through the ruins.  Everyone heads around the back, they will go through the cemetery.  Unfortunately, I forgot about the 'see the feast' check, which will be required for all the civilians.  Dawn and Jack are survivors, and don't have to check.  Tina and Joyce pass 2d, and are stunned for one turn.  At least they will become survivors after this!  Brenda passes 1d, ducks back and is stunned for 2 turns.  On top of all that, Dawn manages to run out of ammo as well.

What a mess

Dawn drew a bead on a nearby zombie, squeezing the trigger of her handgun only to hear a dull click.  Quickly she pulled out a new magazine, having to pull out three before she found one with rounds left.  "I'm running low!"  She yelled towards the rest of the group.

"I know how you feel."  Jack replied, stitching a burst from his SMG into a nearby zed.  "Make them all count!"  An undead woman, wearing a tattered wedding dress lurched around a tombstone and charged at Jack as he tried to aim his weapon...

The zombies move

Jack is charged by one zombie, and easily succeeds in his charge test.  firing three more shots, he kills the zombie before it can get to melee.  Something goes right...

A few more zombies appear...

A couple of zombies spawn in front of the house and in the cemetery.  The survivors win initiative the next turn.  Tina and Joyce recover from their stuns but Brenda has another turn to go and zombies moving closer.  Dawn runs back to guard her until she recovers, recovering her out of ammo by passing 1d - if she runs out again this game, she is out for good.  Tina and Joyce don't move, which means Jack pretty much stands his ground as well.  I had hoped to run through the cemetery, I'd like to get some distance between the survivors and the undead!

This doesn't seem like a safe place to hang out...

The zombies move in closer, with one getting to melee Dawn, and another charging Jack.

Here they come!

There they go!

Jack shoots the zombie charging him, killing it easily.  Dawn faces a lone zombie coming through the ruined house and chops it apart in melee.  If they can get moving, things should still turn out pretty well.

The next turn has the survivors activate, but the zombies do not.  Great!  Time to try and get moving.  Jack, Joyce and Tina split off from Brenda and Dawn, moving further into the cemetery and shooting up the zombies.

Jack and the girls shoot up the dead

More zombies keep appearing...

Brenda finally snapped out of her fear, standing up, loosing her grip on her spear.  "I'm better.  Sorry, I just never saw anything like that."  she said to Dawn, shaking off a shiver.

"No problem, but we need to get back with the rest of the group."  Dawn said, glancing towards the cemetery, the long grass hiding smaller monuments.  "We don't want to be caught alone out here."

"Let's go."  Brenda said, still a bit shaken, but determined to move forward.

They're strung out again...

The survivors go first, and Dawn and Brenda run to catch up to the others.  I'm not thinking - Brenda has to make another 'see the feast check'!  Luckily she passes 2d this time.  She is stunned, but once she recovers she will also qualify for survivor status.  At least there is a silver lining.  Jack, Dawn and Tina shoot up a few zombies, clearing the area at least a bit.

Dawn stays close to Brenda

Just short of the next search marker

 The zombies move, but don't quite make it to melee.  They do get pretty close though...

A few zombies get close

At the end of the turn, a few more zombies appear, including some rather close to the survivors.  With them strung out so far, shots from one end spawn zombies on the other end.  I know better than to be this spread out, time to group up again next turn.

More zeds appear!

The next turn the zombies activate and the survivors don't.

Oops.

To be continued...

I have a created a monster...

...Well, a pocket monster.

Well, they're zombies...

The wife and I have been playing Pokemon GO, along with a sizable portion of the rest of the world, I know.  This has taken quite a bit from my hobby and game time, and I have been lacking any real progress.  My plan is to get the search for Eric up soon, if work will cooperate a bit this week.

At least Fear the Walking Dead is back!  Hopefully it will give me more inspiration to get back to ATZ.

Until then, gotta catch 'em all!

I don't choose you...

