Zombicide Zombies - Season 1 Runners 01

In Zombicide, there are four types of zombie. I have already looked at the most common type - the Walkers. The next most common type are the Runners. As their name suggests, these are faster than Walkers. Whereas the other three types of zombie are only allowed one action per turn (attack or movement), Runners are allowed two actions per turn. These actions could be the same (double movement) or a combination (move then attack). Runners are your fast moving zombies as found in the likes of the remake of Dawn of the Dead and the upcoming World War Z films. Just to make sure that you can't be in any doubt that these figures are Runners, they have been sculpted in running gear. Subtle, huh?

The 16 Runners included with the game are split into two poses, with 8 figures in each pose. I gave the Runner at the far left of this group a bullet wound to his upper right chest, which has just missed his shoulder. His hands are covered in the blood of a victim.
The next Runner in line has suffered from a bite wound to his left arm. These Runners are all bald-headed, which nicely gets round my criticism of the Walkers having poorly defined hair.

The third Runner in this group has blood from a victim smeared over his mouth, chin, neck and hands. He is a messy eater!
Finally, is another of my African/American zombies. He has suffered a massive wound to his stomach

I painted the skin tones of my Caucasian Runners with Foundry Cadaverous Green 46, which is the colour I use on the flesh of my ATZ Ragers.
The Runner at the far left of this second group has also been feeding on a victim and he has blood on his hands and blood dribbling from his mouth. Note that the wire seen on his chest belongs to an iPod.
The Runner in green has been bitten/shot/stabbed in the neck and blood has run down his torso.

The third Runner in line is another feeder, with loads of blood around his lower face, neck and chest. Rather surprisingly, he has no blood on his hands.
The last figure in this group is another African/American. He has blood smeared on his hands but nowhere else.
These are very animated figures with a real sense of movement to them. There is no mistaking these for Walkers. Despite their speed, Runners are just as easy to kill as Walkers. One wound is all it takes to kill them.
As with the Walkers, my main criticism of these Runners is the way their fingers have been sculpted. It is no secret that I am not a fan of zombies that can sprint like Olympic athletes. I'm strictly old school and I much prefer the slow-moving Walkers. That said, these Runners do provide an acceptable challenge in the game. The fact that they get an extra action means you have to think tactics when they are nearby. The worst thing that can happen with Runners is when you draw the card from the Zombie Spawning deck that allows them an extra turn. That's usually lethal!

My ATZ Campaign - Day 23 - First Base part 2

Day 23 - First Base part 2
TURN 9.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 2, Ragers = 5.
At the start of Turn 9, two Ragers arrived on the board but were unable to activate this turn.

Vampifan stepped back outside and immediately saw the new threat. Thinking that these were just normal zombies, he fired once with his M16 Assault Rifle at the lead Rager. He hit and scored an Out Of the Fight (OOF) result.
"Sil, Angie!" he called out in warning. "Zombies out the back! Take 'em out!"
Big Sil and his girlfriend, Angie Johannson, emerged from the back of the extra-large Folding Structure Unit (XLFSU) with their M16 Assault Rifles at the ready. Big Sil fired once at the second Rager and missed.
"Useless!" Angie chided him good-naturedly. "This is how you do it!"
Her shot was much more accurate. She also scored an OOF result. The Ragers fell to the ground but it was obvious they weren't dead. Meanwhile, Gap moved outside to where the wounded Rhiannon Marlow lay. He picked her up and carried her back inside, laying her down on a pale-grey sofa. She had been bitten by a zombie and had blacked out.

I rolled 3d6 for zombie reinforcements and scored one success. The male zombie shambled into view at the rear of the warehouse next to the loading bay. I rolled 1d6 to see if he was a Smart Zombie but he wasn't. Oh, and apologies for the poor quality of the photo - I should have focussed on the figure, not the building.

TURN 10.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 2, Zombies = 3.
The lone zombie shuffled slowly across the warehouse loading bay, attracted by the sound of gunfire.

