V the Mini Series - The Alamo #2

After painting up the Visitor shuttle craft back in the summer it was high time it got an outing on the table. I say an outing more a crash site.

The rebels in Zikanga had scored a rare victory catching a shuttle craft with an RPG round that had brought it down in a village several miles from the nearest Visitor garrison, 

Julian Leader of the Visitors crawled from the damaged craft, fortunately the crew and passengers were unharmed, the craft carried a valuable cargo in the shape of senior scientist Peter who was developing a vaccine to the Red Dust that the freedom fighters had created in the US.

Julian knew he had very little time to defend the village before the rebels would be upon them.

Throwing up boxes and tyres the Visitors manned the barricades awaiting the attackers advancing through the surrounding jungle.

Meanwhile the rescue column of Shock Troopers under Diana's personal command rushed to rescue Julian and his lead scientist.

The rebels moved through the tall grass and fired wildly, many were cut down by blaster fire.

Rebels filled the road grabbing cover where they could, several were shot down and many were pinned as they tried to close with the Visitors.

The insurgents reached the outskirts of the village and swept the village with machine gun and RPG rounds, the Visitors dived for cover as the attackers closed.

The Shock Troopers continued their advance spreading out across the village looking to secure Peter and his brief case.

The rebels had started to infiltrate the village but could not get a clean shot at the defenders they lost several of their number as they tried to find better firing positions. But finally one of the rebel leaders fired a burst and caught one of the aliens squarely in the chest.....

The Shock Troopers reached the village, Karl one of the field commanders called for Peter to come forwards. The package was secured...

A fun encounter perhaps a little two large for an evenings game and the militia perhaps needed to be given a couple of improved stats as the Visitors were just a little bit too tough under the Flying Lead rules.

The news from Crooked Dice has gone quiet around bringing the resistance figures into production. So until then it looks like the African rebels are on their own.

Escape to the Country - Part 2

Having your own gaming space does have it's advantages, it means you can keep the table set up to continue where you left off. So part 2 of our walk in the Worcester countryside.
I am sure those sneaking dead fella's had crept forward since last week....

As we saw in part one as the dead increased their grip on the urban areas, the living were forced into the countryside for supplies and protection from the risen. But nothing brings the dead shambling your way than loud noises. So you can imagine what the blast of a shotgun will do.

Things start badly for the cops, stuck in a fight to the death the Sarge yells for help and is joined by his unit including little Timmy who clearly got carried away swinging his crowbar into the cadavers unfortunately he is brought down by the rotting mass.
The Sarge gets away dragging an unconscious comrade as the dead munch down on poor Timmy.... Welcome to turn one. Gulp....

Meanwhile whilst the forces of law and order look to restore law and order the nasty bikers continue to rob the place.

Whilst Timmy is being served up as a starter, the Mercia Boys fall back grabbing their breath for a few moments, when up pops a silly little girl was a pea shooter who lets off a round at the police.
No respect some people.

A volley of shotgun blasts sends the bikers for cover ducking behind the burnt out wreaks. But not before the detective catches one square in the chest and as he lies on the floor another round strikes him through the skull....
We went all last week with no casualties then two in less than an 20 minutes.

Now at this point we should have perhaps took stock and turned on the dead but no, we had to get into a gun fight and as both sides blazed away the dead increased in number appearing from doorways and alleys.

The tide of death reached us both. The boys in blue stood in the street as the walkers clawed at their body armour. Whilst the Bikers tried to slip past the garages to head back to their car but were chased by yet more walkers.

Now we may be knee deep in the dead, but we both still found time to fire off a shot or two at the only living on the board. It seems that old habits are hard to shake off. The Sarge takes a blast to his flak jacket which knocks him to the floor, he lashes out kicking the dead away.

Bow girl finally runs out of arrows and becomes the main course. The dead rip at her flesh and she is consumed by the risen.

Whilst the dead feast, the police make a break for it and what better way to distract the dead than with a few fresh meals, blasting away at the fleeing bikers who are knocked to the ground by the close range shot. 

Unable to recover from their wounded and shaken status they are caught by the walkers who tear into them. Brainzzzzz…..

Both sides decide that enough is enough and headed back to their vehicles far fewer in number than at the start of the day. Low on ammo and a little battered. but on a brighter note the supplies that they had picked up would last that little bit longer with fewer mouths to feed.

A cracking game
With us all itching for more.

Zombieland meets Countryfile - Part 1

A cracking zombie outing and something a little different for this weeks midweek game, two teams of survivors seeking out supplies of food, water and a safe place to rest.
The setting our own backyard and the village of Stoulton in Worcestershire.

Background and Timeline.

2018

African states have the largest outbreak of Ebola ever seen.

Top medical consultants around the world advise Governments to close their borders and ground all aircraft.

Governments refuse due to the economic situation, fearing a fall back towards the market crashes in recent years.

Governments push through untested drug trials designed to stop the Ebola outbreak.

Initially the trials worked and patients began to recover. After 48 hours of starting the treatment a minority of patients began suffering from total organ failure resulting in death.

Once dead the body would appear to re animate with a lust for human flesh. 

The epidemic quickly spread with International flights easily spreading the infected to all corners of the earth.

2019

The United Kingdom, like other Western Countries, quickly became over run by the walking dead. Society quickly broke down starting in major cities around the Country.

London and Manchester were the first cities to fall and all communication was lost. 

The Government was abolished with those few members surviving going underground to safe zones believed to be old cold war bunkers.

Small communities have survived by retreating behind walled towns or hamlets.

The few that remain face a day to day uphill struggle to survive.

All major populated areas have as best that you can tell been over run by the undead.

