County Road Z

Starting a new community.

Nick: "Harmony. How good are you with that bow?" 

Harmony: "I'm passable. No expert" 

Nick:" OK. You have the only silent weapon that we can use at a distance, so we'll try to keep it as quiet as we can.

We can't rush in as we don't know how many, if any, might be in the house or around about.

Harmony can take out the Shell over to the right then we'll head straight for the wall and see what's between us and the house. 

If we encounter too many we'll hightail it back here. We need to watch each others backs.

Let's get too it!"

Harmony downs a shell and they all move

Furthest Shell becomes aggressive and activates another close by.

Harmony moves and takes down another

The men move round and start across the road

The aggressive Shells can see the men and move activating another two

They become a horde!

Ashton moves and stumbles into a Shell

The Shell attacks but it only develops into a scuffle until Nick arrives and bludgeons the Shell with the butt of his shotgun

The aggressive shells tear down towards Harmony

Careful aim. One more down. She moves towards the house.

Harmony feels a bit anxious.

It was at this point I wondered how to move into the house and barricade the door. Move Ashton. Shoot Shell and move Harmony. Move Nick and barricade. 

How long dies it take to barricade? Roll dice, should take one move. 

It was then I noticed you need Tinker skill to make a barricade.

Oh! Oh!

I have to clear the board to win!

County Road Z

 Hi!

First mission: Start a new Community

First, the team:

Nick, Leader, handyman

Aston, the burglar

Harmony, teacher

Cast of thousands:

Zombicide

Mantic

The target area:

The house, with garage.

The blue pebbles are points to search:

The survivor:

Tyler Watt

Search points:

Blue pebbles. 

Poems for wargamers 12

Boots!

by Rudyard Kipling

We're foot—slog—slog—slog—sloggin' over Africa 

Foot—foot—foot—foot—sloggin' over Africa 

(Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin' up and down again!) 

There's no discharge in the war! 

Seven—six—eleven—five—nine—an'—twenty mile to—day

— Four—eleven—seventeen—thirty—two the day before #

Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin' up and down again!) 

There's no discharge in the war! 

Don't—don't—don't—don't—look at what's in front of you. 

(Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin' up an' down again);

Men—men—men—men—men go mad with watchin' 'em, 

An' there's no discharge in the war! 

Count—count—count—count—the bullets in the bandoliers.

If—your—eyes—drop—they will get atop o' you!

(Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin' up and down again)

There's no discharge in the war! 

Try—try—try—try—to think o' something different

— Oh—my—God—keep—me from goin' lunatic!

(Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin' up an' down again!)

There's no discharge in the war! 

We—can—stick—out—'unger, thirst, an' weariness,

But—not—not—not—not the chronic sight of 'em

— Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin' up an' down again,

An' there's no discharge in the war!

'Tain`t—so—bad—by—day because o' company,

But night—brings—long—strings—o' forty thousand million Boots

—boots—boots—boots—movin' up an' down again

There's no discharge in the war! 

 I—'ave—marched—six—weeks in 'Ell an' certify

It—is—not—fire—devils, dark, or anything,

But boots—boots—boots—boots—movin'up an' down again, 

 An' there's no discharge in the war!

Having been a foot slogger myself (3RRF) I can relate somewhat to the sentiments of the poem.

I can still remember 'Boots. Denims and PT vest' which we recited each morning before going on our run during training.  And, though it wasn''t hindred of miles on those occasions, it felt like it! 

County Road Z

It wasn't a restful night. It never is these days. But, quiet. The absence of noise is always a litle disconcerting thought Harmony.

Nick: "OK! Are we ready?" Harmony and Aston both nodded. Nick eased the door open and edged outside."Clear" he said.

All three knew of the place Aston had indicated might be a good place to hunker down. He had scouted it out for a 'visit' before it all went to hell. On the edge of town it gave an unrestricted view of the immediate area, for the most part at least. And they could re-enter the town for supplies, until they ran out or things spoiled.

They were quiet, skirting well wide of any Shells as they started calling them. Shells, because they had become shells of what they once were. It was as good as any other description. No doubt others, if there were any, had their own name for them. They arrived and took stock of what they were seeing. Some Shells, but not too many.

"What's the plan?" said Aston to Nick

County Road Z

 Hi!

I got the rules for this game whilst in the US (see earlier post). I'd seen quite a bit of information, and a couple of videos of it on YT, and it looked right up my street.

As usual, I didn't strictly follow the character development rules. In fact, I didn't follow them at all here!

I diced for everything, Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence and Co-operative. There was a little re-rolling when the same number came up for different statistic. Then also for each skill which was risky but worth the difference.

One Hero

Nick Taylor. S3, D1, I2, CO4

Mechanics, Scout, Long Gun, Carry.

Handyman (mechanical skills). Engages in re-enactment societies (ECW) (Scout/Carry). Likes squirrel hunting with his Shotgun.

