The sun ain’t gonna shine anymore…

Day 21

Cast: The Whiteface Family

Objective: Discover

Area: suburban Whiteville

It had been rather quiet for the last two days. It seemed there weren’t any soldiers around anymore. The Whitefaces had seen the National Guard being replaced by the US Army several days before, but even these well trained and heavily equipped soldiers weren’t able to control the situation. Mr. Whiteface didn’t believe in the rumour about a cure having been developed, so they had left Camp Camelot and tried to find a better location to hide. Now they have been walking down the Highway along those endless lines of cars since the early morning without seeing a living human being.

Setup: It’s my standard 4’ x 4’ setup. There is a big four lane highway running through sections one, four and seven. The two lanes leaving Whiteville are crowded with abandoned vehicles. Three PEFs have been placed on the board. One (Rep 1) in section five and two (Rep 1 + 2) in section two on the parking lot in front of the diner. The Whitefaces start on the highway in section seven.

The following buildings are on the board:

- a diner in section 2

- a supermarket in section 6

- an apartment block in section 8

- a small trailer park (3) in section 9

Comment: As mentioned before my PC is currently OOF. I had intended to upload some pictures of my december battlefield layout from my wife's PC, but I couldn't connect it to the camera. My second possibility was to upload some pictures from my office PC which has a card slot. It wasn't a big surprise, that these card slots are deactivated. So for this batrep you have to live without pictures. Shame, as I really liked the terrain. I hope to add some pictures for the next batrep (same layout).
Comment (Edit): I have added five pictures now.

Turn 1:

(4 / 1) All are active, the Whitefaces move first.

The family moves forward between the lines of cars and stop next to a blue Subaru.

All PEFs are active, but stay where they are.

Turn 2:

(4 / 6) Only the Whitefaces activate.

They move forward to take a look at a red Ford Mustang, taking them into LOS of the PEF in section five. It turns out to be a group of three shuffling undead.

The Whitefaces win the Encounter Awareness test with 2 successes and are allowed an In Sight test although they are active. Mr. Whiteface snap fires one shot and misses, while Mrs. Whiteface – as a trained survivor – holds her fire.

No new zeds are created.

Turn 3:

(5 / 4) Only the zombies activate. All three zeds shuffle closer.

Turn 4:

(4 / 6) The Whitefaces activate as a group, the zombies stop and stare.

Dotty watches her parents switch their assault rifles to burst fire mode and firing at the zeds. Mr. Whiteface scores two OD results on one zombie, but misses his second target. Mrs. Whiteface hits twice and scores an OD result on a zombie girl, but misses the lucky zombie mechanic too. This bugger is too damn fast!

Six shots fired create one undead lady of negotiable virtue further along the highway.

Turn 5:

(3 / 1) All are active, Whiteface family goes first.

Mr. Whiteface fires a single shot at the lady of the night, but misses. His missus fires another burst at the mechanic, hitting him twice and killing him. The zombie on the highway moves closer.

The Rep 2 PEF moves from the parking lot in section two on to the lawn in section five into LOS. It’s an equal sized (a little bit unfair because of Dotty being no real fighting character) group of hostile National Guard soldiers (Rep 4, 3 and 3). I roll minus 3 successes for the Encounter Awareness test and decide to use Mr. Whiteface’s LUCKY attribute. Minus one success. Not good.

The hostile NG roll for In Sight:

NG #1 snap fires a single shot at Mr. Whiteface, but only manages to shatter a window of the red Mustang. If he hadn’t been snap firing…

NG #2 scans the area for more targets.

NG #3 fires a burst, but misses Mr. W. due to him being in cover and Mrs. W. because she is the second target and in cover.

The Whitefaces choose a result from the Received Fire test (see, I remembered!):

Mr. Whiteface snap fires a burst (he is still a civilian) at NG #1, but misses every time. Twice because of snap firing.

Mrs. Whiteface fires a burst a NG #1, scores a result of OOF, that is turned into a result of Stunned because he’s protected.

NG #2 and NG #3 roll check for Received Fire and both score a duck back. One moves behind tree to his right, the other moves forward to hide behind an abandoned Army Humvee.

This turn isn’t over yet. The second PEF (Rep 1) from section two moves from the parking lot to the lawn in section five as well, but with a little bit of luck turns out to be a false alarm.

Oh, 14 shots fired generate seven new zombies. It’s time for a plan. A good plan!

Turn 6:

(2 / 2 / 6) All are inactive. Team Whiteface and Zeds cancel each other.

Turn 7:

(5 / 4 / 6) Only the zombies activate. Btw, the activation dice read: (Whitefaces / Zombies / Other Humans).

They move. Three charge NG #2, two charge Mr. & Mrs. Whiteface.

Mr. Whiteface decides to burst fire & melee and kills his assailant.

Mrs. Whiteface decides to do the same and knocks down her personal undead.

NG#2 checks for Being Charged and retires.

Six shots fired create zero zeds.

Turn 8:

(6 / 5 / 4) Only NG #1 is able to activate. Before you ask: as a side effect of the duck back in turn five NG #3 is out of range for group activation. Not by much, but he is. And NG #2 is retiring. So it’s only NG #1 recovering from stun this turn.

Turn 9:

(5 / 5 / 3) Only the National Guard is active.

NG #3 moves toward his team leader. Both want to fire at zombies.

