Sunday 26 June 2011

My ATZ Campaign - Day 35 - Going Hog Wild part 2

Are you ready for more? Of course you are! You are about to witness a bloodbath. Possibly the most important dice roll of this encounter was for who went first on Turn 4.
TURN 4.   Activation - Vampifan = 3, Hale = 5, Hogs = (4) 2, Zombies (4) 4
The Wild Hogs and Zombies had tied so they re-rolled and the Wild Hogs ended up going last. Oh dear! How sad! Nevermind!
Sister Saw strolled up to Boss Hawg with evil intent in her eyes. The Wild Hogs' leader looked like he was about to get back to his feet. This wouldn't do at all, she thought as she revved her chainsaw into life. Normally, this would be an automatic action but chainsaws are like cars - they have a nasty habit of not starting when danger is near. Because there were zombies within 12" of her, she had to take "The Car Won't Start" Test (see p.24 of BDTZ). This involved rolling 1d6 and on a score of 1-3 the car/chainsaw would start. Otherwise you'd have to roll again next turn. Sister Saw rolled a 2 and her chainsaw roared noisily into life. She thrust it between Boss Hawg's legs and slowly cut him in half from groin to the top of his head, savouring every moment of his torment. A very messy and painful death! Any character who is Stunned or Out Of the Fight (OOF) could be automatically killed by an opponent who came into physical contact with them (see p.19 of BDTZ). However, I still had to roll the melee dice for Sister Saw to see if her Chainsaw stalled (roll two 1s) or ran out of gas (roll three 1s). She rolled 8d6 5 for her Rep and 3 for using the Chainsaw), and sure enough, two of them were 1s. The Chainsaw would start automatically next time she wanted to use it, unless there were zombies within 12" of her, in which case she'd need to take "The Car Won't Start" Test again. As I said earlier, Chainsaws are noisy and operating one counted as if firing 6 shots.
Next, Denzel Stephenson walked up to the OOF Johnny Reb biker and smashed his skull to a pulp with his metal baseball bat. This was also an Auto Kill. He also had to roll in case he missed (hardly likely!). He did not miss.
Sergio Garcia knelt down alongside his boss, the OOF Carver Hale, to administer first aid.
Zack Norris stepped round the front right corner of the garage to deal with the female teenage zombie closing in on him. A single shot from his BA Pistol was enough to put her down permanently.
His teammate, Joelle Wexler, who lay nearby, recovered from being Stunned and regained her feet.
Now it was the turn of the zombies to activate. I teasingly left you guessing last time if three of the four zombies behind Team Vampifan were in Charge range just to create a bit of tension. They weren't but they came perilously close, a mere one or two inches away. If you look closely at the photo above you can just see the head of a zombie above the white kiosk to the left of Big Sil.
The zombies surrounding the bike gang closed in on their prey. Three of them, to the rear of the Wild Hogs were in Charge range and all three were eager to get stuck in. The three bikers had to take the Being Charged Test. The Rep:5 biker in the centre of the group passed 2d6 and was able to melee as normal. Remember that he couldn't fire at them with his Shotgun due to the unfortunate accident he suffered last turn when he jammed the firearm so badly, it couldn't be used any more during this encounter. He could of course use it as a club! The other two bikers, both Rep:3, only passed 1d6. They could melee but would suffer a -2 penalty for being attacked in the rear. This was seriously bad as it put them on a par with the zombies' combat ability - just 1d6.
Here's a close up view of the melee combat. The Rep:5 biker with the useless Shotgun easily battered his opponent to death. The biker with the Mohican haircut at the top of the photo lost his combat when he failed to score a sucess but his zombie opponent scored one success. It was enough to put the biker OOF. The bald-headed biker at the bottom of the photo drew his combat when neither side scored any successes. They'd have to fight another round later... unless something happened in the meantime. No one saw the biker with the Mohican haircut lose his fight so the gang didn't have to take a Man Down Test.
