day 8 part 3

Gritting her teeth JJ grabbed the shotgun tighter and jammed the barrel through the open mouth of the zombie bearing down on her.  Pulling the trigger she heard the dry click of hammers on empty barrels and cursed loudly, pushing harder she felt the barrel tear through the back of zed's head and the monster dropped to the floor.  Pulling the gun back out she swung the stock and connected solidly with the forehead of a second zombie,  a loud crack accompanied the blow and the zombie keeled over.  A third grabbed the gun and started to pull at it, trying to get at Juliana.  Letting go of the shotgun she pulled her pistol and popped the z in the brain pan as it stumbled backwards. Ling Mei faced off against the last zombie and with her swords, slashed the creature to pieces.  

Looking for the other two members of the group Ling Mei called softly for Nash and Debbie to pull themselves together.  Sheepishly the pair rose out from behind the bushes and avoided the deathly stare of JJ who had been left to fend for herself moments before. "Sorry lil lady, these dead folk are enough to cause me chest pains" apologised Nash Hambleton the former lounge singer, his face looking very grey and grave given credence to his statement.  "yeah sorry darling" said Debbie, a hangdog expression crossing her pretty face, all the time she was reloading the big ass sigs she carried.

"You fought like a tiger!" came a fresh, male voice from behind the group.  Spinning on their heels and bringing up various weapons, they came face to face with a young man, well face to chest as he towered over them by at least 6 inches.  Carrying a hunting rifle and accompanied by two other males, both considerably older than him, he carried on as if he didn't have a care in the world.  "Well done, nice to see someone else smashing these monsters into little bits instead of just running away."  Ling Mei considered the group of humans in front of her, taking into account the well armed nature of the men.  "Would you like to join us? we might have a better chance with all of us together." she asked.  The young man looked amused at the suggestion that he would need any help and shrugged before replying, "Naw i think we'll just head off all the same, thanks though."  with that he headed off up the street.

Within moments a half dozen zeds were barreling into the men and they were in a fight for their lives.  Before Ling Mei could act another zombie sprang out of the shadows and she was embroiled in a fight of her own.  Debbie began firing at a group of zeds a few yards up from them dropping them to the floor, one flopping around with broken legs and another still from the huge hole in its temple.  JJ joined in with her shotgun and "killed" two more.  Nash shrank back away from the gunfire, once again a greasy grey pallor to his lined face and clutching a hand to his chest.  Ling Mei dispatched her zed with contemptuous ease, looking up she saw the big youth smash the zombie he was facing to the ground with a pile driving blow from the butt of his rifle to join the already crumpled form of another zed.  One of the other guys was struggling with two zombies, with a loud cry he succeeded in downing the first with a terrific blow. But the effort cost him leaving him open to the grasp of the other zed, tumbling to the ground and smacking his head on the curbstone.  Before the zombie could bite down on him, the teenager grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and shook it like a terrier with a rat, breaking its neck and cracking its skull on the pavement.  The last man emptied the clip of his Glock into the pair he faced off with and they fell away with large parts of their faces bloodied.  Grabbing his companion and throwing him over his shoulder, the youth tipped a wink at Ling Mei and ran off down the road and out of sight.

"Quickly now, lets get these last couple of houses searched and get out of here.  Those gunshots are attracting more zombies by the minute."  with that Ling Mei directed Nash to cover the doorway while they went inside the first.  Nash nodded at took up a post, grateful that the young ladies could not see the pain that was coursing through his body. He was afraid of going in the house but he was more afraid of letting them down again so he clutched his pistol and the neck of his steel guitar tightly.  A short haired zombie drifted close to him and he dropped it with a well placed slug through the side of its face. "Are you lonesome tonight...." he sang, softly to himself.  The muffled sound of a single shot came from inside the house as Nash scanned the streets for any stragglers.  in the middle distance a few zombies shuffled closer.  "Come on, lets get it moving" he muttered.  With that Debbie came out of the house with a determined look on her face, "Ling Mei wants us to check out the last building while she finishes up in there."  She strode over to the house across the street and flung the doors open with Nash trailing behind her "nothing but a hound dog...." he sang checking the chamber of his revolver.