Vampifan shot the zombie crossing the warehouse loading bay between the eyes, killing him instantly with a single 5.56mm bullet. Angie and Big Sil walked over to where the Ragers lay and dispatched them both with a single shot each. (See the rules for Auto-Kill on p.39 of IZ.)
"What the hell are those things?" Angie enquired as she took a good long look at the creatures.
"I dunno," Big Sil answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "But they sure were tougher than any zombie I've seen so far. What do you think, Boss-man?"
Vampifan adjusted his glasses before replying. "I have no idea. A hardier breed of zombie, or something new entirely. Note how they look more human than most zeds. They don't look like walking corpses, do they? Now go and check out that shed. I'll cover you."
I rolled 3d6 for zombie reinforcements but none had heard the gunfire. Cool!

TURN 11.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = (3) 1, Zombies = (3) 4.
I immediately rerolled the Activation dice and scored a 4 and a 1, but seeing as there were no zombies on the board I ignored their Activation die and moved on to Team Vampifan. Vampifan climbed up onto the hood of his pick-up truck to provide cover for his colleagues. Big Sil kicked open the doors to the shed and winced as the smell of rotting flesh wafted out. I turned over the next card from my Risks and Rewards deck. Inside, were a one-legged zombie and one Resource - a set of Keys.

I rolled 1d6 for Angie, Big Sil and the Zombie to determine the Surprise scores (see p.44 of BDTZ). Angie and Big Sil added their Rep score to the die roll, whilst the zombie just added +1 (the number of zombies encountered determines their bonus). As Angie rolled highest of all, she was able to fire at the zombie. One shot was all she needed to kill the undead creature. I rolled to see which one of the pair found the keys. It was Big Sil. So far, he and Gap had found a Resource. I rolled 1d6 for zombie reinforcements and was pleased not to score a success.

TURN 12.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 6, Zombies = 2.
Although Team Vampifan could not move or fight this turn, there was nothing to stop them talking and Big Sil made a significant discovery.
"Hey, Vampi!" he called out excitedly. "These aren't car keys I found. They're for those container units over there."
"Hot damn!" Vampifan exclaimed as he glanced over at the large stack, clearly visible from his vantage point. "We'll check 'em out later but first I want to see what's in that warehouse. Gap, get your arse in gear! We're on the move."
"I'm coming," Gap responded. "Ri's still out cold, so I'll leave her here."

TURN 13.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 2, Zombies = 4.
The team reached one of the two back doors to the warehouse, although Gap had to make a Fast Move to catch up with his colleagues.

TURN 14.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 4, Zombies = 2.
Team Vampifan entered the warehouse and discovered three Survivors and a Luxury Item Resource, as can be seen from the Risks and Rewards card shown in the photo above. I rolled to see who between Vampifan and Angie found the Luxury Item. This time, Vampifan was successful. I determined that the Luxury Item was a jar of instant coffee. The first of the three Survivors was Rep:4 and was armed with a Semi-Automatic Rifle.

To find out the Rep and weaponry of extra members of a party, you have to turn over a card for each additional member. Everything on the card, apart from the person's Rep and Weapon, is ignored. This meant that the other two Survivors were both Rep:3 and one was armed with an SMG and the other with a Pistol. I thought long and hard about what figures to use and in the end settled on a RAFM female Survivor and a pair of kids (aka The Monster Squad) from the Horrorclix Freakshow expansion set. I decided that they would be one family - a mother and her two children. I changed the mother's weapon to a BA Pistol and I decided to replace the SMG with a Catapult as that is what the figures were holding.
These are my stats for a Catapult: Range = 10"; Targets = 1; Impact = 1; and the weapon is silent.
The new Survivors were led by Hanna Vaughan. Her daughter was called Jamie, whilst her young son was called Billy. Billy was the one with the Catapult. Jamie had her Pistol in her backpack.
It was time to roll on the Meet and Greet table (see p.45 of BDTZ). Vampifan rolled 6d6 (5 for his Rep and +1 for outnumbering Hanna by one). Hanna just rolled 4d6 for her Rep. On the first roll off, Vampifan scored 4 successes, whilst Hanna scored 2. Discarding the failures, Vampifan then rolled 4d6 and scored 2 successes. Hanna rolled 2d6 and scored 0 successes. As a result, the Vaughan family would join forces with Team Vampifan on a permanent basis. Introductions were made.
Finally, I chose the Attributes that I wanted the Vaughan family to have. I know that I should have diced for them as they are only Grunts but I wanted them to have Attributes that I felt were most appropriate for them. It's all part of the story-telling process, okay? I figured Hanna had to be tough to survive the first three weeks of the Outbreak with two children in tow, so I gave her the Stone Cold Attribute (she'd roll 3d6 for all Reaction Tests). Jamie was obviously some kind of martial artist so she naturally got the Brawler Attribute (this gave her a +1d6 bonus in melee combat). As the youngest member of the family, I felt that the Wuss Attribute would be most appropriate for Billy (he'd only roll 1d6 when taking the Charge, Being Charged and Rally Tests).