Now it was the turn of Team Vampifan to activate. Vampifan spun round as he heard the unmistakable moaning and groaning of zombies close by. He just had time to shout out a warning to his crew before he fired a single shot at the zombie bride, killing her instantly. Hannah fired twice at the female zombie in the little black dress, just to make sure one of her shots would hit. It was a sensible tactic and she was lucky enough to get an Obviously Dead result. Jamie dealt with the kilt-wearing zombie with a couple of deadly martial arts moves. Finally, Billy fired a shot from his catapult that killed the zombie groom. There is a bullet counter next to Billy to show he'd fired but I remembered that his Catapult was silent and I didn't count it towards the total shots for zombie reinforcements.
Angie moved round to the back of the Wild Hogs biker gang, pausing just long enough to put a single 5.56mm bullet in the head of a zombie wearing a blazer and straw hat. Big Sil followed her and came to a halt alongside her. He fired a three round burst into the melee going on between the zombie and the bald-headed biker. Both were legitimate targets, so he had no qualms about shooting them both. His first shot blasted a hole through the skull of the zombie. He gutshot the biker, leaving him writhing on the ground OOF.
At this point, the Wild Hogs were in a sorry state. Three of them were dead, including their leader, and three of them were OOF. The Rep: 5 biker at the back of the gang took over the mantle of leadership by virtue of having the highest Rep of the three remaining bikers. He ordered his gang to get of there as fast as possible. Of course, to get away they first had to start their motorbike engines and this involved taking "The Car Won't Start" Test. The Rep:5 biker and the Rep:3 biker on the amber-coloured bike made it and moved at half speed (12") away from the carnage all around them.
The other Rep:3 biker (on the light blue-coloured bike) failed his roll and cursed profusely at his bad luck. He really was in deep shit, surrounded by members of Team Vampifan, Team Hale and an increasing number of zombies.
Last turn was especially bad for rolling for zombie reinforcements but this turn was much worse. I had to roll 44d6 (7 from Team Vampifan's shooting, 6 from Sister Saw's Chainsaw, 1 from Zack's Pistol and 30 from the three bikers (18 for starting or trying to start their engines and 12 for the two moving bikes). Seven appeared in sectors 7, 8 and 9.
Most of them appeared across the road from the garage in sectors 4 and 5...
...and two only just appeared on the board in sectors 2 and 3. Now the zombies far outnumbered the humans.
TURN 5.   Activation - Vampifan = 4, Hale = 6, Hogs = 6, Zombies = 1
The double six meant rolling on the Random Events Table but that proved to be an anti-climax as I rolled a result of 6 - if using a vehicle and left it parked, you left the keys in the ignition.
Team Vampifan activated first and Angie quietly walked up to the Wild Hog biker trying to start his bike. She pressed the barrel of her Assault Rifle to the back of his skull and blew his brains out.
Vampifan stepped up to the Biker lying OOF in the centre of the group of fallen bikers and put him out of his misery by slitting his throat using the Auto-Kill rules. Rolling 7d6 to hit and just requiring one success he had no problem at all in dealing with him. As he wiped the blood off his knife, he took a few steps back to place him as far away from the zombies as he could.
Big Sil did nothing but keep a wary eye on those around him.
Hannah led Jamie and Billy away from the bloody carnage.
Some of the zombies were able to reach three of the prone bikers, two of whom were dead and one who was just OOF. They descended on the still warm bodies and began feasting. In the photo above, the red dice indicate how long each feast would last - 4, 5 and 3 turns going from left to right. Two zombies almost reached Sister Saw but she was only just out of Charge range.
 
The two zombies behind Big Sil closed in on him. One stopped 5" away from him and the other 6", putting them both in Charge range next turn if they activated before he did.
Three zombies closed in on the moving bikers. There should be a rule about attacking bike riders as they are much more exposed than any other vehicular driver but there aren't so I played this stricly by the rules. The zombies had to take the Being Run Down Test but because they were zombies they did not roll as they automatically fail the test. They then use the vehicle's Bash Value as the impact Rating to determine what damage they receive as per the shooting rules. Unfortunately motorbikes have a Bash Value of 0 so they took no damage. The zombies attacking the bikers may seem like poitless exercise but it wasn't. Both bikers had to take the Lose Control Test and if either (or both) passed 0d6, things would get very interesting as they crashed their bikes. Alas, the Rep:5 biker passed 2d6 and the Rep:3 biker passed 1d6, so both could Carry On, as normal.
