Battle Report: Under The Martian Yoke - Running From Danger!

 

Here we are at game 6 out of the 10 games I wanted to play in the campaign.  Can my survivors make it out of Martian territory?  So far, it has been a rough campaign.  After early successes, things went downhill rapidly!  Now, they are battered, bruised, and dying of thirst.  Far from the plucky band of heroes they started as!  Let's see if they finally catch a break?  However, this is a horror game so don't count on it!

The group just found a new hide-out after their last one and its stash got destroyed.  They have been out of food, water, and scrap for the last two games now.  This is a make of break game, because without water people are going to die at the end of this one.

His throat was burning.  It had been a long time, and it was best not to think about it.  John limped along with the group.  He knew as much as anyone that they needed to find water, but his leg was killing him.  He was too tired to be ornery, but his body was aching.  

Luke glanced down at the map Annie had.  He didn't want to get too far away from their new hide-out.  All around them was just blank space on the map.  A whole lot of nothing and woods.  

Tommy signaled to the group, and they all crouched down.  He scooted back and reported in, "There is a shack up ahead."

"Anyone in it?" The young boy shrugged his shoulders.  

"Okay, good work.  Let's spread out and approach from the woods.  Be cautious, and don't get ahead of your boots," Luke said.

The small group approached, but before they could get inside an loot the place, things took a turn for the worst.  A Tripod reared up from the woods on the opposite side of the house.  It's war horns trilled as the sunset glinted off it's reddish hull.  In response, dogs howled nearby.  

Annie's eyes went wide, "By Christ, let's get outta here!"  Luke found his feet moving before he could respond.  

Our Survivor Band

Right now, our plucky band is 4 survivors.  I am using Copplestone Casting gangster range for the miniatures.

The back left is Handsome John.  He was a criminal archetype who ran for the hills to survive.  

Activation    Aimed    Suppression    Fight    Brawn    Brains    Nerve  Exp

5+/2                6+        3+                    4+        8+            9+        7+        5

- Cool Customer 

- Body Injury (+1 to Grit tests)

- Leg Injury (3MU Move) 

- Fear the Dark - If in a Dark Place and alone, must take a Fear test

- Pistol, Knife, Canteen of Alcohol

- Duck and Weave- Shooting attacks have a -1 TN when he has moved.

Next is Tommy Wilkins.  He is just a kid, but survived when a building fell on his family.  He managed to dig his way out.  

Activation    Aimed    Suppression    Fight    Brawn    Brains    Nerve      Exp

3+/2             9+                8+               6+          4+        7+          5+ (6+)       4

Pitter Patter of little feet, Fear of Enclosed Spaces

- Improvised Fight weapon, Satchel, Good Shoes 

- Shellshocked 

- Jump Back skill

The lady is Annie McCall is a devout believer who is struggling to process what is going on.  She was part of an ambushed evacuation, and forced to flee. 

Activation    Aimed        Suppression    Fight    Brawn    Brains    Nerve      Exp

6+/2              7+ (8+)           5+                   9+        8+          4+         3+          14

Pray, +3 Experience

- Pistol, Map, Bandages, and Knife

- Eye Injury

Finally we have Luke Goodson who is the leader of this little band of survivors.  He survived when he was suddenly knocked unconscious.

Activation    Aimed    Suppression        Fight    Brawn      Brains    Nerve    Exp

5+/2              7+           6+ (7+)                    4+       8+          9+        3+          14

Do As I Say, Do Not Be Afraid

- Knife, Flares, Empty Canteen

- Nerve Damage

- 1 Game without water

They are all suffering deprivation for two games now, making their Target Numbers even higher!  Luke managed to get water from a Canteen for 1 game, but that was empty after the last one. 

• 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)

If John, Tommy, and Annie do not get water at the end of this game, they are going to die! 

Scenario

We followed the scenario generation method in the rules.  I was very disappointed to roll up a 1, Martian Swarm!  Oh dear.  Annie has a map, and that allowed me to move it to the next higher scenario and only slightly less dangerous, the Running From Danger scenario.  These guys really need a Scavenge or Loot scenario about now!  

This scenario starts with 3 Dangers on the table.  We randomly roll up 4 Wild Dogs, a Jolter, and .....  oh man..... a Tripod!  That is not a great way to start the scenario!  This one is going to take place at dusk.  That will help reduce Line-of-sight BUT Handsome John is afraid of the Dark since a bad encounter with Black Dust. 