Dangerous Ground (Part 2)

"Go!"  Brenda yelled, waving Eric and Tina into the store.  Everyone hustled for the rear door, jumping into the dark store.  Brenda slammed the door closed, only to find the latch broken.  "The door won't stay closed!"  she said, turning to face the rest of the group.
"That's fine."  Dawn said, holstering her pistol.  "We'll set up in here, Jack and I will hold them up up and Joyce and Tina can shoot them."  Dawn pointed to a small ladder.  "You and Eric take the roof.  Keep shooting them and try and draw them to the back."
Eric flashed a thumbs up to Dawn.  "Sounds great to me!"  He smiled and quickly climbed up the ladder, Brenda trailing behind.

The group gets to the store

The next turn starts with a random event, from double 2's.  At least only one zombie spawns.

Broken Key

I figure the broken key/lock will apply to the back door the group just used to enter the store.  The zombies will be able to just waltz in...
The survivors win initiative and everyone enters the store.  They spend a turn searching, but don't find anything useful.  The zombies begin attacking the front gates (which won't do anything) and others begin moving around the sides of the building.

Zombies converge on the store

Eric and Brenda head to the roof, ready to help draw the undead to the store if they start to wander away.  Eric at rep 2 has a difficult time shooting, but I figure this gives him a good chance to get a zombie kill.  I am going to have him kneeling/prone as he leans against the roof edge, and give him a +1 on his hit rolls.  If a zombie manages to get to him before he can react, he will be effectively prone in melee.  They should be relatively safe on the roof.  I hope.

Eric and Brenda go up top

After everyone gets into position, the zombies continue to shuffle towards the group.  Some of the zombies manage to enter the back.

Zombies swarm the store

Two zombies manage to get inside...

...But they don't stand for long!

Eric knelt down next to the edge of the roof, using it to support his rifle.  Looking out into the parking lot, he could see zombies closing on the shop.  Adjusting his sights, he looked for his first target.

"Try to shoot the ones closest.  It will make it easier for the others inside if they have to fight fewer at a time."  Brenda suggested, as she pulled out her pistol.

Eric shifted his aim, finding a close zombie.  "Sounds good to me!"  He said and started firing.

Eric takes a free shot

The survivors get a free turn, winning initiative with the zombies not activating.  I consider having Dawn and Jack exit the back and attack the zombies, but that will leave them exposed to even more zombies to attack them.  The next turn the survivors win initiative.  Brenda takes a couple of shots with her pistol and Eric knocks down a zombie.

Brenda and Eric shoot some zombies

The zombies get a free turn next, with the survivors just standing watching them storm the store.  Jack faces three and Dawn takes on four zeds.  Jack doesn't have any problem, killing his opponents in two turns.  Dawn has more problems, but still finishes her zombies in four turns.

Zombies pile into the shop

Dawn was feeling nearly exhausted.  Bodies piled on the floor were making it hard to stand.  A slow dragging sound and the heavy thud of undead footsteps told her there were still more zombies moving towards the shop.  "They just keep coming!"  she exclaimed between heavy breaths.
"Maybe we need another plan."  Jack replied, cleaning his blade on a scrap of shirt.  "Too many more and we're in trouble in here."
With a groan more zombies moved through the broken rear door...

Zombies start climbing the trash dumpster

Dawn and Jack face another horde

Jack faces two zombies and takes them down pretty easily in one round.  Dawn starts strong, killing one zombie the first round, then looses the second round!  She isn't killed, and looses a die in her melee score, and combat continues.  She ties a round, wins by one another, then ties for two rounds before winning the final round with four hits.  Having lost a round in melee, she has to check for infection.  Rep 5 means a 4+ on a d6 and she is safe.  I roll a 5, Dawn gets lucky.  Maybe I need a different tactic, the melee has been too close!
The next turn, the zombie go first with the last PEF moving up close behind the zombies at the front of the store.

Now what?

Two zombies clamber onto the roof, and more enter the back of the store.  Maybe it's time to make a run for it.

Can they do that?

