This one was rather hard for me to play solo. The scenario asked me to gear the enemy survivors with up to 12 points. Of course I wanted to win. Why should I gear them up with the best? Instead, I opt to gear them up randomly using a die. 

by Mike Gantisi.

It’s been 6 days in this warehouse. We searched the entire place thoroughly and used most of what little food and water we had. The Sailor was on guard duty. The binoculars he held was broke on one side. He barely kept an eye closed as he looked through it like a telescope. Tonya hasn’t spoken to any of us yet, only whispers to her bat. I was close to catching up on some sleep until a scream broke the silence. The Sailor turned to us and said, “Ladies, we got company.”

In the distant, 4 figures stood outside of a building. Two of them were female. Suddenly, one of the females took off sprinting away from the group. Without warning, the other pulled a submachine gun from her trench coat and tucked it in her shoulder. The fleeing girl tumbled forward and laid motionless.

“Something tells me they’re not the friendly type,” the Sailor awkwardly added.

Scenario 4: Firefight
Apocalypse +36

Turn 1
On the main road, we charged each other at full sprint. It reminded me of a scene from Braveheart. There were more structured buildings in our immediate area.

Turn 2
(Survivors = No activation)

Tonya stopped and placed her hand up to eyes. We could barely see them with the sun in our eyes. The enemy survivors continued east towards our way.

Turn 3
(Survivors = No activation)
With the setting sun towards their backs, the enemy survivors used it to their advantage. They veered south into on of the side streets and continued towards the intruders.

“I don’t see them anymore,” said Tonya.

Turn 4
The Sailor insisted we kept moving. I looked back and saw him on one knee as he struggled to catch his breath. “Y’all go on without me,” he said, “With this baby I don’t need to move a lot.” The Sailor gave the hunting rifle a pat as he spoke. Tonya and I rushed towards the multi-story building for a better vantage point.

The enemy survivors ran for cover in southern buildings.

Turn 5
(Both survivors = No activation)
I did not notice any movement in the streets. It made me nervous thinking they could be anywhere. “Try not to stay by the windows,” Tonya said, “You don’t know if they got a shooter on their side.”

Turn 6
I saw something move from the corner of my eye. By the time I had turned my head, a man (Nick) was already pointing his weapon in my direction. I quickly ducked my head behind cover as he fired the shotgun. I knew he had to pump his shotgun for another shot so I took advantage and squeezed a few rounds his way. He confirmed my aim by clutching his arm. I got him! Blood oozed from his wound as I hid behind cover, waiting for another opportunity. He wrapped his bandana around his arm to help with the bleeding. “I’m hit,” he said to his entourage, “They’re up there!”

A trench-coated figure (Jimmy) came into sight, I was positive the person who had shot the girl was a female. He ran from the corner to help his leader, unaware of where I was at. I shot both my pistols at him like that famous Tomb Raider chick. He never saw it coming.

A third one (Buffey) came into view. It was her. She, too, wore a trench coat. Her coat flew behind her as she ran straight into my sights. I remember what the Sailor said during one of his war stories. “Sight picture, sight alignment.” Kind of hard to do when you’re holding 2 9mm’s, but I still managed to hit her. This was too easy. It was like catching fish in a bucket.

Tonya moved to the adjacent room for a closer look. She ducked back behind some cover as the trench-coated male scanned her window. This was the distraction I needed. I fired another two shots towards the dark haired man and watched him fall backwards with eyes opened wide. I ran towards Tonya room to tell brief her on what was just happened. There were still no signs of the Sailor.

The ruckus gained the zombies’ attention. I could already see some in the distant.

Turn 7
Buffey caught Tonya positioning herself for behind an overturned desk. Her submachine gun sprayed towards Tonya and splintered the desk. Disoriented, Tonya patter herself and checked for wounds. “Get up,” she told herself. Tonya jumped from behind the wooden desk and fired a shot. Her shotgun proved fatal as Buffey slumped motionless in the open street.

I kept Tonya near. Her shotgun was more intimidating than my set of peashooters. Nick was shocked to see her lover gasp her last breath. Without remorse, I fired another barrage of bullets towards his direction. Nick was jerked twice as the rounds sunk into his flesh.

In the distant, the Sailor raised his rifle and scoped in for the final kill. Nick looked up and felt the blood inside him boil. He was set for revenge, even if it meant his life. Everything that meant to him was now gone. Nick stared at the Sailor and charged with a loud war cry.

Having seen this in his scope, the Sailor retracted his rifle from his eye and prepared for the incoming charge. He squared his stance and planted his feet. He wiggled his toes and dug a little into the ground.

The two men collided and fell to the ground. The Sailor weight gave him an advantage. They wrestled and exchanged blows. It looked like the Sailor was more experienced at hand to hand combat but Nick’s adrenaline made him invincible.

“We’re not done yet,” Tonya yelled, stomping on a zombie’s head that tried to sneak up on her.

Turn 8
(Zombies = No activation)
Tonya slung the shotgun behind her back and reached for her slugger. The infamous bat came out to play. I shot a couple zombies in the vicinity and watched them fall.

The Sailor and Nick traded punches but none of them seemed affected.

Turn 9
(Survivors = No Activation)
Nick swung at the Sailor with a wild rounded punch. The Sailor parried and followed with counter punch. He started to wonder if Nick was a zombie himself. Nick would not go down. He refused to give up and continued to get up.

Tonya and I were in a melee ourselves, but our experiences with zombies now were improved. We both killed our zombies with ease… as easy as shooing a fly.

Turn 10
Tonya moved closer to assist the Sailor. “Stay back,” the he shouted, “this one’s mine!” Tonya stepped back with her arms up in surrender. The least she could do was protect them from the oncoming zombies.

Turn 11
The Sailor rolled onto Nick in the mounted position. Nick was helpless now. He did not have the energy to buck the overweight Sailor off of him. The Sailor’s weight rested on Nick’s stomach and chest. The Sailor’s heavy hands bombarded Nick’s face and his head dribbled off the ground after every hit. After numerous hammer fists, Nick was no longer defending himself. It took the two of us to pull the Sailor off of him.

Debrief:
Buildings searched: 1
5x Zombies killed: 1
Enemy survivors killed: 3
Win scenario: 2

Scenario GP: 8
Saved GP: 8
Total GP: 16

I didn’t enjoy this as much as the previous scenarios because I was biased towards my group of survivors. When it came to moving the enemy survivors, I fell back on using the zombie rules. The enemy survivors attacked their closest targets.

One question I have: There was one point where zombies were getting close to the Sailor and Nick who were already in melee. What would happen when the zombies activate? Would they be able to join in the ensuing melee with Nick/Sailor? I mitigated this as much as I can by having Tonya and Beck surround the area an protect that spot. (shrug)