In this game we move a bit further out from the residential area. The roads are the paper ones from the Mantic "Mars Attacks" game. Again we used our stock buildings and our new service station.
Uncle Al drew the "Find Fuel" Mission with the girls of St Pugnatius School looking for fuel for their minibus that had almost made it to the service station.
Grandad drew the rescue mission with group of four scouts on a recruiting mission for their survivor group.
The whole party dismount and teachers lock up the minibus. The aim is to circle left avoiding the infected as much as possible.
The scouts move down the road but the infected sense them immediately and start to move.
The infected arrive at the minibus (It will get a repaint soon to make it more generic). Fortunately it is empty of the living so they ignore it. However, the left flanking move has not quite avoided all of the infected.
One of the infected attacks the girls. I did reach for my "Queen" CDs for "Don't Stop Me Now" - as the girls battered the infected with baseball bats and hockey sticks.
On the other side of town the scouts find the houses and cars are full of the infected. Fortunately, before they were infected (or eaten) the inhabitants had erected barricades. They split into two pairs, while one pair searches the other deals with the zombies at a barricade. Unfortunately one is bitten but not infected (yet).
Fighting their way in, two attract attention while the other two search for potential (live) recruits.
The search team finds only zombies in the first buildings and wisely leave them locked in.
Just as one infected is despatched, the girls are assailed by a lumbering "tank" zombie. A reprise of "Don't Stop Me Now" was called for as whirling sticks, bats and catapult stones eventually defeat the monster.
Things go from bad to worse for the scouts as a horde rumbles in, homing in on the wounded survivor. Blood scent is one of the adjustments we have as an added optional rule in the game. Leading to a rushed and sensible retreat covered by a hail of bullets that inflict "Knock Back" stopping them moving for the rest of this turn. (Hordes do not fight melees in the conventional way in Akula's Rules. If they reach your base they kill you and eat you.
After syphoning spare fuel from the tank of the breakdown truck. They did not search it, unfortunately, because in one of the lockers were two jerrycans of fuel. In this game we did not differentiate between petrol and diesel). At the door of filling station they batter another zombie,
Searching inside reveals more fuel, food and snacks. Always popular with teenagers! The car is part way through a major repair and cannot be moved.
Meanwhile, outside the filling station an event card creates a horde bursting out from the neighbouring building.
And then, a mobile phone on one of the infected (new event card) starts to ring attracting even more zombies to the service station and a "tank" zombie breaks in the door.
With the door broken down the zombies start to invade the service station.
Not far away gunfire breaks out again as another horde advances while the scouts round up survivors.
The girls conduct a rapid retreat and, at last, the teacher decides to check the truck. Hurrah! Two jerrycans of fuel. Now escape is possible.
On the way back, bad luck strikes again! The "tank" was not destroyed and attacks again. Another round of "Don't Stop Me Now" sees it completely destroyed but not without head girl taking a wound.
More searches reveal survivors, zombies and much needed water cans.
More and more infected mass against the living!
Taking a risk the girls run for their minibus.
More survivors found but hordes of zombies cluster around the building.
After a brief but savage gun battle the scouts and their "recruits" break out.
The scouts set up a covering force but hordes of zombies assemble moving to block the escape.
One of the "recruits" has a bright idea and lobs some rubble at a parked Landrover setting off its alarm. This noise covers the noise of the survivors and attracts the zombies away.
Horror of Horrors. A previously hidden horde attacks. (3 zombie Horde cards in a row). A battle ensues in which two recruits are killed and one bitten but not infected. Lucky chap! While the horde feeds the survivors escape.
This was an exciting one that could easily have ended in disaster for the survivors had not the noise cards appeared a fotuitous times to divert zombie hordes. Easily the closest run game so far. At the end of the game we tested those bitten - none were infected.
More from Dedburgh soon.
