Vampifan's Views 26 - Monthly Musings 12

Vampirella by Frank Frazetta for her 25th Anniversary

A couple of weeks ago, my friend, Simon/Brummie got in touch with me to let me know that there was a Vampirella statue up for auction on e-Bay. Naturally, I was interested. With five days to go before the auction closed I decided to wait until the last minute before placing a bid. I set myself a limit of £50, as I didn't think it was worth more than that. As the deadline approached the bidding had gone from an initial £20.00 to £46.00. With just one minute to go I put in my bid of £48.00... and got pipped to the post with a bid of £51.00 with seconds to go. That is what I hate about e-Bay. I was gutted.
So, the following day I decided to see if anyone else had this particular statue for sale, or, failing that, any other Vampirella statues. A search on Google revealed that no one else was selling the aforementioned statue. However, I did find a much better Vampirella statue for sale on e-Bay. It was a statue that was commissioned for Vampirella's 25th Anniversary (that was in 1994) and was based on a painting by Frank Frazetta, which I show here.

And here to the left is the statue. It is 1/8th scale, meaning that if Vampirella was standing up she'd be 9" tall or 225mm. When it originally went on sale it retailed for $195.00 (roughly £125.00). Incredibly, the seller was asking £25.00 for it. What I most like about e-Bay was that this item had the Buy Now option. So that is what I did. Two days later, I received a huge parcel in the post. I wasn't expecting the box she was in to be so big. Vampirella herself has been beautifully sculpted by Shawn Nagle and the lizard-type creature is an impressive looking beastie. The statue is a perfect representation of the Frank Frazetta artwork. I am overjoyed at my purchase. To get it at such an incredibly low price was an amazing bargain. I very rarely use e-Bay and my experience over those two days showed the highs and lows of being a buyer.

More good news and another story about the kindness of others. Early in June I received this message from Ernie Huff, a long time follower - "Hello, I have been a follower of your blog for sometime now and recently posted on your site.  I have some models that I would like to send to you that I think you might enjoy for your battle reports.  I would like to game more but have limited time with family, work, and school, but I definitely enjoy the adventures of Team Vampifan! Everything is free with no strings attached.  You can use or not as you see fit." Wow! That came right out of the blue and was most unexpected. I was both delighted at the offer and mystified to see what Ernie would send me.

At the beginning of this month the parcel arrived. In it were these seven Burago 1/43 scale die-cast metal cars. Even though my ATZ campaign is set in America, the car I like most out of this collection is the Mini Cooper - a classic English car. If you don't know which one I'm talking about, it's the one with the red cross on the white roof. My collection of die-cast cars is growing very nicely.

Now, if that was all that was in the parcel I'd have been more than happy with it. But there was more. Ernie very kindly added this set of 28mm scale Victory Force Miniatures armed office workers with gear. This is a set I have been eyeing for quite some time as they make for a fantastic group of survivors to use in ATZ. They are armed with an assortment of assault rifles and all are equipped with backpacks and/or pouches on belts. These guys (and gal) are a well prepared group for dealing with zombies. I certainly want them to become part of Team Vampifan, if Vampifan can recruit them. They'd be an asset to anyone's group.

There was one more surprise in the parcel and that was this figure you see to the right. She is Glimmer, a contestant in The Hunger Games film. This 28mm scale figure is from the Wizkids collectible set of plastic The Hunger Games figures. She's going to need repainting as pre-painted figures tend to be very basic. Plus, I will remove her from the large plinth she stands on. Once I finish with her, I'll have a mighty fine Survivor with bow and arrows. Sorry about the picture quality, but I downloaded the image from the Interweb and it was the best I could find. I'll post much better photos of her once I repaint and rebase her.
So, all in all, a very nice haul. Ernie, I thank you for your kindness and generosity. You are a star! Rest assured, the figures and the cars will see use in my ATZ campaign.
I have managed to get through July without buying a single figure. Yes, result! I'm talking about 28mm scale figures, so my Vampirella statue does not count. I have finished painting 8 Studio Minis zombies, 9 Red Box zombies, a Red Box Chaos demoness and 3 Reaper college students. I'm not saying what I'm painting now. It's a secret but I can't wait to show you them once I finish them! I finished making my Stoelzel's Structures Cottage. I was so impressed with it that I have begun work on a second Stoelzel's Structure model - the Warehouse. I must admit that I have become a huge fan of Carl Stoelzel's work this year; to such an extent, that I now rate his company higher than that of WWG. Since WWG introduced their TLX system, their crown has been slipping, in my opinion. The fact that I haven't made a single TLX building speaks volumes.
A big thank you to everyone who left a comment on my ATZ batrep, "Assault on Precinct 13". It was certainly the most popular batrep I have posted and for me, the most fun to play. The fate of SWAT Sergeant Wayne Connors has been decided. He will survive, and no, he's not going to lose his leg. I have decided that his suit prevented the zombie bite from breaking the skin and it was shock that caused him to go Out Of the Fight.

