St. Trinian's and the Living Dead

It’s time for my second battle report as once again I play-test “The Zombie Game That Cannot Be Named.” This is a simple breakthrough scenario in which a group of survivors must exit the board from the opposite side they entered. To make things “interesting” (i.e. harder) the game would take place in a part of the city that was heavily populated with zombies.
Before I get into the scenario let’s take a time-out to have a look at the survivors that I used in the game. I decided to use a group of six teenage schoolgirls. Now if I was a betting man I wouldn’t give good odds for them making it... but these are no ordinary schoolgirls – these are St. Trinian’s schoolgirls! These girls know how to fight and they fight dirty. The zombies won’t know what’s hit them!
Moving from left to right is the leader of the group, Kelly Jones, based on a Copplestone Casting Bikini Bodyguard (FW45) that I’d converted by adding her miniskirt, blouse and tie. The head-girl is armed with a high calibre heavy pistol and a flick knife. She is a crack-shot and a car-jacker. Next in line is Annabelle Fritton, another Copplestone Casting Future Warrior from his Corporate Babes 2 set (FW46). She has no conversion work done to her and appears as is, armed with a katana. I love katanas! She was a skilled athlete and possessed combat reflexes.

The next four girls were sculpted by me. Yes, myself! Some of you might recognise them as set Girl001 Sorority Twisted Sisters from Graven Images’ Dystopia range of 40mm scale figures – and you’d be right. Problem is they’re far too tall and no way would they fit in with my range of predominantly 28mm scale figures. I really liked those girls and I bit the bullet and bought them. But one look at them in the flesh was enough to convince me they were totally unusable. What to do? Well, I have said that I can sculpt figures, so I resculpted them in 28mm scale. So these four figures are totally unique! I enclose a photo of the 40mm Dystopia figures to the right so you can compare the two sets.
The first girl of the four is Sabrina Sykes. She is armed with a 9mm pistol and a flick knife. She was an incredibly accurate shooter. Incidentally, Kelly and Annabelle are named after characters in the 2007 film St. Trinian’s, whilst the other four were given names that I came up with.
Moving on, we have Rosalie Alexander, a bubblegum-chewing miscreant with a serious attitude problem. At first glance she appears to be unarmed but hidden in her blazer are six sticks of dynamite, a flick knife and a spray-can of paint. She is the scrounger of the group.
Next up is Peaches Fraser. You have to admit these four girls are never going to win any beauty contests, are they? Unlike the Copplestone girls, who invariably look gorgeous. Peaches looks like a frog! She too, was armed with a 9mm pistol and a flick knife. Her perk was being able to rapidly reload her pistol. She was also the group’s medic and she carried a medi-pack in her backpack.
Finally, is Bridget Strong, the psychopathic bully of the group. Although armed with nothing more than a baseball bat, she was more than a match for most fighters. Her particular non-combat skill was breaking and entry.
Before starting the scenario, there were a few pre-game checks to make. First up was rolling for weather. Nothing out of the ordinary was the result, so weather would not influence the game in any way. Next, I diced to see what year after the outbreak that the game took place. In a one-off game like this, this is important, as it determines the type of zombie reinforcements that appear. Freshie zombies (fast movers and for ease of identification I used my Eureka zeds as freshies) are more numerous closer to the year the outbreak began. As time moves on, more and more zombie draggers (slow movers) appear. This game took place eight years after the outbreak. Next, I rolled for how many zombies should be placed on the board (32, all normal zombies) and their starting positions. Finally, I rolled for which side of the board the girls would arrive on. They entered from the north. Okay, let’s begin!
Here’s a few photos of the initial set up.

TURN 1. With Kelly taking the lead, the girls crossed the road at a jog to the car park entrance. Kelly shot and killed a fat female zombie not far away from her. Sabrina shot and killed an old lady zombie standing in their path. Zombie Reinforcements = 7 (1 Freshie, 5 Normals, 1 Dragger).

