Ready to go!

before I kicked off the next chapter I wanted to show my preperation for playing.  First things first is the scenario. I've already decided the shape of the next couple of steps for the family, depending on how they fair. This time I decided to write up the preview before playing rather than writing it all after as it wouldn't be shaped or biased by the result of the game.

Secondly I grouped all of my miniatures together for a photo-shoot :)

Now I' ready to go! 

Completed ground floor - hospital WIP

Hooray! I've finally finished the ground floor of the hospital project, there was a bit of a delay due to some ongoing back problems and an exam that I'd been revising for (we all need downtime though, right?) 

The last bits to be completed were the waiting room, A&E and resuscitation room.  The waiting room was relatively simple, 3x scratch built benches and a foamboard/foam vending machine. I had a little trouble thinking about how I wanted to paint the machine as I wanted to show the foods behind the glass, in the end I chose a simple blue wash over the top (I seriously am not a painter). A&E and resus were easy enough to finish off with kitchen towel curtains and match/cocktail stick frames. I added a wall mounted analysis unit behind where the trolleys will be just for detail. 

vending machine

wall decoration - analysis or oxygen delivery unit

waiting room, sorry about the light i finished this late last night

resus, no beds yet

resus (now with the two beds my wife let me use to size the cubicles) and A&E

the finished floor

Now I just have to wait for Xmas for the hospital trolleys, before I started the build I ordered some cracking models from Grekwood miniatures as well as zombie docs, nurses and patients as I only have a few. However the wife commandeered them and they now form part of my Xmas gift..... 

Just the top floor - maternity, wards and isolation unit, and the roof - helipad (of course) and other obstacles to go!

I hope you're still enjoying this, I know I am!

on the board ready for the next floor

Day 8 - Impounded (introduction)

"you're nothing but a goddamn hunk of useless blubber Billy-Ray Simpson, my ma was right I should have married that Jimmy-Lee Roberts, he became a surgeon and drives a caddy!" This last invective was delivered with the cutting venom so typical of Mary-Lou these days, or so thought Bobby-Joe, eldest child of the volatile pair currently arguing in the cramped living space of the trailer the family shared on the edge of Jungville town.  Bobby and his sisters, the devilish twins who had become the terror of their school teachers were sitting in the kitchen nook while the"adults" verbally duked it out.

"Jimmy-Lee, was a goddamn TREE surgeon Mary-Lou and you and your ma are welcome to that durn fool!" Billy-Ray countered trying, but not quite matching the intensity that his feisty wife could bring to the fight.  Billy-Ray towered over the diminutive woman but that had never stopped her calling him out onto the mat and dusting the big man off.  Bobby-Joe snorted at the thought of his ma dressed in them karate pajamas and laying daddy right out on the floor....

"Bobby-Joe Simpson what are you guffawing at boy!" his mom's shriek cut across his daydream, bringing him back to reality. Billy-Ray seeing an opportunity to divert his wife's wrath from him added to Bobby's discomfort "yeah boy, what you laughing at? anything funny about a zombie goddamn apocalypse?"  Bobby-Joe knew this was diversionary too, his pa was having the time of his life in the apocalypse, he loved a good fight and the chance to kick ass and shoot his crossbow at the monsters put a dangerous gleam in his eye that Bobby hadn't seen since Billy-Ray had gone out to the desert to fight for Uncle Sam.  "ain't nothing ma, pa i swear. ain't nothing funny 'bout these dead heads and them swarming all over the place...."

"Damn right there ain't" Mary-Lou added when Bobby-Joe trailed off looking crestfallen at the rebuke.  Seeing that haunted look on her boy's face moved her and she came over to give him a hug that reminded Bobby of the mercurial nature of his mother, the quick anger tempered by the strong love and bond she had for her family.  Bobby-Joe allowed himself to be hugged, feeling safe for a few minutes in the arms of his mom before easing gently away, his strong independent streak exerting itself again.  "What we gonna do ma?" he whispered in a low voice, as low as it was it still filled the room with a tense atmosphere as the family sat and contemplated their options.

"Well I still say we go get the car, fill it with supplies and light out of here for cousin Del's place." stated his pa with a grumpy, sullen tone to his voice.