TURN 15.   Activation - Vampifan = 6, Zombies = 1.
Oh, dear! Another 7, another Rager. This one appeared in the centre of the bottom table edge, or Sector 8. I placed it 8" on the board. It was eligible to move this turn, but it had no LOS (Line of Sight) to any legitimate targets and no loud noises had been made in the previous turn, so it remained in place, waiting for something to happen.

Team Vampifan and the Vaughan family couldn't move, so they briefly got to know each other. Hanna revealed that the white compact car parked by the front entrance of the warehouse was hers and that they had been staying in this warehouse for just over a week.

TURN 16.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = (2) 5, Ragers = (2) 1.
Having initially rolled double 2 for Activation, I rerolled both dice and this time scored a 5 and a 1, in Vampifan's favour. Vampifan announced that they were going to check out some of the containers units as they'd found the keys to open them. Hanna and her kids agreed to follow them.
As soon as they stepped outside they spotted the Rager, but once again, they mistook it for a normal zombie. Vampifan fired a single shot from his Assault Rifle at the creature but rolled a 1 and totally missed. Big Sil fared better. His single Rifle shot hit the Rager in the chest but only knocked him down.

The Rager surprised everyone by standing straight back up and rushing 6" towards them, whilst screaming in rage. This was unprecedented! I rolled 2d6 for zombie reinforcements but none arrived this turn.

TURN 17.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 1, Ragers = 3.
The Rager raced down street, moving a distance of 12", screaming all the way.
"Fuck me!" Vampifan swore as he hurriedly raised his Assault Rifle to his shoulder, whilst flipping its fire selection switch from single shot to autofire. "Is this thing on steroids?"
The Rager was only 2" away from him when he fired. Two of his three shots hit. His first shot scored another Knock Down result but his second shot was, thankfully, an Obviously Dead result. The Rager threat had been dealt with.

So, shooting over, Vampifan led his friends along the street until they reached the corner of the warehouse. Every one of them had a much closer look at the Rager corpse than they would have if it had been a normal zombie.

I rolled 3d6 for zombie reinforcements and this time one appeared. He emerged from behind the crashed beige van across the street. He was not a Smart Zombie.

TURN 18.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 6, Zombies = 3.
It would appear that too many of Team Vampifan were spending too long scrutinising the Rager corpse, so they came to a temporary halt. The lone zombie slowly ambled across the street, its milky white eyes seemingly focussed on Vampifan. It finished its movement just 3" away from the human leader.

TURN 19.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 5, Zombies = 1.
"I'll get him!" Billy called out excitedly. To his credit, he did! The stone pellet from his catapult struck the zombie in the forehead and thanks to the Easy To Hit rule, killed him. I really love that rule! Better still, the shot was silent, so no chance of any roving zombies turning up next turn. The group crossed the side street and reached the XLFSU.

TURN 20.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 1, Zombies = 4.
Vampifan and Big Sil were the first to reach the stack of container units. Only the three on the ground level facing the main street could be searched. The seven units above them were too high to reach and the nine at the back had their entrances covered by the nine at the front. Just like the trailer of a Big Rig, each unit would count as a single room for the purposes of searching.

TURN 21.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 3, Zombies = 6.
Big Sil unlocked the doors. He stepped inside the pitch black interior, which was now illuminated by the rising sun. Vampifan accompanied him. The Risks and Rewards revealed that this was a total bust, with no humans, no zombies and no resources. Bummer!

TURN 22.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 4, Zombies = 2.
By now the rest of Team Vampifan had reached the stack and they gathered around the second one in line as Big Sil fitted the appropriate key in the lock.

This time, Angie accompanied Big Sil inside. The Risks and Rewards card showed that whilst the container was unoccupied, it did contain a Resource - a Machete. Big Sil had already found a Resource, so Angie picked it up from the floor.

