Fun in Venice

I finally got some of my Streets of Venice terrain along to the club and set up a Wolsung steampunk game. Well two games in fact, because the first scenario (my Plague Doctors vs Triad of Lotus Dragon) was over very quickly. Our second game (Plague Doctors vs Redcoats of Her Imperial Majesty) wasv a much closer fight. Sorry about the flash in some of these shots, it came on automatically in some situations!

The initial set up.

And viewed from the other side.

A couple of redcoats advance on the flank.

While the rest of the company move down the central street.

Plague victims (zombies) advance towards the bridge.

The Ratcatcher and one of his mutant pets moves up.

The last plague zombie crossed the bridge as the others were gunned down, he didn't last much longer!

The redcoats main fire support, a clockwork gatling gun cycle, is swamped by a pack of rats (this gives minuses to fighting/shooting rolls.

As the redcoats cross the first bridge and form a firing line, zombies are gathering around the corner.

Whist a Plague Doctor leads another horde of zombies around their flank.

A solitary redcoats spots the flanking attempt and runs to alert the Captain, who is otherwise occupied! 

A fierce melee in process between the Captain and one of his redcoats against a giant rat and the Sewer Lurker. Colin's melee dice were awful throughout the game and this ended up with two dead redcoats!

Zombies rush the Redcoat line, several are shot down but some get into contact. Despite rolling at least one extra dice in each melee, Colin ended up with most of his men wounded and toppled to the ground.

Having gunned down the first wave the gatling gun cycle is destroyed by the Zombies coming up behind the Redcoats.

After the Redcoat Sergeant, who had taken out several zombies single-handed, was cut down by the Sewer Lunker's frenzied attack, the last few Redcoats were over-run by the zombies.

Victorian Zombie Campaign Journal Game 7

 Scenario 7 - The Haunted Houses 

Compiled by Alan, of Tring Wargames Club 

A “village” of six small huts has been found in an area of derelict and disused houses. These small buildings seem to have been used as a storage area of some kind, but the buildings appear out of place - they resemble thatched native huts from the Dark Continent. 

Is this a clue of some kind to the appearance of the Zombies in London, or does only fiendish danger lurk within? 

Set-up

The players deploy in the usual way and activate in usual way. Six cache tokens (possibly containing valuable clues) are concealed, one in each of the six huts.

 

 Card Choice

Survivor	Zombie	Tank zombie	Zombie Horde	The Round ends.	Zombie Rising	Random Occurrence Card
4	4	0	0	1	1	0

 

 Spawning Points

The Players each place a spawning point in the usual manner as supplies etc. Spawning occurs normally from these spawning points.

Special rules

Every time a figure enters a native hut the player rolls 2D6; on 8+, a Zombie Liche appears and is placed randomly within 2” of the figure. A Zombie also appears on a roll of 7 or more and is placed randomly within 2” of the figure. When the Liche arrives it activates immediately. Only one Liche can be present any one time.

Liche rules

Very occasionally, a zombie retains a degree of intelligence. A Liche is always considered to be “active”, on any Black Number card. The Liche ignores “Knockbacks” and the figure is removed when a 2nd wound is inflicted.

If at any point in the Liche/Witch’s turn, a survivor is within 10”, the Liche/Witch may “call” other Zombies within 30”, with a high- pitched wail/moan, that counts for zombie activation, for the rest of the ROUND (i.e. deck of cards). 

Victory points

Each Zombie destroyed is worth 1 point; each Zombie Liche or Tank destroyed is worth 5 points to the player. A supply cache when recovered and carried off-table is worth 1 point, and may contain a clue to help explain the existence of the Zombies in London. To obtain the points or clues, the figure needs to survive the game.

The Adventure

The game began with the deployment of items of interest (the supply tokens), according to the scenario rules, and then with deployment of the Zombie Spawning Points according to the scenario rules. All of the Spawning Points ended up in, or close to the entrances to, the “village” of native huts.

The Society of Africa team added a new character (Prof Horatio Plum, a colleague of their leader Dr Somerfield), armed with his trusty butterfly net.   The other teams went with their current members.

The Bow St Runners had re-armed PC George Dixon with petrol bombs, since the other teams had demonstrated their usefulness.

Henry opted for the Southwest corner of the board as a deployment point; Alan took the Southeast corner, while Martin chose the Northeast corner.

Alan now had the most Victory points, so he had the Initiative for the first move. On subsequent turns, we diced for the Initiative, and then proceeded clockwise around the table from the high roller.

Fig 1: The terrain looking North-west

The first turn commenced with a Human move. All teams moved from their respective jump-off points towards the native huts at the centre of the table.

The Zombies then got no less than three moves in succession. Unfortunately for them, there were at that point no Zombies on the table, so on the next Human move, all three teams continued their advance.

Fig 2 The Society of Africa closes in on the nearest corner of the native village

A Zombie Restock then gave them six Zombies, a Zombie Tank, and a Zombie Horde, as reinforcements.

On the next Human move, The Butcher St Boys continue their usual tactics of cautious advance. Sgt Calahan of the Bow St Runners killed one Zombie with his shotgun, and his team-mates also advanced slowly towards the village.