Rushing through the doors, guns up and tracking around the open plan living area.  Across the room emerging from the kitchen came two Guardsmen, the first an officer of some kind with a pistol in his hand and a private with a shouldered assault rifle.  The two groups seemed surprised at the presence of the other.  the officer was the first to recover, lifting his pistol pulling the trigger twice.

Both slugs breezed past Debbie's face, one drawing a thin red line on her cheek as it went.  The private fumbled for his rifle off of his shoulder getting the strap caught.  Debbie returned fire, her right hand sigsauer spat flaming death to the officer and he crumpled to his knees with blood pouring from the wound in his neck.  Her left sauer aimed at the private, took him out with a slug to the knee before Nash calmly unloaded his .45 into him.  "Sorry boys, but can't have you hurting the lady now."  Searching the bodies they stripped them of their body armour and weapons, finding a grenade in the pack of the officer.  With a final salute to the fallen, Nash and Debbie left the building meeting Ling Mei and JJ in the street.

Outside there were more zombies gathering, Ling Mei let fly with an arrow at the closest and dropped it soundlessly to the floor.  Storm clouds were thickening the air and the first, fat drops of rain began falling from the sky.  Ling Mei looked at what they had gathered so far and determined it was enough to be going on with.  Signalling to the others she ran off up the road and headed home.

# a tense encounter that achieved its objectives with each of the group gaining some supplies and escaping the encounter.  JJ after an awesome fight has earned a rep increase to 4, although poor Ling Mei still has not.  Some milestones to survivor have been reached by the group, only Ling Mei has seen the feast so they are still counted as citizens for the next encounter.  Finally Ling Mei manages to roll very well with the keeping it together and will not have to roll after the next encounter (which turns out to be fortunate!)

day 8 part 2

"where's JJ ?" hissed Ling Mei to the other two members of the group. All three of them looked around frantically for the missing teenager.  In the near distance zombies wandered aimlessly up and down the High st, moaning softly to themselves.  The group were moving toward the first house when inspiration hit Ling Mei "Gary's house!"  Juliana had witnessed Gary as a zombie not moments ago before Ling Mei put him down, now she may be heading towards his home not far away.  Without missing a beat she started toward the building where Gary had lived with his parents back when the world made sense.  In front of them was a lone zombie and in a fluid motion she drew an arrow from her quiver and sent it flying through the eye socket of the zed.  

as the gang approached the property they could see JJ in the garden on her hands and knees, tears rolled down her cheeks.  Nash walked over and placed a kindly hand on her shoulder, the old singer hummed an old battle hymn softly as she worked through the demons coursing through her brain.  Slowly the tears dried up and were replaced by a determined grimace, clutching her shotgun tightly she stood with her friends and nodded to Ling Mei.

Bursting through the front door of the house the group entered the living room, ahead of them a zombie hurled itself at them.  Short and wearing a floral nightdress, Gary's mother closed the gap with surprising speed causing Ling Mei to miss with her shot.  Nash recoiled in horror as the zed gnashed it's jaws inches from his face before it was hurled away by the 10mm slug that tore through its body!  Debbie fired 3 more shots centre mass and the zombie went down in a heap.  JJ stepped forward and putting the barrel of her shotgun to its temple gave some peace to Gary's kin.

Searching the house they scraped together some bandages and antiseptic in a bag and moved into the street heading for the next building.  With a shrug Nash put his shoulder to the door and forced it open as the rest of the group surged into the foyer of the property. Ling Mei dropped a zombie with her bow and Debbie opened up with her massive pistols and knocked the legs out from under another as JJ rammed the stock of her shotgun through the back of its head.  With some small measure of shame, Nash plundered some diamond earrings from the master bedroom.