I'm sure that many of you will now know that THW are working on a new set of rules for All Things Zombie. Final Fade Out will replace the Better Dead Than Zed rulebook. For the most part I think this is a good thing. The BDTZ rules have been in need of an overhaul for quite some time now. Plus, many of the rules in BDTZ have been updated. If you compare them with the likes of After The Horsemen or 5150: New Beginnings, you'll see what I mean. Although FFO will share rules in common with ATH, Ed stresses that FFO is not ATH with zombies. FFO is set now in the modern era, whilst ATH is set many years in the future. I'm looking forward to seeing what changes have been made and hopefully, FFO will become the definitive set of zombie skirmish rules.
The one thing that is causing me some concern is how will this new rulebook affect my ongoing ATZ campaign? Should I carry on as normal or should I start afresh? I can see merit in both options. At the moment I'm 60/40 in favour of starting a new campaign. I'd love to go back to Day One with the knowledge I have now. If I do start a new campaign, how should I end my current campaign? Given what Team Vampifan have gone through so far, there needs to be some sort of closure for them. Maybe they ride off to find a new sanctuary away from Mayhem City. Or on a more downbeat note, they get attacked by a large horde of zombies and are all wiped out. Or perhaps Sunny and the Killer Klowns gain their revenge. I'm not making any firm decision one way or another until I have read FFO. Ed's announcement, earlier this month, about FFO has given me lots of food for thought. I have no idea when FFO will be released, so until then I'll just carry on as normal

After The Horsemen Rulebook

After The Horsemen is the brand new rulebook by Two Hour Wargames. The timeline is a post-apocalyptic future that has seen the world transformed into a desolate wasteland and the breakdown of society as most of mankind was wiped out in the apocalypse. What caused the apocalypse? Who knows? Who cares? All that matters now is survival.
Before I go on to tell you more about the game let me tell you what it is not, or rather, what are not included in this book. There are no zombies, vampires, werewolves, supernatural creatures, aliens or mutants. Well, that's a big omission, you might say, and at first, I thought the same. However, Ed Teixeira, the author of the book has said that there will be supplements for the aforementioned and they will be FREE to download from the THW webstore. Although not for zombies. They have their own rulebook and supplements.
Another big omission for me was the absence of any vehicle rules, other than a gaming device to get you from A to B. Again, Ed has this covered. He recommends using the vehicle rules from 5150: New Beginnings or download the new Vehicle Rules, for free, when they are published. Neither is a satisfactory answer if you want vehicle rules now, unless you already own 5150: New Beginnings. When I think of Post Apocalypse settings, I immediately think of the Mad Max series of films. Now try and imagine them without any vehicles in! It doesn't work, does it? I hope the new vehicle rules are worth the wait.
So let's get down to the rules themselves. You can play one of three types of character - a Lone Wolf, a Pack Wolf or a Sheep. Lone Wolves are solitary heroes, who may have a partner, but only one. Pack Wolves believe in strength in numbers. Sheep make up the majority of the populace. Mostly they are followers. There are a lot of Attributes that your characters can choose from or dice for. There are ten tables' worth of Attributes, so plenty of choice. The skills of Fitness, People and Savvy have been added. These first appeared in 5150: New Beginnings, although I note the Science skill has been dropped.
Combat is basically the same as before, although with a few minor changes. If you're already familiar with THW's general Ranged Combat and Melee Combat rules you'll easily cope with this aspect of the game.  One thing I'd like to point out is in Ranged combat if your character runs out of ammo, reloading is no longer automatic. You now have to roll against your Rep to see if you can reload and to see if you have any spare ammo clips left. For this type of setting it makes a lot of sense.
There are a lot less Reaction Tests to roll for in ATH than say, ATZ. In Sight Tests have changed a lot and are a more prominent aspect of the game. The other Reaction Tests are Received Fire, Man Down, Cohesion Test, Recover From Knock Down and Recover From Duck Back. The Leadership bonus will help with the first three and Recover From Duck Back but not Recover From Knock Down or the In Sight Test.
PEFs (Possible Enemy Forces) play a prominent part in the game. For the most part I like PEFs. They bring an element of uncertainty to a game, so you never know who or what you'll meet or how many, if any at all. However, with this rulebook there is one element that I have a big problem with and that is with the PEF Resolution Table. You roll against the Encounter Rating (usually 1-3 but could go up to 4 if indoors). My concern is if you pass 2d6 you run into a Settlement of some sort. This makes no sense if you're already in a Settlement. If you are outdoors, does the terrain suddenly transform into a new Settlement? How can something as large as a Settlement suddenly appear on the board? A Settlement can be anything from 1 to 18 buildings. By its very nature it is a static encounter. A Settlement is not mobile. It can't move around the board like people or animals. This one result on this one Table is my biggest gripe about the rules. My solution, for what it's worth would be to make the result of pass 1d6 (meet survivors) the result for pass 2d6. For pass 1d6 I'd now make that meet animals. Pass 0d6, by the way, is no encounter.
Towards the back of the book are eight scenarios or encounters as they are called. Four are voluntary encounters (Chillin', Hunt, Raid: Attack and Wandering) and four are involuntary encounters (Burglarised, Bushwhack, Raid: Defend and Robbery). Your characters will have one voluntary encounter per month, or if they stay at home, one involuntary encounter for that month.
So, onto my verdict. I'll be honest, this is not the book I was expecting. I was surprised to find it strictly human centric. My first thought as I read what it was going to be was, where's all the supernatural stuff? However, I accept Ed's argument that not everyone wants that in a PA setting. Plus, I was mollified to hear that there will be supplements for this system, all of which will be free. You can't say fairer than that. At it's heart, this is a simple smale-scale skirmish game set in the near future. Those already familiar with THW's rules will have no problem playing this game. For those of you coming into this game afresh, the rules are well set out and easy to learn with lots of examples of play to make life easier for you. This is a much easier game to learn than say, All Things Zombie or 5150: New Beginnings.
Will I be playing this game? At the moment, the answer is no. That will most probably change when the supplements for vehicles, vampires and werewolves come out. Until then, this rulebook is going to sit on my bookshelf.
After The Horsemen costs $20.00 for the PDF format from THW, or $25.00 for the book format. I ordered the book format and thus was eligible for a free copy of the PDF version. I'd give this book a 7 out of 10 rating as it stands at the moment. With the supplements, that score would certainly rise.