The Society of Africa decided on a bolder approach. Leaving the others to fight the newly-appeared Zombies, Scoop rushed forward and made contact with the native hut nearest the Runners’ corner of the village. He successfully grabbed the supply token, but in accordance with the scenario rules, in doing so he activated a Liche and a Zombie. The Liche tried to grab Scoop but failed, while the Zombie was just too far away. 

The effort was not without a cost however. While Rose killed one Zombie, Lord Dunce was wounded by another, though fortunately not infected. Both Rev Green and Harry attacked the Zombie Tank, but with no effect. Brian fired his shotgun at the Liche, and got a kill result, but of course a Liche requires two “kills” to finish it off, so it was merely “wounded”.

The Humans then got another move, and fortunately for the Society members, the Butcher St Boys were close enough to the far side of the native village to attract the Zombies clustering in the centre. The Bow St Runners had also arrived at the edge of the village, but were displaying far more caution than their customary gung-ho approach.

For the Society, Scoop used the opportunity to escape from the village carrying his supply token with him. Brian shot at the Liche but missed this time, and Kate was unable to shoot her pistol for fear of hitting one of her own team members. Meanwhile the duel with the Tank continued – the Rev Green tried to hit it with his heavy Bible and got one “kill” result,  but Harry failed in his melee and was killed (so he was out for the rest of the scenario), while Lord Dunce did succeed in getting a “kill“ result on the tank facing him.  As with the Liche though, a Tank requires multiple “kills” to finish it off, so in both cases they were merely “wounded”.

Fred, Rose and Prof Plum fell back into the ruined houses, in the hope of drawing off some of the Zombies which were surrounding Rev Green and Lord Dunce.

Fig 3 The Society fights the Tank and Zombies while Scoop escapes with a supply token

Meanwhile, the Butcher St Boys were engaging in their trademark long-range fire on the Zombies on their side of the village. Their shooting was about what we have come to expect during the campaign, however; they missed everything except one member of the Zombie Horde. The Duchess threw one of her petrol bombs, and succeeded in immolating two Zombies perilously close to the Society of Africa team.

Fig 4 The Butcher St Boys engage the Zombies at their end of the village

The Bow St Runners also appeared to be playing things cautiously this time. They had split into two teams, and one group fired at the Zombies on the nearest Spawning Point; Insp Gadget tried to “bag” the Liche, which was already “wounded” and therefore potentially vulnerable, but he only succeeded in getting a Knockback result, which was ignored by the Liche.

The Runners’ other group appeared nonplussed to find that the Society had seized the supply token from the hut nearest their corner of the village. 

Fig 5 The Bow St Runners look undecided at one corner of the native village

That ended the first turn.

In turn 2, the Zombies got their automatic Restock, which gave them another five Zombies and a Tank, and the turn then immediately ended.

In turn 3, the Zombies automatic Restock earned them another bunch of Zombies, plus yet another Tank, as reinforcements. Things were beginning to look very ugly for the Society of Africa; they were now fighting no less than three Tanks at their end of the village.

The Zombie Tanks then got a move. One of them attacked Rev. Green and another Lord Dunce; Rev Green was able to put a second wound on his, but Lord Dunce was wounded a second time by the Tank he was fighting.

Meanwhile, the third Zombie Tank hurled debris at Brian, and succeeded in killing him (so he was out for the rest of the scenario).  A Zombie pursued Prof Plum into the ruins, but could not quite reach him.

Fig 6 Desperate times for the Society of Africa facing three Zombie Tanks

On the next Human move, the Bow St Runners took a heavy toll on the Zombies which had populated the Spawning Point nearest to them. PC Dixon threw a petrol bomb, killing five, while Sgt Calahan despatched another with his shotgun. Insp Gadget tried for another long-range shot against the Liche, but missed. The remainder of their team retreated from the village through a derelict house.

For the Society, Kate missed with her shot, but Scoop hit and killed off the Liche.  Rev Green successfully wounded the Tank which was facing Lord Dunce, but once again Dunce could only achieve a draw.

In the ruined buildings, Rose attempted to Wrestle Free from the Tank pursuing her, and succeeded, but Prof Plum failed to Wrestle Free of the Zombie attacking him. Forced to fight it for his second action, he was wounded in the melee.

At the other end of the village, The Duchess killed three more Zombies with a petrol bomb, and Purdy got a Knockback on another Zombie with his shotgun.

The Zombies then got a move. One attacked Lord Dunce, who was finally able to defend himself effectively, and killed it. Another two Zombies attacked Prof Plum, but he was able to beat off their attack with no ill effects.  These were the only contacts, as the other two teams were too far away.

On the next Human move, Rev Green attacked the Zombie Tank nearest him, but his luck had finally run out, and he was wounded, though fortunately not infected. Lord Dunce attacked the Tank nearest him, but to no effect. Prof Plum finally rose to the occasion and killed the two Zombies closing with him, but the Society’s marksmanship had fallen to Butcher St Boys’ standards, and their shots all missed.

Meanwhile the Duchess used another petrol bomb to incinerate four Zombies; the remainder of her team could not see any other Zombies to shoot at. 

The Bow St Runners two sub-teams reunited behind the derelict houses.

The Zombies then got another move. No less than three Zombies attacked Rev Green, but were unable to injure him further. However, Prof Plum was attacked by two more Zombies in the ruined building, and in the ensuing melee, he was killed (so he was out for the rest of the scenario).