TURN 23.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = (5) 2, Zombies = (5) 4.
Once again, I had to reroll the Activation Dice to determine who went first... even though there was only one team on the board. Vampifan, Angie and Big Sil stepped inside and were confronted by three zombie children. The Risks and Rewards card also revealed that there was a Fuel Resource inside. It was hidden away at the back of the container unit so Team Vampifan would have to get past the three zombies to reach it. I rolled to see if any of the zombies was a Smart Zombie and one was. I rolled 1d6 on the Smart Zombies Weapon Table (see p.41 of IZ) and I rolled a 2, indicating he was armed with an Impact 1 Improvised Weapon. A hockey stick fit the bill perfectly for him. He would fight against Vampifan.
Next, I had to roll for surprise. I rolled 1d6 for the zombies and added a +3 bonus to the roll, which was 5, giving a result of 8. The +3 bonus came from how many zombies there were. The heroes also rolled 1d6, but they got to add their Rep score to the rolls. The final results were Vampifan with 8, Big Sil with 7, and Angie with 6. Seeing as none of their scores beat the zombie score, none of them could fire and they'd have to melee as normal.

Vampifan went first against the Smart Zombie and scored 3 successes out of 5. The Smartie scored 1 success out of 2, which initiated a secound round of combat. This time Vampifan scored 1 success out of 3 but the Smartie failed to score a success. Vampifan used his rifle butt to stove in the skull of the young zombie.
Big Sil went next and he drew his Combat Knife. He rolled 7d6 to the zombie's 1d6 and he slaughtered the young girl by scoring 4 successes to her 0. He sliced the sharpened blade across the girl's neck and decapitated her.
Angie's combat went very similar to Vampifan's, taking two turns to resolve. Initially, she scored 3 successes, but the young zombie male scored 1 success. In round two, Angie scored 2 successes, whilst the zombie failed to score any. She used her newly acquired Machete to split the zombie's skull in two down the middle.
I rolled to see who out of the trio found the Resource and Big Sil beat the other two to it.

TURN 24.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 5, Zombies = 6.
"Okay, we're done here," Vampifan declared. "Let's go and check up on Rhiannon and then get the vehicles under cover."
Seeing as there was nowhere else left to explore and no more opponents to defeat, this ended the encounter. It was a victory for Team Vampifan. However, there were still some very important dice rolls to be made.

The team moved back inside the XLFSU and whilst the two kids checked out the empty crates, the adults gathered around the unconscious Rhiannon. I had to roll 2d6 for Rhiannon on the Recovery After the Encounter Table (see p.23 of BDTZ). Alas, she only passed 1d6, which meant that she regained consciousness but at one Rep level lower.She was now just Rep:3. This was an awful result as she still had to take the "Harry, Are You Okay?" Test to see if she became infected by the zombie bite she'd received earlier. I had to roll 1d6 for her and add her Rep score to the result. On a result of 9 or higher, she'd be fine (see p.35 of BDTZ). She could make it, but only if I rolled a 6. I rolled a 2. So even if she hadn't dropped a level, her fate was sealed.
"I don't want to die," she sobbed, "but I don't want to come back as one of those... things!"
"No, Rhiannon!" Gap cried, his voice full of emotion. Tears streamed down his face as he saw Vampifan draw his Desert Eagle pistol from its holster. "There's got to be another way! Surely?"
Despite having met her just over a day ago, Gap had developed a crush on the young Goth Girl. Vampifan caught his eye and briefly shook his head. He knew what needed doing and as leader of the group he felt it has his responsibility to maintain the safety of his group.
"I'm so sorry, Rhiannon," Vampifan said remorsefully, as he placed the barrel of the huge gun against her forehead. "You didn't deserve this."
The sound of the gunshot seemed unnaturally loud in the confines of the building. Rhiannon would not be returning as a zombie.

The above photo shows the new line-up of Team Vampifan. From left to right are Vampifan, Big Sil, Angie, Gap, Hanna, Jamie and Billy. Note that I have added a Hasslefree M16 Assault Rifle to Gap so he no longer looks unarmed.

 

All that was left to do was to determine if anyone's Rep increased. Vampifan, Big Sil, Angie and Gap were all eligible for Rep improvement rolls (see p.61 of BDTZ). Gap needed to roll a 5+ on 1d6 to go up to Rep:5, whilst the others needed to roll a 6. May be the dice gods decided I needed some cheering up after losing Rhiannon but both Vampifan and Gap scored high enough to improve their Rep by 1. Vampifan had rose to the heady heights of Rep:6 and Gap was now even with Big Sil and Angie at Rep:5. I could have no complaints.

