Vampifan's Views 25 - Monthly Musings 11

Vampirella by the legendary Frank Frazetta

The big news for this month was that I got to play my ATZ scenario "Assault on Precinct 13" and it was the most epic game I have ever played. This game was most notable for the number of "firsts."
It was the first time I had played ATZ on a 6' by 4' board. It won't be the last!
It was the first time that I used the optional rule from I, Zombie regarding PEFs (Possible Enemy Forces). If you rolled doubles for Activation, a new PEF was placed on the board. I rolled quite a few doubles!
It was the first time that I ran an ATZ game that lasted for five days (Monday to Friday) although I only played on three of those days. Monday was setting up day (actually just over two hours) and Friday was clearing up day. I played for about five hours each day on Tuesday and Wednesday but on Thursday I gamed for nearly 12 hours from 10.30am to 10.00pm!

The good guys suffered very badly in this scenario with far too many of them dying. To find out who lived and who died you'll have to read my batrep.
The number of zombies that appeared in this scenario was the largest amount in any game in my campaign so far. How many? Well, Ive decided to have a bit of fun here and make a competition of it. I want you to make a guess at how many zombies appeared in the scenario. Leave your answer in the comments section and whoever is the closest will win a mystery prize of something that has appeared on my blog this year. To give you a clue, the answer is more than 50 but less than 150. I won't reveal the answer until I post the final part of my batrep, which won't be for a couple of weeks. Read on for the reason behind the delay.
Another first for this scenario was the amount of photos I took - 170+. That'll give you some idea of how epic this game was! As a consequence, I will be splitting my batrep up into four bite-sized chunks. I am hoping to post part one next Wednesday, so you won't have long to wait.
I was asked by Hrodgar on the Board of the Living Lead forum if I could post some teaser photos of the board I played on. I said of course I could. So, check these out.

 The northern edge of the board is closest to the camera. How impressive does Mayhem City look?

 A view from the western edge of the board.

The eastern edge of the board showing some new models from my WWG Mayhem Junkyard set (fences and JCB digger) and in the top right hand corner, my Stoelzel's Structures Cottage.

This is where most of the action took place. Obviously, there are no figures on the board but the initial three PEF markers have been placed. Well done to you if you can spot them!
I added a little gadget to the sidebar of my blog that lets you know how many 28mm scale zombies I have painted and how many I have unpainted. Figure painting and card modelling have taken a back seat this past week as I was too focussed on playing ATZ. Normal service will resume very soon. Currently on my desk getting painted are 9 Red Box zombies, a Red Box demoness, 4 Studio Minis cops, 4 Studio Minis U.S. Soldiers and 3 Reaper college students.
Speaking of Studio Minis, have you seen their plastic zombie figures that they are working on? You can learn a lot more about them by clicking on this link - http://www.indiegogo.com/zombie-miniatures?a=675841 I have already made a pledge for $100. I think these figures will be the best plastic zombies on the market. They already make the best metal zombies on the market, so high quality is guaranteed.

Seanan McGuire aka Mira Grant. I've fallen in love with her!

On the reading front, you'll know by now that I recently read Blackout by Mira Grant, seeing as I gave it a glowing review not so long ago. I am currently reading Tooth and Nail by Craig DiLouie. Anyway, getting back to Mira, Varangian, one of my followers left some interesting comments about her on my blog but he made them a week after I'd posted my review, meaning most of you will have missed them. He informed me of an interview with Seanan McGuire (the real name of Mira Grant) held here - http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/06/geeks-guide-seanan-mcguire/
It was from this link that I found this delightful photo of Mira that appears just above. The interview is quite long but very well worth reading as she certainly knows her stuff when it comes to zombie plagues and viruses. I loved the bit where she harrasses the real CDC for info about what might work and what won't work regarding a zombie virus. You can't say her Newsflesh trilogy of books are not well researched. Varangian then managed to make me very jealous when he informed me he was hoping to meet Mira next year. She'll be one of the guest speakers at JordanCon 2013 held next April. For the benefit of my American followers, details can be found here - http://www.jordancon.org/content/guests-honor-announced I wish I could attend but it seems highly unlikely.
I'll sign off now and I hope you have as much fun reading my epic ATZ batrep as I did playing it.