Street Gangs Defend Their Turf at Drums 2024

    The Eastmoor Kings look back from the bridge onto the streets they've just fought their way through

I ran my Mean Streets gang warfare game twice at this weekend's Drums at the Rapids convention at Fort Meigs in Perrysburg, OH. I couldn't have had two more different games. In the first, I joked with the players that it seemed I was running a game of Gaslands. Nearly all the gangs decided to carjack vehicles and use them to try to run down rival gang members. It has happened from time to time in the past, but never on the scale as in this game! I'm definitely going to have come up with more detailed rules for vehicles than the off-the-cuff die rolls I've been using to gauge player's success. In the second game, I left most of the vehicles off the table and it was a more standard street rumble.

    "Come on, guys! Let's steal a car and drive to the bridge..." Tyrese comes up with a plan

 

    Players gathered around the table on Friday -- both of the games were full & everyone had fun

The scenario is a nod to the 45th anniversary of the release of the movie, The Warriors, which is my inspiration for the game. My Eastmoor Kings stand in for the role of the Warriors, and have been lured to a bogus parley with other gangs. When no one else shows up, they have to hoof it home, and know they're in for a fight crossing the turf of rival gangs. The game is set for six players -- two controlling the Kings and four controlling a gang each that has their own agendas but are not happy with the arrival of a new gang on their turf!

    The Kings enter the tabletop and immediately see their first obstacle: the Indianola Mohawks

    And on the other side of the street, the creepy clown gang awaits - the Franklinton Flippos

 Each player controlled five gang members -- a Gang Boss (the toughest dude), Warchief, and three punks. I standardized the traits that each gang member possessed. In the first running of the scenario at Cincycon 2024, I gave the Kings one more gang member and more traits. I was worried that the other four would call a truce and pounce on them. In three runnings, that has yet to happen -- even when the four other players ostensibly agree to a truce. Someone is always unable to resist punching a rival gang member!

    On the far side of the board near the bridge, the Santanas and the Linden Daos begin to rumble

 

    On Friday, Mohawks boss Sid has a solution for the invasion -- steal a truck and run them down!

 Kings boss Tyrese at the wheel has an answer to Sid's tactics -- ram his truck and pin it against a wall!

I think in future runnings of the game I need to dwell more on explaining the traits that each gang member has. Each leader has a powerful one, whether Blackbelt (can do one attack per action), Intimidate (can spend an action to make rival gang members -1 or their own +1), or Scary Mutha (punks and Warchiefs have to test morale to enter melee). The only ability that came into play during both games was Blackbelt. So, I either have to take the time to explain the traits more, or standardize it further for convention games and just give all the leaders that trait. The game felt more balanced this time with all players have more similar forces.

    The Daos send their warchief Juanita and a punk to steal some smokes from Mohawk turf

    Saturday's players try to choose between the many objectives I presented them with in this scenario

Both games moved very quickly with six players and were completed it under three hours. To me, that is the gold standard for a convention game. The days of me wanting to play (or GM) an eight hour game are long since passed. I don't mind a four hour game, but ideally if it can normally be completed it three, you have a little insurance against slower players that could cause you not to finish. I think it takes an active GM, though, to ensure this for Mean Streets. The sequence of play sees gangs dicing for initiative, and then moving all of their figures when it is their turn. Waiting for five other players to finish before it is your turn could make it slow, but I keep an eye on who's next up in the order. If they're not going to affect the currently moving faction then I have them get started. This tends to move things along a lot quicker.

    The fighting begins as the trespassing Kings, tagging as they go, begin to be met by defending gangs

    The Mohawks & Flippos begin to swarm the stragglers at the end of the Kings column

The goal of the Kings was relatively simple. They were to cross the 5' length of the board and get onto the bridge at the far end of the table. The surviving gang members are to board the bus and once on board, are safely on their way home to their turf. They are encouraged to "tag" buildings and let folks know they were there. They are also admonished not to back down from a fight and run like a bunch of sissies. The other four gangs are encouraged to punish the Kings for trespassing on their turf. However, each also had a secret mission, such as to steal some beer or snacks for tonight's party. In addition, each gang owed "payback" on another rival gang. Everyone gets points for knocking out members of rival gangs, but each of the other four got bonus points for taking out a specified rival.  All gangs get points for tagging buildings in their rival's turf (who then lose points for having their turf tagged by an opponent). 