Melee gets more and more dangerous

Jack and Dawn face another six zombies, three each this time.  Jack has some troubles, taking three rounds to defeat his three.  He tied, but never lost a round so no infection check.  Dawn kills two right off, and ties for four rounds before finally killing the zombie on round six.  She has to check for infection again, and rolls a 4 - just passing!  It's time to get a better plan!

Brenda faces two zeds

Brenda passes her brown pants check and faces two zombies in hand to hand.  I was worried with how the dice had been going for Dawn but Brenda handles her opponents is a single round of combat.  Whew.

Eric takes a peek at  the PEF

Eric crawled along the roof edge, using the ledge as cover.  As he reached the front of the store, he slid his rifle out and slowly sighted the street.  The zombies continued to pound on the barricaded front of the store, but Eric caught movement from across the road.  He used his scope to get a better look...

Are they friendly?

The PEF resolves as an encounter with the living.  It is one of the 'gangs' of the area, this time it is a FEMA patrol that is still "on mission".  They react as a gang, although if walk the walk comes up as result, instead a random team member has to pass a zed check.  If they pass 2d, they won't fire unless shot at, pass 1d they won't fire at all, and if they pass 0d they will fire immediately.  (Similar to the disguised as a zed random event.)

The meet and greet goes to the gang (4 successes to 1)...

Crouched behind a burned tree, Corporal Peter Kowalski tried hard to concentrate on covering his fellow squad mates as they all bounded through the burned forest.  The June sun had turned hot, and Peter felt a steady trickle of sweat down his back.  A signal from Sergeant Jackson made Peter run to his next piece of cover, a burned out Ford hatchback.

“Kowalski!”  Jackson whisper-shouted.  “Stop daydreaming and keep that SAW ready!”

Peter gave a short wave in acknowledgement, wincing at the movement of his bruised shoulder.  A sniper had caught him just on the edge of his vest.  The nasty bruise he had on his right chest and shoulder was better than the alternative, but it reminded Peter that the undead were not the only things to be worried about out here.

A burst of gunfire sounded ahead, the second group of shots today the team was investigating.  Peter saw sergeant Jackson and the civilian doctor Fletcher talking and pointing ahead.  It looked like the team was headed back towards town, Peter really hoped it wasn’t an attack on the outer fence again.

Sergeant Jackson gathered everyone together near Kowalski’s burned out car.  “We’re going to check that gunfire out.  Doc still wants to try and contact any survivors, get them into the camp.”  One of the soldier groaned.  “Stuff it.  We’ve got a job to do, these people may need protection.  That’s why the camp is here.”  The sergeant looked at each soldier, daring them to disagree.  “If they don’t want our help, we’ll have them move on.  We’re not arresting or grabbing anyone.”

“What if they shoot first?”  Private Martin asked.

“Then they are going to need a lot more help.”  Jackson said, spitting into the dust.  “We’re going to check this out and then we’re heading back into the camp, right doc?”

Doctor Fletcher cleared his throat, looking at the fire team.  “Yes, we should try and fix any breaks in the fence we find on our way back, but I’d say a return to the barracks is in order.”  The doctor paused as the men looked a bit more upbeat.  “I am hoping to at least get some blood samples from any civilians, so let’s try to convince them the camp is a safe option for them.  Or at least so I can get a health check done on them.”

Blank faces from the soldiers told the doctor they didn’t care and he’sdbe lucky if the group of civilians didn’t just run at first sight of the patrol.  “Right.”  Sergeant Jackson said, checking is rifle.  “Let’s move out.  Kowalski, you’re on the right, Harris you stay with Kowalski.   Martin and Gonzales take the middle.    I’m on the left, doc stay behind us, keep an eye out to the rear.  We’re going to move quiet, don’t shoot until I say or you have to.  These damn things will swarm us if the hear us.”

The small team of soldiers moved out through the burned forest towards the nearby gunfire.  As they approached the shop Peter spied a rifle barrel slowly extend out and a head pop up behind the scope.  "SNIPER!"  He yelled before firing off a long burst at the rifleman.

Eric learns not to point a gun at armed soldiers!