In addition, we rolled up 3 Green Gas Clouds that are hovering around the area.  This will make things just a bit more dangerous for our heroes.  

Set-up

This will be played on a 36 x 36 MU board with each MU equal to 1 inch. 

I used the method to place terrain outlined in the rules.  This gave me a decent mix of terrain for this board.  Hopefully, it will give my survivor's chance.  However, with the Green Gas Clouds and a Tripod to start with, things are going to be tough for turn 1!  

The Survivor's chose their deployment zone and started per the scenario, then we deployed the Martian pursuers.  In the end, the board looked like this.....

Before starting, I moved my little band up into the woods at the top of the board.  I did not want that Tripod seeing me right away!

As usual, I won't go over every turn but try to give you a high level overview of the action.  

The Game   

Our heroes creep to the edge of the woods, but stay hidden in cover.  They let the sunset and stay down to reduce Line-of-sight, before they make their move.  However, their plan is foiled as the Tripod starts heading their way.  It sees them as they are at the edge of the woods.  

With the Tripod heading their way, the survivors try to break cover and get across the trail and to the woods on the other side. However, in their deprived state they get caught up in the brush before they can get to cover, or fail to activate a second time. 

Wild Dogs swarm Annie as she tries to stumble through the shrubs!  The pack makes short work of her and she is quickly down and possibly dead! Not seeing any foes, the Jolter just leaves the area, wandering around looking for prey elsewhere.  The Martian Tripod sweeps its heat ray, but Handsome John manages to duck and weave to avoid its deadly rays.  Trees nearby explode as the moisture in them evaporates!

Handsome John manages to pass his Fear test after watching Annie go down.  He has a pack of Wild Dogs too close, so he fires at them to suppress them.  The dogs are too hungry to be scared off by his shots.  Worse, he runs out of ammunition as well.  He stumbles away from them, but probably not far enough.  

Tommy manages to get into the woods after some desperate thrashing.  He manages to hold it together, despite seeing Annie go down.  Luke moves to where he can help Handsome John if the Dogs attack! 

Of course, the dogs attack.  Luke manages to kill one.  Handsome John struggles with two more, and gets a nasty bite, but fights on.  Just a scratch!  However, the Tripod lumbers in and sweeps the area with his Heat Ray once more!  Two more dogs are killed, and the third flees from the blast.  However, Luke and John manage to avoid the exploding shrapnel and manage to just get severely banged up, but are still standing!

Tommy manages a Dynamic Action test and dashes through the woods and to safety!  Luke and Handsome John are way behind now, but manage to make it into the woods for some cover!  The Tripod can barely see them in the fading light, and fires again!  This was 1 Heat blast too many and the two go down.  

With that, my survivors involuntarily Scatter.

Post-Game Sequence

Well, Luke and Handsome John ended the game down. However, they barely manage to make their Grit tests and avoid serious injury.  That means they can scavenge!   Annie is not so lucky!  

• Annie receives a Leg wound and is reduced to 3 MU movement
• Tommy gains 6 Experience, which he banks for now

No one scouts for Martians as they need to get Water over anything else!  Thankfully, none find their new Storefront even with a -4 to the roll!  This will allow them to re-roll a Scavenge tests!  

Tommy manages to find an old scrapyard, where he finds 20 scrap, and some ammo for a pistol.  Handsome John re-loads his pistol.  Handsome John then goes out searching, but collapses from exhaustion and finds nothing.   Luke finds a pond and manages to get 4 water, and rummaging around in the storefront he finds 8 more water in a buried cistern!  

In the Deprivation stage, there are tough choices.  8 water is used to keep all of them from depriving further from water.  I then uses the last two on Tommy and Annie to get them back to down 1.  Luke and John are now down 2 each, on the edge of death.  They have enough scrap to shelter in place and avoid deprivation from scrap, and keep 8 in the stash for next time.  However, none of them have food, and are now at 3 days without.  Two more and people start to die!     

Conclusion

Cool, cool water.  He had never tasted anything so good!  He tapped his flask of alcohol, but that didn't even hold up.  He was still thirsty, but his body aches seemed to subside from it.  However, his stomach growled to remind him how far behind he was on a meal.  How much longer could they go on?  

"Look Luke, I don't know how much longer we can go?  All of us have taken a beating," John grimaced.

"What's the alternative? Lay down and die? 