The Zombies then got a Restock, giving them another six Zombies and two more Hordes; most of these were concentrated at the Butcher St Boys’ end, so it was pretty clear that they would not be able to fight their way into the village.

Fig 7 A heavy Zombie concentration at the Butcher St Boys' end of the village

That ended the third turn.

In turn 4, the Zombies got their automatic Restock, which gave them another five Zombies and a Horde.

The Zombies then got a Tank move, which was really bad news for the Society of Africa, who were still facing all three of them currently on the table.

The first Tank attacked Rose, and she achieved a “kill” result, which means it was “wounded”. The second Tank attacked Rev. Green, and he was wounded again, though again he escaped infection. The third Tank attacked and killed Lord Dunce (so he was out for the rest of the scenario).

That ended the fourth turn.

In turn 5, the Zombies got their automatic Restock, which gave them another six Zombies and a Horde.

The Zombies then got a move. Rev Green was attacked, bitten and infected, although he was lucky enough to roll a whole six turns before he would “Zombiefy”.  Kate was also attacked and bitten, but fortunately not infected.

The Zombies then got a second move, which enabled them to make many more contacts. In the ensuing fights, Purdy killed two Zombies, and the Duchess and Dapper Dan accounted for one each.

PC Plod also killed a Zombie, but Insp Gadget was killed in his melee (so he was out for the rest of the scenario), while PC Dixon was wounded and infected. Fortunately for him, Dixon was able to Wrestle Free with his second action, and fell back to rendezvous with Dr Watson.

For the Society, both Scoop and Dr Kate Somerfield were killed in their melees (so they were out for the rest of the scenario).

In the next Human move, PC Dixon was “Stabilised” by Dr Watson, while PC Plod attacked and killed a Zombie. Sgt Calahan killed one Zombie out of the nearest Horde, but Sgt Carter missed a second one.

Meanwhile, Rose could only achieve a draw with the Tank she was fighting, while Rev Green received a third wound from the one facing him. Rev Green was now effectively surrounded, with no way out.

Fig 8 No escape for the Rev Green

Fred used a petrol bomb to kill two Zombies from the nearest Horde, effectively downgrading it to a single remaining Zombie.

The Humans then got another move. For the Butcher St Boys, the Detective and the Duchess killed a Zombie each, but the rest of the team lived up to their usual reputation as rotten shots, missing everything.

For the Runners, Sgts Carter and Calahan also missed, but PC Plod was able to evade a Grab by a Zombie he had allowed to get a little too close, and he fell back towards his team-mates.

For the Society of Africa, Rose was unable to Wrestle Free from the Tank facing her, so she was forced to fight it with her second action. She was wounded in the melee, but fortunately not infected by the Zombie’s bite.

At this point, we belatedly realised that we had not been considering the effects of “wounds” on the attacks made by the Zombie Liche and Tanks; the Society’s fighters should have been doing a lot more damage, and receiving less, than they were. It was too late to refight all the combats up to that point, so all we could do was to apply the combat rules correctly in subsequent combats.

Fred had one petrol bomb remaining, and Alan was reluctant to deliberately target Rev Green and the large number of Zombies surrounding him, but Henry and Martin persuaded him it was the “humane” thing to do. Fred achieved a direct hit, killing two Tanks, and three Zombies, along with the Rev Green (who was then out for the rest of the scenario).

On the next Human move, the Society of Africa was by now in desperate straits, and their luck continued to desert them. Rose failed to Wrestle Free from the Tank facing her, but she did hold the melee to a draw. Fred raced across to try and help her.

The Butcher St Boys fell back as the Zombies advanced towards them, and their marksmanship was up to its usual abysmal standard at this point; they missed everything.  The Bow St Runners also fell back, although Sgt Calahan did manage to kill another Zombie.

The Zombie Hordes then got a move, and they advanced towards the Bow St Runners and the Butcher St Boys. Contact with the Runners was avoided by the narrowest of margins – lucky, as contact with a Horde is an automatic kill.

Fig 9 The Zombies pursue the Boys and the Runners

In the next Zombie move, the Detective and the Doctor for the Boys were the only contacts, but they were both able to kill their attacking Zombies.

The  Butcher St Boys then fell back again, as the Zombies had closed with them considerably. The Detective achieved a Knockback result on one Zombie, but the others achieved their usual shooting results.

For the Runners, PC Dixon threw a petrol bomb and managed to miss everything with it, while Sgt Carter killed one Zombie from one of the Hordes.

For the Society, Fred attacked the Tank that was facing Rose, but was unable to damage it. Meanwhile Rose, despite her own wound, managed to inflict a second one on the Tank.

That ended the fifth turn.

In turn 6, the Zombies got their automatic Restock, which gave them another eight Zombies and a Horde.

The Bow St Runners got off to a good start, with Sgts Carter and Calahan each killing a Zombie with their shotguns, while PC Dixon threw his last petrol bomb and killed another.

For the Society, Fred and Rose both attacked the Tank facing them, and Fred got a third “kill” result on it, which successfully despatched it. 

Fig 10 Fred and Rose finish off the Tank facing them

The Butcher St Boys fell back again, which was just as well, as the Zombies then got a move, which otherwise would have brought them into contact again.

In the ensuing Human move, all the teams decided to withdraw.

A final Zombie move saw most of the Zombies head towards the Bow St Runners, who were by now the closest remaining team to the centre of the table. However, there were no new contacts.