NG #1 fires a burst at a mob of zeds and knocks down one zombie.

NG #3 fires a burst at a zombie waitress from the diner behind them and kills her.

NG #2 being the smart one, retires with a fast move. He jumps over the hedge onto the parking lot.

Six shots create three more zeds.

Turn 10:

(5 / 6 / 5) All are inactive.

Turn 11:

(5 / 6 / 3) Only the National Guard activates. Just in case you forgot to count: this is the 6th inactive turn in a row for the Whiteface family. I would have moved out of this death trap between the cars if I could.

But I can’t! So both National Guard soldiers continue to fire bursts at the zombie mob in front of them. They score an impressive result of six misses.

The third soldier, NG #2 leaves the table. He doesn’t notice the single zombie created on the parking lot because of six shots having been fired this turn.

Turn 12:

(5 / 6 / 5) All are inactive.

Turn 13:

(5 / 4 / 2) The horde activates first, followed by the National Guard. The Whiteface family is still frozen in terror (8th turn of inactivity).

A lot of zombies move. One charges Dotty, three charge NG #3. Two zombies move into LOS of the Whiteface family triggering an In Sight test.

Both Whitefaces fire a burst at their fresh (well, not that fresh, at least not by the smell of them) targets killing one and knocking down the other.

Dotty uses the Bleen rule from BDTZ to escape her charger.

The NG check for being charged successfully using a leader die from NG #1.

NG #1 melees a zombie and kills him with +5 successes.

NG #3 burst fires & melees: he knocks down one with a bullet a kills another in melee.

The National Guard team activates and wants to charge the small zombie mob.

NG #1 charges and kills one zombie with +4 successes in melee. This guy is evil.

NG #3 comes to the conclusion that charging may not be the best idea. He halts in place.

Nine shots fired create 6 new zeds. The current status is: 16 zombies on the board, with two of them being knocked down.

Turn 14:

(5 / 4 / 3) Zeds first, followed by National Guard. Yes, 9th turn of inactivity for the family.

The Whitefaces are being charged by three zombies. Two for Mr. W. and one for Mrs. W. Both decide to fire a burst and melee, with Mr. Whiteface killing one of his decaying opponents with a well placed bullet. The other two zombies get killed in melee.

The soldiers are charged by one zombie each. NG #1 accepts the charge and kills the zed, NG #3 decides it’s time to retire.

National Guardian #1 is still in a fighting mood. He activates, charges another zombie and kills the foul creature.

Six shots fired create two more zeds for a total of thirteen zeds on the table.

Turn 15:

(6 / 4 / 5) Guess what, only the zeds activate.

One brain eater charges Mrs. W., two charge Mr. W. and five charge NG #1.

Both Whitefaces choose to burst fire and melee and both are able to knock down one zombie. Mr. Whitefaces melees his second target for a result of evenly matched. Did I mention that he did already spend his LUCKY attribute for this scenario?

NG #1 scores no success on the Being Charged test and finally decides to strategically relocate, i.e., retire.

Six shots generate four more zombies.

Turn 16:

(3 / 4 / 1) All activate. Yes, really, after ten turns of inactivity the Whiteface will move. Make that ‘may move’, after all the zombies activate before them. The retiring troopers activate last.

One zombie charges Mrs. Whiteface, Mr. Whiteface continues his fight and NG #1 is attacked by two zombies.

NG # 1 melees both zeds and is put out of fight. Being protected this changes to a result of stunned.

Mr. Whiteface kills his opponent in melee, while Mrs. Whiteface wants to single shoot & melee her assailant. She misses, goes into close combat and runs out of luck. This ugly undead creep scored a result of OOF against the missus. Gnah!

Mr. Whiteface howls in furious rage, activates and charges his wife’s attacker.

NG #1 activates to recover from stun…right in front of a big zombie mob.

No new zeds are created, but with 15 zeds on the table there’s enough for everyone.

Turn 17:

(3 / 4 / 4) Only the Whitefaces activate. Zeds and National Guard cancel each other.

Mr. Whiteface retrieves his wounded wife and leaves the highway toward the humvee.

Turn 18:

(3 / 1 / 1) Again only Mr. Whiteface activates and everyone else is cancelled.

He carries his wife further down the small road, closely followed by little Dotty.

Turn 19:

(2 / 2 / 2) All are cancelled.

Turn 20:

(4 / 6 / 1) Mr. Whiteface activates first, followed by the retiring National Guard. This luck is desperately needed.

The Whitefaces move towards the small trailer park, out of sight of the still inactive zombie horde on the highway. Every other zombie has turned his attention on the soldiers.

NG #1 leaves the melee mob and fast moves away, following NG #3 who fast moves towards the outer corner of section three.

Turn 21:

(6 / 5 / 5) All are inactive.

Turn 22:

(4 / 4 / 4) All are cancelled.

Turn 23:

(6 / 4 / 4) All are inactive.

Turn 24:

(4 / 4 / 4) All are cancelled.

Turn 25:

(4 / 1 / 6) Whitefaces activate first, followed by the zombies.

Mr. Whiteface carries his wife over to the trailer’s door.

Some zeds follow the National Guard, some more move randomly around the table.

Turn 26:

(2 / 6 / 4) Whitefaces activate first, this time followed by the soldiers.