As they headed out of the house a single zombie in the road ahead spotted them and started up toward them, Ling Mei drew back on her bow and another lethal arrow tore through the zeds head.  The others formed a firing line as a larger group of the undead rushed toward them.  Debbie opened the shooting with her sigsauers but remarkably could not get the vital head shot before clicking empty on one of the huge guns!  With a roar JJ's shotgun sprouted flame as she discharged both barrels knocking two zeds off of their feet, but again no head shots and the zeds started to struggle to their feet. Nash could not draw a bead on the monsters and only manage to graze the temple of one of the beasts who ignored the bullet and pressed on.  In a flash the zeds were among them, reaching out for the firing line matching the humans in numbers.  JJ with a primal scream of rage swung the shotgun like a club, sweeping the zed to the floor as the other two struggled with their opponents.  dropping her bow and drawing her swords Ling Mei stepped forward to defend her friends when she heard a shuffling behind her, barely turning in time to avoid the swipe from a zombie.  Three more of it's buddies crowded around her trying to bring her to the ground.  With a swing she took the first's head from it's shoulders and with the backswing buried the blade in the next one's forehead.  her left hand blade swept out to the side and crossed back to slash through the thin vertebrae of the third, half severing the creature's neck.  stepping back she managed to block the outstretched hands of the fourth zed and with a blizzard of blades reduced it to mincemeat.  

Across the way Juliana crushed her opponents windpipe under her boot and braced herself for the charge of another three of the creatures.  Debbie and Nash dispatched their zombies but at the sight of the next group ducked behind the bushes that lined the road leaving JJ to face them down on her own...

Zombtober, a first foray!

Apparently today is the 1st day of Zombtober. A chance for all zombie fanatics to paint up their zeds and survivors that they seem to never get to.

During Zombtober I will be using the figs made up from the plastic box sets put out by Wargames Factory.  I have 90 figs so I need to make a big dent in them if I can.  Some of the figs I will be making up as police and gangers and some as military for those encounters where at the moment I'm making do with the figs I have from my other game systems.  Which is why some WWII british soldiers and nazi civilians are making guest appearances in my ATZFFO campaigns....  The rest will go to bolster my bands of survivors and the horde of undead I've started to assemble (58 so far, not so much a horde as a crowd!)

This is my first Zombtober so I thought as I'm in the same business I would put out a trio of my second favorite medical professional (after paramedics of course) - nurses! Zombified naturally.  These angels were obviously ministering to the infected when they turned, still in uniform.......

Day 8 - Search

"we need supplies lil lady. uh huh yeah."

Nash "Elvis" Hambleton crossed Ling Mei's small living room to grab the last bottle of water resting on the counter.  The faded lounge singer looked gaunt, tired and more like the great man than ever before.  With his spangly jumpsuit and steel guitar he cut the very image of Elvis, right down to the huge .45 that he had brought back from his army days.

Ling Mei scowled at her landlord, wishing he would cut the irreverent act.  She knew he was right though, the small band of friends were running low on supplies and needed to start gathering some in before things got worse out there.  However she also knew how bad it was getting out there and her recent experiences, particularly with the kid at JJ's school had brought home a certain reality about the world outside her cosy building.  The others hadn't encountered the zeds yet so were  skeptical about them and Ling Mei felt that they were humouring her. Still...

"right! we're going out.  But we need to go out there hard, lets get armed first and remember things have changed out there."

With that she gathered her swords and bow, pulling the sarge's flak jacket over her head.  The others, blinking at the sudden change in Ling Mei's demeanor grabbed the various weapons they had brought with them since the beginning and followed her out of the door.  No-one grabbed the assault rifle that had once been a high school kid's...

Jogging along the High Street, the group kept close by each other, eyes scanning the shadows for signs of trouble.  Around them they could hear low moans coming from buildings and yards.  The occasional scream would ring out, causing them all to spin in that direction, gripping weapons tightly. Nobody was skeptical anymore.  Ling Mei, slightly ahead, moved with an unnatural grace, lightly touching the ground and almost gliding she made her way toward the train station.  In comparison the others felt clumsy and winced at each scuffed footstep and crunch of broken glass underfoot.  Drawing her swords Ling Mei indicated to the others to spread out as the came up to the double doors.  With a spring she flung open the doors and the group piled into the relative gloom of the station.  The concourse was an absolute wreck with newspapers and other detritus scattered across the floor.  More sinister still was the half dozen bodies lying among the discarded tickets and food wrappers, pools of blood congealing around them.  Standing over one of the broken forms was a figure swaying as if in a breeze, that was not present.  As the doors shut behind them, the figure turned to face them, blood dribbling from it's jaws, vacant stare with pupil-less eyes.  With a hiss the zombie shambled toward them.