My final thoughts on this scenario are as follows. After going almost six months since my last game of ATZ, I was so desperately looking forward to this game. The way the game turned out made for an incredibly exciting and emotionally rewarding experience. The loss of Rhiannon was more than balanced by the recruitment of the Vaughan family and by Vampifan reaching Rep:6. I can tell you now, the next scenario in my campaign will take place soon - in June for sure, but possibly earlier.

Smart Zombies are not that big a threat. If armed with a firearm they only have a very slim chance of hitting. The extra die they get in melee doesn't make much of a difference but could if the Smartie was not alone in attacking. Ragers, on the other hand are downright scary! Team Vampifan did well against the three they met but with some different Activation rolls, things could have gone very differently. My advice in dealing with them is to fire as many rounds as you can into them before they get into melee range. Melee with Ragers is to be avoided at all costs! I tried to play this game straight in having the heroes not identifying the new threat for what it was and just treating Ragers as normal zombies. They'll know differently next time but only because they have learnt from experience. 

To all of you who have read this batrep, my heartfelt thanks. Hopefully, it won't be too long before Team Vampifan rides again.

My ATZ Campaign - Day 23 - First Base part 1

After driving and hiding for a day and a half after their last encounter, Team Vampifan were desperate to find a place to hole up, preferably somewhere they could settle down permanently. Angie and Big Sil scouted ahead on their motorbikes. They found somewhere in an industrial park amongst the suburbs of Mayhem City that just might suit their needs. They reported back to Vampifan, who was driving his pick-up truck. Gap and new recruit, Rhiannon, were passengers in the black pick-up truck. All five agreed to check out the area and they arrived just as the sun was rising. It was Day 23 of the outbreak and this would be a Take Back scenario (see p.43 of the ATZ rulebook, Better Dead Than Zed, hereafter abbreviated to BDTZ). Their mission was to clear the table of zombies and hostile humans to build a base of operations. Easy, peasy, huh?

The game was played on a 3' by 3' board with each of the 9 sectors measuring 12" by 12". Since my last batrep, posted about five months ago, I have been busy making lots of new scenery items and I have tried to include as many of them as I could in this batrep. Knowing that more and more of my scenarios would take place in suburban or rural areas, I knew I wanted more grassland, so I made a few new ground tiles from the WWG TLX Hinterlands Forest set and WWG TLX Hinterlands Cliffs set, both of which feature some great grass tiles. This allowed me to field a small wood to the left of the board and two small areas of grassland to the right of the board. The trees and hedges are from Games Workshop.

The Ebbles Extra Large Folding Structure Unit (hereafter to be abbreviated XLFSU) is a new model of mine. It is the blue-grey single storey building in the centre of the board. The Medium Folding Unit Structure appeared in my last batrep. The large stack of 18 container units were a kitbash model from WWG. They, along with the single container unit sitting on top of them, are also new models. The rubbish skip is also new, as are most of the items stored inside the big warehouse, which you'll see later. Many of the corpses you see strewn about the board are converted Horrorclix figures. They're all new.

HOUSE RULE REGARDING RAGERS AND SMARTIES
Because Project Lazarus had only been launched one day ago I decided to reduce the chance of Ragers and Smart Zombies appearing in this encounter. As per the rules on p.37 of the ATZ supplement I, Zombie (hereafter abbreviated to IZ) Ragers would appear if the Activation Dice totalled 7. Because this encounter took place in a suburban area, the lower number would indicate how many Ragers would be generated. However, no Ragers would be encountered indoors. Smart Zombies would be generated on the roll of 1 on 1d6 whenever one or more zombies would appear. However, I'd only roll once per group not per zombie and they would be limited to one Smartie per group. This House Rule is merely a temporary measure and will be discarded as the campaign progresses further, possibly as soon as next time.

Team Vampifan entered the board in Sector 8, driving up the main street. Just to recap, Vampifan was a Rep:5 Star with the Nerves of Steel and Slow Attributes. He was armed with an Assault Rifle, BA Pistol and Knife. Angie was a Rep:5 Grunt with the Runt Attribute. She was armed with an Assault Rifle and a Knife. Big Sil was also a Rep:5 Grunt and he had the Knife Fighter Attribute. He too, was armed with an Assault Rifle and Knife. Gap was a Rep:4 Grunt with no Attribute and was armed with an Assault Rifle, a BA Pistol and a Knife. Rhiannon Marlow was a Rep:4 Grunt with the Athlete Attribute. She was armed with an Uzi Sub-Machine Gun. All except Rhiannon wore Body Armour.