    "Keep moving!" Warchief Archie shouts as the Kings cross the street into the central intersection

    Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide! The Kings begin to fight their way through the city streets

All of the various victory conditions add up to a game that is more chaotic and free wheeling than a simple 2 vs. 4 that it might be otherwise. In our first carjacking-heavy game, the clown-masked Franklinton Flippos came out on top. Had we played for an extra 45 minutes, it was very likely the Kings would have done much better than their last place finish. Five of them were in a stolen car and headed towards the bridge. The cops were on the table and would be in pursuit. In addition, the Santanas and Daos were waiting for the arrival of the Kings, smacking their fists in anticipation of a beat-down on the newcomers. All of the other gangs (and the police) did a great job of slowing the Kings down so that -- at game's end -- none were on the bridge waiting for the bus.

    On Friday night, the Kings attempt to drive across the table is cut off by the arrival of the police

 

    Meanwhile, the Daos-Mohawks rumble in the alley behind the hotel gets more and more bloody

Speaking of the police, what I do at a convention is to have any player who's been reduced to a single figure or less take control of a police car next turn. It arrives with two cops (who count as Warchiefs), and the player can choose which street table edge it arrives on. That allows them to exact a little revenge on the gang that beat them down or frustrate the intentions of any front runners. Friday's nights cops, controlled by the Daos player, arrived just in time to cut off the two vehicles loaded with Kings that were attempting to enter the intersection in the center of the table. The Kings tried ramming the police car, but the driver locked the wheels down with his brakes and they were unable to move it. His partner got out and shot the driver of one of the Kings vehicles, knocking him out of action (it would go on the police report as "self-defense"...after all, it WAS attempted vehicular homicide, wasn't it?). 

    It wouldn't take long before rivalries resurface and the neighbor Mohawks & Flippos trade punches

    Once the Kings had cleared out, the rumble between the Flippos and Mohawks raged on

In the second game, no cars were jacked and the Kings looked like they would be allowed to pass through the gauntlet of the Flippos and Indianola Mohawks unmolested. However, as soon as the bulk of the Kings passed by, those two gangs pounced on the rear of the column. A furious melee ensued with four gangs pounding on each other in the streets. When there was a pause in the fighting, and the two Kings factions won initiative to move first and second, they decided to sprint across the center of the board, unfortunately leaving one or two of their gang members behind who were locked in melee. At the other end of the board where they were headed, the Santanas and the Daos had been clobbering each other from the start of the game. Each sent an end run of their warchief and a punk to accomplish their side missions, but that meant when the Kings did arrive, they were in no shape to contest their passage.

        With cars trying to run people down, Cruz of the Santanas picks a safe spot to guard his turf

    Meanwhile, Kira of the Mohawks sprints around the table tagging buildings in rival turf

I could have given one of the two a police car to even things up. However, they hadn't lost that many gang members. The Daos were down to three, and the Santanas had four. So, technically they hadn't been beat down enough to qualify. At the start of Saturday's game, I thought for sure the Mohawks would be first to be given a police car. Abbi, who was controlling them, ended up fighting all five of the other gangs at one point in the game. By turn two, she was fighting against both Kings players, the Flippos, and the Daos. However, at the end of the game, I was shocked to see she hadn't lost a single gang member!

    It's a long way from the far end of the board to the bridge...will the Kings make it there?

    "Hurry! The bus is coming!" On Saturday, Kings make it to the bridge for the first time in 3 games!