Zack Norris found himself in a sticky situation with four zombies within Charge range of him. He passed 2d6 on the Being Charged Test and could fire before melee began. Unfortunately, his BA Pistol could only fire twice and he missed one of his shots. The shot that did hit killed a young looking male zombie.
So, onto melee. Zack had 5d6  (4 for his Rep and 1 for having a higher impact weapon - his Knife) to divide against his three attackers. He went with a 2/1/2 split, with the 1 being used against the small girl zombie.
The outcome for Zack was a draw against the zombie businessman, victory against the small girl but defeat against the black leather jacketed zombie. He fell to the ground having been bitten and was OOF.
I rolled 15d6 for zombie reinforcements and scored just 4 success, a slightly below average result. Three of them, the nun, vicar and rabbi appeared from the woods in sector 7 and the main road of sector 8.
The fourth zombie reinforcement crawled out of the woods of sector 9.
TURN 6.   Activation - Vampifan = 3, Hale = 5, Hogs = 2, Zombies = 6
With Team Hale activating first I rolled to see if Carver Hale recovered from his injury. He passed 2d6 on the Recovery Test and bounded to his feet as if his wound were a mere scratch. He and Sister Saw Charged the two zombies closing in on them. Both passed 2d6 on the Wanting To Charge Test. Carver buried his Axe in the skull of his opponent and Sister Saw used her Chainsaw as a club to batter her foe to death.
Sergio Garcia fired his Shotgun at the Rep:5 biker who was hoping to make a clean getaway. Only one of his three shots hit and it knocked the unfortunate Wild Hog second-in-command OOF. The bike rolled over on the spot, dumping the biker at the feet of a hungry zombie. This just wasn't his day!
Denzel Stephenson fired twice from his Pistol at the last remaining biker but missed with both shots.
However, this forced the biker to take the Received Fire Test, which he failed, having rolled 0d6. This result forced him to Retire. The nearest cover within 12" away from Denzel was straight ahead, which took him off the board. A negative result that actually turned out well for him. He was the only Wild Hog to survive this encounter.
Joelle Wexler came to Zack's aid just in time to prevent the two zombies from feasting upon him. She shot and killed both zombies with her BA Pistol
Vampifan, Big Sil and Angie took this opportunity to loot the bodies of the three Wild Hogs lying next to them. They took the bikers' weapons first, then rolled on the Recovered Items Table (see p.70 of IZ) to see what else the bikers were carrying. The white dice you see in the photo above show just how many Resouces each hero found, including the three weapons mentioned earlier. I rolled 2d6 for each member of Team Vampifan on the Resource List (see p.71 of IZ) to see what items, if any, they found. Big Sil found nothing else apart from an SMG. Angie was the most successful and found an SMG and two units of Food. Vampifan found a Pistol and a Machete. Hannah, Jamie and Billy did not move this turn.
For zombie reinforcements, I had to roll 22d6 and I scored 7 successes. Two turned up in sector 7.
A few more appeared across the road from the garage...
...and three more emerged from the woods in sector 9. Note the zombie cop partially obscured by the pine tree in the top right of the photo above.
TURN 7.   Activation - Vampifan = 6, Hale = 3, Zombies = 2.
"Hey, Carver!" Vampifan shouted, "we're getting out of here! It's been a real blast meeting you guys!"
"Go, my friend!" the grizzled survivor replied as he chomped on his cigar. "We'll deal with these stiffs, no problem. Good hunting!"
"Stay lucky!" Vampifan shot back as he sprinted to catch up with Big Sil And Angie who had raced ahead of him. The three of them had made Fast Moves to catch up with the Vaughn family. This time, Vampifan did bring up the rear.
Carver Hale led his team back inside the garage, where they wouldn't be surrounded by zombies. Joelle dragged the unconscious Zack inside, hoping and praying that his bite was not a fatal one.