The family enters a trailer only to discover a female survivor (Rep 4) with a submachine gun pointed at them. Mr. Whiteface puts his wife down on the floor and stares at the armed woman. With despair in his voice he says

“Please help, my wife has been hurt…”

The stranger glances down at Mrs. Whiteface, then at little Dotty and finally back at Mr. Whiteface. With a short nod she orders them to stay with her and to close the door.

All roll on the NPC Interaction table and Mr. Whitefaces receives a positive result with +2 successes. With a final result of 8 he is able to recruit this survivor. Say hello to Lynn.

The soldiers activate and leave the table.

Comment: With no targets in LOS and me not being in the mood to leave the trailer it was time for a decision. To leave the table would take the Whitefaces about two activations, so I ruled that after two activations hiding in the trailer and without being detected by a wandering zed I would end this scenario. Some hordes would follow in the direction of the National Guards, other would leave the board in the hours to come. Still, I had to wait for this two activations.

Turn 27:

(4 / 2) All are active.

Team Whiteface hides, while the zombie shuffle around.

Turn 28:

(3 / 1) All are active again and after some more hiding and shuffling this scenario is over.

Final Comment: Wow, what a depressing game…in a good way. There was so much activity in my head cinema when this scenario ended. I just knew that the rogue National Guard soldiers had been looking for Lynn, but given the opportunity they didn’t hesitate a second to raid other survivors. What an ironic twist of fate. Eleven days before I had depended so much on the support of friendly National Guard soldiers, but these guys were pure evil. If I just had been able to retreat from my disadvantageous position. If…that’s the point I guess, “if” and zombie hunting get you Obviously Dead or at least Obviously Zed.

There is no doubt that this mission was an epic fail, but Mr. Whiteface’s Reputation stayed the same and he got promoted from a civilian to a survivor. His new team member Lynn, who is a 4 Survivor too, received the Runt attribute, because I hadn’t given her an attribute when I met her.

Concerning the fate of Mrs. Whiteface I decided to wait until the evening of Day 21. Yes, exactly, I will roll on the “Harry, are you OK?” table in the first turns of my next scenario. Everything is still possible.

Stay tuned for the next broadcast from the trailer park.

Whiteface

Breaking News: It's dead, dead, dead!

These are news about broken things: My PC has ceased working this friday. This was where I had created my previous batreps, have Comic Life installed and stored a lot of the pictures from the 1,5 games I've played recently (and obviously the pictures from all those batreps before).
So apart from not having access to about 50% of the pictures from my latest game I am not able to do any batreps with pictures anymore. I don't see myself buying a new PC in the coming months, so I am not sure how I will solve this situation. A text-only batrep won't do my latest games justice.

I have absolutely no clue what part of my PC isn't working, as the boot process is stopped (and restarted) before even the first messages appear on the screen. Starting, two seconds, first air thingie starts, about two or three more seconds, next noise (rotation of hard disc?)  joins in...and with a clicking noise stops working, waits a bit and everything starts again unless I cut off the power.

Whiteface
Angry, frustrated and with a annyoing cold.

You can run... (Part 4)

Final hours of Day 10

This is the final part of my batreps You can run... (Part 1), You can run... (Part 2) and You can run... (Part III). If I had known before that it would take so long to write this final batrep I wouldn't have released Part II and III in such a short order. Too much work, too little time. Anyway, enjoy Part IV.
 

Turn 31: The zombies hesitate under the barrage, so only Team Whiteface is active this turn.

All move away from the undead horde. Two soldiers fire single shots, while the third is reloading his assault rifle. One target is killed, but quickly replaced by a newly generated zed. 

 
Turn 32: (double 6!) No one moves, but there is a random occurrence (dramatic music and deep, hollow voice): Someone left the keys in the ignition! Yeah, wow, and maybe Mrs. Whiteface forgot to switch of the flat iron. 
 

Turn 33: Still wondering about the keys, Team Whiteface doesn’t act this turn. The zombies move closer and closer. Slowly, but surely.
 

Turn 34: Team Whiteface stop their musing, but too late, the zeds are upon them!

Three zombies charge and Mrs. Whiteface urges Team Whiteface to open fire. The whole Team fires at the chargers. All five bullets miss their targets.

Soldier #1 is evenly matched, soldier #2 and #3 manage to kill one zed in melee, but Mr. Whiteface is in real danger. He has to use his LUCKY attribute in the third round of melee to survive this fight. He finally is able to kill his undead opponent.

Team Whiteface activates and fast moves away from the horde.

Two zombies are spawned as a result of five shots fired and one of those zeds is placed directly into close combat with Mr. Whiteface. Gnaaah!
 

Turn 35: All will activate this turn, but the zombies act first. Maybe Team Whiteface is too slow with all these highly developed (and tasty) brains thinking complicated thoughts…

All zeds pursue the humans. One zed tries to bite Mr. Whiteface but is killed swiftly with +3 successes.

Team Whiteface concludes to do another fast move. It’s pretty obvious who’s hunting who. 
 

Turn 36: All activate again, but this time Team Whiteface moves first.

They continue to do what they do best: running away with a fast move. They end their moves out of sight behind the rocks.

The zombies follow.
 

Turn 37: All activate, but while Team Whitefaces discusses whether they are safe now the zombies move closer. In a straight line towards the rocks.

Team Whiteface exits on the other side of the woods, keeping most zeds out of sight.