The winner in Saturday's game was the Eastmoor Kings. I take each of the Kings players victory points, add them together, then divide by two. With getting roughly three quarters of the combined gang onto the bridge, that gave them enough to score 13 points. However, both the Flippos and Mohawks scored 12 each. So, it was a narrow victory. Their tactic of pouncing on the King's column while knocking out a good handful of rival gang members brought them very close to victory. It was a chaotic, fun game, with all six players involved in the fighting. The winning Kings had to make some tough choices, but correctly kept the bulk of their gang moving so that they could reach the bridge. It was actually the first time in three games that any Kings members actually made it to the bridge!

    Early in Friday's game, Delroy leads the Kings onto the board "Just remember - act like Kings!"

    Warchief Iggy and Gang Boss Sid of the Mohawks would be in for a busy weekend...!

My game filled up both Friday and Saturday, and my players all seemed to have a good time. In fact, two of my Saturday players were repeats. They had such a good time Friday evening that they wanted to try it again controlling different gangs. Everyone had their successes, and no one took it on the chin so much that they might have become discouraged with the game. I'm definitely calling the scenario a success, and look forward to running it again this June in Columbus at Origins Game Fair. I will run it six times over the course of the con, twice on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in the mornings and evenings. 

    Players had a great time in both games - so much so that two showed up again the next day to play

Interestingly, the inspiration for the scenario -- the Warriors trying to make it back to their home turf after a gang parley gone wrong -- was also being run in Portland, Maine, this very same weekend. Another big fan of The Warriors (Cat O'Mighty on Facebook) has built a New York City setting for a very similar scenario. She has painted up many of the gangs from the movie, including the Warriors, Orphans, Riffs, etc. I am looking forward to her after-action report on her games from the Huzzah convention and will come back and post the link here when she publishes it. 

Here is her AAR on Lead Adventure Forum - check it out!

    Meanwhile, in Maine, another group was playing Mean Streets in an amazing NYC layout

Between our two games, The Warriors was definitely honored this weekend. I look forward to adding a couple more wrinkles to my games at Origins. So, if you want to "come out and play," you know where to find a good rumble!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 67

More Zombies and Urban Scatter

 

   Some 3-D printed zombies pick through scatter from my Terrain Crate uber box - Campbell Heights

Since painting the first batch of 3-D printed zombies recently, I thought I may as well do a second batch while how I did them was fresh in my memory. They are the same 10 poses as before, but I tried my best to change the colors so that they weren't identical. Also featured in this entry are a handful of urban scatter that I picked up at a flea market a year and a half ago. They are from the Mantic Games Terrain Crate line. I had been wanting to get them ready for the tabletop for months, and finally got around to prepping them a few weeks ago.

    Flea market purchase 'Campbell Heights' Terrain Crate contains tons of modern scatter!

All the pieces are from the Campbell Heights mega box that I bought from my friend Bryan's flea market table. The huge box contains the Crystal Peaks Camp, Abandoned Office, Two Trees Mall, and Survivor's Stronghold boxes. After picking it up and looking through it, I remarked that I should be set for quite awhile on scatter! If you're looking for similar things, Terrain Crate items are available in just about every hobby store, nowadays. They're made of hard plastic and I feel they paint up nicely. With this batch, I wanted pieces that I could use as location markers where players might find salvage in either my post-apocalyptic campaign that I've been running or upcoming County Road Z games.

    Piles of boxes, crates, and picnic items were just some of the many things I picked up to paint up

With both the scatter and the 3-D zombies, I spray painted them black first with Krylon Fusion matte primer. I followed that up with a 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and water. Especially on lighter shades, the black shows through a bit, and has the overall effect of "toning down" the colors. I like how this gives it a bit of a dirty, abandoned look. All of the pieces received a dark black (or for a couple, brown) wash to dirty them up even more. I'd picked out the pieces from the mega box that I thought worked well for piles of potential salvage, or pieces that will look good in a variety of modern-esque games.

    I thought the small propane tank and trash bin were clever items, so were definitely ones I picked out

I'd already picked through the set last August for the really small pieces of scatter, such as backpacks, med kits, briefcases, and small boxes of canned goods, etc. I don't think I ever did a post including them, so I found the pictures I took and am including one of them here. I wanted them for my post-apocalyptic campaign, pieces that I could set up next to the figure who had grabbed them. I particularly like the backpacks and the briefcases/medkits.