Grekwood Miniatures' Zombies 01

Grekwood Miniatures is a new kid on the block in the field of miniature figure companies. It was founded by Carl Sutherwood, aka Rovanite, which he set up in memory of his brother, Gareth "Grekwood" Sutherwood who sadly passed away, far too young, in July 2011. I knew Grekwood from the Forum of Doom and we were good friends. So, I have more than a passing interest in the success of Carl's new venture. His first releases in his range of 28mm scale zombies were four sets of four hospital zombies - doctors, nurses and patients.

First up are the zombie patients, two female and two male. The female zombie at the far left of my photos above and below was either obese or pregnant, going off the size of her belly. I'm guessing pregnant as there is something deeply disturbing about a pregnant mother turning into a zombie. I couldn't resist painting her groin all blood-soaked to hint at some unseen horror. What if she was killed just before she gave birth? Is her undead baby trying to wriggle its way out of her womb? Perhaps it's best we don't know.
The female next to her has her right arm in a sling. I painted her in slippers and white socks. I like the fact that Carl has sculpted ID bracelets on all of the patients. It's a little detail that could so easily have been overlooked. Both females are having trouble with their hospital gowns covering up their backsides. Epic fail! She is heavily blood-stained but not all of it is hers..

And yet the two male patients show how wearing a hospital gown should be done without any sign of bum cleavage! The first male patient, in the middle of the group, has a plaster cast on his lower right leg and foot, although his toes are visible. I painted his left foot as if he was wearing a slipper. The blood around his chin, neck and upper chest is from a victim he has fed upon.
The figure at the far right of this group is much, much older than the previous three, with balding grey hair. Note the bloody hand print on his backside. He still clutches on to his wheeled stand with the IV drip still attached to his arm. Once again, it's a nice touch that makes him stand out from the crowd, although it's not a totally unique concept. I know of at least two other zombie figures holding onto their IV drip stands. 

Theses next two photos (directly above and below) show the doctors who would be in the front line when the zombie apocalypse kicked off - surgeons in scrubs. Again, there are two males and two females and it is refreshing to see a 50/50 split between the sexes. Too many companies ignore the female species. The doctor at the far left of the group has arranged her ponytail to the left side of her head, which gives her a very interesting look. I like it. She has been bitten in both legs and arms.
Her female colleague to her left looks a mess with blood all over her, but how much is hers and how much is from other victims? Note the name tags on the chests of theses figures. Another welcome little detail that could have been overlooked. I like the way her training shoes have turned out. They are quite chunky and I mean that as a compliment.

By painting the third doctor in line with grey hair, I have made him a senior consultant. He has a vicious bite wound on his right leg. I thought his nose looked a bit small, so I decided that the tip of it had been bitten off. Before painting any zombie I always take a close look at them to see where, if anywhere, their wounds are. Some are obvious, like missing limbs. In this case, I'm not even sure if this was meant to be a "proper" wound, but what the heck, it works for me.
The doctor at the far right of this group is bald-headed, making it harder to age him, although I'd say he's older rather than younger. I painted most of the blood on him around his neck area to suggest he was bitten in the throat. Upon reflection, I'm thinking that such a wound would have produced far more blood and thoroughly soaked the front of his jacket. So perhaps this blood is from a victim he has fed upon.

