Diorama of Doom 2009

For Halloween, I thought I'd show you my entry for the Diorama of Doom 2009. This is a competition run on the Forum of Doom by the four companies that host the forum - Black Scorpion, Eolith, Hasslefree and Heresy. The diorama had to feature figures from any of the four companies, the more the better. Mine comprises Vampirella (a conversion of Hasslefree's 28mm scale Taxxis the Demoness), Echo (a Black Scorpion 28mm scale Demoness) and eight Heresy 28mm scale zombies. The gravestone directly behind Vampirella came with the Echo figure. The other gravestones came from Hasslefree. The tree is from the Citadel Warhammer Walls and Fences set. One of the restrictions placed on everyone was that the diorama had to fit on a CD or a smaller-sized base. Mine is on an old CD, covered with Polyfilla.

The story for the diorama is really simple. Vampirella interrupts a zombie summoning ritual by the Chaos demoness, Echo by decapitating her with a scythe that she found lying in the graveyard. A small number of the undead have already risen from their graves but they will prove no match to the Drakulonian heroine.

Here is a close up of Vampirella holding Echo's severed head. This was a real labour of love. I have never entered a painting competition before and I have no idea how well I'll do. Today is the closing date for the competition, so I'll find out soon how I've fared. There have been a lot of positive and heart-warming comments about my entry on the Forum of Doom. Of course it would be great to be a winner, but even if I don't I have had a lot of fun working on this project and that is surely just as important.

ATZ:BDTZ Battle Report 02

It's time for part two of my All Things Zombie: Better Dead Than Zed battle report. Part one ended with two of Lieutenant Catweazle's National Guardsmen being taken hostage by a gang of skateboarders. Part two features the rescue mission.

The photo above shows the four heroes of this scenario. From left to right they are Corporal Steven "Shuggy" McGraw, a Rep:4 soldier with the Brawler attribute and armed with an Assault Rifle, Flash Bang Grenades, and a One Handed Weapon (combat knife).

Lieutenant Ulysses Catweazle was the team leader, a Rep:5 Star with the Brawler and Nerves of Steel attributes. He was armed with an Assault Rifle, a Machine Pistol and a One Handed Weapon (combat knife).

Private Angela Ziskin became a Rep:5 veteran at the end of the last scenario. She had the Marksman attribute and was armed with a Bolt Action Rifle and a One Handed Weapon (combat knife). All three soldiers wore concealed body armour.

The fourth member of the team, shown at the far right, was Siobhan O'Hearne, a Rep:4 experienced civilian who was armed with just a Pistol. She joined the team during the first encounter. Before the scenario began, I had to roll on the Keeping it Together table to see if she stayed with the group or left. Catweazle scored twice as many successes as her, meaning that not only would she stay with the group but she didn't need to take the test after the next encounter as well.

The National Guardsmen were Foundry Figures 30mm scale Backstreet Militia figures from their Street Violence range and Siobhan was a survivor from the Cold Wars Miniatures 28mm scale range of The Dead Will Walk.

This was a Raid Encounter, which took place in the suburbs of Mayhem City during the hours of daylight on day 34 after the zombie outbreak. The following special rules had to be followed. There would be no zombies placed on the board at the start or placed in a building when it was being searched. They could only be generated by a loud noise like shooting. There would be 1d6+2 buildings on the board. I rolled a 4 to give me 6 buildings (four semi-detached houses, an armoury and a garage). The team member(s) could be held in any one of them. Whenever the team entered a building they had to roll 1d6. On a result of 1, they would find their colleague(s) there. The colleague(s) would be unarmed but could not activate until contacted by a team member. If the team member was not found before searching the last building he/she/they would be found there.

Prior to turn one, Team Catweazle parked their SUV outside one of the semi-detached houses. They moved out and walked to the side door, with their firearms at the ready.

TURN 1. Activation = Team Catweazle:N/A.

The team enter the house but find it empty. No hostages, no gangers. They search it for loot and Ziskin finds a luxury item (an unopened bottle of whiskey). The others find nothing.

TURN 2. Activation = Team Catweazle:N/A.

The team leave the house by the front door.

TURN 3. Activation = Team Catweazle:N/A.

Walking to the house next door, the team gathered by the front door.

TURN 4. Activation = Team Catweazle:N/A

The team entered the house and found it occupied by one ganger - Tony Morley, a Rep:3 punk armed with a Machine Pistol. The hostages were not located here. Rolling on the Enemy Awareness table, the Ganger was caught unaware. This result meant that the heroes got a free turn of activation before he could activate.