"And I said that would be fine if you hadn't parked the car in that disabled space while you plink cans in the train yard with the boy last week and had the car goddamned impounded!" Mary-Lou countered.

Bobby-Joe recognised the dangerous tone his mother had adopted to remind Billy-Ray of the disasterous first day of the apocalypse when she had gone searching for her family only to find out that after collecting the girls and running the gauntlet of zombies to the train yard, that the boys had been at the police station arguing with the impound guy, resulting in Billy-Ray getting arrested for punching the traffic cop in the mouth.  Acting quickly he tried to divert the coming storm. "Well let's go get it then" he said, standing up and fetching Thunderbolt - his trusty .22 bolt action from his bunk.  "we can't stay here, those monsters are all over the place and sooner or later we're gonna have to go so let's just go." with that he headed for the door of the trailer, slinging the rifle over his shoulder and turned to face his family.  With a gleam in his eye similar to that in his father's, he flung open the sagging plastic door and gestured to the stunned people staring back at him "shall we?"

Turning he looked out into the yard, smiling to himself when he heard the distinct metallic clacks of multiple firearms being readied.  "lets do it"

love this pic of the family Simpson

late afternoon day 1 for the Simpsons

"That godamned fool! hair-brained, idiotic, mind-numbing fool! i'm gonna godamn kill that man and when he rises up, I'll be godamned if I don't kill him again!"  

Gracey-Lyn ducked as her raging mother absent-mindedly swung the arrow she was using to punctuate each expletive with.  For the past ten minutes, the volatile woman had cussed out her husband, Gracey-Lyn's father, with very little pause for breath.  Bonnie-May, Gracey's twin and partner in crime, scuffed her foot in small circles as she nervously checked and rechecked the cylinder of the bad-ass revolver she had recovered from the school office.  Seeing this Gracey-Lyn, ejected the magazine of her beloved (and currently being scolded heavily) father's favourite machine pistol, itself a twin piece to a matching machine pistol belonging to her mom, which was still in their family trailer on the edge of town.

"Momma" she began in a really quiet voice, one that she often used when her parents argued and one she hoped would break the current line of diatribe spilling from Mary-Lou's beautiful but very angry mouth.  Adding a bit more strength to the voice she tried again.  "Momma"

With a glare, Mary-Lou spun around and faced her eldest daughter.  Seeing the fierce look on her ma's face  made her want to run screaming , but she stood her ground and carried on. "Mom, I know the boys ain't here" another scowl from her mom caused Gracey-Lyn to take an involuntary step backward, but she persevered "I know they ain't, but those dead-heads can hear you cussing pa out and it's 'bout time we hit the road on home, aint it?" with that outburst she finally let the fear show on her face for her mom to see just how scared she was.

For this final part, the girls had arrived too late to meet the boys at the train yard.  So this would be a straight forward run from one end of the board to the other (simple in ATZ? right....) 

Of course as soon as they moved onto the board they stopped and did not activate for a few turns (yep simple!).  All the while the closest zombies (2 x groups of 3&2 respectively) wandered closer. 

Gracey-Lyn, pointing a shaky finger at the closest zombie, couldn't find the words to warn the others.  The zombie, a lady who reminded her of Miss Kaplowski, the school nurse was a mere 10 feet away.  A groan, came from Miss K's gore covered mouth as she neared the girls.  Two more zeds trailed behind her and their moaning shook the cobwebs from Mary-Lou's mind and brought her back to the now.  Raising her bow she let fly with the arrow that was still in her hand from earlier.  With a barely heard hiss the shaft cleared the space in less than a second to split the forehead of Miss Kaplowski (or her doppleganger).  Gracey-Lyn turned her head in time to witness her sister bring up the heavy barrel of her .357 and blow the other two zeds away!

wrong side of the tracks

they may not be able to move, but they sure can shoot! The zeds moving close enough to charge, triggered the girls into action. GL failed her brown pants and froze (special rule meaning she cannot move more than 4" from her parent) ML passed her charge reaction and dropped her zed with ease.  BM was awesome, passing all the tests required of her and rolling 1's for damage, double dead! what a super trooper.  Better the noise of her shooting did not attract any extra zombies.