Ling Mei stepped forward readying her blades as the others took stock of what they saw in front of them.  Debbie gulped visibly as she cocked the pair of impressive sigsauer P226s she had drawn.  Nash, crossing himself with his free hand  and pointing his .45 at the creature began singing softly under his breath "a little less conversation, a little more action please..."  Juliana sobbed silently as she stared at the face of her high school sweetheart as he staggered toward them.  With a gasp she ran to the ticket booth and hid behind it, all the while tears ran down her cheeks.

Ling Mei cursed under her breath as she recognised Gary and knew the pain it was causing her friend.  With a flourish she drove both blades into the chest of JJ's old flame and pulled them upwards in a cross-hand motion, severing the vertebrae at the base of Gary's skull.  Gesturing to Debbie and Nash, she pointed at the ticket office, motioning at them to look for anything useful.  With that she strode over to JJ and hugged her hard.  "I'm so sorry."

Debbie jumped over the counter and made her way into the office followed by Nash.  With a growl a zombie that had been feeding on the ticket attendant reached out for Nash, who shrank back in horror at the zed.  Loud cracks split the air as Debbie unloaded her sauers at the undead monster flinging it away from the lounge singer.  Reaching out a hand she pulled him to his feet before riffling through the office, finding a set of keys in the process.  With nothing else to find the pair made their way out meeting the others in the concourse again, "nothing in the managers office" said Ling Mei as they made their way out of the station.

Adjusting their eyes to the glare of the midday sun the group blinked owlishly around them.  In the distance at the top of the High Street, what could only be zombies moved aimlessly about.  Ling Mei turned to the group to begin to plan out their next move when she said. "Where's JJ?".......

more boards

the next board to be made was a little different from the urban boards as i wanted to make a clear objective for my Bolt Action games.  I love the idea of Royal Commandos raiding the northern French coast, disabling important communication equipment and radar stations. To this end I had bought the Sarissa set that come with a radar station, spotlight and various bits and pieces.  I just needed somewhere for it to be set up....

originally i was going to have this board as a cross roads and have a four way intersecting tunnel under the hill.  However i decided to simplify it a little more and have a single road running through and dead ends that ran up to steel doors driven into the sides of the hill.  I wanted the tunnel to be fully playable on the table, so the hill was going to be in two layers and the road running through, doors halfway down the road allow access for troops to enter the catacombs and secret labs under the mountain.

a ramp was added to the outside to allow troop movement and to allow heavy equipment to be moved to the crest of the hill and the station that will be positioned (when painted) on top.

barricades and barbed wire are placed around each entrance and foliage and rock piles to add a little bit of cover and voila! so not quite an urban board but it will be placed on the edges just to add something different to my games.  plus i have painted up loads of corridors for troops to infiltrate with rooms to fight in and game around, indeed recently myself and a friend had a split table with Chris's Brits trying to destroy a secret lab on the floor plans while a full scale assault was distracting my German garrison on the boards!

so there we have it with the radar station on top with the spotlight and electrical poles from sarissa 

Day one aftermath

so ends day one! 

Ling Mei had a crash course on apocalypse survival, the horror, tense confrontations with madmen and a terrified populace.  Thankfully she got through it in one piece, although she did have to use her star power to avoid being perforated by the sarge! Taking a through and through in the arm instead of in the chest!  Even though she skewered him for her trouble I like to think that she would not be cold enough not to shed a tear at the taking of a young life (double negatives! not sure i got that right...lol).  She performed well and hit the survivor milestones - killing zeds, tackling an armed person and seeing the feast so she gets elevated to survivor status.  Unfortunately she missed all of her friends as the scenario conditions meant I was early for Debbie and late for Juliana! So no travelling companions but a good run for her.  However not enough unfortunately for a rep increase so she stays rep 4. Her gang also get nothing as they didn't participate although it does mean there is no keeping it together for them before the next encounter.