TURN 5. Activation = Team Catweazle:N/A, Gangers:N/A

Lieutenant Catweazle drew his combat knife and had no trouble in silently killing the ganger. No alarm was raised. Shuggy, Ziskin and Siobhan searched the house for loot and Shuggy found a cache of food.

TURN 6. Activation = Team Catweazle:N/A

The team moved out of the house.

TURN 7. Activation = Team Catweazle:N/A.

The team crossed the road to the armoury at a normal walking speed.

TURN 8. Activation = Team Catweazle:N/A. Gangers:N/A.

The team entered the armoury and discovered that it was occupied by three gangers. They were Vikky Ross, a Rep:4 banger armed with an SMG (she's standing behind the counter), Quincy Rosenior, another Rep:4 banger armed with an SMG (he's the dude in the blue hooded top), and Billy Beeny, a Rep:4 banger armed with a BA Pistol (he's dressed in the white T-shirt in the photo above). First thing to do was roll on the Enemy Awareness table. This time I rolled a 3 and the Gangers were allowed to make normal In Sight reaction tests. Each one passed 1d6 so they could all snapfire. Vikky went first. She fired her SMG three times at Catweazle and missed with all three shots. Quincy also fired three rounds from his SMG. His target was Shuggy. He hit once and knocked Shuggy down. Billy suffered a spot of bad luck. He rolled snake eyes when he fired at Catweazle. His BA Pistol was out of ammo! Bummer!

Catweazle passed 2d6 on his Received Fire reaction test and was able to snapfire. He chose Quincy as his target and one of his three shots hit the Ganger squarely between the eyes, killing him instantly. Ziskin fired once at Vikky but missed. Now Vikky had to make a Received Fire test. She passed 1d6 and because she was in cover was able to snapfire back. Once again, she missed with all three shots. Even so, it forced Ziskin to take the Received Fire test. Although she passed 2d6, because she was outgunned, she was forced to duck back. The term "duck back"  is a bit misleading as the character ducking back can move in any direction just as long as he can find cover within 6". Ziskin was only 2" away from the ammo shelves to her left so she moved behind them. The final shooting of this turn came from Siobhan, who snapfired her Pistol at Billy. One shot hit and knocked him down. So Shuggy and Billy had to make Recover from Knock Down reaction tests. Shuggy passed 2d6 and was only stunned. He would miss the next turn's activation as he recovered. Billy only passed 1d6 and was out of the fight as he fell into unconsciousness. What an incredibly exciting and action packed turn!

The noise of all the gunfire meant I'd be rolling 17d6 for zombie reinforcements. They would appear on any result of 5-6. Not only that, but the other Gangers were alerted. For the three remaining houses I rolled 2, 1 and 0 for the number of Gangers, meaning that three Gangers would be headed towards the armoury next turn.

Zombie Reinforcements = 6.

 

TURN 9. Activation = Team Catweazle:5, Vikky's Gangers:4, Josy's Gangers:3, Zombies:2.

Catweazle decided to charge at Vikky. Being a Star, he chose to pass 2d6 on his Wanting to Charge reaction test. Vikky had to make a Being Charged test. She passed 1d6. This meant that although she couldn't fire at Catweazle she could melee with him normally. She stood no chance as Catweazle drew his combat knife and gutted her. She slid to the floor and died, crying for her mum! Siobhan moved to check on Shuggy and Ziskin took Billy's BA Pistol, even though it was empty. Loot was loot and it was finders keepers!

The other three Gangers were led by Josy Alsopp, a Rep:5 head case, armed with two BA Pistols. She emerged from house 3 with Slipknot, a Rep:4 banger armed with a BA Pistol. From house 4 came Whitey, another Rep:4 banger armed with a BA Pistol. Two female zombies appeared at the back of the armoury and homed in on the building.

The other four zombies appeared at the front of the armoury. They too, advanced towards the building.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 10. Activation = Team Catweazle:3, Gangers:1, Zombies:6.

The zombies failed to activate this turn and so remained rooted to the spot. Catweazle ordered his team to search the armoury for loot. He found an item of food, whilst Siobhan found some medical supplies. Although the other two found nothing, they did take the SMGs from Vikky and Quincy.

Josy ordered her gang to double move and all three passed 2d6 on their tests. As in the first game I gave the gangers a temporary Athlete attribute if they attempted to double move whilst using their skateboards. This gave them 3d6 to roll instead of 2d6. It was my way of them making good use of their skateboards due to the lack of official rules for skateboards.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 11. Activation = Team Catweazle:4, Gangers:1, Zombies:3.