    The smallest scatter from the Campbell Heights box that I picked out and painted last August

When figuring out how to paint some of the various items, I reverted to what I currently own or have owned. The large cooler was painted blue and white (just like the one in my basement, now). The tackle box atop the styrofoam cooler was green and tan like one I have somewhere around here. Of course, the gasoline can was red.

    I actually have a large cooler like the blue and white one and a tackle box like the green and tan one

All of the pieces of scatter were glued down on various round or rectangular bases I had laying around. Some were plastic, some MDF, and others birch wood discs I pick up at craft stores. I flocked them like I have been doing the zombies, though without the added details. I chose bases so each piece of scatter barely fit on it -- mostly to give me something to hold onto while painting. I think the mixed gray ballast with a black wash over it looks fine, and blends into the tabletop.

    Boxes and crates were easy to paint -- I added scribbles as writing on the paper labels

Probably the easiest to paint up were the cardboard boxes. I used a darker tan with a dry brush and wash. I painted the paper labels affixed to the boxes a bone color and used a black Micron pen to add scribbles to simulate writing. I was tempted to add Amazon swooshes but figured Billionaire Bezos didn't need any more advertising from me...ha, ha! Plus, that would "date" the boxes and I wanted this modern scatter to be as generic as possible. The wooden crates were easy, as well, and I followed my usual wood recipe for base coat, dry brush, and highlight (followed by a black wash).

    Close up of the 'picnic' scatter, along with a tumbled cooler and the gas tank and rubbish bin

I found that the more colors involved in painting up the scatter, naturally the more time they took. The tumbled small cooler probably took the most time of any of the pieces. I wanted to paint all the different packages a jumble of colors so that it actually looked like things from a grocery store shelf. The wicker box with the preset picnic is fairly unrealistic, of course. All the food would have long since rotted away in most of the game settings. It looked fun, though. So, I painted it up as if just set up and the picnickers had stepped away for a moment.

    The pile of duffel bags & cooler in the middle were nice, I thought - perfect scavenge material

The ultimate goal of painting up this scatter was to use as objective markers in my post-apocalyptic or County Road Z games. To that end, I really liked the pile of duffel bags and cooler, above. It was the last piece in this batch and unfortunately I feel I was rushing it to get done. The straps could have been done a little better, I think, and given some highlighting in a lighter blue. Oh well -- considering how much attention they'll actually get on the tabletop, that's probably not something to beat myself up over!

    Do you dare risk fighting the zombies to pick up this freshly-painted, Mantic Games scatter?

I am going to take a break from scatter and zombies for my next batch. I'm not 100% sure what it will be. Likely choices include painting two Saga warlord stands to donate as prizes for the upcoming Origins tournament. Another possibility is begin working on the vehicles my players will be using for their County Road Z "road trip" across America. With this batch of zombies, I am now back in the "plus" side of Painted Miniatures vs. Purchased. Woo-hoo! And that's not even counting scatter terrain or similar things...!

    The scatter will be used in more than just post-apocalyptic games - it will work for any modern ones

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 67

Civil War Ironclads? We're Playing Ironclads??

    A river naval action during the American Civil War with Keith's big scale ships

The American Civil War is not one of our Sunday night group's major gaming periods. I just did a scan of the more than 10 years I've been updating this blog and there are no ACW entries. Well, I guess there's a first time for everything! My friend Keith -- He Who Collects Everything -- had some really cool ACW naval ships in a really large scale. I didn't ask which, but you can tell from the pictures they're pretty big.

    Our gaming group gathers on another Sunday evening for something different -- ACW ironclads!

Keith offered to run a naval engagement for us this past Sunday evening. No one had anything they were all-fired up to do, so we accepted. Each of us would control one ship, with the ostensible idea that the Confederates were trying to break through a Union blockade on a deep section of river. Mike S, Allen, and I were the Confederates, while Joel, Mike twoW, and Keith each captained a Union ship. Keith had assembled a variety of vessels -- probably more to see how they all performed rather than to follow any actual historical engagement. None of us had any problem with that, though I would see that the ships were definitely not balanced in firepower or effectiveness.