Day one part 3

Ling Mei coasted up East Ave, her eyes scanning the footpaths looking for signs that the zombies had reached this part of town.  Traffic had been a nightmare and she hadn't arrived at JJ's school until after the last bell.  Fear for her friend compelled her to at least check out the buildings and see if JJ had stayed behind.

A flash of movement in the road, dragged her eyes back front and she gassed the big car past a raggedly figure staggering in the gutter - zed or homeless person? She had flashed by too quickly to tell.   Turning the corner of the junction toward the school gates, Ling Mei saw a group of teachers outside the school running toward her chased by a pair of zeds.  With some difficulty she managed to squeeze the big car around the group and onto the property.

She leapt from the car, leaving the engine running so she could make a quick getaway, little realising in her worry for JJ that the big diesel motor was calling to the undead.  Bounding up the stairs into the building proper she headed toward the gym calling her friends name softly.  Loosening her swords in their scabbards she burst through the doors and into the big room beyond.... 

"What do we have here? A looter perhaps? Or maybe we have a little pretty present for the ol sarge?" A young voice rang out from the shadows by the coach's office.  The words twisted into a leer that seemed to somehow age the young man who strolled out of the room, nonchalantly aiming an assault rifle that had been tucked under his arm in Ling Mei's direction.  "Perhaps I should arrest you, strip you down."  The man was dressed in the uniform of an ROTC Sargent, complete with body armour and of course the deadly looking rifle.  As he came closer into the light, Ling Mei could see the madness stamped on his teenaged face, the desperation, as if he had already seen too much of this apocalypse.  She knew there would be no reasoning with him and his "arrest" of her would be the start of an ordeal she had no intention of experiencing.

With a quick movement she drew her swords and leapt forward hoping to close the gap before the surprised young man could pull the trigger " please be a replica" she thought to herself as the huge barrel of the gun loomed.  A sixth sense caused Ling Mei to drop her shoulder just in time as a gout of flame leapt from the assault rifle followed by a lancing pain through her upper arm, where her chest had been moments before.  "In and out" she thought, not taking the time to glance at the wound.   Gritting her teeth she flung herself across the remaining distance her right hand sword leading.  The sarge managed to block the blade with the stock of the rifle and the following left blade with the barrel.  With a surprising skill the youth managed to parry a flurry of blows from Ling Mei's weapons but eventually her swordplay became too intricate, the pattern flowed from form to form as she fell into her rhythm and inevitably a breach in his defences was made.  As the steel sliced through his femoral artery, the sarge crashed to floor in a spray of red gore.

Tears formed in her eyes as she reflected on the waste of such a young life, but she hurriedly blinked them away as she swiftly searched the other rooms for JJ. No sign of anyone left in the school, she returned to the gym and collected up the sarge's gear including the crossbow strapped to his back.  With a last look at the poor youth's body she headed to the exit.  

Outside the car's noisy diesel had drawn quite a crowd and Ling Mei cursed herself for leaving the engine running.  With a swift motion she drew her bow and let fly, the arrow flashing across the short distance with a low hiss before sprouting from the nearest zombie's eye, dropping it to the floor.  With a burst of speed she dived into the Chevy and peeled away in a spray of dirt and burnt rubber, crushing another zed under the wheels.  Without looking back she put her foot down and sped off for home.

It was late in the day when she pulled into her street.  A few people were running up the paths trying to get back to their homes before dark, but apart from that it was pretty quiet.  Parking up she gathered the gear she had taken from the boy at JJ's school and went inside with a heavy heart and a sense of foreboding.  As she approached her front door, she noticed that it was slightly ajar, gripping a sword in her hand she burst through the door into her flat and found herself looking down the huge barrel of a .45.... "Hi there little lady, busy day?"