Tommy shook his head aggressively.  Annie was sleeping, but she thrashed around a bit.  Tommy did his best to hold her still.  Her wounds were freshly bandaged, but those were running low too.  

"We need to keep going, our only chance is to get away from the Martians," Luke said. 

John grimaced, but kept his ill-thoughts to himself.  What if there WAS no getting away from the Martians.     

Another very tough scenario.  My group is in rough shape, and still needs to last 4 more scenarios.  Things do not look very good as they run low on food, water, and injuries are stacking up!  Can they make it?  I am not sure, but I have to start rolling better on the scenario chart!  

Until next time!   

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Battle Report: Under the Martian Yoke- Holed Up for the Day

 

It has been a while, but I wanted to revisit the solo-campaign I had started for Under the Martian Yoke.  We have been following our plucky survivors of the Martian assault.  You may recall, that in this world, the Martian Invasion of Orson Welles in 1938 was real!  The East Coast of the United States was soon devastated by the invaders.  Our unlucky band managed to survive the initial invasion and have now been left to survive in the blasted remains of the Martian controlled territory.  

Luke had heard them moving around all night long.  He and his companions had gone out into the night to search for food, water, or anything else they could use.  They had slunk out of their cozy farmhouse and went searching.  They couldn't see much in the darkness, but it seemed safer.  The Martian had been active in the area.  He had seen Tripods moving on the horizon, and heard the strange hooting of their war horns in the air.  

As dawn came, he knew they had to find some cover to hole up for the day.  It was too hot for them to be moving across country in the daylight.  They were not going to make it back to the farmhouse yet.  He had planned the route with Annie's map to take them near a speck of a civilization.  Just a little cluster of buildings on the map.  Not even a town.  

He crouched in the bushes and scanned the area.  The main building looked like a good place to hole up.  No sign of Martians, but the line-of-sight wasn't great in the early breaking dawn.  He glanced up and down the shrub line, and saw Tommy, Annie, and John all looking at him expectedly.  

He gave a big gulp, decide to try to look as confident as he could, and gave the signal to move out.

The Survivor Band

This game only allows you a band of 4 survivors.  Mine is made up of Copplestone Castings Gangster range.  They make great pre-war civilian figures for this.  

   

On the left is Handsome John.  He is a criminal archetype and survived by running for the hills when things went south.   

Activation    Aimed    Suppression    Fight    Brawn    Brains    Nerve

5+/2                6+        3+                    4+        8+            9+        7+

Cool Customer

- Pistol, Knife, Canteen of Alcohol

- Duck and Weave- Shooting attacks have a -1 TN when he has moved. 

Next is Tommy Wilkins.  He is just a kid, and survived when a building collapsed on his family.  He managed to dig his way out, but no one else did.  

Activation    Aimed    Suppression    Fight    Brawn    Brains    Nerve

3+/2             9+                8+               6+          4+        7+          5+

Pitter Patter of little feet, Fear of Enclosed Spaces

- Improvised Fight weapon, Satchel, Good Shoes

The lady is Annie.  Annie McCall is a devout believer, trying to process what exactly is going on.  She was part of an ambushed evacuation, and forced to flee.  

Activation    Aimed    Suppression    Fight    Brawn    Brains    Nerve

6+/2              7+            5+                   9+        8+          4+         3+

Pray, +3 Experience

- Pistol, Map, Bandages, and Knife

Last up is Luke Goodson, the leader of this little band of survivors.  He survived when he was suddenly knocked unconscious.  

Activation    Aimed    Suppression    Fight    Brawn    Brains    Nerve

5+/2              7+           6+                    4+       8+           9+        3+      

Do As I Say, Do Not Be Afraid

- Knife,  Canteen of Water, Flares

- Revolver is out of ammo and left at Hide-out

Scenario

The survivors left their farmhouse to go gather supplies.  However, Martian forces suddenly became active in the area and the group needed to get to cover quickly.  Using Annie's map, they found a small cluster of local buildings and made a break for it. 

There is 1 marker in the center of the board.  It is inside the tire store building.  All survivors need to be within 4 MU of the marker by the end of the game. The game also starts at a higher danger level.  

This game is happening at Dawn. 

Finally, there are 2 Green Gas clouds in the area floating around the table.  The game is starting at Danger Level 9!    

Set-up

The area is 36 by 36 MU with 1 MU equaling 1 inch. 