Two Leaders

Harmony Watkins. S1, D3, I0 CO2

Heavy weapon, Teaching, Archery

Teacher of mathematics at high school. Archery novice (Bow), Blunt weapon (Rounders bat)

Aston Ball. S3, D1, I2, CO0

Blunt, scavenge, Enter

Burglar (Entry) and petty thief (Scavenge). Bunt weapon (Crowbar)

I was quite satisfied how the dicing came out. 

I'm not sure how I'm going to depict the two leaders not having figures holding blunt instruments or bows. It will be fly-by-wire I think to start. But I might look for suitable figures online. But I won't wait for them or it might be awhile.

I used a name generator for the names, being dissatisfied with my own choices.

                                                                                                                                 

Taylor's Diary

The change was sudden.

The virus spread like wildfire. At least that was what people thought it was. What else could it be?

First there were reports about rabid people attacking others for no apparent reason.

And things escalated until whole towns and cities were besieged by whatever these people had become.

I holed up for a while in my workshop until hunger and thirst drove me to seek what I needed to survive. On one forage I saved Harmony who was being cornered by a group of them. I'll call them Z's because they seem like the end of everything. They could easily be called O's, for Omega.

Anyways, We stuck together.

One night, something was scratching at the workshop door. Getting ready to deal out some damage, heart racing, a man jemmied open the door and was extremely lucky to be alive moments later. 

That was how we came by Aston. The workshop wasn't big enough for our needs with three of us and with the door lock broken we decided to search for somewhere to hole up together the next morning. Not that Aston really wanted to in my estimates, but I think he was desperate at that point.

We all were.

Little Fox Ford. The aar

Hi!

Things move fast in this game. 

Being my first attempt with the rules I thought I'd go with a simple scenario using the same movement and ranges as written, though I was using 15mm figures and not 28mm.

And it was over very quickly.

The two sides were both outlaws, of course.

Floyd was a boss (pistol), Benson a gunslinger (pistol) and Bennie a thug (shotgun).

Sam was a Fugitive (pistol), Jeramiah and Velasquez were thugs (pistols).

The Sheriff (pistol) the Deputy (pistol) with three others who were upstanding citizens (2 with pistols and 1 with rifle (the stagecoach shotgun, a rifle being a better choice though not strictly legal)

The first phase started with Benson moving behind a tree from the side of the building to a tree, hoping to shoot someone in the back. 

Velasquez moved(2 moves) down the street to the corner. 

Poker Faced Bennie moved to intercept and let both barrels of his shotgun off, but wasn't holding it tight enough and it bucked-up sending the lead into the air.

Jeramiah ran (two moves) to his friends aid, shot at Bennie and missed.

Sam the Snitch was in two minds, went to support them, shot at Bennie and missed!

Sly-eyed Floyd saw his chance, moved, shot at Bennie who lost his nerve and fled!

The Sheriff, Deputy and Citizens got to the street where the gunfire was heard to find an empty street and wondering what the hell had happened.

It was a funny game and over way too fast.

Maybe it was too close and the movement was too much, but I can see why people like the game.

Benson's move didn't affect the game.

The Sheriff, Deputy and citizens had no chance to intervene as I thought for them to react in the second move to any gunfire. Sam, running away at first contact prevented any necessary intervention.

I can see Floyd wanting to quiet Sam for good. Another showdown is likely.

Merry Christmas from Bradenton, Florida

 Wishing everyone a very merry, and peaceful, Christmas.

I hope you play some good games during the holiday period.

Dirty deeds in Little Fox Ford

 Hi!

A set up for a 15mm game of Dead Man's Hand.

Jeramiah and Velasquez escort Sam the snitch

Sam the snitch came into town to inform on his former colleagues for a $5.000 reward but the sheriff and deputy were out of town. He holed up at the Foxhole Hotel overnight with two friends as protection.

Now, he is going to the sheriff's office.

His former fiends, having heard he was in town to betray them

Sly-eyed Floyd and Poker Face Bennie

Bushwacker Benson

lie in wait.

The forces of law and order

Sheriff Charlie Goodman and deputy Dudley Doolittle.

The town layout. Hotel is in the bottom right corner as you view. Sheriff's office top left as you view.

New rule set

Hi!

I have the figures. I have the buildings and terrain. And now I have some new rules to play with!

Just couldn't resist buying this rule set.

I have Zombies from Mantic (painted) and from Zombicide (part painted in the UK). I have survivor figures which I've been using for Zona Alfa.

It's all GO once I've read the rules a few times.

Yippee!

 

A trip saved

 Hi!

I was looking at a 15+ mile trip to Barnes and Noble in South Sarasota or paying postage buying it online for a wargames magazine fix. That is until I searched for the nearest bookstore. That search came up with Books a Million, and whilst that is an exaggeration it covers a lot of ground. Similar to Waterstones in the UK which now has boxed games and, usually, a wargames magazine. This store had a little more.

And, crucially, it had Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy, 131.

The store is just less than a mile from the apartment. A stroll for a Brit. A bit too far for the average American I think (exceptions for those who go hiking/jogging, but even these are likely to use a car outside of those exercises).

Indeed, yesterday I took a two mile stroll to Hobby Lobby and came back with some vegetation for the skirmish games.

I have two of these

Now, a little light reading before lunch.