 
Turn 38: The zombies don’t activate, puzzled because they lost sight of their supposed lunch. Team Whiteface activates and approaches the chewed up remains of the survivors from the first shootout.

Turn 39: All activate, with Team Whiteface acting first.

The Whitefaces loot the corpses while the soldiers scan their surroundings. Both take an assault rifle, but cannot find anything else (Looting the Landscape, IZ).

All zeds move, some in a straight move, some where they’ve last seen the humans, one moves randomly.

The National Guard soldiers are allowed an In Sight test and take down two zeds. One killed, one knocked down.

One zed is generated due to three shots having been fired this turn.
 

Turn 40: Only the zeds activate this turn to move closer.

Comment: Usually zeds react to shots fired in the same turn, but I couldn’t see the zombies ignore the gunfire last turn, so I turned them towards the noise. Not sure about this.
 

 

Turn 41: All activate, but the zombies act first. It surely helps to have a target.

All zombies move and only the hedge saves Mrs. Whiteface from an attack into her rear facing.

Comment: I was going to write ‘charge into her rear’, but I am not sure if that isn’t something unintentionally funny.

Team Whiteface decides to leave the area. This leads to a lonely Rep 1 PEF being resolved.

It turns out to be an empty can rattling along the road (0 humans again!).


Turn 42: Only Team Whiteface activates and continues to fast move away.
 

Turn 43: Zombies and Whitefaces activate, but Team Whiteface is quicker.

Team Whiteface walks into LOS of the last Rep 1 PEF to discover two humans and something special. They are a Rep 5 National Guard veteran and a Rep 4 soldier and there is a little girl with them. It’s Dotty Whiteface!

Comment: I had invented a special rule during the first version of Day One when Mr. Whiteface lost his family.

In the first six months of the outbreak (if staying in the same area) every group encountered may include a missed person. Every group being defined as every humans or zeds not being generated as a result of gunfire.

Everytime I meet someone I would roll 2d6:

Double “1” = found missed person – in trouble if with humans or zombiefied if with zombies

Double “6” = found missed person – with friendly humans or zombiefied if with zombies

For every encounter after month 6 (until a not yet defined date) and anywhere I would roll 3d6 with triples being necessary to find someone.

I really hadn’t expect to see little Dotty again - alive and out of trouble - but there she was.

All zeds move closer, including one behind the house that I had missed before.
 

Turn 44: All activate, but the surprising reunion slows down Team Whiteface.

Almost out of trouble! The zeds move and one zed charges the new National Guard soldiers from behind. Both roll test for Being Charged.
The Veteran will melee with a penalty, but his companion is shooting a burst at the charger…and misses. Nevertheless they kill the walking corpse in melee.

Team Whiteface walks up to both soldiers.

As a result of three shots two more zeds are being placed on the table. 
 

Turn 45: The Whitefaces spend this turn with a lot of hugging and weeping (inactive), while the zombies close in. Two zombies end their movement in charging distance. 

Turn 46: Only Team Whiteface is active and decides wisely to leave the table. Mission over! 

Final Comment: Even if Mr. Whiteface hadn’t found loot and had not killed seven zombies I would have rated this mission as a total success. Even for Mrs. Whiteface, who found an assault rifle too, killed two zombies but had hunkered because I had forgotten her Free Will, this mission was a total success. They found their little daughter Dotty, what more can be said. Epic success, everything else is just icing on the cake.

Unfortunately Mrs. Whiteface wasn’t able to increase her Rep. She continues to be a Rep 3 Survivor. Mr. Whiteface increased his Rep and is now officially a Rep 4 Civilian. He received his second attribute. It’s (again) ‘Stealthy’ from the Nuts! rules.

This whole mission started very confusing. I wasn’t sure how to handle all those PEFs, do a three sided interaction and fire fight and repeatedly forgot the Whiteface’s Star Advantages. In Part Two everything seemed to be under control, but those two gangers were really annoying and calling for trouble. I was happy when they were defeated. Be careful what you wish for was the motto of Part Three. A lot of gunfire and despaired melee turned into a retreat with Team Whiteface barely staying ahead of the horde. My head start was never big enough to be relaxed during Part Four. This could have gotten ugly pretty fast. The surprising end is absolutely covered in awesome sauce! Everything can happen and everything will happen. Don’t you just love it?

There is only one negative point. I had begun this mission in early October and now it’s December. Two months for playing through this scenario and writing down batreps is way too long. I am sorry for making you wait this long and even more for not having played for some weeks now. But rejoice…the terrain for my next Month One mission is set up for me since about two weeks. I thinks it’s a great layout and I really look forward to my upcoming game.

Thank you

Whiteface

You can run... (Part 3)

Still Day 10

This is the third part of my batreps You can run... (Part 1) and You can run... (Part 2).
 

Turn 21: After two activation rolls without anyone activating, all activate, with the zombies acting first.

Lots of zombies move forward. One zed starts to feast upon a survivor who had been killed before. The feast will last for just this turn. Five zombies start feasting on ganger #2 and will do so until turn 25.

One Zed charges a soldier #1. He scores one success on the Being Charged test, so he would melee with a penalty. Mr. Whiteface – who is standing next to him – scores two successes on the Being Charged test. He is able to fire his BA Pistol twice and hit his target with both bullets. The undead is knocked down and OD.

No other zombies are in charging distance.