TURN 2. The girls picked up the pace and ran down the car park. Three zombies closing in on them were shot and killed by the three pistol-armed girls (Kelly, Peaches and Sabrina). Zombie Reinforcements = 8 (1 Freshie, 6 Normals, 1 Dragger).

TURN 3. The group reached the far end of the car park. Kelly blew the brains out of a female zombie lurking by an overturned RV. Annabelle beheaded a zombie emerging from the small park. Sabrina fired at a zombie dragger behind the now headless zombie but failed to kill him. Peaches shot at a zombie in a chicken suit but she also scored a glancing wound. A male zombie blocking the group’s path was swiftly dealt with by a fatal blow from Bridget.

Zombie Reinforcements = 10 (2 Freshies, 7 Normals, 1 Dragger). The zombie dragger made a futile attempt to grab Annabelle but she stabbed him in the brain.

TURN 4. Moving at a walk, five of the girls stepped onto the pavement at the back of the car park. Bridget, however, charged into the road to bash the chicken suit zombie in the head. “Why’d the zombie chicken cross the road?” she asked. “To get away from you,” sniggered Annabelle. She killed her third zombie in quick succession as her trusty katana spilt more blood. Kelly was surprised that it took two bullets to kill a bearded zombie; one should have sufficed. Sabrina and Peaches each bagged another zombie. Rosalie had been quiet up till now. Blowing a large bubble she pulled out a stick of dynamite, lit it and threw it at a group of three zombies advancing by the back of the lawyers’ offices. The blast killed two by only wounded the one furthest away.

Zombie Reinforcements = 11 (1 Freshie, 9 Normals, 1 Dragger). A freshie and a normal zombie charged at Kelly. Swiftly, she drew her flick knife and stabbed the freshie... to no effect! However, both zombies failed to hit the head girl. A let off for Kelly!

TURN 5. Kelly ran away from the two zombies to the front entrance of the warehouse, hoping to find the doors unlocked. They weren’t! Rosalie sprinted alongside her. Bridget dealt with the two zombies that had attacked Kelly. She swung her baseball bat with all of her might. Strike one! Strike two! Both zeds went down with caved in skulls. Sabrina’s sharpshooting took care of two zombies closing in on Annabelle. Annabelle ran across the road to pull up alongside Kelly. Peaches walked into the middle of the road and shot at two zombies by the wooden horse barrier. She killed the closest one but her second shot clicked on empty. No big deal. She could reload in the blink of an eye and she did. Zombie Reinforcements = 10 (1 Freshie, 7 Normals, 1 Dragger, 1 Dog). The zombie that had survived Rosalie’s dynamite attack lurched towards Sabrina. She whipped out her flick knife but rushed her attack and just nicked the zombie across the face. The zombie retaliated by wounding her in the left arm.

TURN 6. The warehouse doors survived a couple of blows from Annabelle but flew open after Kelly blew the lock away with two shots. Rosalie had spotted two zombies approaching from the petrol station. What else could the girl do but hurl another stick of dynamite at them, which she’d quickly it? The explosion blew both zombies to smithereens. Sabrina calmly walked away from her assailant and shot him between the eyes. Bridget and Peaches joined the others at the warehouse entrance. Peaches fired at a zombie youth holding a road sign but only caused a flesh wound. Zombie Reinforcements = 9 (2 Freshies, 5 Normals, 2 Draggers). The zombie dog bounded along the street and leapt at Bridget. She dodged the attack but failed with her own attack. The road sign carrying zombie pursued Sabrina and caused a flesh wound on her – a mere irritancy to the plucky sixth-former. Sabrina struck back with her flick knife but stabbed him ineffectually in the chest. So both melee combats ended in stalemate.

TURN 7. Was the warehouse unoccupied? No, of course it wasn’t! How boring would that be? Inside were ten normal zombies. Fortunately, they were spread out and none were near the entrance.