Catweazle led his team out the back door of the armoury. He immediately took an In sight reaction test and passed 2d6, allowing him to shoot as normal. He'd spotted the two female zombies but knew that Josy with her twin BA Pistols was the greatest threat... and the closest. He fired twice at her with his Assault Rifle. The first shot hit and killed her outright. This forced Slipknot and Whitey to take the Leader Lost test. Both passed 2d6 and came to a halt. They would chose a new leader when they were next active, assuming they would still be alive. Shuggy only passed 1d6 on his In Sight test and he snapfired three times at Slipknot, the closest enemy. Only one shot hit and it caused an Out of the Fight result. Ziskin passed 2d6 on her In Sight test and she opted to shoot the slim zombie female. She hit and killed it with consumate ease. Siobhan also passed 2d6 on her In Sight test, but being a civilian was forced to snapfire. As a consequence her two shots at the fat zombie female missed.

It was the zombies' turn to activate. The four at the front of the armoury reached the front door. The fat female zombie at the back decided that Catweazle looked like the tastiest treat - well, he was the tallest! Being a Star, Catweazle was allowed to choose how many dice he'd like to pass on the Being Charged reaction test. Not surprisingly, he chose to pass 2d6 and thus was able to fire before the zombie reached him. One shot was all it took to put the fat zombie down permanently.

This left the Gangers to activate and only Whitey remained standing. He only managed to pass 1d6 on his In Sight reaction test and so his two shots at Catweazle were snapfired. He missed with both of them. Again, Catweazle showed what an advantage it is to be a Star and chose to pass his Recieved Fire test with 2d6. He fired back. His single shot hit Whitey and knocked him down. Sadly for Whitey, he failed to make his Recover from Knock Down test and became obviously dead. This was another intense and exciting turn! I was having a great time!
Zombie Reinforcements = 4.

TURN 12. Activation = Team Catweazle:5, Zombies:4.

Catweazle led his team at the double along the path between the skateboard park and the basketball court. All four passed their tests with 2d6.

Of the four new zombie reinforcements, one arrived in the centre of the skateboard park, one in the basketball court and two in the narrow passage between the armoury and the basketball court (these two don't appear in any of my photos - an oversight on my part!). The four zombies at the front of the armoury entered the building and discovered two fresh corpses and one unconscious human. It was time to feast! I rolled to see how long the feast would last and scored a 4 on the 1d6. I'm not too sure if I shouldn't have rolled 1d6 for each victim or just the once for all three. Either way, it made no difference to the outcome of the game.
Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN:13. Activation = Team Catweazle:2, Zombies:5.

Having only Reps of 4, the zombies again failed to activate. Catweazle and his team entered house number three, and it was here that they found their two colleagues, Corporal Perry Kroeger (Rep:4) and Private Carrie Bryce (Rep:3). They searched the house for loot and Ziskin and Kroeger both found food supplies.
Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 14. Activation = Team Catweazle:2, Zombies:4.

The four zombies in the armoury continued feasting. The zombie in the skateboard park found Whitey and began feasting on the fresh corpse. This feast would last for four turns. The two zombies on the path between the armoury and the basketball court stumbled across the corpses of Josy and Slipknot. Yummy! They too began feasting and decided to take things real slow as their Feast lasted for 6 turns. The zombie in the basketball court moved towards the house he'd just seen four humans enter.
Catweazle ordered to his team to move at the double out of the house. He, Shuggy and Ziskin passed 2d6 and thus moved 16", the others only passed 1d6 and so moved 12". Both of which were better than the normal move rate of 8".

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 15. Activation = Team Catweazle:4, Zombies:2.

Once again, Catweazle ordered everyone to move as fast as they could. This time the four members of the team made double moves but Bryce and Ziskin only passed 1d6 and so moved at 1.5 their normal rate.
The zombie in the basketball court spotted them and headed towards the entrance/exit. The other zombies continued feasting.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 16. Activation = Team Catweazle:4, Zombies:3.
The team reached the SUV together with a combination of normal moves and double moves. The zombie mime exited the basketball court but stood no chance of catching any of the team before they left. So it was game over, as the other zombies continued their gruesome feast.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

I enjoyed playing part two just as much as part one. Combat in ATZ is very different to combat in most other games that adopt the I go, you go system. Have a good look at how the combat was handled in turns 8 and 11. ATZ uses a system of reactions that I found refreshingly different. If you never played any Two Hours Wargame before (they all use the same game mechanic) then it can be a bit hard to get your head around this radically new concept. Fortunately, the rulebook makes life very easy with lots of examples of how things work. I hope my own two battle reports have helped as well.