Worcester can be seen from the distance and appears to be burning, big thick plumes of smoke billow out from that direction.

It is believed that the undead horde will be at its worst in the cities.

As law and order breakdown different factions look to carve out a safe place to survive the outbreak. Heading into the less populated areas a detachment of Police head into the village outskirts. Meanwhile a biker gang coming out of Birmingham approach the village from the North.

A mean looking bunch armed with clubs, crowbars and a loose collection of firearms. The roar of the engine of the GT brings the dead shambling forwards. The perfect start for a day in the country.

Meanwhile after quietly entering the village the boom of the shotgun blasts brings the dead to the fence line, their fingers clawed at the wooden fence seeking human flesh.

Having escaped the clutches of the dead the PC's ran down the road towards the petrol station looking to grab a car or dive into a building. The dead start to fill the street.

What a time to lose your initiative :-(.
Swamped by walkers, shotgun blasts and swinging batons brought more of the dead out of the their dark corners. Will they survive stay tuned for Part 2.

A great game and looking forward to seeing if the PC's can survive the rising dead.

Russo Japanese Village clash.

A little behind on my postings.

With the latest Cossack releases by Tsuba Miniatures it got me thinking about going back to the RJW project and converting it to Sharp Practice 2, but more on that later..

It was high time the Japs and the Russians got an outing.

A small hamlet in Northern Korea, the Russian have sent a section of Infantry to the village of hyjinx to secure provisions for the regiment. Japanese scouts spot the small Russian force and pull together a raiding force to launch a raid.

The Russian's are thinly spread throughout the village unsure of direction of the Japanese attack. The Japanese have around 30 men but the village is strongly defended.

Choosing the right hand side of the village the Japanese rush down the main road looking to swamp the pickets before the rest of the Russians can react, bursting into the courtyard they fire into the defenders manning the outer wall.

The Russians rush forward to block the road, whilst others fired from the windows facing the road.

In the courtyard the defenders attempt to block the gateway as the Japanese pour in, into the grounds.

Meanwhile as the Russians pull extra men to defend the right flank, the Japanese rush forward a third section on the left. The Russian defenders man the windows looking to keep the attackers out.

On the left, the Japanese capture the house on the right and look to force the door on the second house as the fight for the courtyard continues. Casualties are heavy on both sides but the Japanese are slowly gaining the upper hand.

On the right the attackers are pinned against the fence, but they had drawn in enough defenders for the attackers to capture the buildings on the far side of the village.

Great to get the figures on the table.

There have been a number of new releases since I last added anything to the collection, it will be an interesting exercise to see if I can move Sharp Practice along 100 years to include MG's and magazine fed rifles.

That should keep me busy for a while.

V the Mini Series - Visitor Sky Fighter.

Whilst I wait expectantly for Crooked Dice to produce a Visitor Sky Fighter. ( More in hope and I guess depending on how well the Alien packs have sold.) The Reptiles need some air power to help them keep the humans in check.

The Sky Fighter was a very slick looking craft and very iconic in the mini-series, the fighter and the larger transport were very often seen parked up at road blocks or dropping down to allow the Shock Troopers to spill out. 

So my Shock Troopers needed one or at best a proxy for the games in Zikanga.

I picked up the following craft from the guys at Deamonscape who do a cracking range of 25/28mm resin vehicles, I have a couple of them for the Starship Troopers collection and this VTOL offering seemed perfect. With no guns and clean lines it felt very much of the Visitor style.

I thought about giving it a more lived in look but opted for the fresh out of the showroom feel. I did think about hand painting the symbol but in the end pinched one from the web as it stands out on the white background.

Based on the size and scale it should be perfect for a squad of around 6 troopers which is perfect for the games in the pipeline, mostly around capturing one or rescuing one.....

Right back to the serious stuff....

V the Mini Series - Clean and Sweep #1

Having had a couple infantry based games with the Visitors, I thought it time for the them to crank it up and go on the offensive.

The militia player had to prepare for all round defence of the village from the Visitors and their cleansing and food hunt.

Visitor Briefing.

Location: Zikinga
Situation: Your platoon has been tasked with clearing out a village. Expect a prepared defence.
Initial Deployment: Enter on any road, you may enter on foot or mounted.
Victory Conditions: Clear the village of militia.

Zikanga Militia Briefing.

Location: Zikinga.
Situation: A Visitor assault on your village is expected, you are prepared to repel this assault on your home.
Initial Deployment: Set up anywhere on the board.
Victory Conditions: Keep control of the village at the end of the game.

So there you have it a game of 750 points using Flying Lead. 

The game starts well for the human militia as the first Visitor APC is stopped in it's tracks by a well placed RPG round. The Visitor squad and Diana dive out of the pack of the APC as more RPG rounds land around the the stalled vehicle.

With their passage blocked the second APC flanks the village and enters into the village from the east. A messy fire fight was taking place as militia men popped up from various windows and door ways.

The Lizards are some evil so and so's they drive into the militia defending the outskirts of the village and catch one of the militia in the backyard of the outer shacks and crush him beneath the tracks of the APC.

The milita head for the high ground and catch the Visitors on the flank, once again Diana is caught in a hail of bullets and is knocked to the ground.

The Visitors push on, into the centre of the village the leader of the militia joins the fights but is forced to dive for cover as his Militia men are cut down by laser fire.

Hearing of Diana's wounding the Visitor APC changes his focus and heads towards their fallen leader.

The Visitors pulled all of their resources to the defence of the fallen leader, whilst the Visitor Shock Troopers held the cross roads they were unable to clear the village in the alloted time. 

A cracking evenings gaming...

A near run thing for both sides...