Team Whiteface turns around to fire single shots, with Mr. Whiteface firing twice. Only the trained soldiers hit their targets. They kill two undead and knock down another.

Seven shots have been fired. The shots from the assault rifle have no effect, but Mr. Whiteface’s shots generate two more zeds behind them.

 

Turn 22: Team Whiteface activates while the zombies doing nothing.

All continue to fire single shots into the undead mob, but only two shots from the soldiers hit their target and knock down two zombies.

Five shots generate two more zombies. 
  
 
Turn 23: Only Team Whiteface is active.

I’ve learned from the last round that Mr. Whiteface shooting won’t do anything but calling in more zeds, so only the National Guard will fire single shots this turn.

All miss with a total of three shots and one zed is created. 
  
  
Turn 24: Team Whiteface pauses to evaluate the situation. The zombie s activate.

A feast on the very first ganger begins. It will last until turn 28. Some more zeds join the feast on ganger #2.

Several zeds close in, some of them coming into LOS triggering In Sight tests. As a result of the test:

Soldier #3 will hold his fire, because the zeds are more than 6” away.

Soldier #2 snap fires but misses his target.

Soldier #1 holds his fire as well.

No zombies are generated. 
  

Turn 25: All are active, with Team Whiteface moving first.

Soldier #1 charges and kills a zombie in melee.

Soldier #2 moves and fires a single shot. He kills another zombie.

Soldier #3 and the Whitefaces charge a zombie and Mr. Whiteface kills the foul creature.

A zombie activates and charges soldier #1. The soldier barely escapes alive by killing the zed with just one more success in the second turn of combat.

Three zombies move closer, some more join the feast.

The single shot that has been fire doesn’t generate any zombies. 
  
  
Turn 26: All are inactive and one feast is over.

 

Turn 27: Team Whiteface activates, the zombies shuffle around undecidedly.

Special Detachment Whiteface intends to repeat the successful strategy used in turn 25.

Soldier #1 moves and fires, but misses his target.

Soldier #2 fires and misses too.

Soldier #3 and the Whitefaces want to charge a zombie. Mr. Whiteface decides to snap fire instead (Yeah, I forgot repeatedly that he has a Free Will), but misses his target. Mrs. Whiteface puts her telescopic steel baton to good use and kills the zombie in melee.

Three shots fired in this turn create one new member for the horde.

 

Turn 28: Only the zombies will act this turn.

This is the last round of the feast in the woods, but nine zombies start a picnic on the former gang boss. With so many hungry mouths to feed this will last only this turn.

One zed moves closer and two zeds charge soldier #3 and the missus standing next to him. Both humans accept the charge and will fight one zombie. Soldier #2 is close enough to the charge to fire a single shot but misses the assailant. Mrs. Whiteface kills her zombie, with a sharp blow to his skull, but Soldier #3 is knocked down. If he hadn’t been protected he would have gone OOF.

No zeds are generated this turn.

 

Turn 29: All feasts end and everyone (including both Rep 1 PEFs) activates. The living and breathing members of the community activate first.

Soldier #1 and #2 move and fire single shots at an undead mechanic. One bullet hits and terminates the intended target.

Soldier #3 recovers from knock down.

Mrs. Whiteface continues to fight against the zombie who had knocked down soldier #3 in the previous turn. After three rounds of combat they are evenly matched and my hands are shaking.

Mr. Whiteface charges and scores a deadly +3 result in melee against a zombie. 

All twelve zombies on the board move. Both PEFs don’t move.

No new zeds are generated. 

 Turn 30: All are active, but the shambling horde moves first.

All zombies move closer.

This is not an exercise! All three soldiers change their fire mode to burst fire. Each shot will be aimed at a different target among those nine zeds moving down the road. Before firing Team Whiteface moves backwards. They are not fleeing, it’s just a tactical withdrawal.

Soldier #1 is getting nervous and doesn’t hit anything.

Soldier #2 scores one hit on the horde.

Soldier #3 – can you believe it? – chose this moment to be out of ammo.

Nine shots have been fired this turn and four more zeds appear on the scene.

This is not good!

Final Comment (Part 3): Uh-oh! You can see the Whitefaces have gotten themselves into an ugly situation here. This wasn't supposed to happen, but in the end the zombies always win. Sooner or later! As the saying goes: You can run, but you cannot hide!

Speaking of running; the game isn't over yet, so make sure to tune in for the final part of this batrep.

Whiteface

You can run... (Part 2)

It's still Day 10

This is the second part of my last batrep You can run... (Part 1).

Turn 11: The gangers activate first, the zeds follow. Team Whiteface is inactive.

Both gangers fire 3-round bursts at the zombie around them, but only manage to knock two of them down.

The zeds activate and one zed charges a soldier. As a result of the Being Charged test he will fire at the zed and the soldier next to him will assist him in melee. The bullets don’t hit their target, but his fellow soldier is able to kill the zombie in melee.

Some zeds move closer to the gangers one of them charges the second ganger. Both gangers have two successes in the Being Charged test, fire at the undead assailant and score three knock down results.

Thirteen shots have been fired this round and 6 new zeds appear on the board. All of them somewhere close to ganger #2.

Turn 12: Team Whiteface activates first, the gangers second. The zombies won’t do anything.

One soldier from the National Guard rallies Mrs. Whiteface and the retired soldier. The other soldier moves backward for better protection.