Still sticking with the doctors, this next set shows doctors in long coats. More specifically, long, WHITE coats, which are ideal for showing off blood stains! Once again, there are two female zombies and two male zombies in this set. At the far left of the group, the black-haired female has been bitten in the lower stomach and upper left arm. Blood can be seen dribbling from her mouth.
The second female doctor in this set also wears a cool pair of training shoes. Note the stethoscope draped around her neck. She appears to have died from a gunshot wound, just below her left breast. The exit wound in her back is quite large. As with most "blonde-haired" women I see nowadays, her black roots are showing.

The male doctor standing third in line is the only one to have buttoned up his coat. I think that he's another zombie with more blood on him from victims than from himself. I gave him a cut to the side of the head and a bite wound on his lower left arm.
The doctor at the far right of this group was painted as an African/American with darker skin than my other zombies in this set. I painted his skin as I would a normal Caucasian zombie but finished him off with a Citadel Devlan Mud ink wash. It's a simple way to do dark skin tones on a zombie. He, too, has a stethoscope draped around his neck. He wears a yellow tie, which has been loosened at the neck.

Finally, we come to the four nurses, and these are different to the rest of this range in that these are based on villains from a computer game. I forget which one, as I don't take too much interest in computer gaming. What makes these different from the others is that they are all armed (and know how to use their weapons) and all wear bandages around their heads, in the style of an Egyptiam Mummy. In fact, these might not even be zombies but demons (see later for more information). From a distance the bandaged heads aren't that noticable and when viewed on the tabletop, they look just like normal zombies.

I don't how it happened but I forgot to take a rear view photo of these nurses. it was only when I transferred my photos from my camera to my computer that I realised what a cock up I'd made. So, I hastily corrected my error. I used my flash gun on this photo rather than my usual set up with daylight lamps. You can see that the colours don't exactly match up with my standard photos and the flash has caused some shadows to appear. Apologies for this, but you still get a fair idea of how they look.

The nurse at the far left holds what looks like a sledgehammer to me. It must be heavy because she is struggling to lift it.

Next to her, this nurse brandishes a knife in her right hand with evil intent.

To make the third nurse in line just slightly different to the others, I altered her skin tone to make her an African/American using the same technique as the doctor mentioned above.

The nurse at the far right is advancing slowly with her knife held by her side.

Due to numerous requests, Carl has resculpted these as "normal" zombie nurses without the weapons and bandaged heads. They will replace this set as part of the Hospital Zombies deal . This set will be moved to the Monsters and Demons range, which is why I thought they might be demons. I'll review the new zombie nurses as soon as I get them and paint them.

I am a big fan of these figures. The quality of the sculpting is very good and for 28mm scale figures none are over-scaled, which is a good thing. Hospital zombies were such an obvious choice to make with staff and patients certainly being amongst the first to succumb to the zombie plague once it started. To tie in with this range, Carl is working on making resin cast hospital beds and a card model hospital, which will be available to buy as a PDF file. Personally, I can't wait for his new stuff to be made available.

The four sets are available separately for £9.50 each. If you want all four sets, Carl offers a discount deal, which will cost you £34.00, giving you a saving of £4.00. Note that when the new zombie nurses become available they will replace the bandaged headed nurses in the deal. We all know that there certain miniature figure companies that we admire and trust implicitly and sadly, some that we just want nothing to do with. Take it from me, Carl is one of the good guys and his company deserves to succeed and flourish. Please support him by buying his products.

Studio Miniatures' Zombies 14 - Left4Dead 2

At the beginning of May I reviewed the first four figures from Studio Miniatures' range of 28mm scale "Only The Dead Are Left" zombies. Today, I'm showcasing the second set of figures in this range. As with the first set, these figures are based on different zombie types from the computer game Left 4 Dead (which I'll abbreviate to L4D).

To give them their L4D names we have from left to right, the Charger, the Spitter, the Jockey and the Witch.