There are three buildings clustered around the center of the board with a road cutting diagonally across the game play area.  There are also scattered trees encroaching on from the board edge in the upper corner, and some groves near the house. 

The survivors decide to deploy along the west board edge nearest to the house.  

I am not going to go over every turn, but a high level overview of the game as it progressed.  It is too hard to play and record on a turn-by-turn basis without breaking some of the immersion and fun!  

This start out looking good for our little group of heroes.  There are no foes and they skulk their way towards the objective building. Tommy can run pretty freely, nd does so to get to the building.  However, things quickly take a turn for the worse, as a really poor Danger roll brings a Martian Black Dust launcher onto the scene!  Yikes!  

The Martian Tripod made a bee line for Tommy and tried to grapple him with its tentacles.  However, the kid was too nimble and managed to avoid them.  However, the Tripod also used its Black Dust Launcher on Annie and Luke.  They were quickly down coughing and gagging from the evil smoke.  Luke manages to pull himself to his feet.  

Tommy manages to get away from the Tripod and run for the building they are going to hole up in.  However, the door is locked!  This proves to be a deadly obstacle as the Tripods Heat Ray cuts into the area Tommy is in and sends him Unconscious and Possibly Dead.  The Tripod then scuttles over to downed Annie, and their tentacles put her to Unconscious and Possibly dead as well.  Ouch!  With Annie and Tommy down, Handsome John turns and starts running for it! 

A new Martian Shocker arrives on the opposite side of the town, and heads towards Handsome John.  The Tripod manages to see Luke over the building and hits him with a Heat Ray, he is knocked Unconscious and Possibly Dead.  He then targets Handsome John in the woods and Heat Rays him Unconscious and Possibly Dead as well.

That is a TPK from 1 Tripod!  Yikes!  Good thing they have some supplies in inventory!  The Danger Level ended at only 18- Yellow!   

Post-Game 

Thankfully, the survivors went into this game with 11 Food, 14 Water, and 2 Scrap.  They are going to need it!  

All of the Survivors went Unconscious and Possibly Dead, so they will all need to roll on the Injury table.  In addition, none of them can perform post-fame actions! 

• Tommy- Shellshock so their Nerve is +1
• Annie- Eye injury so +1 to Aimed Shoot rolls
• Luke- Nerve damage so +1 Shoot for Suppression shooting
• Handsome John- Body Injury so +1 to Grit tests

Ouch.  However, Handsome John ended the game running away, so they also suffer from a Psychological injury as well.  

• Handsome John- Fear of the Dark

Sadly, no one gains any new experience from this session.  This leaves everyone at this level:

• Handsome John- 4
• Annie McCall-  8
• Tommy Wilkins -  8
• Luke Goodson - 8

Oh dear, since they can not post any scouts, the Martians manage to locate and destroy the groups hide-out!  They loose their farmhouse and all their stash!  Oh no!   This is bad, as going into the depravation phase no one has enough food, water, or scrap!  They are all deprived!  They will each have the following effect: 

• 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)

This was a very bad outcome for our plucky band of heroes.  Can they recover next time, or are they doomed?  Only time will tell! 

Luke woke up with a start, and immediately regretted it.   His head screamed at him with a  searing flash of red across his vision.  He immediately grabbed his head.  However, the pain told him that he wasn't dead.... yet.  

He stumbled to his feet, and tripped over the great tear in the ground the Martian Heat Ray had made.  The upheaval of the earth had apparently sent him sprawling clear.  He rushed over to where he saw the ragged form of Handsome John.  A splash of water from his canteen woke him up, and he immediately groaned.  

"I don't want to go..... where am I?" then John immediately curled up and groaned.  Luke made his way to Annie, and was relieved to find her sitting up and wrapping some of her own bandages around her head.  There was a bloody mark where her left eye was.  Tommy has been buried in some rubble as the eave collapsed on him, and he frantically pulled himself out, his eyes darting.  Luke was pretty sure that if he had been completely free, the boy would have dashed off in terror, and he would never see him again.  

The small band of scarecrows managed to stumble along the edge of the road.  They had a hand on the one in fronts shoulder to guide the way.  They stumbled along, and a trip that had taken a single day the night before, took them three.  

Luke was eager to settle down in the farmhouse and pop open a can of salted pork.  They didn't have enough food with them for three days out.  His stomach was reminding him of that.  They rounded the bend in the small tree-lined road leading to their hide-out, but something was immediately amiss.  The smell of burnt wood filled the air.  