It was time to place the three PEF counters and rather than use dice as I normally do, I used these nicely designed PEF counters made by my friend Colin Nash who runs the Down Among The Zed Men blog-site. Many thanks, Colin! The die in the base of each counter represents what number that PEF is, not its Rep score. I diced to determine the placement and Rep of each counter.
PEF:1 was Rep:2 and was placed in Sector 6 at the far side of the skip.
PEF:3 was Rep:5 and was placed in Sector 3 behind the skip.

PEF:2 was Rep:3 and was placed in Sector 2 behind the crimson car. However, this meant it was in Line of Sight of Team Vampifan and thus, it had to be resolved immediately, before play could begin. I rolled 1d6 on the PEF Resolution Table and scored a 5, meaning Hostile NPCs. I rolled to see if they were human or zombies and they turned out to be undead. Next, I rolled to see how many they were and scored a result of one more than Team Vampifan. In other words, six of them. I rolled 1d6 to see if one of them was a Smartie but none were.

I rolled for both sides on the Encounter Awareness Test table and it ended up with Team Vampifan winning by 1 die. Because they were currently inactive they had to take an In Sight Test using 2d6. The team all passed 2d6 and so held fire because the zombies were more than 6" away.

DAY 23 - First Base part 1
Before rolling for Activation, I had to roll for lack of sleep for Team Vampifan (see p.35 of IZ). Fortunately, no one suffered  any adverse affects.

TURN 1.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 4, Zombies = 1, PEFs = 5.
This meant that the PEFs would move first, starting with PEF:3 because it had the highest Rep. I rolled on the PEF Movement Table for it, and it passed 2d6. It moved one sector towards Team Vampifan and ended up in sight and in cover by the corner of the XLFSU. I rolled 1d6 to determine what it was but rolled a 6, meaning a false alarm. PEF:1 passed 0d6 on the PEF Movement Table and remained where it was.

Vampifan, Angie and Big Sil turned off the main street and came to a stop so far down a side street between the warehouse and the XLFSU. The problem with vehicles is that they are noisy and hence they attract the attention of zombies. I had to place a 6-shot marker where each vehicle started and ended this turn. This meant that I'd be rolling 36d6 for zombie reinforcements! Hmm, I should have thought that one through a bit better! No wonder Team Vampifan always entered the board on foot in previous scenarios.
The placement of Team Vampifan gave them Line of Sight on PEF:1, so I had to roll to see who or what it was. I rolled a 4 on the PEF Resolution Table, which resulted in a second false alarm. Much relief!

The mini-horde of six zeds from PEF:2 moved past the crimson car to the sound of the three running engines. Now came the moment I was dreading - rolling for zombie reinforcements. As this encounter took place in a suburban area, reinforcements would arrive on the d6 score of 5 or 6. By average, that meant 12 should turn up and that is exactly what happened. I'd have preferred less but it could just as easily have been worse. I rolled 1d6 to see if a Smartie was amongst them but failed to roll a 1.

Another House Rule that I use is that I roll a Games Workshop scatter die to determine the direction that a new zombie will appear from. The photo above shows that seven of them appeared on or close to the main street.

Another four zombies appeared in the bottom right corner of the board...

...and the twelfth one arrived from the back of the warehouse.

TURN 2.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 2, Zombies = 6.
This turned out to be an excellent turn for our heroes. First, Angie dismounted her bike and walked to the back door of the XLFSU. From there she fired once with her Assault Rifle at the zombie chav and killed him. The Easy to Hit rule (see p.34 of BDTZ) where a shooter can substitute his or her Rep for the Impact of a firearm makes killing zombies so much easier. I still maintain it should be called the Easy To Kill rule as it doesn't make it any easier to hit a zombie.
Next, Big Sil dismounted his bike and crossed the road to Angie's parked bike. Please note that from here on you're going to have to ignore the riders on the two bike figures. Unfortunately, the riders aren't detachable. Big Sil also fired a single shot from his Assault Rifle and he killed the zombie at the far side of the shed.