All that was left to do was to roll for improving Rep. Catweazle, Shuggy and Ziskin were eligible to roll. Siobhan wasn't because she failed to kill any zombies in this encounter. To my amazement and delight, Catweazle and Shuggy both rolled higher than their Reps and thus became Rep:6 and Rep:5 respectively. I had to roll for the other three (Siobhan, Kroeger and Bryce) to see if their Reps dropped a level. Sadly for Kroeger he rolled a 1 and so dropped to Rep:3.

I do hope you enjoyed reading these two battle reports as much as I enjoyed playing them and writing about them. I am hoping to run more ATZ games next year. Thanks for dropping by!

Zombieland Review

Earlier this week I went to see Zombieland at the cinema. Ever since I saw the trailer months ago I've been looking forward to watching this and  I was not disappointed. The film starred Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus, who narrates the film, Woody Harrelson as Tallahassee, Emma Stone as Wichita and Abigail Breslin as Little Rock. We never get to learn the true names of any of the four leads, only their nicknames, based on where they are headed or come from. Ruben Fleischer directed the film, which has a running time of 88 minutes. Although it has a rather short running time it was jam-packed with humour and action.

THE PLOT. In a world overrun by flesh eating zombies, Columbus is an unlikely survivor. He is a teenage geek with phobias and neuroses aplenty. But like your average reader of my blog, he knows zombies and how to survive, thanks to a list of rules he makes. For example, Rule One: Cardio. Be fit for the zombies are fast paced and they caught and ate all the fat people first. That's me screwed then! He teams up with a drifter called Tallahassee, who is as hard as nails - quote "my mother always said I'd be good at something; I just never thought it'd be killing zombies!" They form an unlikely partnership being as different as chalk and cheese. They lose their car to two expert con artists, Wichita and her younger sister Little Rock. However, it isn't long before they meet up again and this time a truce is called as they head west to Los Angeles. Little Rock wanted to go there to visit the Pleasureland amusement park. Whilst in Los Angeles, they spend time at the mansion of Bill Murray before the two girls depart for the amusement park. It is deserted when they get there but by turning on the electricity to power the rides they unwittingly attract every zombie within hearing distance. Columbus and Tallahassee almost split up but decide they worked well as a team and so set off to catch up with the girls. And how fortunate they did as the film ends with a huge pitched battle between the four survivors and hordes of zombies.

From left to right - Wichita, Tallahassee, Columbus and Little Rock.

THE REVIEW. This is very firmly a comedy, not a horror film. That said, there is enough blood spilled to satisfy the most ardent gore-hound - that'll be me then! This was a film that had me laughing out loud from start to finish. The secret of any good film, no matter what its genre, is to have characters you like and care about and this passes that test with flying colours. All four leads are perfectly cast. Also, Bill Murray gives one of the best cameo performances ever seen. The sheer inventiveness of some of the zombie kills is truly amazing. "Zombie kill of the week" is a quote that crops up in the film more than once and none can beat the old lady who drops a piano on top of a zombie! I'm chuckling now as I type this at the memory of that scene! I know that in any future game I play involving zombies I'll be looking for my own zombie kill of the week. I'm very pleased to see that the film has garnered very good reviews from the critics and that it is doing well at the box office. It thoroughly deserves its success. I read that Woody Harrelson said that this was the first film he's made where he'd be happy to do a sequel. The writers and director want to do not just a sequel but a whole series of sequels. I would most definitely want to see that happen! This was, hands down, the best film I've seen all year. I rate it 9 out of 10. As great as it is, I still think that Shaun of the Dead is ever so slightly better.

ATZ:BDTZ Battle Report 01

It has been quite a while since I ran a battle report. I'd like to run more on my blog but I am limited as to when I can set them up. I live at home with my parents and I have to wait until they go away on holiday so that I can set up the scenery on our dining room table and leave it there until I've finished the scenario. Taking notes and photos for my blog is very time-consuming and so a game can take up to three days to complete. I was very fortunate a couple of weeks ago in that my parents were away for a week (they usually take long weekend breaks - Friday until Monday). As a consequence I was able to run two scenarios that week. The second one continues the action where the first one ended.

