Activation Aimed Suppression Fight Brawn Brains Nerve Exp
5+/2 7+ 6+ (7+) 4+ 8+ 9+ 3+ 8
Do As I Say, Do Not Be Afraid
- Knife, Flares, Empty Canteen
- Nerve Damage
- Had water last game thanks to a Canteen
In addition, their stash was taken out and they were not able to scavenge after last game. They are all suffering deprivation.
- Every Game without enough food = +1 TN for Brawn and Fight (Max 10)
- Every game without enough Water= +1 TN for Brains and Nerve (Max 10)
- Every game without enough Scrap= +1 TN for Shooting and Grit (Max 10)
Oh dear. This is going to be rough!
Scenario
I followed the process for setting up a scenario as outlined in the main rulebook. We rolled up the Running From Danger scenario, but Annie used her map to move it to Sneak Past. Perhaps less dangerous and still thematically appropriate for the situation.
The survivors had a restless night out in the wilderness after their hide-out was destroyed by Martians. Therefore, they got up early to try and head westward. This scenario will take place at dawn! That might help our heroes sneak past the Martian foes.
For complications, we rolled Dangerous Terrain. Any terrain we enter could end up being "Dangerous" on a die roll.
Lastly, I rolled up what Martian foe the group had to sneak past. Oh dear, and 8. I hope it is not another Tripod all ready! Thankfully, it was not a Tripod. However, it is still a Martian Whip Drone. Those are still pretty nasty, especially with my team all messed up at the moment.
Set-up
This will be played on a 36 x 36 MU board with each MU equal to 1 inch.
This time, I wanted a very "rural" board. I.e. no buildings. Just trees, rocks, hills, etc. After all, the survivors just spent the night out in the elements. They were forced out of the small bit of humanity they had been in last game. Therefore, lots of trees and the like.
We placed the Whip drone, and then the survivor's decided they were going across East to West.
As usual, I won't go over every turn but try to give you a high level overview of the action.
The Game
The survivors cautiously move forward, with Annie and Handsome John trying to keep the Whip Drone in their sights.
Tommy manages to bolt ahead. Luke, takes a slow and steady approach through the underbrush. It is slow going, and fate seems to be with them as the Drone stays still or moves away from them. However, some failed Activation rolls keep raising the Danger Level.
Tommy makes a break for the board edge, but the Whip Drones turns at an inopportune time and sees the kid. It immediately starts to scuttle rapidly his way! Tommy tries to get away as fast as he can, but he is hampered by the undergrowth.
Handsome John moves up to get a shot, but fails his secondary activation roll! The Martian Whip Drone is right behind Tommy! At this point, a second Whip Drone enters the table at the survivors deployment zone!
Tommy barely manages to get across the board as he barely passes a Dynamic Movement test thanks to his good shoes. The Whip Drone was closing in, but gets distracted by the other humans out in the open. Unfortunately, the sun is now fully risen and LOS is at maximum.
Handsome John takes several shots at the Whip Drone after Tommy. They ping off its armored shell, and it seems unphased by the shots. In return, the Whip Drone charges Handsome John, and the Martian machine makes short work of him. He is quickly Downed and made Unconscious and Possibly Dead from the attack. That raises the Danger Level immediately!
Luke managed to easily make it across the board.
Annie is the only one left standing. She slowly skulks through the underbrush as the Whip Drones begin to search the area for more prey. The last survivor and the Drones play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse for a few turns as she tries to skulk away without catching the drones attention. They close in on her hiding spot..... but she is long gone.
However, things get more complicated for Annie when a Martian Feral arrives on the scene. It sees her and slowly plods her way. Thankfully, it is far away from her current location.
She is almost home free when a cadaver trooper, a Gunner; stumbles out of the woods near her. It fires at her, but the shots go wide. Annie passes her fear test, and keeps going.
Thankfully, none of the other Martian creatures are able to locate her. She darts away to safety as the Gunner fires blindly into the woods for a few seconds, cracking trees with its heat ray. However, the woods soon grow silent again.
Post-Game
Well, three of the four survivors made it. Handsome John goes down again! This time, the Whip Drone managed to mangle one of his legs pretty badly. At this rate, he isn't going to be handsome any longer!
- Handsome John - Leg wound
The other three all manage to score 6 XP for surviving and making it off the board. Luke and Annie decide to bank their 14. Tommy goes for an Agility skill. - Tommy earns Jump Back as a skill
That will be useful to keep him mobile and out of close combat.
Luke choose to look for a new Hide-out. Annie and Tommy both go scavenge for supplies. They did not scout for Martians, but none seemed to find them in their tents. Luke manages to locate an abandoned store front for the group to take over as a hide-out. In the future, they can try to scrounge what is left in its stores before heading out.
Annie goes out and runs into more Martian searchers. She is barely able to avoid them, and is lucky to get away unharmed! She doesn't find anything in her search. Tommy uncovers another survivor lurking in the woods. However, as Tommy calls out to him, the shadowy figure flees back into the darkness.
The group nets no new resources for their trouble! The Martians are too thick in this region of the countryside, they will have to keep moving. This is going to be another cold, hungry few days for the survivors as their rations were completely lost when the Martians wrecked their last hide-out!
- Luke is -2 Food, -2 Scrap, and -1 Water
- Everyone else is -2 food, -2 scrap, and -2 water
One more scenario without water and folks are going to die!
Conclusion:
Things are starting to get a bit desperate, and we are only half-way through the campaign! One more rough scenario and it is all over for my little band of survivors!
Luke helped John sit down in a chair. The man had managed to drag his way along, and Annie stumbled on him while out scavenging. Her bandages and a prayer got him moving again. It was enough to get him back with the group.
Using Annie's map, Luke located another store, something called Cooper's Corners. Not much else there, but a field and a burned down house. The place had all ready been ransacked. He was confident they could find some rations inside but someone had clearly gotten there first. All the easy items were gone. However, it was enough to not have to sleep on the ground in the woods again.
John winced as Annie checked the bandages and tightened them up on his wounds. Luke wasn't sure how long they were going to be able to call him Handsome John. His body had taken a beating and now he had a bum leg. John pulled out his canteen and took a hit of his alcohol, and offered it to Luke. He took a swig.
"This isn't gonna help us?" Luke sighed as he wiped the dribbling from his chin, "We need food and water." To punctuate the point, his stomach growled at the mention of food.
John shrugged, "Well, I need it. My whole body hurts."
Annie pulled out her map and showed it to the group, "Nothing much around here, at least not on the map. We should decide if we are going to stay here or try to move-on?"
John nodded at Annie's cross around her neck, "What does He think?"
Annie scowled, "I haven't been talking to Him too much."
"Well, hopefully he can rain some Mana down on us like the Israelites!" John laughed but it changed into a wracking cough. He grab his leg and grimaced.
Luke said, "Probably shouldn't be doing much laughing right now."
"Yeah well, right now that's about all I got. Got no food, got no water, and got not a lot of hope either. Besides, laughter is the best medicine right?"
The little group lapsed into silence. There wasn't much else to be said.
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