Where their old farmhouse once stood, was just a smoking crater.  A few, burned and blackened supports stuck up from a torn and soot covered earth.  The farmhouse was gone.  John let out a long, deep, guttural moan.       

Until next time! 

 

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Battle Report: Under the Martian Yoke - Searching for Scraps

 

Welcome back to my Solo campaign for the survival horror game Under the Martian Yoke.  This game is currently available on the Blood and Spectacles Wargame Vault Page.  It can be played solo, co-op, or Versus and any combination in-between!   

Under the Martian Yoke is set after Orson Welles' broadcast of War of the Worlds.  In this game, this was no hoax; but an actual news broadcast.  The Martian invasion has laid waste to the East Coast of the United States, and only a handful of survivors are left.  It is up to them to make it back to survive as long as they can!  If they survive long enough, they might escape out from Under the Martian Yoke!

Annie looked up from the tattered and worn Bible she had found in the farmhouse.  She and her fellow survivors had been using the place as a hide-out, its inhabitants long gone.  Where they ended up, was anyone's guess?  Perhaps they had been vaporized by a heat ray, choked to death on Black Dust, dissolved by Green Gas, or perhaps they were still out there somewhere hungry and thirsty?  

"We still got some canned peaches from Shyville if your hungry?" 

Annie had found Luke hiding here in the Farmhouse when she and Tommy stumbled across it.  Luke hadn't been alone.  Some slick wily named John was here with him.  Luke seemed the decent sort, but she did not trust John as far as she could throw him.  The good book had warned her about people like John.   

Annie reached out and took the can from Luke's hand.  The labelled was faded, and partially torn off.  On the front was a drawing of a happy housewife grinning like a fool and holding aloft a Georgia peach.  Annie pulled out a can opener from her apron, and with a newly practiced ease tore into the can.  

John wandered into the room, "Maybe we should head back to Shyville and see if we can find more supplies?  Your gun's still out of ammo Luke?" 

"Yup.  Shyville's too red though." 

"Huh. Well, there has to be somewhere else we can get some eats?" 

Timmy's little voice squeaked up, "I was lookin' for Martians and I saw another farmhouse out yonder,  Not too far.  Maybe there?" 

"We could scoot out there and back in no time.  Maybe they got some ammo for ya' Luke?"

"I reckon' so." 

Annie nodded along.  She wanted to stay put, hide, and take comfort in prayer.  However, what she wanted was no longer important.  They had to keep food, water, and supplies up.  Unlike the Israelites, she did not expect Mana to appear from the heavens to sustain them.... not unless it was canned.  

Survivor Band

In today's battle we have the following 4 survivors.  All survivor bands start with only 4 members.  Most humans were killed or horribly injured in the initial Martian assault, so small bands of survivors are all that is left.   

On the left is Handsome John.  He is a criminal archetype and survived by running for the hills when things went south.   

Activation    Aimed    Suppression    Fight    Brawn    Brains    Nerve

5+/2                6+        3+                    4+        8+            9+        7+

Cool Customer

- Pistol, Knife, Canteen of Alcohol

- Duck and Weave- Shooting attacks have a -1 TN when he has moved. 

Next is Tommy Wilkins.  He is just a kid, and survived when a building collapsed on his family.  He managed to dig his way out, but no one else did.  

Activation    Aimed    Suppression    Fight    Brawn    Brains    Nerve

3+/2             9+                8+               6+          4+        7+          5+

Pitter Patter of little feet, Fear of Enclosed Spaces

- Improvised Fight weapon, Satchel, Good Shoes

The lady is Annie.  Annie McCall is a devout believer, trying to process what exactly is going on.  She was part of an ambushed evacuation, and forced to flee.  

Activation    Aimed    Suppression    Fight    Brawn    Brains    Nerve

6+/2              7+            5+                   9+        8+          4+         3+

Pray, +3 Experience

- Pistol, Map, Bandages, and Knife

Last up is Luke Goodson, the leader of this little band of survivors.  He survived when he was suddenly knocked unconscious.  

Activation    Aimed    Suppression    Fight    Brawn    Brains    Nerve

5+/2              7+           6+                    4+       8+           9+        3+      

Do As I Say, Do Not Be Afraid

- Knife,  Canteen of Water, Flares

- Revolver is out of ammo and left at Hide-out

Scenario

The survivors were able to see another farmhouse in the distance that they could walk to easily.  Hopefully, their would be some scraps left over, but they might also be Martian traps.  