This time, the scenarios used the All Things Zombie: Better Dead Than Zed (ATZ:BDTZ) rulebook by Two Hours Wargames, which I reviewed quite a few months ago.See http://vampifansworldoftheundead.blogspot.com/2009/04/all-things-zombie-better-dead-than-zed.html  Character generation was easy to do and didn't take long to complete. I decided that my heroes would belong to the military. I diced to see if they were National Guard (1-5 on 1d6) or US Army (6 on 1d6). Not surprising, they were National Guard. The two photos below show my team. They are all from set SV5/4 Backstreet Militia from the Foundry Figures 30mm scale Street Violence range.

At the far left is Corporal Perry Kroeger, a Rep:4 Grunt with the Poser attribute and armed with Assault Rifle, One Handed Weapon (combat knife) and Flash Bang Grenades.

To his left is Corporal Steven "Shuggy" McGraw, a Rep:4 Grunt with the Brawler attribute and armed exactly the same as Kroeger.

In the centre of the group is Lieutenant Ulysses Catweazle, a Rep:5 Star. As the group leader and a Star, I was able to choose his attributes and I gave him Brawler and Nerves of Steel. He was armed with an Assault Rifle, a Machine Pistol and a One Handed Weapon (combat knife).

The female standing closest to him is Private Angela Ziskin, a Rep:4 Grunt with the Marksman attribute. She is armed with a Bolt Action Rifle and a One Handed Weapon (combat knife).

Last in line is Private Carrie Bryce, a Rep:3 Grunt. She had the Runt attribute and was armed in an identical manner to the lieutenant.

All five wore concealed body armour and they had all witnessed the Feast (this meant that they did not have to take a reaction test if they saw a zombie feeding on a victim).

As with all of my zombie games, this one took place in Mayhem City, USA, this time in the suburbs. It took place on day 33 after the outbreak and occured during the daytime. The encounter was a Discover one, which to quote the rulebook, "in this encounter your group will search the board to determine what and who can be found. This is the "basic" encounter and is great for introducing players to ATZ." That seemed like a good enough reason for me to try it out. The initial number of zombies on the board is determined by rolling 1d6 per human if the setting is in the suburbs. I rolled 5d6 and scored 16. The mechanic for placing zeds is to roll 1d6 for each zed and depending on the result place it 12" away to the top, bottom, right or left of the group with top or bottom being twice as likely to crop up. In a word this is boring! Not to mention too unrealistic. So I used a house rule that I came up with and rolled a Games Workshop scatter die for direction. This gives me a 360 degree arc for where a zed could suddenly appear. The whole concept of how zombies can suddenly appear, seemingly out of thin air, is frankly unrealistic! However, as a game mechanic it adds a great deal of tension and uncertainty to the game, so I'm not knocking it.

TURN 1. Activation = Team Catweazle:4, Zombies:5.

Activation in ATZ works like this. Each side rolls a different coloured die. I used white for the military team and red for the zombies. If the scores are tied, then re-roll. Otherwise, the higher score determines which side is active and will activate its groups first. It also determines which Rep or higher the corresponding group may activate. After the first group completes all its actions and any reactions that it caused have been resolved, the active side is the team that scored the second highest activation roll, and so on until all sides have moved. However, if the die roll is higher than that of the team leader's Rep, then that group remains inactive for the entire turn! In the case above the zombies scored higher than the humans but zombies are only Rep:4. This meant that none of them could activate this turn! The humans were lead by a Star with a Rep of 5 so could move normally provided they stuck together. If either or both of the Rep:3 females began the game as a separate group they would have been unable to activate because the die roll of 4 was higher than 3. Being lead by a much higher Rep character does not stop much lower Rep characters from activating provided they remain as part of the group.

The National Guard team had parked their SUV outside the apartment in the south east corner of the board prior to the game starting and were allowed one turn of movement before the zombies were placed on the board. They moved at a walk towards the front door of the apartment. After rolling for activation, each soldier made an In Sight test to see if they could shoot at the zombies. Ziskin passed 2d6 and held fire because the zeds were over 6" away. Catweazle, Shuggy and Kroeger passed 1d6 and snapfired. Incredibly, they all hit and killed their targets. Bryce passed 0d6 and so could not fire.

The ground floor of the apartment was occupied by two civilians - Ray Pegg (Rep:3) armed with a Shotgun and a Two Handed Improvised Weapon (cricket bat) and Ed Frost (Rep:3) armed with a Two Handed Improvised Weapon (golf club). Lieutenant Catweazle offered them the chance to join them and they gladly accepted the offer. Rolling on the Meet and Greet table was pretty much a foregone conclusion!