    Allen's ship, the CSS Arkansas, that would fire the fatal shot that turned the tide

Of course, Keith couldn't be blamed -- it was his first time running the rules. He was trying out a set that was a mix between simple (my type) and "crunchy" (our friend Andy's preferance, who alas, could not make it). He was using Beer and Pretzels Ironclads, written by John R. "Buck" Surdu and Michael Miller back in 2000. As the name suggests, these are intended to be a easy set to play with the emphasis on a fun, quick game rather than detailed simulation. Keith had printed out the Quick Reference Sheets and turning arc templates. It took us a few minutes of looking at the chart to get the gist of how everything worked. Once we had the basics, Keith had us deploy our ships and set sail...er, steam!

    Capt. Mike W adroitly maneuvers his ship to bring his loaded broadsides to bear using the template

Of course, Keith decided to bolt on the Wiley Games card rules for determining which ships moved in which order. Joel did him one better and dealt two cards out per player, rather than one per ship. He said this would give us some tactical choice or decisions to make, and I applauded his improvisation. I was in charge of a cotton bale ram -- or something like that! Civil War has never been my interest, and ACW naval probably even less so. It turned out to be far and away the weakest ship of the six. It had "Light" armor (everyone else had Heavy or Very Heavy for the ironclads) and had only a single, forward firing gun. The Union's Essex, by contrast, had two guns firing forward, two astern, and four guns on each port and starboard. I was outgunned by 10-to-1 by that ship alone!

    Our Confederate ironclad, which we renamed the CSS Molasses (instead of Manassas)

My ship's chief weapon was supposed to be my ram. In fact, it turned out to be my only weapon as the first long-range shot by Keith's ship took out my only gun. The problem was that I had to close the distance sailing a max of 9" of turn when guns had a range of 30" or more. I urged my fellow captains to stay relatively abreast of each other so that no one got too far ahead and pounded individually before the others arrived. We advanced at the speed of our slowest ship, at first. However, once I lost my gun, I went full steam ahead so that I could hopefully strike home before I was pounded to matchsticks, cotton balls, and dog-paddling Billy-Ray Bobs!

    My own CSS Cottonball paddling furiously to get into ramming range before being sunk

Keith's ship and Mike W's Essex were doing a masterful job of reducing me to floating puffs of cotton, dealing out solid damage with every shot. Mike proved himself a commendable captain, adeptly turning to present his loaded broadsides while the other was reloading. As I crunchily marked off my hull boxes (and somewhere Andy was doubtless smiling), I began to doubt that I would make it there to ram. Finally, I steamed to within one move of Keith's ship which was showing me its broadside (the only viable target for my ram). Now, all I need would be to move before him on the card pulls. Nope! Keith's card was one higher, squeaked out of my range, and I would have to endure another turn of pounding before trying again. Fortunately, both Mike's monitor and Allen's ironclad were closing in, as well, and drawing some fire. 

    "Almost there, Captain...!" The CSS Cottonball, holed and battered, nearing its target

I survived all they threw at me that turn and got another chance of getting to hit Keith broadside. This time, my card was one higher than his, and the CSS Cottonball struck home. I had a 50-50 chance of hitting him and rolled an 11 (I needed an 11-20 on 1d20). Yee-haw!! I rolled 4d6 and did 13 damage -- a tad under average, but Keith seemed impressed as it was his turn to crunchily mark off hull boxes. My ship was down to less than 10% of its hull boxes -- not much more than a slowly moving bales of cotton being pushed by a shattered paddle wheel. The next good hit would sink her.