This scenario has 5 loot markers randomly placed on the board.  When a survivor picks up a marker, you roll a 10.  On an even it is Loot that can be picked up.  On an Odd it is a Martian Trap!  A Trap brings on a Martian foe within 6 MU.  

The objective is to gather as much loot as you can before you are forced to scatter, all go unconscious and possibly dead, or the danger level gets too high.  

Set-up

The area to be searched for scraps is a lone farmhouse at the end of a dusty roadway.  Next to it is a weed choked ruined out-building.  There is a nearby dying field, and a barren orchard.  There is also a small pond in the area.  There are 5 loot markers scattered randomly from the center of the board.  

The board itself is 36MU by 36MU.  1 MU equals 1 inch in today's scenario.  There are no Martian foes starting on the board.  The survivors decide to deploy on the west side, near the destroyed out-building.  Annie and Tommy stick together, while John and Luke stay together on the opposite corner.  They start 6 MU in from the deployment edge.   

The group also decided to set off just before dusk, and arrive at their destination at dusk.  However, poor timing also means that bad weather has rolled into town with wind, rain, and thunder.  This automatically starts the danger at 11! That stinks! 

Turn 1 - Danger 11 Yellow

Annie skulks across the gap between the out-building and the house, and takes some cover.  Tommy gets to the edge, and tries to activate again to run, but fails! That Yellow Danger level starting strikes! Handsome John moves to a corner and covers one of the markers with his pistol.  Luke runs ahead, and then tries to activate again.  He barely succeeds and grabs the first loot marker.  It is a 3, so real loot and not a Martian monster! 

Danger Phase:

The current Danger Score is 13, and the dice roll for new dangers comes up 22.  No new threats yet!  

End Phase: 

None

Turn 2- Danger 13 Yellow

The sun is beginning to set now, and Line-of-Sight is reduced to 30 MU.  

Luke runs across to the road, and tries to pick-up another loot marker.  It is Even, so this time it is a Martian Trap!  A Gunner unburies itself from near the pond!  

Handsome John sees it dig it's way out and must make a Fear test!  He barely passes, and decides to take careful aim.  He knows he needs to shoot to kill that monstrosity!  However, he fails his second activation test instead of firing.  His fear got to him! 

Tommy makes a run for another loot marker, but fails his second activation test to try and get to it!  That is very unlike him. 

Annie moves onto the porch of the house, trying to get an angle on the new foe while covering Tommy.  She has line-of-sight, but decides not to risk a second activation this time.  

Danger:

The Gunner mindlessly fires at Luke, and the survivor fails his suppression test!  He immediately drops prone to avoid getting hit further!  He is suppressed by the shooting.  

The Danger Level is 15, and the dice roll is 8.  A new danger arrives!  This time, a Rabid arrives on the board.  It starts heading towards Handsome John, unconcerned about the pond between them.  

End: 

Luke decides it is time to Get UP!  He passes his fear test and gets to his feet.  

The criteria for a Scatter are not met.... yet! 

Turn 3 - Yellow 15

This time Line-of-sight is 24 MU as the sun sets! 

Handsome John aims and tries to fire again.  He fails again! 

Tommy moves up and grabs some loot, and the roll is a 3.  It is real loot!  This time, he passes his second activation and runs for the board edge! 

Luke skulks towards the last loot marker, but fails to get to it.  He tries to activate again, but fails! 

Annie takes careful aim, and fires on the Gunner, but misses.  

Danger: 

The Rabid tries to make a Dynamic action test to get across the pond, but fails. 

The Gunner sees Luke up and moving, and fires again at the target.  This time the shots go wide enough where Luke is unphased.  

The Danger level is at 18, and the dice come up....16.  More Martian menaces appear! Three wild dogs appear by the edge of the field and begin to move towards the house Annie is at.

End: 

Scatter is not triggered. 

Turn 4- Danger 18- Yellow

The sun is setting fast, and the Line-of-sight is only 18 now. 

Luke grabs the last loot marker, but it is another Martian trap! This time a Butcher digs its way out of the ground!  

Handsome John just starts shooting!  It isn't quite enough to take down the Gunner by overflowing pins to damage.  Both his activations have been spent.  