The zombies swarmed as one on the still warm corpses of the Wild Hogs biker gang. Once again, the red dice in the photo above show how long each feast would last. For the three feasts that had started last turn I lowered the numbers on their dice by one.
The zombies who congregated around the biker who went OOF last turn were lucky indeed, as their victim was still alive as they sunk their teeth into him. He would suffer for five turns, by which time there wouldn't be much left of him.
The other zombies closed in to join in with the feasting. For once I had no zombie reinforcements to roll for, which was a relief.
This ended the scenario. No matter what Team Vampifan rolled for Activation next turn they would be able to leave the board unimpeded, thanks to Vampifan being Rep:6.
Carver Hale and his team would live to fight another day, albeit without the help of Zack Norris. Sadly, he succumbed to the zombie virus from his bite, having failed the "Harry, Are You Okay?" Test and he was put down by Carver.
For Team Vampifan, the four adults were eligible for Rep increases but unfortunately, none made it. On the bright side, the two kids did not suffer a Rep decrease. All told, this had been a very successful mission for Vampifan and his crew. With a bit of luck they might meet up with Carver Hale again. I'd love to see both teams joining forces permanently.

Wednesday 22 June 2011

My ATZ Campaign - Day 35 - Going Hog Wild part 1

Twelve days after Vampifan had recruited three new survivors and found a base to settle down, he led five of his team on a mission to forage supplies. These are the stats of those who took part in this mission -
Vampifan; Rep:6 Star; Nerves of Steel and Slow, armed with Assault Rifle, BA Pistol and Armour.
Big Sil; Rep:5 Grunt; Knifeman, armed with Assault Rifle, BA Pistol, Knife and Armour.
Angie Johannson; Rep:5 Grunt; Runt armed with Assault Rifle, Knife and Armour.
Hannah Vaughn; Rep:4 Grunt, Stone Cold armed with BA Pistol and Knife.
Jamie Vaughn; Rep:3 Grunt, Brawler armed with Pistol.
Billy Vaughn; Rep:3 Grunt, Wuss armed with Catapult.
The seventh member of the team, Gap, stayed behind to guard their home and he took no part in this encounter.
HOUSE RULE From now on I shall be using Oliver/Whiteface's house rule on when Ragers, Smarties and Psykers may appear. Very basically, at the start of each scenario you roll 1d6. On a roll of 6 Ragers appear as per the rules of the I, Zombie supplement. Otherwise, play on as normal. Smarties and Psykers can only appear after the arrival of Ragers. The full rules  can be found on Oliver's blog site here http://obviouslyzed.blogspot.com/2011/05/house-rule-lazarus-timeline.html I rolled a 2 on the d6 so no Ragers would appear in this scenario.
 
The game was played on a 3' by 3' board divided into nine equally-sized sectors. Sector 1 was at the bottom left of the board, where the billboard was located, whilst sector 9 was at the top right of the board on the tile that contained two small groups of fir trees.
Do you notice something different about this set up? Yep, it's the vehicles. I normally use my cardstock vehicles in my ATZ scenarios, but this time, I thought that I'd give some of my die-cast vehicles an airing. I don't have many, so don't expect to see them appearing a lot. Incidentally, the truck and trailer came with a sleek black helicopter, which will definitely make an appearance in a future scenario.
Team Vampifan arrived on foot in sector 9, having left their vehicles a short distance away in a secluded spot. Before the game began I rolled for lack of sleep for each character. Hannah slept for just 5 hours on the previous night and only passed 1d6 vs. her Rep on the Lack of Sleep Table. This meant that she would suffer a -1 penalty for this encounter only, making her Rep:3, the same as her kids. No-one else was adversely affected.
Next, I rolled for placements and Reps of the three PEFs.
PEF:1 was Rep:3 and was placed in sector 6 at the side of the garage and out of sight of team Vampifan.
PEF:2 was Rep:2 and was placed in sector 1 at the corner of the small Folding Structure Unit.
PEF:3 was also Rep:3 and was placed in sector 5, next to the silver car parked in the garage entrance. (Note the name on the side of the van and you can see why I just had to buy it!) .