Zombie Reinforcements = 1.

TURN 2. Activation = Team Catweazle:5, Zombies:2.

I rolled to see where the new zombie appeared. Zombie reinforcements could arrive at any loud noise, like for example, gunfire. The soldiers searched the ground floor for loot. Shuggy and Ziskin found a cache of food each. The others found nothing. Ray and Ed watched as the zombies began to shuffle towards the apartment.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 3. Activation = Team Catweazle:3, Zombies:1.

Ziskin made an In Sight test and passed 1d6. She snapfired at one of the zombies and although she hit him, she only knocked him down. No kill this time. She then followed her four colleagues up the stairs. Ray locked the front door then he and Ed also moved upstairs. Hiding in the spare bedroom was a single female civilian called Siobhan O'Hearne (Rep:4) armed with a Pistol. She had no hesitation in joining Catweazle's growing band of survivors. Being outnumbered seven to one she'd have been foolish not to!

Outside, eight zombies approached the front of the apartment, another four emerged from the small wood by the billboard and the zombie who was knocked down by Ziskin stood up.

Zombie Reinforcements = 0.

TURN 4. Activation = Team Catweazle:3, Zombies:4.

The zombies reached the front door of the apartment but couldn't enter because it was locked. They would have to spend a turn knocking it down. Lieutenant Catweazle ordered everyone to move upstairs and out onto the patio, so that they could fire down on the zombies trying to get in. Ray, Ed and Siobhan followed but the two guys stayed indoors to watch their backs. Before anyone could fire they all had to make In Sight reaction rolls. Catweazle, Shuggy, Kroeger and Bryce passed 2d6 and could fire normally because the zombies were within 6". Ziskin and Siobhan each passed 1d6. Ziskin could snapfire but Siobhan could not fire at all because she was a civilian and not as well trained in firefights as the military. Shuggy went first and dropped a Flash Bang Grenade amongst the zombies below. It landed on target and exploded, forcing all zombies within the blast (6" radius) to lose their next turn of activation. This was an excellent result for the heroes! Catweazel, Kroeger and Bryce fired twice with their Assault Rifles. Ziskin fired once with her Bolt Action Rifle. Catweazle scored two hits and both were kills. Kroeger scored two hits as well, but only one was a kill, whilst the second was just a knockdown. Bryce scored one hit but it too, was just a knockdown. Finally, Ziskin scored one hit and it was a kill.

Zombie Reinforcements = 3.

TURN 5. Activation = Team Catweazle:3, Zombies:6

Once again, the zombies failed to activate. Due to the Flash Bang Grenade, the zombies at the front of the apartment wouldn't have been able to move anyway, but this result prevented the three reinforcements from closing in. Another excellent result for our heroes! All four soldiers armed with Assault Rifles fired twice and Ziskin fired once. Although Ziskin was limited to just one shot, she was able to roll 2d6 to hit and choose the best result because of her Marksman attribute. Catweazle, Shuggy and Kroeger each hit once, all scoring kills. Bryce missed with both of her shots. Although Ziskin hit her target, she only scored a knockdown result.

Zombie Reinforcements = 2.

TURN 6. Activation = Team Catweazle:5, Zombies:3.

Kroeger threw a second Flash Bang Grenade that landed slap in the middle of the six remaining zombies at the front of the apartment, causing them to lose this turn's activation. Catweazle continued to impress with his shooting. He fired twice. Both shots hit their targets and reulted in two more deaths. He was on a roll! Shuggy equalled his leader's feat this turn by scoring two kills from two shots. Bryce only hit with one of her two shots but it did kill one of the zombies who had been knocked down. Ziskin fired at the last of the knocked down zombies but this time she missed completely. Siobhan succeeded in spotting a zombie emerging from the house across the road. She could only snapfire, but amazingly, she hit the zombie with her first shot and killed him.

Zombie Reinforcements = 2.

TURN 7. Activation = Team Catweazle:1, Zombies:4.

Five zombies advanced on the apartment. The knocked down zombie struggled to his feet. Catweazle bagged himself two more zeds with a couple of highly accurate shots from his Assault Rifle. Shuggy, Kroeger and Bryce also fired two rounds each. Shuggy and Kroeger each hit and killed their respective targets. Bryce finally had a bit of good luck as both of her shots hit and scored kills. For a brief second the board was cleared of all zombies!

