ATZ Campaign, Day 1: Outbreak

Well, I'm finally launching my ATZ campaign.  My alter-ego is Robb, a Rep 3 Civilian.  I have semi-sedentary employment, passing familiarity with firearms (gone to the range a few times with friends), and exercise a couple of times a week.  So for Attributes I picked "Born Leader," since a lot of my job involves supervising employees and providing guidance to people.  For the "Getting There" I passed 2d6, meaning things are normal.

Here's the table setup, complete with a combination of O-Scale railroad, scratchbuilt, and some commercially made wargaming terrain.  There's also a pop-culture icon making a cameo appearance.

For Day One, I figured I would first hit an ATM, head home and hook up with Irene, my significant other, and then head for the big box store to buy things.  I've got a few assets at home, including weapons, but I won't get those until I get there (assuming I get there).

According to the Day One rules there are no zombies on the board to begin; they appear when I roll a 7 on an activation roll.  I scattered a few civilians around just to make things interesting.

Turn One: Robb 5, Zombies 4
Turn Two: Robb 1, Zombies 2

"Robb, there's some weird news coming in over the radio, and people have been calling with all sorts of strange stories," said Marilyn, Robb's secretary.  After a quick glance at some confusing news reports, Robb decided that there must be some sort of weird natural disaster developing (not an odd thing in this part of the country) and figured that he better hit the bank before the power goes out and then head home to see if Irene had made it back too.  Then it was definitely a trip to the store to stock up for the duration of the storm.  Since he had walked to work that day, a decision he now regretted, he struck out for the bank.

Robb makes a normal move towards the center of the board, where the first objective, a bank, is placed.

Turn 3: Robb 3, Zombies 6

Robb made it to the bank and quickly withdrew as much as cash as possible.  Now to leg it to the house and see if Irene has driven back from practice, Robb thought.

Robb makes a normal move, getting to the initial objective.  At this point, I'm not sure how you're supposed to do the later objectives while still on the same table, so I basically scooted everything until the bank was at one table edge and the house was at the center.

Turn 4: Robb 6, Zombies 3

Turn 5: Robb 6, Zombies 3

Turn 6: Robb 4, Zombies 5

Turn 7: Robb 1, Zombies 1

As Robb passed by the River City Police Station he thought this might be a good place to get back to if things get really bad.  The doors of the police station suddenly burst open and four people ran out, screaming incoherently and with panic in their eyes.  Robb realized that they were barreling down on him almost a second too late.  With a swing he slugged one man across the jaw and the fellow fell limply to the ground, unconscious.  The second person, a young Latina, came flailing at him.  Robb ducked and gave her a left to the side.  She grunted and stumbled away from him.  

Robb was regretting hitting the woman when suddenly he felt a hard blow upside the head as an old man in a tie-dyed shirt hit him.  Robb took a few ineffectual swipes at the guy before a second blow to the head knocked him to the ground.  As the world span dizzily, Robb thought to himself, this just isn't going to be my day...

Doubles on Day One means panicked civilians, and I rolled four, which was good because I don't own that many (note to self: buy more civilians).  I have to fight each of them one at the time.  The first civilian passed 0d6 to my 3d6(!) and was Obviously Dead, which in this case because a Out of the Fight.  The second civilian passed 0d6 to my 1d6, and was OOF.

The third civilian and I both passed 1d6, meaning the fight went on.  The next round had both at 0d6, but the third round had him passing 2d6 to my 1d6.  Robb was OOF.

This isn't good, since the home location was where I was supposed to meet my team member and get weapons.  I think I'll go the big box store next and then try for home a second time.  Getting knocked on my butt by the old guy is a little humbling though.

To Be Continued....

Zombiesmith Zombies 3

King, Zombie Preacher, Cheerleader, Zombie girl, and Headless

How long has it been since I posted here?  Well, after a bit of a break I'm back to painting zombies for two good reasons.  One, I'm getting back into my ATZ campaign notion.  Two, Mrs. Q said, "hey, whatever happened to that game that you bought all those zombies for?" which pretty much is why there's a "one."

In all seriousness, I'm starting this frugal thing where I'm only spending so much on gaming each month, so why not go with a game for which I already own a ton of miniatures, and a small skirmish game that doesn't require too many more?

Anyways, these are five more from Zombiesmith.

Irene, Roller Derby Girl

So, I was thinking for my eventual ATZ campaign that I needed an alter-ego for my wife.  I showed her a lot of miniatures, the typical lot of Lara Croft or Resident Evil or Underworld knock-offs, but my wife picked this one.  It's a reasonable pick given that she is, in fact, on a roller derby team.  I figure the apocalypse will kick off while she's at practice, and maybe give her alter-ego the "fast" characteristic.

Zombiesmith Zombies 2

Click for a larger pic

I'm continuing to paint up all my zombies from Zombiesmith.  The next batch of five are "Boney, Yield, Pop, Zombie Homemaker, and Chubs."  Boney is interesting because, although you can't see it in the photo, the top of his skull is missing and you can see his brain within.  Yield is actually not wielding a "yield" sign because those are inverted with the point downward.  Triangles with the points upward are actually things like radioactive or high voltage signs.  Pop is clearly Michael Jackson from "Thriller," although oddly he is barefoot.  The homemaker is wielding a skillet, which if you've seen the movie "Tangled" can be a devasting weapon.  The last guy is only wearing a pair of shorts, but he's so swollen that his gut is literally splitting open.

Anyways, five more done on the basecoat-and-dip method.  I'm cruising along on these, but it is time to change gears and work on something different.

Zombiesmith zombies 1

Last November I took advantage of Zombiesmith's Black Friday sale and purchased his entire line of zombies at a really great price.  This is the first batch of zombies I have painted up.  I will admit that these guys are base coated and stained with wood stain.  I have mixed feelings about staining (I think it is a little lazy sometimes on my part) but zombies are tailor-made for dipping: they tend towards earth tones, they are grungy in appearance, and you need a lot of them.

Cops with Shotguns (Future Wars)

There are several kinds of people in an ATZ game: zombies, civilians, survivors, gangers, and military.  You need all of those to play a game, just because any could show up at any time.  Under "military" are the police, and so in order to fill out that requirement I picked up a blister pack of "Cops with Shotguns" by Future Wars (which is under the Copplestone Casting label).  In theory they are supposed to be futuristic (naturally), but I wanted to paint them up a little retro for my ATZ campaign.  These guys are armed with shotguns, pistols, and truncheons, and are led by a trenchcoat-wearing officer.

Once I get all of my categories filled out to a reasonable and workable extent, I'll be ready to start my ATZ campaign.  My goal is the beginning of 2012, and I seem to be on track for that goal.

Zombie Strippers

Click for a larger pic

These lovely ladies were made by Reaper Miniatures.  My only beef with them is that they are not particularly injured.  One has an open wound on her leg, another a sort of injury on her back, but the third is hardly wounded at all.  Maybe the bite is where we can't see it.

I decided to experiment with zombie skin colors.  In the past I've used a gray color, but this time I decided to use something a little more in the flesh tone range with a bit of green.  It's actually Delta Ceramcoat Sandstone with Antique Walnut Stain on top.  I think that, when all is said and done, it looks pretty good.

Comments welcome.