All three teams moved off the table in the next Human move, thus ending the game.

Tallying the Adventure

Under the campaign rules, Victory Points were awarded for gathering supply caches (1 point) and killing Zombies (1 point each), Liches and Tanks (5 points each).  Wounds on Liches or Tanks counted for nothing, as they would simply regenerate.

No team successfully retrieved any supply tokens. Scoop from the Society of Africa was the only Human character to successfully enter one of the native huts and retrieve a token, but he did not survive the scenario, so the token (and the clue it may have contained about the existence of the Zombies in London) was forfeit.

The Bow St Runners obtained a total of 15 Zombie kills, and their Insp Gadget made his saving throw at the end of the scenario, so they gained all 15 Victory Points. PC Dixon, who had been wounded and infected by a Zombie bite, was healed in-game by Dr Watson, and therefore did not require a saving throw.

Insp Gadget will return for the next scenario, and will start with one wound.

The Butcher St Boys killed a total of 18 Zombies, and suffered no casualties, so they gained all 18 Victory Points.

The Society of Africa earned Victory Points for killing a total of 6 Zombies and 3 Tanks – 21 points. Actually, they killed more Zombies than this (Scoop killed one Zombie and the Liche, and Prof Plum killed two Zombies), but the responsible characters failed to make their saving throws, and therefore the points were forfeit under the scenario rules.  The same applied to the supply token and possible clue retrieved by Scoop.

Lord Dunce, Prof Plum, and Scoop were all killed in this scenario, and failed to make their saving throws, so they are out of the campaign.

Harry, Dr Somerfield, the Rev Green, and Brian were also all killed in this scenario, but did successfully make their saving throws, so they return for the next scenario, which they will start with one wound apiece.

Rose was wounded in this scenario, but successfully made her saving throw, so she can return for the next scenario, fully healed.

Of the Society of Africa members, only Fred escaped this scenario unscathed.  The Society of Africa thus earned a very Pyrrhic victory this time out.

Victorian Zombie Campaign Journal Game 6

 Scenario 6 – The Invasion of the Tanks

Compiled by Alan, of Tring Wargames Club

It all started as a “normal” day, but it came to be known as the “Day of the Tanks”.

Set-up

Set up as per normal game with the players deploying in the usual way and activate in usual way. Players each place two caches of supplies in the usual manner.

Card Choice

Survivor	Zombie	Tank zombie	Zombie Horde	The Round ends.	Zombie Rising	Random Occurrence Card
5	4	2	0	1	1	0

 

Spawning Points

The Players each place a Spawning Point in the usual manner as supplies etc.  Spawning happens in the usual way from the spawning points in addition to the special rule noted below.

Special rules

When a Zombie activation starts, each player rolls 2D6, add +1 to the roll for every supply token picked up, on 8+ a Zombie Tank appears and is placed within 2” of the supply collector. A single Zombie also appears on a roll of 7or less.

Zombie “Tanks”

In rare cases, the Zombie virus mutates the corpse, into a stronger, more aggressive Zombie. These “Tanks “often hurl debris at survivors before moving in for the kill.

When a “Tank “is activated, if there is a survivor within 10”, roll 1d6 – on a 5 or 6, instead of moving, the Tank hurls debris (doesn’t need to be represented on the table) at the nearest survivor. The survivor is hit on a 4,5,6, with damage inflicted as per close combat

Victory points

Each Tank Zombie destroyed is worth 5 points to the player. A supply token when recovered is worth 1 point to the player.  To obtain the points the figure needs to survive the game.

The Adventure

The game began with the deployment of items of interest (supply caches), according to the campaign rules, and then with deployment of the Zombie Spawning Points according to the scenario rules.

The Society of Africa team added a new character (Harry, a dock-worker). The Butcher St Boys team added a new character (the “Duchess”).  The Bow St Runners  team added a new character (PC George Dixon), to replace PC McGarry 452, who was killed in the last scenario.

Each team also beefed up their skills and weapons to the extent permitted.

Henry opted for the Southwest corner of the board as a deployment point; Alan took the Southeast corner, while Martin chose the Northeast corner.

Martin still had the most Victory points, so he had the Initiative for the first move. On subsequent turns, we diced for the Initiative, and then proceeded clockwise around the table from the high roller.

 

Fig 1: The terrain looking North-west

The  scenario started with the Zombies restocking immediately, which gave them 10 Zombies on the table.

All the teams began by moving towards the centre of the table, from their respective jump-off points. The Butcher St Boys split into two teams, with one led by their new character the “Duchess”, who was carrying a crate of petrol bombs.

 

 Fig 2 - The Duchess, the Detective and Basher, of the Butcher St Boys

The Society of Africa had also split into two sub-teams again, with Lord Dunce leading Rose, Brian, and their new character Harry, towards a Spawning point containing a small group of Zombies.

 

Fig 3 Lord Dunce, Rose, Harry and Brian, of the Society of Africa encounter some Zombies

The Zombies then got a move, and the Bow St Runners were now close enough to attract the Zombies’ attention, as they tried to grab their first supply cache.

 

Fig 4 The Bow St Runners attract attention as they grab their first supply cache

Sgt Calahan fired his shotgun, but missed his target, while PC Plod picked up the supply cache.  All the other Human characters moved towards their objectives, either the supply caches or to get to grips with the Zombies.