Day 35 - Going Hog Wild part 1
This was day 35 of the campaign and it took place in a suburban area of Mayhem City during the hours of daylight. This was a straightforward Discover scenario. Note that any reference to the basic rulebook will use the abbreviation BDTZ, whilst references to the I, Zombie supplement will be abbreviated to IZ.
TURN 1.   Activation - Vampifan = 6, PEFs = 1  
Vampifan led his team to the back door of the red-brick garage. Vampifan, Big Sil and Angie had their Assault Rifles at the ready. Hannah held her BA Pistol by her side. Jamie had stuffed her little Pistol down the side of her pants but Billy held tightly to his Catapult as he looked round for zombies.
I rolled for all three PEFs. PEF:1 passed 1d6 on the PEF Movement Table and so moved in sight of Team Vampifan. I had to determine what it was before I could roll for the other two PEFs. I rolled a 5 on the PEF Resolution Table to give a result of Hostile Encounter. I rolled to see if they were human or zombie (50/50 chance of each) and scored in favour of the zeds. Next, I rolled to see how many there were and got a reult of one more than the heroes, i.e. 7. Each side took the Encounter Awareness Test, which Vampifan won easily, allowing his side to take an In Sight Test but with 3d6 instead of 2d6, counting the best two results. The four adults passed 2d6 each and could fire at the zombies. The two kids only passed 1d6, so they could snapfire. I decided it wasn't worth them bothering.
Vampifan opened fire first with a three round burst. He hit twice and scored two deaths. Big Sil did exactly the same, hitting twice out of three and killing both times. Angie wasn't as lucky. She fired three rounds as well, but only hit once. However, she too scored a kill. Remember the Easy To Hit rule (see p.34 of BDTZ), which makes killing zombies so much easier as you roll against your Rep instead of the gun's Impact to kill them. Hannah just fired once but her aim was way off target. This is what happens if you don't get a good night's sleep!
PEF:2 passed 1d6 on the PEF Movement Table and moved one sector diagonally to sector 5, taking cover at the side of the white van.
PEF:3 passed 0d6 and so remained where it was.
I rolled 10d6 for zombie reinforcements and scored four successes. Two appeared in the middle of the road by the front of the garage...
...and the other two appeared at either side of the flat-bed trailer.
TURN 2.   Activation - Vampifan = 4, PEFs = 5, Zombies = 2
The PEF roll was too high for them to activate. Vampifan took one step towards the back door of the garage and paused to fire a three round burst at the two zombies left standing from last turn. He hit them both and killed them with expertly placed head shots. Then he entered the garage. Big Sil and Angie also paused at the back door to fire single shots at the two newly arrived zombies by the flatbed trailer. They, too, put down their targets with some fine shooting. Hannah and her family followed and also entered the garage.
This, of course, warranted me using my Risks and Rewards cards. The top card that I turned over showed that the building was occupied by three zombies and that a Food Resource could be found there. I rolled on the Meeting Zombies Table to determine the Surprise scores. The zombies collectively scored 6, Vampifan scored 11, Big Sil scored 7 and Angie scored 10.  Team Vampifan were allowed to fire before melee combat was initiated.
They each chose to fire once and all three hit and killed their targets despite the Easy To Hit rule no longer applying. You must roll against the gun's Impact rating if charged by a zombie. Incredibly all three managed it - Big Sil scored an Obviously Dead result, whilst Vampifan and Angie scored Out Of the Fight (OOF) results, which count as Obviously Dead against zombies. Hannah found the Food Resource.
After the smoke had cleared I noticed that Team Vampifan had a clear Line Of Sight to PEF:3 at the side of the silver Ferrari 575M Maranello parked in the garage entrance. Rolling on the PEF Resolution Table I scored a result of NPC Interaction. I determined that the NPCs were also Survivors and that they numbered the same as Team Vampifan.
The leader of the new group was called Carver Hale, a Rep:5 Star with the Stone Cold and Axeman (a version of  Knifeman) Attributes. He was armed with a one-handed Axe and a Shotgun. He and Vampifan had to roll on the NPC Interaction Table (see p.117 of IZ) to see if they were friendly, neutral or hostile. Both leaders ended up scoring the same amount of successes (i.e. none) so they exchanged small talk and agreed to co-exist peacefully.