As indicated by his name, the Charger likes to charge into melee, grab a victim and either run with him until they hit a wall or if there is none in range, he will slam the victim repeatedly into the ground. What makes him such a threat is his powerful right arm, which is covered in a rocky kind of shell, making it impervious to most damage. I have covered his right hand and lower arm in the blood of one of his victims. Note that he wears a shoe on his right foot but his left foot is bare. Surely that will affect how he runs!
Next in line, is the Spitter, a female zombie with the ability to spit balls of green acid at quite a distance. She is one of the very few zombies capable of ranged combat, which makes her a serious threat. However, once she has spat she must spend the next turn recovering before she can move and/or launch a further attack. This is her Achilles Heel. In ATZ, she'd be classed as Stunned after she makes a spit attack. When she dies, she secretes the acid from her body, leaving a puddle that is deadly to anyone standing in it. The figure sure is an ugly-looking bitch!
The Jockey is a hunch-backed zombie noted for leaping onto a victim's back and clinging on. If he wins a contest of strength, he can force the victim to move in a direction of his choosing, usually somewhere fatal or dangerous, e.g. off a high ledge or close to a Witch. The grip of a Jockey is so strong that it requires another person to prise him free. I have painted mine with a blood-smeared mouth and chin and hands covered in the blood of a victim.
The Witch is one of the most powerful zombies in L4D but is very rarely encountered. If left alone or not otherwise disturbed, then Survivors can avoid her. However, gunfire, torchlight or moving close to her will attract her attention. She will concentrate her attack on the person who disturbed her. If she kills her victim she will run away to find a new hiding place. A Witch (they only ever appear singly) is very hard to kill and will shrug off most damage, including fire. Once again, I have painted her hands and lower arms coated in the blood of one of her victims. This is definitely a running theme of mine with these four figures.

This picture depicts the four types of Infected as they appear in the L4D game. Obviously, these are not all to the same scale. I cut and pasted these together just to show how close the Studio Minis' sculptor has got in creating his versions of them.
If you wanted to use these special types of zombie in games like ATZ or NMRIH, you'll have to devise your own house rules for them. Coupled with the previous set of figures, Studio Minis have covered most of the Special Infected types from the L4D games. I don't play computer games, so whether I'll use these as L4D zombies (unlikely) or just use them as normal or smart zombies in ATZ (most probably) remains to be seen. This set retails for £14.99 from Studio Miniatures. Yes, that does make them expensive, but you are paying for quality and these certainly are not your ordinary run-of-the-mill zombies.

A Zombiesmith Assortment

And so it's down to earth and back to normality after the past two action-packed, fun-filled weeks. I'm going to review five Zombiesmith 28mm scale figures that I've grouped together for the purpose of this review, even though they have little in common with each other.

At the far left of the photos directly above and below is Bard Amy, clearly a reference to the singer, Amy Winehouse. I was never a fan of her or her music but I rather like this figure. In ATZ terms, I'd class her as a Survivor. The pistol in her left hand shows that she can probably take care of herself. She has her guitar slung over right shoulder and resting against her back. Amy's iconic bee-hive hair-do has been well captured by sculptor, C.J. I find Bard Amy quite cute and she could be very useful for boosting the morale of a group of Survivors... if they like her music!

Next up are two Gangers, Michael and Inmate! That's how they're described on the ZS webstore, including the exclamation mark after the word "inmate." No, I don't know why either. Michael would appear to be based on the character, Dexter, from the TV series of the same name. Seeing as Dexter is played by Michael C. Hall, the connection is obvious. For those who don't know who Dexter is, he's a police forensics expert who moonlights as a serial killer. I should point out that all the blood you see on my figure is from one of Michael's victims. It almost looks like he's stabbed himself in the groin but that's not the case. This is a superbly sculpted figure and I like how pensive he looks.
I'm not too sure about the anatomy of the Inmate! figure. Can anyone run that low to the ground? To me, it looks strange. Apart from the dubious pose he is well sculpted. His right arm has come free of his straitjacket and he holds a meat cleaver in his right hand. His face is full of rage. I think it's safe to assume that this guy was not locked up for tax evasion! I'm not aware of many prison inmate figures that are available, so for that reason alone he's a welcome addition.

Moving away from the humans we come to the Zombie Smith and Wolfboy. When I ordered the Zombiesmith mega-horde, I was hoping I'd get the Zombie Smith figure thrown in as part of the deal. Sadly, he wasn't but I did get another freebie figure (Doctor Strange). For a few years it bugged me that I was missing only one zombie from the ZS zombie range. So earlier this year I decided to put that right and I placed a fair-sized order with ZS. The Zombie Smith was the first figure on my list. I have no idea who or what the Zombie Smith is. Is he a child or a dwarf? Does he have special powers? My friend, Doug, said he was going to use this figure as a Smart Zombie in his ATZ campaign. I can see why that'd be a good idea. Note that there isn't a drop of blood on my figure. Sometimes it pays to leave off the gore and seeing as he has no obvious wounds I could find no logical reason to add any to him.

Wolfboy is depicted crouching down, which does have the effect of making him look very small. He looks like he has only partially transformed into his full werewolf form. He is mostly human although his face has undergone the biggest transformation and no longer looks human. I deliberately chose a darker skin tone for him than normal, to suggest he spends all of his life outdoors. Figures of werewolf children are extremely rare. I have one other, made by Horrorclix.
So, a mixed bag of figures here. All are useful and are well sculpted but are any of them your cup of tea? Each figure costs $3.00 on the ZS webstore.