The Zombies got the next move, and promptly attacked PC Plod, who fought back and succeeded in killing one Zombie, but another was closing in on him.

Thus ended the first turn.

 

In the Zombie Restock at the start of turn 2, they got ten reinforcements plus a Zombie Horde. The Zombies then moved, but were unable to contact any other Humans.

A second Zombie Restock meant there were already well over twenty Zombies on the table - things were heating up for the Human teams.

 

 

Fig 5 Suddenly the Bow St Runners face lots more Zombies

The Butcher St Boys continued to live up to the reputation they have acquired in this campaign for poor marksmanship. Purdy fired his shotgun, but missed, and the Detective fired his pistol and also missed.  The Inspector did hit his target, but only obtained a Knockback result. Meanwhile, the Duchess evaded a Zombie that was getting a little too close for comfort, leaving Dapper Dan to attack and kill it.

Over on the northern side of the table, the Bow St Runners were mostly moving to try and gain advantageous positions. However, PC Plod tried to evade a Zombie Grab, but failed, so he was forced to use his second action to Wrestle Free, which he succeeded in doing. Sgt Calahan then fired his shotgun at the Zombie but missed, while PC Dixon grabbed another supply cache.

On the other side of the table, the Society of Africa was having a much more successful time. Scoop fired his pistol, getting a Knockback on one Zombie, and although Kate missed with her pistol, Brian killed another one.

Meanwhile Lord Dunce, the Rev. Green, and Rose all attacked and killed Zombies, thus demonstrating to the new guy Harry how it should be done. Fred moved into a good position and threw a petrol bomb, immolating no less than another three Zombies.

Thus ended the second turn.

 

In the Zombie Restock at the start of turn 3, they got nine reinforcements, followed immediately by a Zombie activation, which generated a Zombie Tank under the special rule for this scenario.

The Zombie move also allowed them to initiate some combats, and Dapper Dan was able to despatch two Zombies, while Fred finished off another one.

The Zombies then got another move – no Tank was generated this time, but it did enable them to close on more Human characters and initiate combats. Two Zombies moved towards Sgt Calahan and one Zombie was able to attack him, but his thick uniform saved him from being wounded. The Society of Africa took the brunt of the Zombie attacks, but their team was in fine fettle, and Lord Dunce, Rose, and Fred each finished off another Zombie.

 

Fig 6 The Society of Africa melee with multiple Zombies

In the next Human move, Sgt Calahan was able to Wrestle Free of a Zombie which had successfully Grabbed him. Insp. Gadget fired his shotgun and missed, but PC Plod successfully killed one Zombie. Dr Watson felt a little exposed, and fell back behind his colleagues.

For the Society, Brian moved and then shot and killed a Zombie with his second action, while Scoop and Harry were both also able to achieve kills. Fred threw his second petrol bomb, but failed to hit anything with it.

However, the Duchess also threw a petrol bomb, and succeeded in killing five Zombies with a direct hit.

 

Fig 7 The Duchess throws a petrol bomb

A Zombie Restock then gave them six additional Zombies, plus a Zombie Liche. The centre of the table was fast becoming a very unhealthy place to be.

 

Fig 8 Hordes of Zombies occupy the centre of the table

PC Plod was grabbed by one of the new Zombies, and failed to Wrestle Free, but he was able to kill it in the ensuing melee, while the rest of his team retreated.

For the Society, Brian fired at a new Zombie, but missed. However, Fred hurled his last petrol bomb, and succeeded in killing a Zombie Tank, the Zombie Liche, and one other Zombie. He then moved to grab a supply cache before the Zombies could regroup.

The Butcher St Boys continued the strategy that had worked well for them thus far, of avoiding close contact with the Zombies whenever possible. Dapper Dan, Basher, and the Duchess fell back, while Purdy, the Doctor, and the Detective all fired. However, as has become the norm in this campaign, their marksmanship was poor, and only the Detective managed to kill his target.

In the ensuing Zombie move, the Zombies in the centre split to pursue the Bow St Runners and the Society of Africa. The Butcher St Boys were too far away to attract any Zombies towards themselves.

The Zombies then got another move, but only PC Dixon was close enough to be contacted by them. He was able to kill his first Zombie in the resulting melee.

In the next Human move, the Society of Africa continued to withdraw towards their jump-off point. Brian fired his shotgun to cover their retreat, and succeeded with a Knockback on one Zombie.

The Butcher St Boys were also in full retreat, with the Duchess leading the way. The Detective and Purdy gave covering fire, and for once they succeeded in obtaining a Knockback on one Zombie and killing another.

However, the big success of the turn went to the Bow St Runners. Sgts Carter and Calahan, and Insp Gadget all fired at the same Zombie Tank, each inflicting a “kill” result. Tanks are extra-tough Zombies, which need to accumulate three “kills” to finish them off; until then, the “kills” are treated as “wounds”, which merely slow the Tank down and make it less effective in combat. The Runners were delighted therefore, to have finished off a Tank with such relative ease.

Thus ended the third turn.

 

In the Zombie Restock at the start of turn 4, they got nine reinforcements plus a Zombie Horde, followed immediately by a Zombie activation, which again generated them a Tank, under the scenario rule.

 

Fig 9 The centre of the table was now infested with Zombies

All the Human teams demonstrated little appetite for continuing the fight against the thirty-plus Zombies, two Hordes, and a Tank infesting the centre of the table.