Tommy manages to run off the board with his loot.  

Annie moves to follow Tommy, but fails to activate for her second activation.  

Danger:

The Danger Level is at 20, but the dice come up 24!  A short reprieve! 

The Gunner fires on Luke, who is forced to duck down, but avoids being suppressed.  Good thing as that Butcher would have probably caught up to him if he had been pinned! 

The Rabid passes its Dynamic movement test and wades across the pond towards Handsome John.  

The wild dogs charge recklessly towards Annie, while the Butcher slowly shambles towards Luke.  

End: 

The survivors can choose to scatter if they wish.  However, there is a chance they will lose the Loot that Luke has.  There is no more Loot on the board, so the Humans decide now is a good time to Scatter! 

Luke drops his loot as he high tails it away!  

Conclusion: 

Our plucky band of survivors managed to fall back through the wind, the rain, and the ensuing darkness to get under cover at their farmhouse.  No injuries again. 

Wow, there were a lot of bad guys out there.  I managed to escape just before things got serious.  My shooting was completely ineffective, but thankfully so was their shooting.  Luke got the worst of it, but thanks to his high Nerve ability managed to weather most of it and escape.  I was lucky no one got hurt or suppressed so I have the full crew for post-game procedures.   

Post- Game Sequence: 

Luckily, all my survivors managed to make it out of there alive, unharmed, and unsuppressed.  That means no Psychological or Serious Injury this time.  However, Timmy got off the board with 1 Loot, so let's see what it was: 

- 4 Food

- 3 Water 

That will help us keep our stash up! 

Experience looks like this:

Handsome John- 3 + 1 = 4

Annie McCall- 7 + 1 = 8

Tommy Wilkins - 4 + 4 = 8

Luke Goodson - 7 + 1 = 8

No upgrades this time.  We barely got out of there alive, and didn't get to do much else.  

That leads to the survivors assigning jobs for the post-game.  Tommy will scout for Martians, John and Annie will go scavenge, and Luke will try to Repair his pistol.  

The bad weather and darkness seem to have thrown the Martians off the trail.  The Farmhouse is secure.  Meanwhile, Luke tries to fix his revolver but it is beyond his ability.  In retrospect, I should of had someone with a better Brains stat try this, and sent Luke scouting. 

Annie finds a dark hole beneath a wrecked garage.  She steals herself and lowers herself into the hole, and finds a old hidey hole for bootleggers!  It has a variety of items stored inside including: 

- 7 Food

- 9 Water

- 2 Scrap

- Extra Ammo for her Pistol

John comes across the twisted remains of a burned out tank and a barricade, the last stand of some soldiers.  They are no where to be found.  A distant clank causes terror to fill John, as he imagines a Martian tripod closing in.  He grabs what he can and runs for it, gathering up only 1 useful piece of scrap.  

The band goes into the Depravation stage with a decent amount of stash and gear.  To keep the band away from depravation they need 8 food, 8 water, and 4 scrap.  Thankfully, they have what they need to keep going.  When all is said and done their stash is:   

 

- 11 Food

- 14 Water

- 2 Scrap

They are in pretty good shape, as long as no one gets hurt, they should be set for a few more days. They are still down a revolver that they failed to replace.  

Thunder shook the house.  Annie bolted up, but caught herself before she screamed.  Terrible visions flashed in her head, but she shook them clear.  

She looked around the darkened room.  She was not alone.  Luke was there, sawing logs and blissfully unaware of the storm.  Tommy was also curled up under a make-shift blanket made from an old sack.  It had taken Annie two hours to calm him enough to sleep.  

John was sitting at the small table across the room.  He had his pistol in his hand, and Annie could see him visibly shaking.  She slowly got up and took a few tentative steps towards him, clearly in his line of sight. 

"John?" 

He did not respond.  Annie closed the distance over what felt like an hour, slowly putting one foot in front of the next.  In an instant that took a lifetime, she was at the table.  Carefully, she placed her hand over John's.  It was sweaty and cold.  At this distance, she could see perspiration beaded across his forehead.  

"It's okay John.  Everything is fine.  Just a storm." 

She slowly and carefully slipped his hand off the grip of his gun.  With effort, he slowly turned his head at her.  In the darkness, a pale moon beam shone through a boarded up window, and gleamed off his teeth, as his lips slowly curled into a rictus grin. Thunder shook the room.  

"Annie?" 

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