Zombie Reinforcements = 2.

TURN 8. Activation = Team Catweazle:2, Zombies:3.

As one zombie crossed the street towards the apartment another moved slowly through the wood by the billboard. Ziskin made an In Sight reaction roll and passed 0d6, so could not fire. Catweazle, Shuggy, Kroeger, Bryce, Ray and Ed moved back downstairs with the two civilians leading the way.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.
TURN 9. Activation = Team Catweazle:6, Zombies:3.
For the first time in the game, the humans fail to activate. The two zombies moved closer to the apartment.
Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

Turn 10. Activation = Team Catweazle:5, Team Ziskin:2,  Zombies:6.

Ziskin made another In Sight reaction roll and this time passed 2d6. She fired at the closest zombie and killed it with a clean head shot. With more time to spare now, the four soldiers and two civilians on the first floor searched for loot. Catweazle found another cache of food and Shuggy found a luxury item (toilet paper!). The others found nothing of value.

Zombie Reinforcements = 0.

TURN 11. Activation = Team Catweazle:4, Team Ziskin:3, Zombies:1.

Catweazle led his team downstairs. Ziskin shot and killed the last zombie on the board.

Zombie Reinforcements = 0.

TURN 12. Activation = Team Catweazle:1, Team Ziskin:6.

As Ray unlocked the front door, Ed and the four soldiers gathered around him. Ziskin and Siobhan were inactive this turn, although it did not matter as there were no enemies left on the board.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 13. Activation = Team Catweazle:3, Team Kroeger:3, Team Ziskin:2.

Catweazle decided to split his team into two groups. He took Corporal "Shuggy" McGraw and Ed Frost and led them towards the house directly across the road. Having the highest Rep of the remaining three, Corporal Kroeger took charge of the second group, which included Private Bryce and Ray Pegg. They headed for the house diagonally opposite the apartment. Both teams moved at a fast pace, with the soldiers doubling their move (i.e. 16") and the civilians moving at 1.5 their normal speed (i.e. 12"). Private Ziskin and Siobhan O'Hearne watched their progress from the safety of the apartment's lower patio.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 14. Activation = Team Catweazle:2, Team Kroeger:4, Team Ziskin:5.

Kroeger's group reached the front door of the house they had been assigned to search.

Catweazle's team entered the other house and found it occupied by three zombies. Melee ensued immediately. First I had to make Surprise rolls. For the zombies this meant rolling a single die and adding the number of zombies in the encounter to the result. Their score was 8. The humans also rolled a single die each but they added their Rep to the score. Their results were Shuggy on 10, Catweazle on 6 and Ed on 5. These scores determined who went first in the melee.

With Shuggy scoring highest he went first and sensibly elected to fire his Assault Rifle. He hit his opponent but only achieved a knockdown result. The zombie who attacked Catweazle was on a hiding to nothing! She rolled 1d6 for melee, whilst the lieutenant rolled 7d6 (5 for his Rep, plus 1 for having the Brawler attribute plus 1 more for having a higher impact weapon). Suffice to say, Catweazle easily killed the zombie. Ed should have easily won his combat but luck deserted him. He began by rolling 4d6 but only passed once. The zombie rolled 1d6 and passed, thus tying the score. Both sides rolled 1d6 but this time Ed failed his roll whilst the zombie made her roll. This meant that Ed was Out Of The Fight and he fell to the floor unconscious.

Zombie Reinforcements = 0.

TURN 15. Activation = Team Catweazle:2, Team Kroeger:1, Team Ziskin:4, Zombies:4.

The zombie that had attacked Ed dropped to her knees and began to feed on him. I rolled 1d6 to see how long the Feast would last and unfortunately for Ed I rolled a 1. Ed was Dead! The zombie that Shuggy had knocked down stood back up. Catweazle scored an Auto-Kill on the feasting zombie and Shuggy killed his zombie assailant with a single bullet to the head.

They spent the rest of the turn searching the ground floor of the house for loot. Catweazle found nothing but Shuggy found yet more food hidden away.

Across the road Team Kroeger discovered that the house they entered was occupied, not by zombies or civilians but by three Gangers. The Gangers were led by Josy Alsopp, a Rep:5 Head Case armed with two BA Pistols. Her two companions "Slipknot" (the figure in the black T-shirt) and "Whitey" (the figure wearing the white baseball cap) were both Rep:4 Bangers, armed with a BA Pistol apiece. The Meet and Greet dice off resulted in the Gangers winning by two successes. So the two leaders rolled for Activation (the character's Rep plus 1d6), which saw Josy scoring 10 and Kroeger scoring 5. So, Josy got to fire first. She hit Kroeger but her Out Of The Fight result was reduced to a knockdown because Kroeger was wearing body armour. Nonetheless, this was a bad start for Team Kroeger.