Kelly was the first to enter. Moving cautiously, she shot and killed two male zombies near to the entrance. Annabelle charged past her and attacked a zombie descending the stairs from the office. Perhaps he was the warehouse manager. Not that it made any difference. Her katana sliced through his neck with ease. Sabrina entered next and she fired twice. Her first shot killed a zombie lollipop man but her second shot failed to kill a bare-chested male zombie. Rosalie stepped in with a stick of dynamite at the ready but did not light it. Her targets were too spread out, plus she had no idea what was in the crates that littered the floor.

Outside, it took two bullets from Peaches to kill the zombie holding the road sign. Bridget was having no luck against the zombie dog. Her first attack missed and her second only caused a flesh wound. The dog failed to bite her. Zombie Reinforcements = 8 (2 Freshies, 5 Normals, 1 Dragger). All of a sudden, Bridget was nearly surrounded by zombies. As well as the dog, she faced a freshie, a dragger and two normal zombies. Well, if she was going down, she’d go down fighting... and she’d take that damned dog with her! She put all of her anger into one mighty blow that stove in the dog’s skull. Then the zombies attacked en masse and scored two wounds on her, one from the freshie and one from a zombie tramp who had been pierced with a katana.

Back inside, a female zombie on roller-skates lunged at Kelly. Kelly struck her in a flailing arm, enough to disrupt the zombie’s attack but not good enough to kill her. A one-armed zombie shambled towards Annabelle. He stood no chance against her and his head soon parted his body.

TURN 8. With Bridget facing so many zombies, she had no other option but to beat a hasty retreat. She had enough presence of mind to drop her gore-splattered baseball bat and pull the katana from out of the zombie tramp. Finders keepers! Now that Bridget was safely indoors, Rosalie lit her stick of dynamite and threw it at the four zombies that had tried to make a meal of her friend. The blast killed the freshie zombie and two normal zombies. Two other zombies suffered flesh wounds. Rosalie hollered in delight at the carnage. Kelly took one step back away from the zombie on roller skates and blew the girl’s head off with a .50 calibre bullet. Sabrina failed to kill a fat zombie in a bloody apron. Her first shot merely winged him. And that was when her ammo clip ran out! Bummer! Peaches did not fare much better. Twice she shot a zombie hoodie in the chest but still he kept on moving towards her. Annabelle advanced on a young girl zombie. Incredibly it took two swings of her katana to kill the youth.

Zombie Reinforcements = 6 (1 Freshie, 4 Normals, 1 Dragger). Sabrina drew her flick knife but her attack on the zombie in the apron was weak and failed to kill him. Bridget, standing next to her, swung her newly acquired katana at the zombie and totally missed. The zombie had a choice of targets to attack. Both smelt of blood but Bridget seemed to be the tastier of the two. He lashed out and sent Bridget sprawling. As soon as she hit the floor, Bridget’s eyes rolled back and she passed out. Peaches stabbed the zombie hoodie in the left eye, killing him instantly before he could attack her. A zombie biker stood up on the loading bat moved in to grab Annabelle. She thrust her katana up so that it pierced his skull from below. A freshie zombie sped into the warehouse and tried to grapple Kelly. Her flick knife did enough damage to put him off his attack but failed to stop him permanently. Rosalie was in the most danger as she stood in the doorway, a prime target or every zombie outside. Two normal zombies and a dragger ganged up on her. She drew her flick knife and stabbed one of the normal zeds in the head. The second normal zombie failed to hit Rosalie but the dragger got lucky and knocked her over, causing a nasty bruise to her head. With lots more zombies headed her way Rosalie did not want to be lying on her back as they surged forwards. Without a doubt, this was the zombies’ best turn.

TURN 9. Kelly stepped away from the freshie zombie and shot it in the mouth. Sabrina copied her move and killed the zombie that had knocked out Bridget. Peaches grabbed hold of Bridget’s ankles and dragged her towards the loading ramp. Annabelle ran between the two rear doors to the control mechanism that opened them. The back doors were electronic sliding doors. As the doors began to slowly whirr open, Rosalie scampered to her feet and ran towards her classmates.