The Society of Africa led the way, with all team members withdrawing off-table.

The Butcher St Boys fired their parting shots, in the shape of a final petrol bomb from the Duchess, which killed two Zombies.

The Bow St Runners also retired off-table, which ended the game.

Tallying the Adventure

Under the campaign rules, Victory Points were awarded for gathering supply caches (1 point) and killing Zombies (1 point each).  A Liche was worth 1 point, and a Zombie Tank was worth 5 points.

Henry’s  Butcher St Boys had retrieved 2 supply caches, and killed 13 Zombies – worth a total of 15 points.

Martin’s Bow St Runners had retrieved 2 supply caches, and killed 4 Zombies and one Tank – worth a total of 11 points.

Alan’s Society of Africa had retrieved 2 supply caches, and killed 14 Zombies, one Liche, and one Tank – worth a total of 22 points.

The Society of Africa was awarded victory in this scenario. 

Victorian Zombie Campaign Journal Game 5

 Scenario 5 – The Walled Garden

 Compiled by Alan, of Tring Wargames Club

When searching the ruined town, a walled garden in the ruins of a manor house is found.

Set-up

In the centre of the board is a 12” square walled area contains 6 statues each on a plinth.  A cache of supplies is at the base of each of the statues.  Players deploy in the usual way and activate in usual way.

Card Choice

Survivor	Zombie	Tank zombie	Zombie Horde	The Round ends.	Zombie Rising	Random Occurrence Card
4	4	0	0	1	0	0

 

Spawning Points

The Players each place a spawning point in the usual manner as supplies etc.

Special rules

As soon as anyone picks up a supply token the statue reveals a Zombie, which activates immediately.

Victory points

Each statue-generated Zombie killed is worth 2 points to the player. Other Zombies are worth their usual points values. A supply token when recovered is worth 1 point to the player.  To obtain the points, the figure needs to survive the game.

 

The Adventure

The game began with the deployment of items of interest (supply caches) according to the scenario rules, and then with deployment of the Zombie Spawning Points according to the scenario rules.

All Spawning Points ended up inside the garden, but no Zombies had put in an appearance yet.

The Society of Africa team added a new character (Brian, armed with a replacement shotgun), and each team also beefed up their skills and weapons to the extent allowed.  

Martin’s Bow St Runners deployed Sgt Calahan to replace PC Dibble who had been killed in the previous scenario, with his Bow St Runners, and he would receive a shotgun. Sgt Carter would retain the use of the shotgun he had in the last scenario, so it appeared that the Runners intended to rely on superior firepower for this scenario.

Henry’s  Butcher St Boys team was unchanged.

Henry opted for the Southwest corner of the board as a deployment point; Alan took the Southeast corner, while Martin chose the Northeast corner.

 

Fig 1: The terrain looking North-west

 

Martin still had the most Victory points, so he had the Initiative for the first move. On subsequent turns, we diced for the Initiative, and then proceeded clockwise around the table from the high roller.

The first moves saw all teams heading for the entrances to the garden, as there were no Zombies around to worry about. Suddenly, however, nine Zombies put in an appearance, blocking the nearest entrances to the three teams. The Zombies then got a move, which resulted in them making contact with the Society of Africa team.  Lord Dunce killed one Zombie, but the Rev. Green could only manage a stand-off in his melee.

 

Fig 2 Lord Dunce and Rev Green lead the Society of Africa assault on one garden gate

The Zombies then re-stocked at the start of the next turn, earning themselves no less than seven Zombie reinforcements, plus a Zombie Horde, which was close to the garden’s southern wall, where it could prevent the Butcher St Boys using the southern gate, as well as present a threat to the Society of Africa if they entered the garden.

They immediately followed up with a Zombie move, but since there was still only a single contact, the Society’s Rev Green fought a 1:1 melee. He lost, and was immediately declared dead. He would get a saving throw at the end of the scenario, but for now he was out of the game.

In retaliation, Brian killed a Zombie with the shotgun, and Lord Dunce killed another with his sword-stick. The reporter Scoop fired his pistol but missed, and Fred tried a petrol bomb, but also missed completely, doing no damage to anything, apart from some blistered paint on the garden railings.

For the other teams, Purdy of the Butcher St Boys let fly with his shotgun, but missed. The Bow St Runners are closer to the action, and both Sgts Carter and Calahan let fly with their shotguns, and both missed. Meanwhile PC Plod managed to kill a Zombie, and a second Zombie Grab on Plod failed.

On the western side of the garden, the Butcher St Boys had found themselves a cosy little niche from which to play. The Zombies attracted to them by their scent had been halted by the railings of the garden, which they were unable to break down, and meanwhile they were prime targets for the Boys guns. Unfortunately, their shooting was not quite up to the mark; Purdy killed one Zombie with the shotgun, but the Detective and Dr Watson both missed with their pistols.

 

Fig 3 The Butcher St Boys prove less than effective in the Zombie “shooting gallery”

Meanwhile, at the garden’s northern gate, the Zombies had more success, and they broke open the garden gate by sheer weight of numbers, and scrambled towards the Bow St Runners. Faced with a “target-rich environment” however, the Runners proved equal to the task, and Sgts Carter and Calahan, Insp. Gadget, and PC Plod all killed a Zombie each, thus despatching all of the Zombies that had made it out of the garden.