Each ganger fires a burst at one zed. The gang boss kill one zed, ganger #2 knocks down another undead.

Six Shots have been fired and generate 3 more zombies.

Turn 13: Zeds and gangers cancel each other, Team Whiteface moves toward Mr. Whiteface to build a group.

Turn 14: Team Whiteface and zeds cancel their activation, but the gangers will act.

Both gangers desperately spread their burst fire at the zombies around them. The gang boss kill two zeds, while his companion kills one and knocks down another.

Six shots fired result in 4 new zombies. Two on the road, one in the church and a hobo raises from a bank next to the church.

Turn 15: Zombies act first, Team Whiteface second and the gangers are inactive.

Two zombies start feasting on two downed survivors (each of them until turn 19), another one moves closer to the feast. Every other zed moves towards the gangers or recovers from knock down.

Team Whiteface withdraws along the edge of the board.

Turn 16: Gangers and Zeds cancel each other, so only Team Whiteface is active.

Two National Guard soldier have zombies in LOS. Both fire a single shot, but only manage to knock down one zed.

Two shots generate 0 zombies.

Turn 17 and 18: Team Whiteface, everyone else is inactive.

In both turns all soldiers fire single shots at different zombies. They only knock down a zombie that had been knocked down anyway.

Six shots create two more zombies in turn 17. One inside the white house, the other inside the green house.

Turn 19: The last round of feasting. Only the zeds are active, because all humans cancel each others activation.

One zombie recovers from knock down, one joins the feast, some move, two exit different houses and one moves towards Mr. Whiteface. Two zombies will charge the gang boss and five will charge his buddy.

Both gangers test for Being Charged with a result of being able to snap fire. The boss knocks down one zombie charging his companion, but ganger #2 misses with every bullet. The gang boss has to fight two zombies in melee, ganger #2 has to melee four zombies.

Ganger #1 demonstrates why he is the boss and kills both zombies. With a lot of luck ganger #2 is able to kill one zed and to be evenly matched with the remaining three.

Turn 20: The gangers act first, Team Whiteface second and the undead are inactive.

Both gangers wisely decide to leave the combat and flee around the corner of the green house. They stop moving in LOS of Team Whiteface.

Team Whiteface wins the Encounter Awareness check with one success more than the gangers. Because they are inactive they are allowed to roll 2d6 on the In Sight test. Mr. Whiteface is out of range, Mrs. Whiteface has no firearm and one soldier isn’t willing to fire [0 Successes].

The other two soldiers spread their burst fire at both gangers. The second soldier snap fires, but misses with ever shot. The last soldier scores two hits - he knocks downs both gangers. The boss is OOF and his buddy is dead.

The group activates and Mr. Whiteface and all three soldiers fire at zombies. Mr. Whiteface doesn’t hit anything. The National Guard kill a single zed.

Fourteen shots have been fired. This generates three more zombies.

Final comment (Part 2): This part of the battle took very long. Those stupid gangstas with their automatic weapons made me crazy. The turned a peaceful residential area into a warzone. Too many zombies for my taste, but I won't leave yet. Mr. Whiteface has killed a zed (actually two of them) and just needs to find a resource to turn this into a successful mission. Three well armed soldiers assist the family for this scenario and  Mr. Whiteface wants to achieve as much as possible with his own private amry, Strike Force Whiteface.

The gangers have been eliminated, but now there are approximately seventeen zombies on the board.

Make sure to tune in for Part 3!

Whiteface

You can run... (Part 1)

Day 10
Cast: Mr. and Mrs. Whiteface

Objective: discover

Area: suburban Whiteville

The Whitefaces had survived for several days in the woods. They hadn't seen anyone for some time now...even the sound of gunfire had eventually died down. Mrs. Whiteface had demanded that they return to their old neighbourhood to gather some food and maybe, just maybe find a clue about Dotty's whereabouts. For want of a better plan Mr. Whiteface had agreed.

Three hours later they hide behind a group of rocks at the border of the White Park Residential Area. A quiet, sleepy part of Whiteville. Almost like dead.

Setup: This discover scenario is played on 4'x4' board with the Whitefaces starting in the bottom right corner. This is the first of two scenarios in month one. There will be no ragers, as Project Lazarus hasn't been executed yet. PEFs are represented by little pieces of paper with their REP written on them. They use the zombie activation die.

I used several house rules this time. I included one PEF instead of each zombie usually created at the start of the game and resolved them by checking on the Building - Occupied Or Not? table. In hindsight I have to admit that this might have been a very stupid idea. Nine PEFs (sic!) on the table is very intimidating. They are Rep 5,4,4,3,2,2,1,1,1.

During the game I added a rule that every human - that is including opposing NPCs - would trigger the resolution of a PEF in his LOS. Furthermore I use the NPC interaction rules from I, Zombie.

Turn 1: Only the PEFs with Rep 2 to 5 are active. Two of them move to the wood where the Whitefaces are hiding.

Turn 2: Some of the PEFs (Rep 3-5) move. The Whitefaces are still inactive.

Turn 3: All are active, but the PEFs with Rep 2 to 5 move first. A Rep 4 and a Rep 3 PEF move into LOS. I resolve them using the Building - Occupied Or Not table.

Rep 4 = chance of 1d3 zeds with "1" being zero zeds. I roll a one.