Hale's team consisted of Sister Saw, Rep:5 and armed with a BA Pistol and a Chainsaw; Zack Norris, Rep:4 armed with BA Pistol, Knife and Gas Mask, Sergio Garcia, Rep:4 armed with a Shotgun and Pistol, Denzel Stephenson, Rep:4 armed with twin Pistols and a metal Baseball Bat and finally, Joelle Wexler, Rep:4 armed with a BA Pistol and a Knife. How sweet it would have been if they had teamed up with Team Vampifan on a permanent basis. But it was not to be.
 The two remaining zombies moved closer to the garage entrance. I rolled 8d6 for zombie reinforcements and scored two successes. One emerged from the burnt down building across the road from the garage. He is only just visible in the bottom left corner in the photo above.
The second zombie emerged from the woods in sector 9.
 TURN 3.   Activation - Vampifan = 2, Hale = 5, PEF = 6, Zombies = 3
The PEF had rolled too high to activate, so Carver Hale led his team outside. He charged the little girl zombie in the yellow dress. Being a Star, he automatically passed the Wanting To Charge Test and he smote the girl's head from her body with a mighty swing of his axe. Joelle also passed her Wanting To Charge Test and she used her lethal combat knife to decapitate her zombie opponent. As Team Hale moved further out of the garage they were able to draw Line Of Sight wityh PEF:2, lurking at the side of the white Ford Transit van. I was hoping this would be a false alrm when I rolled on the PEF Resolution Table, but it was another Hostile Encounter. This time the hostiles were human and they numbered half as many again as the heroes, in other words, nine. I should have rolled to see who they were but I didn't because I had a definite plan in mind for who they should be - a biker gang mounted on motorcycles! I've been wanting to try them out for quite a while now, having discussed such a meeting with some of my blog followers in previous posts.
This particular gang were called the Wild Hogs and were led by Boss Hawg, a Rep:5 Ganger and Star with the Transporter Attribute. He was armed with a Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) and he rode the chopper bike in the middle of the front row of the gang. He was accompanied by three Rep:4 gangers on chopper bikes, armed as the figures were (Semi-Automatic Rifle, Sub-Machine Gun and Pistol), a Rep:5 Hard Case riding a normal bike in the middle of the back row, armed with a Shotgun. The rest of the gang, four of them, were Rep:3 Punks on normal bikes armed wirh either SMGs or Pistols.
Their backstory was that they had recently had an unsuccessful run-in with Carver Hale and his crew, which resulted in the Wild Hogs suffering heavy losses. One of their gang tracked Team Hale to this location and reported back to Boss Hawg with the news. He ordered those bikers still fit to travel to join him in gaining retribution. As they approached this particular suburb of Mayhem City, Boss Hawg ordered his gang to switch off their engines so that they could silently sneak up on Team Hale. It was only a short distance for them to freewheel their bikes to the small building across the street from the garage. It was from there that they waited to ambush Carver Hale. Now it was time for bloody vengeance!
Both leaders had to take the Encounter Awareness Test (see p.117 of IZ) with Hale suffering a -1 penalty to his Rep for being active. Both men scored two successes, meaning the inactive side, the Wild Hogs, could take an In Sight Test with 2d6. Boss Hawg and the two Rep:4 bikers either side of him passed 2d6 and could fire normally. From there it went downhill. the third Rep:4 biker (armed with the SA Rifle) passed 0d6 and couldn't fire. The Rep:5 biker with the Shotgun only passed 1d6, as did three of the four Rep:3 bikers and they had to snapfire. The last Rep:3 biker (with the mohican haircut and armed with a Pistol) also passed 0d6 so he'd take no part in this ambush. The biggest gun battle of my campaign, so far, was about to begin - 9 bikers against 12 Survivors with the bikers going first.
Boss Hawg let rip with his SAW, firing all four shots at Carver Hale. His dice rolls were 5, 3, 1 and 1, indicating a hit, a miss and run out of ammo. Oh, dear! His hit managed to knock Hale Out Of the Fight. I immediately rolled for Team Hale on the Leader Lost Table and they passed 2d6. They could carry on as normal and they swiftly elected Sister Saw their new leader. After all, she did have the highest Rep of those remaining.