 

Fig 4 The Bow St Runners kill all the Zombies outside the northern garden gate

The Society of Africa was doing a similarly good job of clearing the garden’s eastern gate. Brian shot and killed one Zombie, and while Scoop missed with his pistol, Kate was able to kill a second Zombie with hers. Fred threw a petrol bomb over the garden railing, which successfully immolated two more Zombies, including one from the first Zombie Horde.  Rose the maid and Lord Dunce tried to follow up by advancing through the narrow gate, into the garden. However, Rose ended up standing right on a Spawning Point – the folly of this position would become apparent later.

 

Fig 5 The Society fight their way through the eastern gate; Rose ends up on a Spawning Point

At this point, the turn ended again, and the Zombies restocked. This time they got a total of six reinforcements, plus a second Horde; this one was also on the Spawning Point close to the garden’s southern wall.

The Butcher St Boys continued their shooting duel with the Zombies lining the garden railings, but with little more success than before. Purdy got a Knockback on one with the shotgun, but both the Detective and Dr Watson missed again with their pistols. The Boys seemed to be of the opinion that discretion was the only part of valour, and were making no obvious attempt to enter the garden itself.

The Bow St Runners, however, were more than making up for the Boys’ lack of bravado; they seemed to have learned little from their narrow escapes in the last two scenarios.

PC Plod, seeing the garden gate unguarded by Zombies, charged through, and reached the northwestern-most statue, to grab its supply cache. Doing so triggered a Zombie appearance, and in the ensuing melee, Plod was wounded.

Sgt Carter moved through the gate in support, and then shot and killed a Zombie. Sgt Calahan followed suit, and succeeded in getting a Knockback on a second Zombie.

Dr Watson moved through the gate to make base contact with PC Plod, and then used his second action to heal Plod’s wound. This represented the first use of the Doctor skill in the campaign; up to that point we were beginning to think it was pretty useless.

Meanwhile for the Society, Fred threw a petrol bomb , killing a Zombie, and another one from each of the two Zombie Hordes by the southern gate. The first of these was consequently reduced to a single Zombie, so it in effect it ceased to be a Horde at all.  Kate fired her pistol, achieving a Knockback on another of the Zombies in the second Horde.

By the eastern gate, Rose put her trusty hatpin to good use, killing another Zombie, but Lord Dunce could only achieve a draw with the Zombie he was meleeing with.

In the ensuing Zombie move, several new contacts were made with the Human teams, but the Zombies failed to achieve any further combat successes. Quite the contrary – PC McGarry 452 and PC Plod each killed a Zombie in the garden’s northwest corner, while Rose and Lord Dunce killed one each by the eastern gate.

However, just as it looked like the garden might be cleared of Zombies, they got an opportunity to Restock, with no less than eleven reinforcements scattered evenly round the garden on the Spawning Points.

This time the Human teams were not so fortunate. Dunce succeeded in killing the Zombie facing him, but this time Rose could only manage a draw. For the Bow St Runners, Sgts Calahan and Carter achieved draws with their opponents, and while PC McGarry 452 did kill another Zombie, PC Plod was both bitten and infected by the Zombie facing him.

 

Fig 6 PC Plod is bitten and infected in the furious melee in the garden's northwest corner

Meanwhile, the Butcher St Boys tactic of hanging back and only engaging the Zombies with firearms was not paying off. Although they were not at much risk of casualties, despite their best efforts, not a single team member managed to score any points by killing Zombies either.

 

Fig 7 The Butcher St Boys shoot at the Zombies through the garden railings but miss every shot

Once again, the turn ended again, and the Zombies Restocked. This time they got another seven Zombie reinforcements, plus a couple of Hordes. It was at this point that the folly of Rose standing on a Spawning Point became apparent – when it produced a Horde, she was faced with immediate death, unless she could kill two of the three Zombies comprising the Horde in the resulting combat.

Amazingly, Rose and her trusty hatpin did precisely that. In killing two Zombies (by virtue of rolling high in the melee, and thus having spare pips on her combat dice roll), she reduced the Zombie Horde to a single Zombie, and therefore she avoided the automatic death result for being in contact with a Horde.

The Bow St Runners now appeared to recognise the imminent danger they were in. Sgts Carter and Calahan and Insp. Gadget all retreated, while PC McGarry 452 failed to wrestle free from the grasp of the Zombie he was facing, but he did then succeed in killing it. PC Plod continued his melee with yet another Zombie, but handicapped by his wound, he could only achieve a draw.

For the Society, Kate and Scoop both managed to kill a Zombie each from the second nearby Horde with their pistols, downgrading it to a single Zombie. Despite her success in the last combat round, Rose was still outnumbered 2:1 in her melee, so she put up another great fight, and killed two more Zombies. Her luck couldn’t last however - she was Grabbed by a third Zombie as she tried to fall back through the eastern gate towards the rest of her team, and was killed in the ensuing melee. She would get a saving throw at the end of the scenario, but in the meantime she was out of the game.

The Butcher St Boys shooting accuracy had still not showing any signs of improvement. Purdy fired his shotgun at the Horde nearest his team, but only managed to achieve a Knockback result. The Detective also tried with his pistol, and got a hit, but failed to do any damage.

