We last left our intrepid and battered survivors trying to get back to their RV after another aborted attempt to find friendly survivors and decent plunder. With their escape vehicle only a block away, they heard the sound of a desperate firefight ahead of them. Emerging on the left of the photo, they discovered a group of six survivors making a desperate last stand around an abandoned caravan. The RV was waiting for them at the other side of the junction. As they stepped forwards, the sound of two chainsaws buzzing into action made their hearts sink.
This wasn't going to be easy.
Admittedly, we had invented the scenario ourselves (some would argue as we went along) in order to give us a chance of finding some potential gang members. We decided to check the Zombie Activation Level as normal, but locate the Zeds in relation to each of the last stand survivors. We also thought it only fair that a further D6 Zeds should be located around ourselves. The ZAL result for the survivors was 10, for our beleaguered heroes, only one. We weren't going to complain at that.
Here's how it looked as the now weighty colour coordinated activation dice pool was rolled. (We had four dice in the activation pool. Yellow for Rick's gang, Red for Gus and Alec (you can't call a duo a gang), black for the Zeds and green for the newbies around the caravan.) Little happened at first. You wouldn't believe the number of doubles and sixes we managed to roll.
It looked like Rick, Daryl and Carl were holding back, nervous of what lay ahead. That's the impression their activation dice were telling us anyway. Gus and Alec moved forwards, Gus dispatching two nearby threats. There appeared to be little point trying to be quiet considering all the noise the green survivors were making.
Knowing how badly our attempts have been to find survivors, let alone manage to get them to join us, we decided to keep it simple for the survivors. They would all play as Rep 3, armed as they appeared. Once one of our characters managed to get within 6" of one of these green survivors, they would move into base contact with them and activate with the gang to which they were now attached. If they then managed to survive long enough to exit the board, we'd randomly generate their real Rep and attribute from the charts in the rule book. If they agreed to join with us, that is.
There was a lot going on in the centre of the board. Many a stand-off in hand to hand, and missed shot after missed shot backed up with an abject failure to OD anything they did occasionally manage to hit.
Oh look, that'll be a reminder that the chainsaw generated 6 potential Zeds at the end of each turn it was active. It was active a lot. But the melee kept ending in a stand off. There began a trade off between the noise of the thing generating more and more Zeds whilst failing to cut their way through any of them...
By this point in the game, Rick, Daryl and Carl were gingerly edging their way across the board. Turn after turn they had failed to activate and were now relying on Daryl to shoot the nearest Zeds with his bow. Silence was their best option. Unfortunately, Daryl was missing the mark a little too often.
In the next shot you can see ex-Jenny firing her BAMP. Notice I didn't say ODing Zeds. Neither did I say hitting them either. But she was managing to attract more Zeds.
Oh look, the Bazinator's still generating 6 potential Zeds a turn and not killing any. Don't ask how well the firing went in that turn...
...because the Zeds were still there afterwards.
Quel surprise, the Bazinator has another turn flailing uselessly with his chainsaw. You'll alao notice the two shots fired by the man in a suit. He's done that to stop the Zed getting into base to base contact and initiating melee. You can see how well that turned out for him. Did I forget to mention how wonderfully badly we were rolling our Being Charged and In Sight checks...?
Acrually, there's a blonde haired Zed beside the Bazinator. Not quite sure what she's been doing the past few turns...Erm...
By now Gus and Baz were trying to convince the nearest green survivors to join with him and get out of Dodge.
Annoyingly though, they were just out of range.
Gus decided to rush over to the caravan and talk down that lady on top.
At last Rick, Daryl and Carl managed to join in the rescue attempt. There was actually a knot of survivors together at this point. We began to allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing.
Ex-Jenny had rushed to rejoin Alec. It was almost like the good old days. We had no idea it would actually turn out to be just like them.
And here they are ready to make a break for it.
Which began to look hopeful as you can see below.
But the Zeds had another plan...
Yup, that's how many Zeds were generated. 4+ brings on a Zed. You can probably guess where this is heading...
I didn't take a photo of what happened next. I was too busy trying to pick up my jaw from the floor. We quickly went from this...
Those three Zeds on the right of the photo came from nowhere. Thanks to some unfortunate dice rolls, the Zeds became very active and my lot didn't. Jenny was overwhelmed and was eaten alive. This sent Alec over the edge. He ran to the RV but collapsed within a few inches of the door. The others bundled the remaining green survivors onboard as Gus picked up Alec. The RV sped off the board, leaving the junction firmly in the hands of the Zeds.
Our dice rolls determined that Suit Man and Mrs. Chainsaw were grateful for the rescue, but didn't join Rick, Daryl and Carl.
This wasn't going to be easy.
...to this.
I on the other hand discovered that the Bazinator and the remaining two ladies were quite happy to join my solitary leader. All seemed good. Hopeful even.
Until we rolled the dice.
The Bazinator (because the name had stuck) went from Rep 3 green to actual Rep 3. And he's a wuss. This means he's most likely to run away and not rally. No doubt whilst wielding a chainsaw that attracts every Zed in the city.
Pam, weilding her two BAMPs, is Rep 3 and, wait for it, is clumsy. Meaning she doesn't run fast and is most likely to face plant herself on the sidewalk.
Finally we have a woman whose name escapes me just now. What doesn't escape me is her Rep of just 2 and the only decent attribute to appear - brawler. Which would be great, if she wasn't Rep 2.
So then, we have one who faceplants as soon as she moves, a brawler that can't hit a barn door, and the Bazinator who generates Zeds faster than he can run away from them. No wonder Suit Man and Mrs Chainsaw didn't want to stick around.
And the icing on the cake? Alec has been reduced to a gibbering wreck needing care 24/7 to stop him from doing something stupid. I'm sure I heard Daryl say something about throwing him out the back of the RV...
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