Zombie Reinforcements = 5 (1 Freshie, 4 Normals). Three zombies entered the warehouse and two made contact with the girls. Female dragger was easily killed by Sabrina and her flick knife. Rosalie dispatched her male normal zombie with equal efficiency.

TURN 10. As the girls moved onto the loading ramp alongside Annabelle to await the sliding doors opening there were only two zombies left inside. Kelly and Sabrina shot and killed them. Rosalie scrawled graffiti on the white wall by the rear door – St Trinian’s rule!

Zombie Reinforcements = 9 (2 Freshies, 4 Normals, 3 Draggers). Outside, at the rear of the warehouse, four zombies stood by one door. Three were normal zombies and one was a freshie. Hidden from them by a flat-bed truck that was parked against the other door was a zombie nun. As the two doors finally slid open, four zombies tried to grab the girls. A zombie cheerleader managed to grab hold of Peaches, causing her a flesh wound on her right leg. Peaches failed to strike back.

TURN 11. Annabelle walked onto the back of the truck and spotting the zombie nun she plunged her katana into the top of the woman’s skull. Rosalie sprinted on board, urging the others to get their arses in gear! Peaches moved away from the zombies and dragged Bridget closer to the truck. She was almost there. Kelly and Sabrina did not move. They stood in the other doorway and fired four times at the zombies below them, hoping to shoot all four. Kelly killed a male normal zombie but unfortunately ran out of ammo when she tried to shoot the freshie zombie. Sabrina shot and killed the two female zombies just below her.

Zombie Reinforcements = 10 (2 Freshies, 6 Normals, 2 Draggers). Not one of the new arrivals came anywhere near the rear of the warehouse. The freshie zombie was now the only zombie standing in the way the girls’ escape. With athletic ease he leapt up onto the loading ramp, hoping to sink his teeth into Kelly’s throat. He may have been fast but Kelly was faster. She thrust her flick knife between his eyes, killing him instantly.

TURN 12. Peaches dragged Bridget onto the back of the truck. Sabrina pressed the button that would lower the two back doors – that way no zombies could pursue them from the warehouse. Annabelle and Rosalie kept watch but there were no zombies in sight. Kelly dropped down from the loading bay and ran to the cab of the truck, hoping that the door would be open but not too bothered if it wasn’t. Remember, she was a car-jacker. Zombie Reinforcements = 7 (1 Freshie, 5 Normals, 1 Dragger). Once again, not one zombie arrived anywhere near the back of the warehouse. The girls’ tactics seemed to have paid off. Although more zombies entered the warehouse from the front it was now quite obvious that the girls would escape.
TURN 13. Kelly climbed into the truck’s cab and discovered there were no keys in the ignition. No problem. She simply hot-wired the ignition and she accelerated away. The shutter doors slammed shut behind them, just as some of the zombies inside reached them. They had made it. Victory for St. Trinian’s! Peaches, the group’s medic took out her medi-pack and tended to the wounded. Bridget had suffered a cracked skull. She would recover without any long term effects. The other girls who had received wounds made full recoveries. No one was coming back as a zombie.
Kelly suffered no wounds. She killed 2 freshie zombies and 8 normal zombies.
Annabelle suffered no wounds. She killed 6 normal zombies and 1 dragger zombie.
Bridget suffered 3 normal wounds that caused a critical injury – a cracked skull. She killed 1 freshie zombie, 3 normal zombies and 1 zombie dog.
Peaches suffered 1 flesh wound. She killed 5 normal zombies.
Rosalie suffered 1 flesh wound. She killed 1 freshie zombie and 8 normal zombies.
Sabrina suffered 1 normal wound. She killed 8 normal zombies and 1 dragger zombie.

The game was great fun to play, even if it was a solo effort.