    Boom! The Cottonball's ram strikes home and does 13 hull damage to the Union ironclad

Meanwhile, Mike W's Essex was enjoying the flurry of broadsides he unleashed upon us hapless Confederates. Allen finally got a decent shot at him, though, and rolled his dice, getting one hit. He rolled the d20 for damage and rolled a 20 -- critical hit! That pounded the Essex for 5 hull boxes, a gun, and crew (I think) and, most importantly, a roll on the critical hit chart. Allen rolled a "17." We scanned down the unfamiliar chart and laughed. "Magazine hit - ship explodes and sinks immediately"!!! The game turned in that moment. The Union's toughest ship had been erased with one roll of the dice. The Essex's captain seemed quite crestfallen. He had been pounding away and winning the game for his side with each turn.

    The USS Essex explodes due to a magazine hit as Allen's run of luck continues in our games

We gamed out another turn (which saw the CSS Cottonball sinking, too), but decided to spitball the rest of the game. Keith felt that Mike S's monitor would doubtless sink his own once-rammed and battered ship. He contended that Joel would sink Allen's damaged ship, though I wasn't so sure. Most of the damage Allen had suffered was at the hands of the Essex -- not Joel's monitor. And there was that "Don't kill your brother" admonishment from Allen's wife before they departed for gaming to contend with, as well. Still, Keith called it a draw and he was GM. What do I really know about ironclad warfare, anyway? 

    Keith checks the rules to see if it is worth it for the Cottonball's crew to board his ship...NOPE!

Well, I DO know one thing. Next time we do it, if we do, I am NOT going to command a cotton bale ram! Thanks to Keith for setting up the game and letting us play with his very cool, big ships. And thank you, Allen, for saving us with another of your fantastic die rolls -- yee-haw!! The South will rise again, but alas, I think the Cottonball is a goner!

    Joel's Union monitor which alternated every turn firing one of its two guns, but did little damage

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 57

Chopper Down...Salvage!! Post-Apoc Scenario

    One of the many 'bad guys' that showed up to attack the players -- a Machine Patrol bot

I'd been waiting for an available Sunday evening to run the sixth scenario of our post-apocalyptic campaign. After the cooperative game of "Where the Dark Things Gather," this would be a competitive one. In the beginning, players were avoiding shooting each other. Eventually, though, they got into the spirit of it and began blazing away at each other around the smouldering, downed helicopter. The back story was that their survivor gang had seen a military chopper go down but with no resulting explosion. They surmised the pilot must have auto-rotated a soft enough landing, which meant one thing: available salvage!

    The players map out their routes towards the downed chopper in the middle of the board

Only four of my players were available, so I sat out and GM'd the affair. Each started in their respective corner back edge and began moving towards the center of the board where my recently-constructed downed chopper terrain piece was placed. I had six potential salvage spots, two on the helicopter's base and four flung out 10" in each of the the cardinal directions. The center spot was an intersection in a heavily damaged section of a city. Wrecked vehicles blocked sight lines along the roads leading to the chopper. The rest of the board was filled with my ruined buildings and urban scatter that I have been working steadily on now for a couple years.

    The view from my end of the table with the Bass Reeves on the left and the Bucknuts the right

The players were unaware that I had increased the chance of arrival of wandering "bad guys." Normally, after each 10% casualties on the board, something appears -- usually a Machines Scout Bot. As each
subsequent 10% level is reached, they go up to a Patrol Bot, then Military Bot, and (maybe one day) Destroyer Bot. I gave a 50/50 chance that the Scout Bot would be an aerial drone instead. Same stats, but flying. I also gave a 50/50 chance it would be a ground creature drawn by the noise of the gunfire. I had my giant rats (ROUS's - Rodents Of Unusual Size) and feral dogs out, but only the rats arrived other than machines. At one point, I had four bad guys on the board, but it was usually just one or two at a time. In addition, before the 10% casualty level was reached, I gave a 20% chance a bad guy would show up.

    As the Followers of the Dark Prophet were sneaking forward, a Scout Drone appeared in their rear

A new innovation this time (that I will likely continue using), was that I had the players "roll off" to see whose sector the bad guy showed up in. Low roller got the creature or machine. Everyone except Joel had a bad guy show up in their sector. Some of them did no damage to the players -- the Bass Reeves killed the ROUS with a shotgun blast after its first move couldn't contact one of their survivors. Others suffered heavily. The lethal Bucknuts lost two of their four men to a rabid ROUS. Allen's Followers of the Dark Prophet had two guys wounded and downed, but each time luckily drew an Ace or Queen of Hearts next turn to recover.