Zombie Reinforcements = 1.

TURN 16. Activation = Team Catweazle:1, Team Kroeger:6, Team Ziskin:3, Gangers:4, Zombies:2.

It seemed like Lady Luck had totally deserted Team Kroeger! They could not activate this turn. Josy fired once at Bryce, scoring a hit, which resulted in a knockdown. Slipknot fired once at Ray and killed him with a well aimed shot. Whitey tied up Kroeger.

Across the road, Catweazle and Shuggy moved upstairs and found the first floor of the house to be empty. Meanwhile, Ziskin and Siobhan made In Sight reaction tests to spot the zombie woman moving closer to Team Kroeger's house but the results meant that neither woman could fire.

Zombie Reinforcements = 1.

TURN 17. Activation = Team Catweazle:1, Team Kroeger:4, Team Ziskin:4, Gangers:3, Zombies:2.

Once more, Ziskin and Siobhan were unable to fire at the zombie reinforcements because of the results of their In Sight reaction tests. Kroeger and Bryce made their Recover from Knockdown reaction rolls and scored 2 and 1 successes respectively, meaning that both were stunned for the rest of this turn, unable to do anything.

Josy stripped Kroeger, Bryce and Ray of their weapons, whilst Whitey tied up Bryce. Slipknot opened a window in the kitchen. The two zombies moved even closer to the Gangers' house. Catweazle and Shuggy searched the first floor of their house but found nothing worth looting.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 18. Activation = Team Catweazle:5, Team Kroeger:N/A, Team Ziskin:6, Gangers:4, Zombies:3.

Catweazle and Shuggy moved back downstairs. Josy led her gang with two hostages in tow out of the kitchen window towards the skateboard park. One zombie reached the front door of the Gangers' house, whilst the second zombie approached the side door of the house.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 19. Activation = Team Catweazle:4, Team Kroeger:N/A, Team Ziskin:2, Gangers:1, Zombies:3.

As Catweazle and Shuggy crossed the road to see how their colleagues were faring, Catweazle made an In Sight reaction roll to spot the zombie granny. He succeeded and fired once, killing her easily. The other zombie reached the side door of the house. Ziskin passed 1d6 on her In Sight reaction test and snapfired at the last zombie on the board but her shot missed.

Josy and her gang moved at the double across the skateboard park. I gave all of Josy's gangers the Athletic attribute, which allowed them to roll 3d6 when taking the Fast Move test, but it only applied if they used their skateboards. Josy, Slipknot, Whitey, Kroeger and Bryce all passed 2d6 on the test so they all moved at twice their normal distance, heading towards the skateboard park exit.

Zombie Reinforcements = 0.

TURN 20. Activation = Team Catweazle:4, Team Kroeger:N/A, Team Ziskin:1, Gangers:5, Zombies:3.

Josy led her gang out of the skateboard park and off the board. It had been a good day for her. She had acquired some good military weapons, body armour and two hostages. Her gang would celebrate that night. Catweazle passed 2d6 when taking the In Sight reaction test against the last zombie on the board. He fired at her once and scored another kill. Shuggy entered the house and found the corpse of Ray Pegg.

Zombie Reinforcements = 0.

It was game over, and what an immensely enjoyable game it turned out to be! All that remained to do was to see if any of the surviving characters improved their Rep. Certain criteria must be met before a character can make a roll for improving Rep. If met the character must roll higher than their Rep or score a 6 if Rep:6 or higher. If these criteria are not met then they must roll to see if their Rep goes down (roll a 1 on 1d6). Catweazle, Shuggy and Ziskin were all eligible for improvement. Catweazle and Shuggy failed their rolls but Ziskin passed hers and thus advanced to Rep:5. Kroeger, Bryce and Siobhan rolled to see if their Reps dropped but fortunately none failed their rolls.

So what happened next? Lieutenant Catweazle would not allow any of his team to be taken without making a rescue attempt. Fortunately the ATZ rules allow for this possibility and have an encounter called Raid in which the heroes must raid an opposing human settlement and rescue a member of the group, or in this case, two members. I'll post part two of this mini campaign very soon. Keep watching and if you've read all of this account then many thanks for your time and interest.