Seeing her sister kick zombie butt jolted Gracey-Lyn into action and she followed the others as they strode up the road, a little swagger in her younger sibling's gait.  "Way to go B" her mom purred as she gently tipped the too-big helmet back from her head.  Gracey-Lyn bristled at the smug look her sister threw her.  Lifting the Uzi out at arms length, she pointed the deadly weapon at the next group and pulled the trigger.  The machine pistol jolted wildly as it spat a hail of bullets at the zombies closing in on the family.  The first zed was caught in the legs, chest and finally chin by the slugs and thrown to the floor in a heap while the second zombie had half it's skull exposed by the lead storm.  Throwing her own knowing smile at her twin, she pointed out her feat to Mary-Lou "Look ma, I got two of those darned zombs"

"No need for gloating Gracey-Lyn" was her mother's reply "not when you've woken up two more of the blasted things!" Mary-Lou finished the statement by shooting a zed who had appeared from behind some bushes, in the stomach, the arrow shaft snapping as the monster fell forward.  To compound Gracey-Lyn's discomfort at the rebuke, Bonnie-May dispatched the last of the group with clinical ease, the zombie dressed in a giant chicken suit from the local fast food restaurant wandered for a few steps more before falling down.  Gracey strode angrily over to the zombie that ma had shot and pressed the barrel of her uzi next to its ear and blasting it back into the arms of death.

zombie mascot - GOOOO TEAM Z!!

Looking around to see if the noise had attracted any unwelcome company, she made her way to the line of bushes that surrounded a nearby property.  The tall shrubs created shadows that gave the girls a little cover and allowed them to get further without being seen from the road.  This was very fortunate as a low moan could be heard coming from further up the street, emanating from several undead throats the sound sent shivers up Gracey-Lyn's spine.  Peering around the corner of the bushes, her mother held up eight fingers, eight dead-heads!

there may be trouble ahead...

rolling a 7 for activation generated 5 zombies! to make things worse the girls did not activate. I did rule that as they were in cover they could cower down and not be seen (following a rep test) as that had been the intention of the initial movement to the bushes.  To make things even worse after a turn when no-one activated , in the following turn I rolled another 7 generating 3 more zeds. They generated near the others so I just added them to make a mega horde....damn!

Mary Lou looked a little panicked to Gracey-Lyn, not good considering  her mom was turning out to be the terminator in this apocalypse! Looking frantically around for an escape she spied a small gap in the hedges, Gracey-Lyn gestured to her mother and sibling to come closer.  Whispering softly she outlined a plan that was forming in her mind. "Sis, you remember when we were being pursued by Officer Sandra - sorry ma and we ran down that blind alley." A look of understanding crossed her sisters face as their twin minds raced through that scenario in tandem.  Ma just looked both confused and angry.  Gracey-Lyn sighed, another long 'conversation' with her mother loomed in the near future, if they had a future that is.

Pulling her zippo lighter from the pocket of her dress she beckoned her sister over.  Bonnie-May reached into her slingbag and drew out a string of firecrackers.  Lighting the fuse she moved back as Bonnie heaved the fireworks as far across the road as she could without revealing their position.  Counting quietly in their heads, they began to inch through the gap in the bushes. With a loud series of bangs, the firecrackers started to go off and the girls, realising that the zombies would be attracted to the noise, hauled ass, running behind the building.

As they moved deeper into the shadow of the big house and closer to the edge of town, they could see three people moving toward them at a run.  Two paramedics dragging a third man between them closed in on the girls.

apologies for the poor light

another 7 rolled (i should take up gambling...) this time 3 citizens, i don't have a lot of citizen models so decided it would nice to crack out my new paramedic models.