    Brutus & Jackie of the Bucknuts use the available cover of vehicle wrecks to close in on the chopper

On the section of the board closest to me, the Bucknuts and Bass Reeves deployed opposite each other. They did not advance forward, but both began to shift laterally towards the center. The Bucknuts were the first to dash someone forward to snag salvage that had been flung from the wreck. The Bass Reeves sent Dreadz climbing up the tall, corner ruin to obtain a great sniper spot. He held off on shooting any of the rival survivors until the Bass Reeves were attacked first. Dreadz was also lucky to move early in the turn, when he began his climb. Shortly after he scrambled up a couple levels, a ROUS appeared well within range of where he'd been standing. Frustrated by the disappearance of the human it had (apparently) been stalking, it charged across to the gang's leader, Big Bass. Hearing it skittering towards him, but coming up short, Big Bass stepped around the corner of a building and blasted it with his shotgun. It gave a squeal and went down for good, relegated from a threat to rat burgers with one shot!

    The Bass Reeves stalk laterally through the ruins, using the walls of buildings as cover

Across from the Bass Reeves, firing broke out as the Followers of the Dark Prophet reacted to the sudden appearance of a Scout Drone Bot from behind them. It whirred forward and blasted away, wounding one of the dark-robed survivors. The remaining three members whirled round and blasted away at the drone, Eventually, Dafyd hit a vital spot on the machine and it dropped to the ground. More salvage! Across from Allen's troops, his brother Joels' F Troop was taking advantage of the distraction provided by the drone to advance closer to the smouldering wreck. No signs could be seen of any survivors. Had they escaped on foot, or had the rats gotten to them? No one was sure, but their looked to be all kinds of things to loot from the helicopter -- ammunition boxes, rations, medical kits, and electronic components.

    The Scout Drone is no match for the firepower of the Followers of the Dark Prophet!

At this point, the lure of avarice took over. The survivor gangs ended their unspoken truce and began firing at each other. Ironically, it was Joel's F Troop who fired the first shot -- at his brother! We joke how Allen's wife admonishes Joel every Sunday evening when he picks up her hubby to "not kill your brother!" So, it is a running gag that sometimes they follow her directives and other times all bets are off. F Troop had moved Pvt. Picnic up near the chopper while the other three remained behind vehicles and walls to cover him. Not to be beaten to the punch, Allen moved Dafyd (who'd knocked down the drone) up to contest the salvage. Shots were fired, but both men remained standing.

    A standoff between Bucknut's Jackie and Amram of the Followers, each wanting the salvage

Allen took that as cue to sprint Amram towards the metal box that could be seen on the ground, just feet away from the helicopter. Amram was astonished when Jackie ran up, as well. Both looked from the metal box to the other, sizing each other up. Shots rang out all around them as men and women from all four factions began firing at each other. The "Bad Guys" added to the cacophony as a Patrol Bot clomped onto the board's far edge. Its machine gun had plenty of range, though, and it blasted away and another of the Followers of the Dark Prophet fell to the ground wounded. 

    The firefight around the chopper is truly underway, with all four factions firing at each other

Someone fired at Ned of the Bass Reeves, and that gang of survivors joined in the shooting, as well. Tosh took advantage of the confusion to sprint forward and snag the closest piece of salvage, a duffel bag that looked as if it had been tossed from the helicopter on impact. The players had been careful in the early turns, and minimized exposing their survivors to enemy fire. However, risks were taken now as the desire to snatch up the loot before their rivals overcame their caution. One of the early successes, Wrich of the Bucknuts, had dashed back to what he thought was the safety of the buildings after snatching up a box of ammunition he'd seen lying in the street. He ducked behind the walls, panting from the exertion, relieved that he was no longer in the open street.