My ATZ Campaign - Day 62 - Assault on Precinct 13 part 4

And so we come to the final part. Who lives and who dies? There's only one way to find out - read on.

TURN 16.   Activation - Police = 4, Zombies = 2, PEF = 3
"Kelly, with me," SWAT Trooper Johnny Vincenzo ordered as he moved next to the door leading to the evidence room and the stairs down. "We need to check out those deadheads downstairs. See how many there are. Have you heard from Tybald and Markowitz?"
"Not a thing," SWAT Trooper Gemma Kelly replied as she prepared to re-enter the police station.
"I'll stay on watch here," Patrolwoman Sally Gibson said as her two colleagues disppeared inside.

Vampifan and Big Sil killed the last three zombies feasting on Detective Brandt. Vampifan fired a three round burst at the two adult male zombies, but Big Sil just needed a single shot to exterminate the little girl zombie in the blue dress.

The zombies surrounding Rookie Markowitz finished feasting on him as they literally tore him apart. The zombie rabbi moved to the front of the pick-up truck. The three zombies at the NE corner of the police station moved closer to the half eaten corpse of Detective Brandt.
I rolled 4d6 for zombie reinforcements and a couple appeared by the basketball court entrance.

TURN 17.   Activation - Police = 1, Zombies = 3, PEF = 5
The zombie mini-horde in the police station began to move upstairs to the second floor.

The two zombies that had arrived at the end of the last turn crossed the car park to the front entrance of the police station.

Four zombies met by the still warm corpse of Detective Brandt and the deathly cold corpse of Captain Marquez.

"We could just leave right now," Big Sil suggested as he fired a single shit from his Assault Rifle, hitting his target, a kilt-wearing zombie just above his left ear.
His suggestion must have put Vampifan off his aim, as he only hit once out of his three shots. He was hoping to bring down the three remaing zombies clustered around Detective Brandt but just killed one of them.
"Because it would be wrong," he announced, trying hard not to get angry. Big Sil had changed a lot since the death of his girlfriend, Angie. Cynicism had replaced compassion. The hairy biker's easy-going, friendly, and happy-go-lucky attitude had deserted him. Choosing his words carefully, Vampifan continued, "these people need our help. They have treated us fairly under the circumstances and we will not abandon them. Okay?"
"Hmph, I'm just saying, that's all," Big Sil replied sullenly.

Patrolwoman Gibson fired her .45 calibre Kimber Custom II BA Pistol at the two zombies shuffling towards the front entrance of the police station. She knocked one of them down but missed the other. She knew she should have done better. Were nerves getting to her?

SWAT Troopers Vincenzo and Kelly reached the top of the stairs leading down and were shocked to see so many zombies coming their way. Vincenzo fired a three round burst, hitting and killing one zombie and knocking down another. Kelly fired two quick shots from her BA Pistol. She hit and killed one zombie.

I rolled 11d6 for zombie reinforcements and scored three successes. One appeared in the centre of the car park.

The other two appeared at the SE corner of the police station.

TURN 18.   Activation - Police = (4) 6, Zombies = (4) 1, PEF = 6
Another double indicated the appearance of another PEF. This one was Rep:3 and appeared in Sector 5 at the side of the blue-grey Folding Structure Unit.

The zombies on the first floor of the police station charged at SWAT Troopers Vincenzo and Kelly up on the second floor, forcing them to take the Being Charged Test. Both passed 2d6, allowing them to fire first before fighting. Unfortunately, this is where it all went horribly wrong. Vincenzo fired his second three-round burst at them. He must have panicked because he missed with two shots and the shot that did hit just inflicted a Knockdown result. But what happened to Kelly was just so heart-wrenching. For the second time in this game she rolled double one whilst shooting and her BA Pistol ran out of ammo at a crucial moment. She was having nothing but bad luck with her firearms. Fortunately for the two SWAT Troopers, the width of the stairs meant only one zombie could attack each of them. Vincenzo had no difficulty in defeating and killing his attacker. Despite a five to one dice advantage, Kelly's luck totally deserted her and she lost the combat 0-1. (It went 2-1, 1-1 and 0-1). She dropped down OOF. This had not been a good day for her.

 

I rolled 5d6 for zombie reinforcements and just one turned up at the SE corner of the police station.

TURN 19.   Activation - Police = 2, Zombies = 6, PEF = 2
Vincenzo made a snap decision to flee instead of fight. He scooped up Kelly in his arms and headed back the way he'd come.
"Gibson, get over here," he shouted when he reached the exit door. "Kelly's been bitten."
"Oh, my God!" Gibson shrieked. "Did you see Ken or Ryan?"
"No, but I can't believe they're still alive," Vincenzo answered with honest appraisal. "The place is overrun with deadheads."