Rep 3 = chance of 1d3 humans with "1" being zero humans. I roll a one.

OK, Lady Luck seems to be on my side this time.

The Whitefaces move around the rock and stumble into a Rep 2 PEF.

Rep 2 = chance of 1d3 humans with "1" being zero zeds. I roll a 6.

They are three Rep 4 National Guard Soldiers (Protected, Assault Rifle)

Mrs. Whiteface (a Born Leader) talks to them using the new NPC Interaction table. With +2 successes she scores a seven on the Positive Reaction table. The Soldiers are very friendly and offer to help for this encounter.

Turn 4: Only Team Whiteface is active. They move around another rock to resolve three (!) PEFs next to the green house.

Rep 4 = chance of 1d3 humans with "1" being zero humans. I roll a one again.

Rep 2 and Rep 1 resolve into one  Rep 4 Ganger and three Rep 4 Survivors. All of them carry Assault Rifles.

I decide to check everyone against everyone on the NPC Interaction table. Team Whiteface scores a "run in" against the Ganger and a "run in and plot revenge" against the merry group of Survivors. The Interaction between the Ganger and the group of Survivors leads to a Draw Down which turns into a running guunfight. The ganger ducks back behind a tree.

Turn 5: All are active. PEFs (Rep 4 to 5) go first, Ganger next, Team Whiteface and lastly the Survivors.

The Ganger decides to pop up from his cover to fire a burst at the Survivors. As a result of the In Sight test two Survivors fire single shots at him and he goes OOF.

Team Whiteface activates and the Soldiers burst fire at the dangerous Survivors. Nine bullets, but only one Survivor is OOF. The remaining opponents check for Man Down. One Survivor - I call him Bob - ducks back behind a tree, but the other one goes Heroes All and starts to return fire.

His burst doesn't hit anything, but one National Guard Soldier and the Whitefaces duck back.

When the other two Soldiers fire again one of them goes out of ammo, but the other one ODs his target.

The last Survivor - Bob - activates but decides that he doesn't want to leave his cover right now.

21 shots have been fired, but only 3 zeds are generated.

Turn 6: The Rep 5 PEF activates first and moves towards the nearest PEF. Survivor Bob activates next, everyone else is inactive.

Bob takes a shot at the single zombie behind him and ODs him. Another zed is generated due to shooting.

Turn 7: All but the zombies and PEFs are active.

Bob acts first and shoots another zed.

The Soldier who ducked back in turn 5 fires at a zombie, but misses. The Whitefaces move around a rock and Mr. Whiteface fires two shots at the zombie and ODs him.

Four shots fired generate one zed.

Turn 8: Only the zeds and the PEFs with Rep 4 to 5 are active. Survivor Bob and Team Whiteface cancel each others activation.

Turn 9: Only Team Whiteface is active. The Gangers and zombies cancel each other.

One Soldier moves closer to the Whitefaces, the other two fire at the playground zombies killing one of them.

I want Mr. and Mrs. Whiteface to charge the zombie close to them, but both halt and may not fire. They are Stars...I know, I know...I tend to forget things. Same problem next turn.

The Rep 5 PEF moves towards the nearest enemy (Bob) and has to be resolved.

Rep 5 = Two Gangers. A Rep 5 hard case with a submachine gun and a Rep 4 banger with a machine pistol.

They interact with Bob ending in a +3 negative reaction. The following Draw Down results in both Gangers getting the drop and firing a burst at Bob. Bob is dead.

One zombie moves closer to the downed survivors and another moves towards the Whitefaces.

Six shots fired generate four zeds.

 

One zed is generated.

Turn 10: Only the zombies and PEFs with Rep higher or equal four are active. Team Whiteface and Gangers cancel each other.

The zombies charge Mrs. Whiteface who panics and retires behind a rock. A Star, I said I know. The Soldier standing close to her is retiring as well.
Only Mr. Whiteface is able to melee. He kills the zombie.


Final Comment (Part 1): This scenario is far from being over yet. It took several hours and gaming sessions to complete it. I am not sure if the following batreps will be in the comic book format. It took very long to write just the first ten turns in this style (even without the text in between which I have added today). One thing I have learned is: test every house rule before you include it in you game. Thinking five minutes about a rule change may not be enough.

Stay tuned for more bullets and zombies!
Whiteface

The Last Stand

Day One - Location #8, Part II

Welcome back. It took me some time to finish this report. Here is the second half of my last batrep I shot the sheriff. The Whiteface Family has just left the board, but two policemen are still fighting against the horde. I'll call them Inspector Harry Houlihan and Inspector Anvil Smith. Both are Rep 5, carry a BA Pistol and will not suffer any undead punks messing around.

Turn 13: (Seven!) Four more Zombies appear. Both cops are active and fire at the zombies. Houlihan hits twice with one target being knocked down and the other one being killed. Inspector Smith kills another zombie.

The zombies are active too and closing in. One zed in charging distance of Smith recovers from knock down while Houlihan is charged by a crawler. With one success on the being charged test he isn’t able to fire but will melee.

*krunch!* The zed is killed with 3+ successes.

As a result of the shots fired there is one undead girl coming from the diner.

Turn 14: All are active and the zeds go first. One zombie recovers from knock down, 8 move closer and 5 zombies charge. Three go for Harry Houlihan and the other two for Anvil Smith.