    Brutus felled by an ROUS - the second Bucknut to be knocked out of action by the hulking beast

A high pitched shreik from behind him startled Wrich. He turned, horrified, as a ROUS bore down on him. He spun, leveling his rifle, but too late. The giant rat was upon him and clamped him in his jaws. The beast shook him back and forth battering his head several times against the stone walls. Wrich went limp and lost consciousness. In the ruins of the next building over, Brutus saw the attack and inadvertently shouted, "Jesus H. Christ!" The rat heard him, dropped the unmoving prey from its jaws and began skittering towards Brutus. The large man screamed in terror and tried to slam home the magazine he'd been loading into his weapon. He fumbled and the metal magazine clattered to the ground. The ROUS launched itself at Brutus and seized him him by the shoulder. Brutus was a big man, but the rat's weighed dashed him to the ground, senseless.

    As bullets from rival factions ricochet all around, F Troop hunkers behind a burnt-out pickup truck

All the shouting drew the attention of Coach Coop, the Bucknuts leader. He shifted to get a better angle on the rat and let loose a burst of his assault rifle. The creature turned and bared its bloody jaws at him. Coop cursed and drew a bead on its beady eyes and fired twice. The rat let out its last squeal and fell dead. Coop called to Jackie to fall back, and moved up to see if his friend was still alive. Many of the survivors looked up as another Scout Drone whirred overhead, the machine's guns blazing at their human foes. Bullets kicked up all around F Troop's Pvt. Picnic and he fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder. Meanwhile, the Followers of the Dark Prophet called to each other and began to withdraw from the open streets, moving through the ruins towards the table edge. 

    Bucknut leader Coach Coop grimaces at his losses as Joel surveys the field and does likewise

The casualties and increasing number of machines and feral denizens of the city convinced the factions it was time to pull back. Those that could grab some last salvage or supplies did so, while hugging the cover of the ruined buildings. All of them had taken hits and most had at least one of their four out of action. The Bucknuts and F Troop were each down to half strength. Carrying their wounded, they withdrew from the bloodied intersection. Each hoped that the blood spilled was worth the rewards they had gained.

   F Troop utilizes the cover of the ruins and wrecks to move up early in the game

I felt the scenario had started out a little slow, but it picked up speed and was a blazing hot mess by the end. The players were laughing and having a good time spraying their rivals with gunfire at each opportunity. I really liked giving the players "control" over where the enemies appeared by having them roll off. Allen saved his worst rolls for then, but in general his Followers of the Dark Prophet came on top. They picked up two caches of supplies, knocked out a drone, two rivals (Ned of the Bass Reeves and Pvt. Angel of F Troop), and escaped with all four members off-board. His success may lead to future challenges, though, as I give players who lost a member to enemy fire bonus victory points in subsequent missions for exacting revenge and taking out one of theirs.

    Wrich of the Bucknuts creeps closer to the salvage at his feet, while keeping an eye out for enemy

Joel's F Troop took it on the chin, again. I'm not sure why, but fortune has not favored this former army unit in its post-apocalyptic missions. Joel escaped with no supplies and lost two members (both of whom fortunately ended up being just "winged" and okay for the next scenario). The rat-ravaged Bucknuts discovered a weakness in their formerly lethal, long-range tactics. They lost two members to an ROUS, Wrich being just "winged" while fleshy Brutus will recover with some rest time. They did kill one rat and escape with one cache of supplies, so all was not lost.

    Pvt. Picnic goes down to a Machines Scout Drone as F Troops sour luck in scenarios continues

Mike W's Bass Reeves picked up three caches of supplies (which includes carving off enough rat burgers for a feast). They carried Ned off the battlefield (who fortunately was also just "winged") and killed the ROUS. All in all, the players rolled VERY well in their post-battle recoveries. It could have been much worse for them. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Now that I retire in just over a month, we hopefully will be playing more post-apocalyptic scenarios soon. Then again, don't I say that every time after every game??

    The streets are silent as the Machines scour the area looking for human survivors to terminate

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 57