Not far away, Vampifan shot and killed the remaining two zombies directly below him with another short three round burst.
"And then there were none," he said wryly.
"Hah, you wish!" retorted Big Sil.
I rolled 3d6 for zombie reinforcements and for the first time in the game, none appeared.

TURN 20.   Activation - Police = 5, Zombies = 3, PEFs = 4
Vincenzo carried Kelly outside and laid her down beside one of the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) units.
"How badly was she bitten?" Patrolwoman Cibson asked.
"Bad enough," Vincenzo answered sombrely. "We both know that any bite is usually fatal."

Vampifan shifted his position to check on the front of the police station and he immediately spotted a female zombie near to the entrance porch.  He selected single fire on his Heckler and Koch G3 Assault Rifle.

A 7.62mm bullet burst through the skull of the zombie in a spray of red mist.
"Did you miss one?" Big Sil asked sarcastically.
"Nah, I got her," Vampifan replied smugly.
(Note that the zombie in the dressing gown was hidden from his view by the porch columns.)

The zombies indoors reached the exit that led to the first floor roof. The zombie in the dressing gown entered the Reception Hall and the two zombies at the SE corner of the building moved closer to the front.entrance.
I rolled just 1d6 for zombie reinforcements. I wasn't surprised when none turned up.

TURN 21.   Activation - Police = 1, Zombies = 2, PEFs = 3
PEF:6 passed 1d6 on the PEF Movement Table and moved one sector towards the closest PEF, which was PEF:5 in sector 7. PEF:5 passed 0d6 and thus remained where it was. I placed PEF:6 at the side of a police patrol car. It was in cover and in sight of Vampifan. I rolled on my PEF Resolution Table, hoping for a 2 or a 3. I rolled a 3. Oh, joy!

The rest of Team Vampifan had arrived! Inside Vampifan's black pick-up truck were Catweazle, Gap and Jamie. Just to remind you, here are their stats -
Lieutenant Ulysses Catweazle Rep:5 Star with Brawler and Nerves of Steel attributes and armed with Assault Rifle, Machine Pistol and Combat Knife.
Gap Rep:4 Grunt with Fear of Clowns Phobia and armed with Assault Rifle, Combat Knife and Body Armour.
Jamie Vaughn Rep:4 Grunt with Brawler attributes and armed with BA Pistol and Medi-pack.

Two zombies charged at SWAT Trooper Vincenzo and two at Patrolwoman Gibson. Vincenzo passed 2d6 on the Being Charged Test and fired a three round burst with his MP5A3 Sub-Machine Gun. Incredibly he missed with all three shots, firing far too high. Gibson could only pass 1d6 and so it was melee time.

Vincenzo split his 6d6 attack dice 3/3 and he won both of his combats. Gibson went with a 3/2 split with her 5d6 attack dice. She won her first combat with the 3d6 but lost her second. She was knocked Out Of the Fight with a serious bite wound.

Down below, on the ground floor, two more zombies entered the Reception Hall, whilst another two moved slowly upstairs to the first floor.

"Hey, Vincenzo!" Vampifan shouted. "Do you need any help?"
"No, I've got this covered," the SWAT Trooper replied with more confidence than he felt. He must have known his time was up as he added, "Just go. Get out of here! You're free to go!"
He fired a three round burst at the two zombies on the roof in front of him. His first shot hit the zombie who had bitten Gibson, killing him with a shot to the centre forehead. Then to his horror, his SMG clicked on empty.
"Oh, for fuck's sake!" he cried.

Vampifan dropped down to the bonnet (hood if you're American) of the pick-up truck and down again to the ground. Big Sil followed him, with SWAT Sergeant Connors slung over one shoulder.
"The cavalry's here, big man!" Vampifan said cheerfully.
"About bloody time!" Big Sil replied.

I rolled 12d6 for zombie reinforcements. Four appeared, with two next to the billboard.

And another two at the SE corner of the police station, close to another zombie.

 TURN 22.   Activation - Vampifan = 2, Police = (4) 6, Zombies = (4) 4, PEFs =3
Another double and the seventh PEF of the game arrived. It was Rep:3 and it appeared in Sector 3 in front of the grey medium sized FSU. It was in cover and out of sight of everyone.

The zombies on the second floor charged en masse at Johnny Vincenzo. He instinctively knew he was going to die but was determined to go down fighting and to take as many of the bastards as he could. He passed 2d6 on the Being Charged Test and he swiftly drew his BA Pistol. He fired two shots in rapid succession and scored two hits. Alas, they were only Knockdowns, not outright kills. Not being able to use the Easy To Hit rule against charging zombies made a big difference.