Houlihan passes the being charged test with two successes and fires his .44 magnum…to discover that Lady Luck is an evil #%$*§. His gun is empty. Now he is in a big melee against three zeds…

*whack-thud-kerrunch!* ...and kills all of them. I am the law, creep...and don't you forget it!

Smith passes the being charged with just one success, but manages to kill both zeds in melee.

When active inspector Houlihan moves backwards and reloads his gun. Smith moves around cab toward Houlihan, fires two shots killing one zombie. One zed appears due to shooting.

Turn 15: Only the cops are active. Harry will fire, Anvil moves closer to his partner and fires too. Each cop kills one zombie, but one new zombie is generated from the shooting.

Turn 16: (Seven!) All are active, the policemen act first and four new zombies are placed on the board. Both cops fire and kill a total of two zombies. No new zeds are attracted due to shooting. The ten remaining zombies shuffle closer.

Turn 17: Only the cops are active and continue to fire at the undead, but only Houlihan is able to OD a single target…which generates one new zed out of sight in the watchtower behind them.

Turn 18: Only the zombies are active in this turn. The new zed exits the tower, all other move closer. It’s 2 vs. 10.

Turn 19: (Seven!) Oh, look, new zombies! All are active and the zombies move first. A zombified hobo crawls through the bushes at the wall, a cheap and dead looking girl appears in the trailer park and a horrifying zombie with a meat cleaver walks out of the diner. Each cop is charged by three zombies and three more zombies are close enough to attack next turn.

Deguello!

Inspector Houlihan has one success on the being charged test and enters close combat with three zeds. One zombie is killed, but Harry is OOF as well. Not good, just when you think these guys may have a future in the post-apocalyptic world.

Inspector Smith passes with two successes and fires two shots at the charging zombies. A girl zed is OD and the waitress zombie is knocked down (charging!), so Smith will have to melee just the guy in the chicken suit. He ODs the chicken with +3 successes. The Colonel here!

Smith activates and fires two shots at the remaining horde. He barely manages to knock down another zombie. On the bright side no zeds are generated by shooting this turn.

Turn 20: All are active and the inspector moves first. He fires two shots, but even though he kills another zed he isn’t able to save his partner. Maybe he should have shot him…

All zombies go feasting or move closer to the feast (4 rounds, Turn 20 – 23). Anvil Smith watches the feast, but with 2 successes he will carry on giving the law to the undead mob.

Turn 21: All are active, but Anvil acts first. He moves away from the zeds and fires two shots which just knock down one target, but fortunately don’t generate any new zombies. Most zombies are feasting, some are still on their way to the party. Currently there are one cop and ten zeds on the board.

Turn 22: All are active, but this time with the zombies moving first. Seven zombies are feasting and two are still moving towards the feast. Inspector Smith fires his BA Pistol. He kills two targets, but attracts a new zombie boy from the trailer park.

Turn 23: It’s the last round of the feast and all are active. After the zeds move almost every zed on the board has joined the feast. Only the boy from the trailer park has missed the dinner by 2”. Anvil Smith wishes for a grenade but has to content himself with shooting at the zed pile. He kills two more zombies without generating more. Good work.

Yum! Yum!

Turn 24: The feast is over, but the zombies are not satisfied yet. All are active and the zombies act first. All zeds move toward the cop, but none of them is in charging distance. He answers by firing twice, but doesn’t hit anything. At least no new zeds are generated.

Turn 25: Only Smith is active this turn. He fires two rounds at the undead and kills one of them. Unfortunately one new zombie is created as a result of the shooting.

Turn 26: All act, but the cop goes first. His shots kill one zed, but generate a zombified girl behind the mob. All zeds move closer.

Turn 27: All are active, but Smith – being a Rep 5 – acts first. He fires two shots and moves backwards. This seems to be a slow, but successful effective method. Two zeds are killed, none are generated. It’s only 1 cop versus 4 now.

Turn 28: (Seven!) Oh, drokk it! All are active, but Smith still acts quicker than the zombies. A single zombie joins the horde. The experienced policeman continues with his move and fire strategy. He kills two targets, but creates another zed in turn. The zeds move closer.

Turn 29: Only inspector Smith is active. He is fed up with attracting more zombies with gunshots. The zombies are spread across the board, so he decides attack them in melee. He will have to fight just one at a time, with 5 vs. 1 melee dice. Sounds like a solid plan.

 He passes two successes on the wanting to charge test and enters melee with his first target. The dice roll:

*errgh!* 5 vs. 1 and again...

*aarrrf!* 3 vs. 1 and again...

*gnuuh!* 2 vs. 1 and again... 

*Aiiiieeeh!* with a final result of 0 vs. 1.

I cannot believe it, but inspector Anvil Smith is OOF!

Final comment: As a result of this massacre (including the last batrep) there are 3 dead cops and 35 dead zombies. I didn’t expect this result in turn 29. The whole scenario dragged on and on with zeds being annihilated and generated all the time and finally everything was over after a quick melee. Strange things happen in zombietown! Oh, and if the Whitefaces would have stayed on the board they would have been active 8 turns out of 17, generated terrified civilians twice and would have increased the amount of zombies generated as a result of rolling a seven! (four times). Furthermore I guess that Mr. Whiteface would have fired a total of 16 shots from his BA Pistol hitting probably nothing but attracting more zeds. Yes, I think that leaving the board was the right decision.

Whiteface