They didn't seem to slow down and as they got closer, Gracey-Lyn could see the quiet desperation in the eyes of the medics.  Ma, in her usual less-than-diplomatic way stood in front of the girls and swatted at the group with her bow forcing one to go around them wide, bouncing off the wall of the house before continuing on his way.  The second medic got unceremoniously dumped on her backside alongside her patient by the backswing.  Without hesitation Mary-Lou strode off, leaving Gracey-Lyn to stare at her in admiration - who was this woman?!?  Shaking her head in wonder, she grabbed her sister's hand and hurried after her mom.

wondermom settles their hash!

they make good their escape!

and so concludes the day, with the zeds on the other side of the building and no sign of the police showing up the girls were able to move off the board with no further incident.  

hope you enjoyed 
DGG

Simpson day 1 part 3 (and normal, happy, smiley service resumed)

With a piercing shriek, the woman that had dashed past Bonnie-May fell to the ground, a zombie riding her to the floor, it's teeth already snapping at her face and neck.  Bonnie-May, her breath coming in ragged gasps, tried to lift the huge gun with both hands, but it felt like it weighed a thousand pounds and she couldn't raise it past her waist.  Mere feet from her, Mary-Lou her mother fought like a lioness, clubbing an infected old lady to the ground with her bow and stepped hard across it's throat crushing the unlife out of it. With, what sounded suspiciously like a war cry to Bonnie-May's ears, her mom took an arrow from the quiver on her back and jammed it hard under the chin of the zombie feeding on the unfortunate man who had been taken first.

"Christ, way to go ma!" She cried out. The sight of her amazonian mother's fierce grin gave Bonnie-May heart and she started feeling strength returning to her limbs.  Hefting her .357 she levelled it at the zed feasting on the woman on the ground and pulled the trigger. At such close range the result was satisfyingly destructive and the hollow point tore the back of the creature's head clean off.  The two remaining humans ploughed into the rest of the zombies, swinging fists and feet at the infected hoping to get passed them. Tripping and pushing the zeds over they managed to sprint off toward the school and ducked into an alley opposite the break in the fence.

Unbelievably the unarmed citizens managed to knock down the remaining zombies that were closing in and scrambled off the table.  Fortunately the family managed to activate finally! 

Mary-Lou, her eyes shining with the adrenaline coursing through her, drew another arrow and thrust it into a zombie that had been trying to get up.  Bonnie-May followed her mom's example and putting the barrel of her revolver behind the ear of the final zed, she finished it off with a single shot, the sound muffled slightly by the scarf wrapped around the zombie's neck.  

Lifting the rim of the oversized helmet and looking around Bonnie-May realised that there were no more zombies moving nearby.  Gracey-Lyn, her twin was tucked underneath the bumper of a car just up the road, clutching her daddy's SMG like it was a comforter.  Passed her, in the middle distance, a large group of infected shambled toward them slowly, drawn by the noise of the fight.  "Momma, we've got more of those things coming."

"We need to go get your sister hon" Mary-Lou said moving toward the car whilst firing arrows at the approaching group of zombies.  Bonnie-May trailed after her mom, admiration in her eyes at the way the woman, who she had always seen as the provider of food and cuddles, was kicking zed ass!  Mary-Lou closed in on the scared Gracey-Lyn and dropped to her knees, putting on her best mom voice she tried to coax out the reluctant child.  Bonnie-May eyed the approaching group warily, hopping from foot to foot and checking the load-out of her revolver.  This was taking too long!!

once again activation problems plagued the family and they could not move or act with a load of zeds approaching.

the horde approaches

Anxiously, Bonnie-May counted up the crowd of infected, she got to ten and round out of fingers, there were still more coming.  "Ma, we need to hurry." she called in a low voice.  Mary-Lou, if she heard gave no mind as she carried on with her patient voice, talking to her sister as if they were back in the bedroom they shared and she'd just had a nightmare. It was then that she heard the sound of sirens, normally a sound that would make her check to see if the evidence of their recent mis-demeanour was hidden away, now it sounded like the triumphant call of the host of angels!

With a screech of tires, a lone cruiser skidded around the corner at high speed, the back end coming wide out as the driver wrestled the car back under control.  A burst of speed before the slamming on of the brakes and the vehicle came to a halt not far from the girls.  A pair of officers exited the vehicle and immediately drew weapons laying down fire on the zeds that were bearing down on the family.  Bonnie-May recognised Officer Sandra from previous encounters, the beautiful but stern woman double tapped the closest zombie, dropping it to the floor.  In the meantime her partner was unloading his standard issue shotgun into the crowd hitting three of them and throwing them back.  Officer Sandra looked at Bonnie-May, acknowledging her recognition with a slight nod of her head and then addressing her mom. "Ma'am, grab your kin and run.  Officer Thorne and I will hold them back."