On the next Human move, both the Society of Africa and the Butcher St Boys started to fall back and regroup, as it looked like the garden was all but impenetrable, with so many Zombie Spawning Points in position.

For the Runners, Sgts Calahan and Carter both killed a Zombie, but Insp. Gadget missed with his pistol.  PC Plod was still unable to wrestle free of the Zombie closest to him and was hit again in melee, but luckily for him, his thick coat absorbed the Zombie’s bite.  PC McGarry 452 was not so fortunate however; he lost his melee and was killed. He would get a saving throw at the end of the scenario, but in the meantime he was out of the game. 

For the Society, Kate killed another Zombie with her pistol, though both Scoop and Brian missed with their shots. Lord Dunce meleed with and killed a Zombie which had approached too close to the garden’s east gate, then fell back through it. Brian took up a new position firing through the railings outside the east gate. At this point, all of the Society of Africa team was safely outside the garden.

 

Fig 8 The Society of Africa takes position outside the garden's east gate

The Butcher St Boys were still having no luck at all with their weapons. All three team members fired and missed dismally.

Amazingly, the Humans then got yet another move. PC Plod finally managed to wrestle free from the Zombie fighting with him, and fell back to Dr Watson; he desperately needed to get his infection Stabilised, since Plod was due to “Zombify” at the end of the current turn.

Dr Watson served his purpose by stabilising PC Plod, which meant that he would not “Zombify” during the scenario, though he would still have to make a stiff saving throw at the end of the game. Sgt Calahan fell back to cover the nearest garden gate; clearly the Runners did not want a Zombie Restock to cut off their line of retreat, as so nearly happened in the last scenario.

While Sgt Calahan moved to take up a new firing position by the northern gate, suddenly the poor shooting skill of the Butcher St Boys seemed to afflict all of the Human teams.

Sgt Carter could only achieve a Knockback result with his shotgun against a member of the nearest Horde, and Imps Gadget missed completely with his pistol. The Butcher St Boys missed everything they shot at – again – while Kate and Scoop both missed with their pistols. Only Brian - the new kid in the Society of Africa team, and who had not yet acquired any skill with his shotgun - did any damage, killing yet another Zombie.

At this point, the Zombies got a Restock, and added a total of seven reinforcements to their strength inside the garden.  This was followed by the end of the turn, whereupon the Zombies got another Restock, which added a further nine Zombies and two more Zombie Hordes. The Zombies then immediately headed for the garden gates, attracted by the scent of the Humans; it was becoming apparent that no one was going to get into the garden in this scenario.

 

Fig 9 Zombies begin to pour out of the garden's north and west gates

Unfortunately for the Human teams, it seemed that their shooting prowess had deserted all of them. In the face of the overwhelming numbers of Zombies making a beeline for them, the best they could achieve was a single Zombie kill from each team. All three teams fell back in some disarray.

The Zombie Hordes then got a move. Fortunately for the Humans, there were no team members within range, so they suffered no automatic casualties.

 

Fig 10 Zombies begin pouring out of the garden's east gate as well

Events virtually repeated themselves on the next Human move. Sgt Carter killed one Zombie for the Runners, while Purdy bagged one for the Butcher St Boys. The Society of Africa might as well have been firing blanks, for all the good they could do.

At this point, the Zombies got two moves in succession, which placed then in close proximity to some of the Humans. At that point the turn ended again.

The Zombie Restock added another eleven Zombies on the Spawning Points inside the garden. Clearly a lot was going to hinge on the next few cards revealed, to see if the Humans could get away or the Zombies would catch them.

The first move was a Human one, and the Butcher St Boys moved off the table. Sgt Carter of the Runners killed another Zombie, and his team then began to move off-table as well. The Society of Africa elected to stand and shoot, but achieved nothing by doing so.

The Zombies then got a move, which meant that they got close enough to Brian, who was covering his team’s retreat, to attempt a Zombie grab in the next Human move.

 

Fig 11 The Zombies almost catch Brian as he covers the Society of Africa's retreat

Luckily for Brian, the next move was a Human one; the Zombie Grab failed, and Brian despatched the Zombie with his shotgun, before moving off-table with the rest of the Society of Africa team.

With no teams left on the table, that ended the scenario.

Tallying the Adventure

Under the scenario rules, Victory Points were awarded for gathering supply caches (1 point) and killing Zombies (1 point each).

NONE of the Human teams were able to retrieve any supply caches in this scenario. PC Plod of the Bow St Runners had grabbed a supply cache from a statue (which by the scenario rules was a worth 2 points), but he dropped it again in the ensuing melee when he was wounded and infected.

Martin’s Bow St Runners had killed 12 Zombies – worth a total of 12 points.

PC McGarry 452 failed his saving throw, and is therefore out of the campaign.

Henry’s  Butcher St Boys had killed 6 Zombies – worth a total of 6 points.

Alan’s Society of Africa had killed 21 Zombies – worth a total of 21 points.

Rose survived her saving throw, and therefore her Zombie kills counted towards the Society’s total. The Rev. Green survived his saving throw as well, but he will start the next scenario with one wound remaining.

The Society of Africa was awarded victory in this scenario.

Once again, it was universally agreed that this scenario was a very enjoyable game, which confirmed that the modified Zombie movement and spawning rules are working. No further rule changes were made after this scenario, beyond a few minor points of clarification.