The biker to the left of Boss Hawg fired his SMG at Joelle Wexler. Only one of his three shots hit and that merely caused a Knockdown result. Joelle rolled on the Recover From Knockdown Table and passed 2d6. She was just Stunned.
The Johnny Reb biker to the right of Boss Hawg fired his Pistol twice at Sister Saw and missed with both shots. She should have taken a Received Fire Test but I totally forgot about it as I was so caught up in the moment. Oops, slapped wrist for me!
The Rep:5 biker armed with the Shotgun also fired at Sister Saw but he fared very badly. Out of 6d6, he rolled four 1s and his other two shots were misses. So, he was well and truly out of ammo. With a roll that bad, I determined that his Shotgun was jammed and unusable for the rest of this encounter.
Because they were snapfiring, the three Rep:4 bikers left had no chance of hitting anyone as they'd need a 10 to hit and the best they could roll was a 9. However, all was not lost. The Pitiful Shot rule (see p.9 of BDTZ) gave them some hope. Any roll of 6 allowed the firer to roll against his Rep and if successful the shot hits. As it was, it made no difference. None of them hit. On the bright side, none of them ran out of ammo for their SMGs!
Team Hale had survived the ambush remarkably well. Now it was their turn to open fire. Remember they were still active and the four still standing had not fired this turn. Sister Saw drew her huge .50 Magnum Pistol and fired twice at the biker who'd shot Joelle. Both shots hit. One caused a Knockdown result but the other was an Obviously Dead result.
Standing next to Sister Saw was Zack Norris, an ex-US Marine. He was also armed with a BA Pistol and he fired twice at Boss Hawg. He hit once but only scored a Knockdown on the biker leader. Boss Hawg passed 2d6 on the Recover From Knockdown Test and was stunned. This temporary loss of leader necessitated the gang to take the Leader Lost Test. They passed 1d6, meaning that they had to Halt and choose a new leader when next active.
At the other side of the silver Ferrari were Sergio Garcia and Denzel Stephenson. Sergio fired his Shotgun at the Johnny Reb biker to the right of Boss Hawg. He hit three times, scoring a Knockdown and two OOF results.
Denzel drew one of his twin pistols and fired once at the fourth biker on a chopper bike, situated right in the middle of the biker gang. He hit but only scored a Knockdown result. However, the Wild Hog only passed 1d6 on the Recover From Knockdown Test and thus went OOF.
Clearly, Team Hale had fared far better than the Wild Hogs.
Now it was the turn of the zombies to move. The female teenage zombie moved out of the woods.
The male zombie from the burned down building charged at the biker on the amber coloured bike. The biker only passed 1d6 on the Being Charged Test and was not allowed to fire at the zombie. He'd have to engage it in melee.
On the first round of combat both sides scored one success and so had to fight on. In the second round, the biker scored one success but the zombie scored none. Scratch one zombie as it crumpled to the ground with its skull bashed in.
At last it was the turn of Team Vampifan to activate. They all Fast Moved out of the back door of the garage and sprinted to the side of the white van, keeping out of sight of the biker gang. I expected Vampifan to be bringing up the rear because of his Slow Attribute but he rolled well on 1d6 and he outpaced young Billy.
 All that was left to do this turn was to roll for zombie reinforcements. I totted up all the shots fired this turn and it came to 35. With great trepidation I rolled 35d6 and scored 14 successes, an above aversge result. Nine appeared as shown in the photo above with three of them at the rear of the Wild Hogs within charge distance.
Another four appeared behind Team Vampifan. Were they in charge range as well? One clearly wasn't (the female zombie in the black dress) but I'll keep you in suspense about the other three! Yes, I am a sod!!!
The 14th zombie shuffled out of the woods in sector 9 and wasn't too far behind the female teenager zombie. On the next turn, winning the Activation roll would be absolutely crucial. One thing can be guaranteed - there's going to be a lot more blood spilled before the day is over.

TO BE CONTINUED