Officers Rich Thorne and Sandra Bullett hold back the tide.

As per the rules for early on in the apocalypse the police attend shots fired, i had forgotten this rule with my first few games and only remembered it halfway through this one, oops!  The meet and greet went really well with the officers helping the family out.  Timely!

With the arrival of the law, Gracey-Lyn poked her head out from underneath the car and ran into her mother's arms. Bonnie-May, tears in her eyes and looking every bit the 12 year old girl she was grabbed hold of her mom's hand and allowed herself to be led away.

so ends the middle part of the day, despite the misleading title it is still only the second episode of the first day! The girls arrive at the train yard a little on the late side and the boys have already gone, i bet Ma will be really pleased with that......

a bit of a moan

sorry chaps, normally i'm a really upbeat person (bollocks! i hear Rich saying...) but today I have to have a bit of a moan.  I was going to release the next part of the simpson family day 1, unfortunately this happened

bad news man!

This was my delivery of 6 x 4Ground terrace buildings supplied by Wayland Games.  £120 (a lot of money to be shelled out by my retired in laws!) of shiny toys arrived in this box that was stuffed into an old, leaky kennel at the back of my property and left there for 7 hours while it rained and rained and rained. Inside the box 3 out of the 6 packets had a visibly smashed component, maybe the other 3 don't have any broken bits, who knows?!? As these are meant to be a xmas gift from my mother in law to me i haven't opened the packets yet.....

This happened after waiting for a mammoth amount of time for the delivery and being fobbed off each week after my weekly email enquiry as to it's whereabouts to their customer services dept... needless to say an email is winging its way to them again and to the delivery company.

not happy to say the least

Bah Humbug :(

normal shiny, happy service will resume tomorrow

x-ray, canteen and atrium, more WIP

With a rare weekend off and my back less sh*tty than recently, I've been absolutely on fire and really pushed on with the project, so I thought I would put out another post (two in one weekend!)  Last time I finished the office, today I finished off the canteen and entrance hall and also started and finished an x-ray room (up until yesterday it was going to be a library!)

The canteen furniture was made up of foam-board and foam sheets for the counter, oven and sink unit in pretty much the same way I've made up everything else so far.  The sink had the paper backing removed on one side of the foam-board and plastic glue used to melt the recession and then a foam sheet topped it off to give it some detail. The tap was made up of mdf scraps as per the sinks in the W/Cs.  The tables were made up of round mdf scraps and a push pin base and chairs made up the same way as the office chairs just painted white to resemble simple plastic canteen furniture.  A scraps money-till and pile of trays finish the detail.  Later on I might make a sneeze guard and serving tureens to finish the counter, but for now it will do.

the sink unit, since the photo ive added water to the basin

the oven unit

tables and chairs

all but the trays put together

The atrium was going to be a large space with little to get in the way, although later on there will be removable scatter furniture.  It just consisted of a reception area, with scratch built pcs and phones and a pot plant to finish. The counter was decorated with coffee stirrers to reflect wood panelling.  The counter top was going to be marbled but my paint job was not up to task! since gluing it in place and the detailing added I've had a brainwave on how to paint it like marble but alas it's too late....

the atrium and my failed marble top...

looking good

 The x-ray room is now one of my favourites and I'm glad my wife suggested the change, i'll make a nerd out of her yet!  The x-ray machine is my fave build yet and I'm really pleased with it, mdf scraps to the rescue and some wires scavenged from an old pc base unit.  I'm also really pleased with the way the projection unit for the x-rays came out as well and I really enjoyed painting the x-rays too.

the contents of the x-ray room

particularly loved building the x-ray machine

the completed room

good shot of the projection unit

only 3 rooms to go - A&E, resus and waiting room

Hope you are enjoying this as much as I am :)