Vampifan, Gap and Rhiannon got out of the pick-up truck at the side next to one set of roll-up doors at the side of the XLFSU. Vampifan only needed one shot from his Assault Rifle to kill one of the two zombies at the front of the mini-horde. Gap emulated his friend's shooting and killed the other zombie leading the mini-horde. Finally, Rhiannon autofired her Uzi SMG at two of the zombies crossing the main street. She hit and killed two, one male and one female. (Memo to self - don't photograph figures with the bottom of their base pointing towards the camera. It obscures the figure too much!)

With seven shots fired this turn I rolled 7d6 for zombie reinforcements. Just two appeared and neither one of them was a Smartie. The first, an elderly man in a tracksuit, appeared on the warehouse loading bay.

The second one, a former SWAT trooper, emerged from behind the overturned beige van.

TURN 3.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 2, Zombies = 4.
All 14 of the zombies on the board moved 6" closer to Team Vampifan but none got in melee range.

The small boy who now led the mini-horde ended up just 3" away from Rhiannon. They could spell trouble for the Goth Girl next turn.

Big Sil moved alongside Angie and the biker duo shot and killed two female zombies emerging from behind the hedge. A single shot from each was enough to kill them.

 

Rhiannon fired a three round burst at the mini-horde but only succeeded in hitting and killing the small boy zombie. Vampifan selected autofire for his M16 Assault Rifle and in an impressive display of marksmanship shot and killed the remaining three zombies from the mini-horde. Gap fired once at a zombie security guard crossing the road and killed him, thanks to the Easy To Hit rule.

This time I had to roll 9d6 for zombie reinforcements. Three appeared and this time one of them was a Smart Zombie. He appeared next to the skip. I rolled 1d6 on the Smart Zombie Weapons Table (see p. 41 of IZ) and scored a 2, meaning he'd be armed with an Impact 1 Improvised Weapon. I decided it would be a 4 by 4 length of wood.

The other two reinforcements arrived at opposite ends of the main street, making it seven zeds crossing the road.

TURN 4.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 3, Zombies = 2.
Angie fired once at the Smart Zombie and hit him easily. However, she rolled a 6 to wound him and so he was just knocked down. Big Sil shot and killed the zombie in the green tracksuit with a single shot.

Rhiannon fired three shots at the zombie cop and the male beside him. She hit them both once but only managed to kill one of them. The zombie cop was just knocked down. Vampifan scored an Obviously Dead result on the zombie SWAT Trooper with a single 5.56mm round. Gap tried to hit the zombie Goth Guy by the green pick-up truck with a single shot but totally missed him.

To the amazement of Angie and Big Sil, the zombie that Angie had knocked down got back to his feet and advanced 3" towards them.
"Whoa, he's a bit nimble," Big Sil exclaimed.
The zombie from the rear of the warehouse shuffled alongside the Smartie as he zeroed in on the two humans.

The zombie cop shot by Rhiannon also got back to his feet, but that was all he managed to do this turn. The remaining four zombies closed the gap with the trio of humans by the black pick-up truck.

I rolled 7d6 for zombie reinforcements and fortunately, just one appeared, by the shed next to Angie and Big Sil. She was not a Smartie.

TURN 5.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 6, Zombies = 4.
Uh, oh! That was not the result I was looking for! The three zombies close to Angie and Big Sil moved to within 4" of them and temporarily halted whilst the bikers took a Being Charged Test. Angie passed 2d6 and could fire at the zombies but Big Sil only passed 1d6 and could not fire. He could melee normally, however. Not surprisingly, Angie chose to fire a three-round burst at the charging zombies. She only hit one, the Smart Zombie, but her shot knocked him down again. This time, because she was being charged, she could not use the Easy To Hit rule. So, the other two zombies closed the distance and melee ensued.

Despite losing 1d6 for having the Runt Attribute, Angie gained 1d6 in combat for having a higher Impact weapon (her rifle butt) than the zombie. She rolled 5d6 to the zombie's 1d6 and scored 2 successes, whilst the zombie scored none. The female zombie was Obviously Dead. Big Sil rolled 6d6 (he hadn't drawn his knife, otherwise he'd have rolled 7d6) and he too won by a 2-0 margin, killing his attacker with a blow to the head.