Four zombies made contact with him, moaning in anticipation of fresh blood. Vincenzo split his 5d6 attack dice into a 2/1/1/1 split. He still held onto his SMG and he swung it one-handed like a club. This classed it as a one-handed improvised weapon, which reduced its Impact of 2 to 1, exactly the same as the Impact of a zombie attack.

He won the first combat. He won the second combat. Amazingly, he won the third combat. Could he possibly win all four? Sadly, no. He lost the fourth combat, but he certainly went down fighting.

PEF:7 passed 2d6 on the PEF: Movement Chart and moved one sector to the largest group of players, which was a tie between Vampifan, Big Sil and Connors or Catweazle, Gap and Jamie. Catweazle won the roll off and the PEF moved into sector 9 in the front porch. This put it in sight and in cover of both groups of Team Vampifan. I rolled on the PEF Resolution Table that I'd designed and scored a False Alarm result. PEF:5 once again passed 0d6 on the PEF Movement Chart and remained in place.
Catweazle drove the black pick-up truck through the car park and pulled to a halt by the red pick-up truck, where Vampifan and Big Sil were waiting for him.

I rolled 8d6 for zombie reinforcements and three appeared at the back of the basket ball court by the SE corner.

TURN 23.   Activation - Vampifan = 6, Zombies = 5, PEF = 2
Vampifan and Big Sil climbed into the back of their pick-up truck, carrying SWAT Sergeant Connors with them.
"Take us home, driver," Vampifan said with a huge sigh of relief.
"It'll be a pleasure, sir," Catweazle replied. "I bet you guys have a story to tell."
"Ain't that the truth," Big Sil responded. "Along with a few apologies I need to make."

Catweazle floored the accelerator and they roared off into the sunset.

The zombies and the PEF failed to activate this turn. So all that remained to do was to roll 6d6 (for the noise made by Vampifan's pick-up truck) for zombie reinforcements. Three appeared inside the basketball court close to the entrance.

EPILOGUE.

From the second floor window of a red brick apartment that faced onto the front of the police station, a white skinned male with a large red nose and a clown's costume viewed the departure of Team Vampifan with keen interest.

"You may have escaped this time, Sillito" Sunny the Killer Klown said through gritted teeth, "but I'll get you next time!"

THE END

Total number of zombies appearing in this scenario = 115

Oh! My! God! Sunny is back! In case you don't know, Sillito is the surname of Big Sil, the man who almost killed Sunny when they first met. Sunny has never met Vampifan and so knows very little about him, other than he is a friend of Big Sil.

I really hope you enjoyed that as much as I did playing it. I can tell you quite honestly, that was the best game of ATZ I have ever played. It all worked out so brilliantly but I was quite surprised at how many defenders died. This was a massacre on a scale I've never witnessed before. The Dice Gods were exceptionally cruel at times. The police failing to win Activation in turn 4, meaning Marquez couldn't switch the engine of the Klown's pick-up truck off. Markowitz running away from his partner, Tybald. SWAT Trooper Kelly running out of ammo twice and having her SMG fall apart. Detective Brandt and SWAT Sergeant Connors sacrificing themselves to switch off that blasted engine. Brave SWAT Trooper Vincenzo almost defying the odds when he was last man standing on the police station roof.

On the flip side, Vampifan and Big Sil survived unscathed. I rolled to see if either of them were rewarded with a REP increase, just for surviving but neither were successful. 

Which brings me to the fate of SWAT Sergeant Wayne Connors. Thanks to young Jamie's help he made a full recovery. But, he still had to take the "Harry, Are You Okay?" Test. Being Rep:5, if he rolled 4, 5 or 6 on 1d6, he had fight off the infection. If he rolled less than that, he'd be infected and would turn into a zombie. Obviously, Team Vampifan wouldn't allow that to happen. Vampifan would put a bullet in Connor's brain before he turned. So did he survive? Well, to be honest, I never did roll for him. I want you to decide his fate. Please leave a comment saying whether he should live or die. If he lives, he will join forces with Team Vampifan. If he becomes infected, he'll be shot in the head and given a decent burial. His fate is in your hands, my friends. I'll abide by the majority decision. If it does end up in a tie then I'll roll that d6 and let the Dice Gods decide.

I ran a competition just before I posted this batrep, in which I asked you to make a guess at how many zombies would appear in the scenario. The answer was 115 and one person guessed correctly. Congratulations to Charles Salley, who was bang on the nose with his guess of 115. Charles, if you can e-mail me your postal address I'll send you your prize as soon as I can. Click on My Profile at the top left corner of my blog to get my e-mail address. If you're wondering what the prize is, I can tell you it is an Armorcast wrecked car - the one with the girder on the roof that I reviewed not so long ago.

Finally, I'd like to thank everyone who has left a comment about this batrep. Your support and appreciation inspires me to strive for the best in this hobby that I love so much. Of course, the big question now is, how do I top that?