My ATZ Campaign - Day 59 - Meeting the Media Part 2

I left Part 1 of this batrep just as a group of zombies entered the general store that Team Vampifan were about to leave. Show time!

TURN 11.   Activation - Vampifan = 5, Zombies = 1

The appearance of the zombies forced Team Vampifan to take an In Sight Test. Vampifan and Lieutenant Catweazle passed 2d6 and could open fire as normal. Gap and Simon McQuarrie, the cameraman, only passed 1d6, so if they fired it would be classed as a snapfire. They decided not to. The other three team members were hidden behind one of the shelves and couldn't see the zombies. So Vampifan and the lieutenant fired three round bursts at the horde with their Assault Rifles. They hit and killed two apiece.

I rolled 6d6 for zombie reinforcements because of the gunfire from Vampifan and Catweazle. Only one zombie turned up, at the back of the house closest to the general store.

 TURN 12.   Activation - Vampifan = 2, Zombies = 4
The last two zombies out of the group of six charged at Vampifan and Catweazle. Both men passed 2d6 on the Being Charged Test and were able to fire before the zombies reached them. A single shot from each of them was enough to hit and kill the zombie pair.

The remaining zombie moved round the back corner of the house, attracted by the sound of gunfire.
I rolled 2d6 for zombie reinforcements but none appeared.

TURN 13.   Activation - Vampifan = 6, Zombies = 4
Vampifan stepped outside and immediately spotted the zombie lurking in the alley between the house and the store. He fired once and blew a huge hole in the back of the zombie's head. Instant kill!

 The rest of Team Vampifan moved along to the front door of the nearest house.

 I rolled 1d6 for zombie reinforcements and one appeared across the road by the lamp post.

 TURN 14.   Activation - Vampifan = 3, Zombies = 4
The zombie shuffled halfway across the road, emitting a loud moan.

"I'll get him!" Jamie exclaimed, before anyone else could react. She raised her.44 Magnum and fired twice. One bullet went too wide but her second shot was bang on target and burst through the zombie's wide open mouth out the back of his skull in a spray of blood and pieces of bone and brain matter.
"Good shooting!" Vampifan complimented her.

Lieutenant Catweazle led the way into the first house, whose front door was unlocked. The Risks and Rewards card revealed that it was occupied by two zombies but that no Resources were available.

The zombies moved to attack Catweazle and Big Sil. Sadly for the zombies, they lost the Surprise Test, which allowed Catweazle and Big Sil to open fire before the zombies reached them. Catweazle killed his opponent with a single shot. However, Big Sil could only manage a Knock Down result with his shot. Still, it was enough to prevent the zombie from attacking this turn.
I rolled 4d6 for zombie reinforcements and one arrived on board just next to the red Peugeot 206 parked further up the street. For some inexplicable reason I forgot to take a photo of its arrival. Sorry, my bad!

 TURN 15. Activation = Vampifan = 4, Zombies = 1
Team Vampifan finished exploring downstairs and began to climb the staircase to the next floor. Big Sil used his rifle butt to stave in the skull of the zombie he'd knocked down.

Here is the zombie reinforcement from last turn. He moved away from the Peugeot towards the house currently occupied by Team Vampifan, drawn by the sound of gunfire from within.

 TURN 16.   Activation - Vampifan = 2, Zombies = 6
The zombie could not activate this turn. The upstairs of the house was devoid of humans or zombies, but, as can be seen by the Risks and Rewards card, a Shotgun Recource was there to be found and this time it was Vampifan who found the Resource.

TURN 17.   Activation - Vampifan = 1, Zombies = 4
The lone zombie shuffled closer to the house with the wide open front door.

 Team Vampifan moved back downstairs with Gap leading the way.

 TURN 18.   Activation - Vampifan = 2, Zombies = 3
The zombie took one step inside the house, prompting an In Sight Test from Gap. He passed 2d6 and fired once at the intruder, hitting him and scoring an Obviously Dead result.

Gap led the way outside the house and began to move to the house next door.
I rolled 1d6 for zombie reinforcements but none appeared this turn.

TURN 19.   Activation - Vampifan = 5, Zombies = 5
Normally when rolling doubles for Activation you have to reroll the dice. However, this time I kept the scores because there were no zombies on the board so for the most part the dice rolls were irrelevant. A double six or double one would have been a different matter. Big Sil overtook Gap to check the front door of the second house and found it unlocked.

TURN 20.   Activation - Vampifan = 4, Zombies = 2
Big Sil took point duty in the house and found it occupied by a solitary male zombie lurking in the kitchen. The Risks and Rewards card revealed that there was a Fuel Resource waiting to be found. Gap found it hidden underneath the dinner table.

Big Sil beat the obese zombie for Surprise and fired a single round into his chest, which only succeeded in the zombie being Knocked Down.

The zombie used his turn to stand back up.
I rolled 1d6 for zombie reinforcements but none turned up.

TURN 21.   Activation - Vampifan = 6, Zombies = 4
Big Sil drew his combat knife and charged at the zombie, easily passing 2d6 on the Wanting to Charge Test. The combat was short and brutal and very one-sided as the hairy biker decapitated the zombie with a swift cut to the neck.
"Now stay dead!" he grumbled, as he wiped the blood from his blade on a kitchen towel.

Catweazle led Jamie and the news crew upstairs. Vampifan and Gap remained downstairs with Big Sil.

TURN 22. Activation - Vampifan = 1, Zombies = 3
The Risks and Rewards card showed that there was nothing to be found on the upper level of the house.
"It's all clear here," Catweazle said in his deep voice for the benefit of the three survivors downstairs.

This seemed like a good point to draw a close to the scenario. There were no more zombies left on the board and Vampifan did not want to push his luck by exploring the last two houses. The team moved outside of the house via the kitchen door. At this point, Simon and Jenny, the news team, headed off in the opposite direction to Team Vampifan. Both groups wished each other good luck and hoped they'd meet up again sometime soon.
Incidentally, you can find full rules for using a media team in your games on pages 28 and 29 of the ATZ supplement "Haven." If the couple had remained with Team Vampifan I would have used the rules to assess if they were eligible for a Rep increase.
Speaking of Rep increases, Vampifan, Big Sil, Gap and Jamie were all eligible for a Rep increase. They'd all killed at least one zombie apiece, none of them had Hunkered Down or gone Out Of the Fight and they'd all found one Resource - a Shotgun for Vampifan, Medical Supplies for Big Sil, Fuel for Gap and Food for Jamie. Sadly, I did not roll high enough for any of them to gain a new Rep level. Ho-hum!
Acquiring Lieutenant Catweazle as a new team member was ample enough reward for them. Originally, he was a Rep:5 Star, who after his second scenario, adavanced to Rep:6. I have considered keeping his Star status but definitely not his higher Rep. A lot could have happened to him in the month since I first introduced him. Perhaps the loss of his colleagues accounted for his Rep decrease. Having two Stars in Team Vampifan may seem like overkill but they are a growing group and this ensures that I will always have a Star to lead the group if one of them stays behind to guard their base.
In all likelihood, this will be my last campaign batrep of 2011, so all I can say is, roll on 2012!