Kowalski passes 0d and fires his SAW at Eric.  Yikes!  Luckily, Eric is in cover, and manages to not get hit.  He is outgunned and passes 0d for his received fire check. Eric decides to head for the hills!  Instead of just removing him, I have him drop prone, and I will move him to the nearest board edge as fast as possible.  I am going to 'break' the rules and give the other survivors a chance to get him and convince him not to just run off (a re-roll of the test).  The patrol finishes off the turn by shooting at zombies...

A lot of shooting, not a lot of hitting...

With 12 shots, the soldiers manage to kill 3 zombies.  That's not going to get it done!  The next turn starts with a random event. (double 1's, so only one zombie spawns at least.)

It helps...a little

The distraction allows me to re-position one model which may trigger in sight checks.  I move Joyce to roof, out of sight.  Hopefully she can help clear out some zombies!

Joyce goes to the roof

The clatter of automatic weapon fire echoed from the street, bullets pinging off the barricade on the front of the building.  Dawn waved to the roof ladder "We need to get out of here!"
Joyce hustled up the ladder, onto the roof.  A thumping from the roof was followed a bang from the dumpster in the back.  "Tina!  find out what's going on up there!"  Dawn said as Tina climbed the ladder and got out on the roof.
Moments later more zombies entered the back of the store.
"Time to dance, hon!"  Jack said to Dawn with a grin as they fought the undead.

Eric starts off with a run to the back..

...he jumps down to the dumpster...

...and off into the nearby neighborhood!

The living win initiative, but Eric starts everything off.  He passes 2d for fast move, and even with a 4" penalty for getting up from prone and dodging Brenda, Eric manages to make the table edge.  He passes 2 2d checks for jumping down, once onto the dumpster and the second to the ground.  Apparently Eric is a parkour expert!

The patrol commences fire!

The patrol starts firing on the zeds, I figure they had better start using their overwhelming firepower or they will be buried under zombies.  One member clears his out of ammo, everyone else whittles away the undead.

The survivors take some shots as well.

Three zeds enter the store - it was still a bit close at the door for Dawn and Jack to go outside and fight, so they waited for the zombies to enter.  Three zombies manage to get to the patrol as well.

Dawn and Jack clear out the store

Zombies surround the patrol

Gunfire was thundering in the air, the near constant tinkle of spent brass spilling on the pavement filling the silence between gunshots.  More and more undead shambled from the ruins, drawn to the cacophony of the battle.  Sergeant Jackson looked around, they were too exposed for this.  "We need to move!  Make for the fence, we'll leave the civvies on their own!"

The guttural moan of zombies from all sides made Kowalski look around, worried.  "Sarge!  We need to go!"

"On me!"  Jackson yelled, charging his weapon as he turned towards the camp.  "No bounding, we run and gun!"  The team turned and started fighting their way towards the ruined camp.

Zombies coming for the patrol

With the shooting, there are an impressive 22 zombies closing on the soldiers.  They are going to execute a left turn and go for the camp.  There's only a couple of zeds near Dawn's team, but Eric has run off.

It's getting clear behind the liquor store

"If we hop the wall, it looks pretty clear towards the tank!" Joyce called out.  "We can make it up the street or even through that fence if we want."

Dawn and Jack exchanged looks as they cleaned their weapons.  "What do you think Jack?"  Dawn asked.

Pausing for a moment, Jack looked out the back door.  "I think we leave the army to it's battle and we try and find Eric."  He looked back at Dawn and added "I wouldn't want to leave a kid out there alone."

Dawn nodded.  "My thoughts exactly."  She yelled up the ladder "We're going after Eric!  Jack and I will clear a path, let's go!"

Dawn is facing a failed mission anyway, but even without that the group wouldn't let Eric just run off.  They are going to follow Eric and see if they can catch him.  I guess we may see the FEMA camp in a later game...

I didn't grab pics, the team easily extracts from the building and makes the board edge (it's barely 6" from the door to the edge) killing four zombies on their way out.  I'm going to hold off on the keeping it together check, as the next scenario is more or less a part 2 of this one.