Because of the way Rhiannon, Vampifan and Gap were positioned, only Rhiannon could be targetted by the zombies' charge. She took the Being Charged test but could not make use of Vampifan's Leadership because he was behind her. She only passed 1d6 and so had to accept the charge without being able to fire before the zombies reached her. Although four zombies charged her, I could only get three of them in base to base contact with her. So it was three against one. Not good odds when you are only Rep:4. She split her 4 attack dice 1, 2 and 1, with the 2 against the centre zombie wearing the green trousers. The first fight against the zombie to her left ended in a draw, with neither side scoring any successes. In the fight where Rhiannon rolled 2d6, she scored a 1-0 victory and so killed her opponent. Could she survive the third attack? Alas, no. She lost 1-0 and fell to the ground, Out Of the Fight, as the zombie bit two fingers off her right hand. The result went pretty much as I expected it would.
All that was left to do this turn was to roll 3d6 for zombie reinforcements. Thankfully, none turned up.

TURN 6.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 5, Zombies = 6.
Typical! That's the result I wanted last turn! Big Sil fired once at the prone Smart Zombie and spattered his brains all over the road. He had no idea that he'd killed a Smart Zombie or that such a thing existed. He just assumed it was an ordinary zombie.

Vampifan never said a word but inside he was thoroughly pissed off at the zombies. He selected autofire again and fired a three round burst at the four zombies in front of him. He hit and killed two but his third shot flew too high. Gap fired once at the zombie Goth Guy and blew a big hole in his head. He sidled past Vampifan to drag Rhiannon to the front of the pick-up truck, mumbling, "Oh, God! Rhiannon, don't die!"
That just left the zombie cop and he seemed momentarily bemused as he stood amidst the dead bodies all around him.

I rolled 5d6 for zombie reinforcements and was very relieved to see just one appear. The small girl zombie who arrived on the board at the back of the container unit stack was not a Smartie.

TURN 7.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 1, Zombies = 2.
The zombie cop focussed his attention on Vampifan and charged. However, he had to temporarily halt, whilst Vampifan took a Being Charged Test.

Being a Star, Vampifan opted to pass 2d6, which allowed him to fire at the zombie. He fired once and killed the undead assailant before he could reach him. Gap began to administer first aid to Rhiannon, even though he wasn't a trained medic.

The small girl zombie was able to move to just one inch away from Angie, but her approach was not silent and the redheaded Swede was alerted to her approach.

Angie spun round and fired once, killing the child at almost point blank range. I rolled 2d6 for zombie reinforcements but scored no successes. For the first time in this encounter, the board was clear of zombies.

TURN 8.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 4, Zombies = 1.
Even though all the zombies had been cleared from the board I still rolled for Activation, after all, I could roll a 7 for a Rager encounter or double 1 or double 6 for a special encounter. Vampifan ordered his team to wait and see how Rhiannon responded to her treatment before they entered the XLFSU. I rolled 2d6 against Rhiannon's Rep on the Recovery During The Encounter Table (see p.22 of BDTZ). Sadly, Rhiannon only passed 1d6 and so remained Out Of the Fight for the rest of this encounter. In the heat of the battle, I totally forgot that the heroes had Medical Supplies in the pick-up truck as part of their Resources. It was only after the scenario was over that I remembered. Isn't hindsight a wonderful thing?
With that determined, Team Vampifan made a two-pronged entry to the XLFSU. Time to get out my ATZ Risks and Rewards deck of cards. After giving them a good shuffle I turned over the top card to reveal no humans or zombies present but a Food Resource. I reasoned that it would come from the food and drinks dispensers situated in the top right hand corner of the building. I rolled to see who found the Resource and it was Gap. For the first time this game there were no zombie reinforcements to roll for. What joy!

TURN 9.   ACTIVATION - Vampifan = 2, Zombies = 5.

Uh, oh, that looks like a 7 to me! That meant that two Ragers would appear! This ought to be interesting! I rolled 1d6 on the Rager Placement Table (see p.37 of IZ) and scored a 2, placing them in the centre of the right table edge or Sector 6, if you like. The lead Rager was placed 8" on the board. Any others would appear 1d6" behind him. I rolled a 3 for the placement of the second Rager. Fortunately for Team Vampifan, Ragers are only Rep:4 and so were unable to activate this turn. Even so, they were still a major threat.

TO BE CONTINUED