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Author Topic: Zona Britaniya - Trotter Watch: Black Dawn  (Read 3576 times)

Offline Spinal Tap

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 974
Zona Britaniya - Trotter Watch: Black Dawn
« on: May 11, 2021, 04:57:13 PM »
Following on from last years adventures reported here:  https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=127807.0


Black Dawn Mission One - Distress Call



‘Come along you lot, get a move on’ yelled Marek, as Del, Rodney, Raquel and Denzil dropped from the truck, ‘ we’ve got an urgent distress call from one of my less experienced crews’.

‘And where the Hell are the rest of your team?’

‘On that job near the oil rig, you should know, you sent them’ grumbled Delboy.

Marek looked sheepish and began muttering about this maybe being a longish job; something didn’t quite add up but, as usual, you got from Marek what he wanted you to get.

After instructing them on taking plenty of kit and ammo, Marek supplied the co-ordinates of the last transmission from the stalkers and ushered them back into the truck.

‘Get them out there as fast as you can’ he yelled to the driver, ‘Good hunting’ to Trotter Watch.



This is the first mission of a five part solo campaign called Black Dawn written by the author and set in my post apocalyptic nuclear winter Britain – Zona Britaniya.

On arrival at the junction leading to an old base the crew spot an upturned APC, strange eruptions through the ice and a couple of groups of clickers.

In the far distance they can see a 4 man military team in Norwegian Camouflage preparing to move into the zone too – it didn’t look promising.

Looking at the incoming cloud Delboy reckoned on 70 minutes (7 turns) to get the job done – search for survivors and check for loot.


P5110001 by markndebs, on Flickr

P5110002 by markndebs, on Flickr




Turn One – Delboy swings to the right and lines up a shot on both lots of vermin, 2 bursts later and they are dead.

Rodney sprints forwards to cover and tosses a bolt at the APC revealing a trapped stalker in need of aid and a couple more vermin who head straight towards him.

Raquel takes one out then moves to cover near Rodney, Denzil blasts the other and joins her.

The Norwegians sprint at double time along the road towards the APC.



P5110004 by markndebs, on Flickr


Turn Two – Rodney moves wide to flank the Norwegians, seeking cover behind some storage huts as Delboy rushes to cover the spot Rodney has vacated.

Denzil lines up a shot of the bandits and kills one.

Raquel also heads to the right to flank the Norwegians, seeking cover next to Del.

The remaining troops have spotted Rodney and one has LOS; he shoots and hits – Rodney is down.

The other two scan for targets and can open fire on Denzil; they do so but both miss.

P5110005 by markndebs, on Flickr


Turn Three – Raquel moves towards Rodney, using all her actions but not quite getting there.

Denzil returns fire and 2 of the 3 enemy troops go down.

Delboy takes a risk, advances close to the last soldier and takes a shot – a hit.

P5110006 by markndebs, on Flickr


Turn Four – Raquel moves close to Rodney administers a Medkit, he’s back on his feet but a little shaken.

He shrugs off the pin and moves to cover the nearest hotspot.

Del moves to the APC, checks the Stalker who seems fine, and quickly searches the vehicle finding 350 Salvage.

Everyone gets in position to search the Eastern Hot Spot.



Turn Five – Delboy tosses a bolt and 2 more vermin erupt from under the ice (he breathes a sigh of relief that it’s nothing worse).

Denzil and Pavel kill the both leaving Rodney to move into range while Raquel continues to seek cover for a final push to search for loot before the storm arrives.


P5110008 by markndebs, on Flickr

Turn Six – Rodney searches and finds 750 Salvage plus 1 E Juice and 2 Medkits. Using Scrounger he searches again and gets 1000 Salvage and 2 hand grenades and heads to cover for a last push.

The others do the same.

P5110009 by markndebs, on Flickr

P5110010 by markndebs, on Flickr


Turn Seven – Del tosses a bolt and a huge Mutant Beast emerges from a nearby container; as it crosses the Hot Spot an anomaly manifests.

The whole team, with the exception of Rodney, open fire and inflict 3 wounds, the creature is mortally wounded but still extremely dangerous.

Rodney blasts it with his shotgun and it’s dead.

But there’s not enough time for him to get to the anomaly and search it (he only has 2 actions left).
A quick E Juice solves that and he moves near the sphere, passes a will check, and finds an item worth 5500 Salvage. He’s also profoundly affected by the experience of being so close that his Will improves by +1.

P5110012 by markndebs, on Flickr


That was his last opportunity and despite there being loads of loot and salvage left to find at this spot he had no actions left and the team retreat just as the storm hits.

Once passed there was little left to see, certainly nothing of value.





From the Official Campaign document:


After he’s rescued, Pavel explains he and his crew had been hired to find and mark a safe path into the Zone’s interior. They were told the job was for the Ministry of Science and Technology, but the contract came from a fixer they’d never done business with before (he called himself ‘G. Chelovek’) and there seemed to be a lot of muscle/shooters for what was supposedly a scientific expedition. But the money was good so he didn’t ask too many questions. Pavel and his crew returned successful but were double crossed after they transferred the route coordinates. Mr. Chelovek ordered his thugs (the Bandits) to attack them. Pavel’s crew fought their way clear and escaped in a damaged vehicle with the Bandits in pursuit. Unfortunately, the vehicle gave out right there. He thought he was a goner until you showed up. Pavel thinks the fixer and this expedition is up to no good. On their way out, Pavel caught sight of a military truck with Bio-Hazard warnings. He suspects G. Chelovek is bringing whatever is in that truck into the Deep Zone and plans on releasing it. Pavel wants revenge for the murder of his comrades but also notes the expedition had plenty of hi-tech equipment. “Worth a fortune five times over,” he notes. He still has the route coordinates, knows which way they’re going. “We could save the Zone and get rich,” he says. “You in?”





I reckon they are.

Next Mission: Find and Fetch
« Last Edit: March 26, 2023, 05:13:59 AM by Spinal Tap »

Offline Bullshott

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 2878
  • I need a bigger hammer
    • http://www.flickr.com/photos/27772452@N07/sets/
Re: Zona Britaniya - Trotter Watch: Black Dawn Episode One
« Reply #1 on: May 11, 2021, 05:55:40 PM »
Nice looking game and an excellent report  :)

I've only just got into Zona Alfa, but intend to do Black Dawn once a) I have sufficient terrain and figures (rapidly getting there) and b) I have moved house
Sir Henry Bullshott, Keeper of Ancient Knowledge

Offline Grumpy Gnome

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 5333
    • The Grumpy Gnome
Re: Zona Britaniya - Trotter Watch: Black Dawn Episode One
« Reply #2 on: May 11, 2021, 07:05:37 PM »
Loving it!
Home of the Grumpy Gnome

https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/

Offline Spinal Tap

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 974
Re: Zona Britaniya - Trotter Watch: Black Dawn Episode One
« Reply #3 on: May 11, 2021, 07:29:36 PM »
Nice looking game and an excellent report  :)

I've only just got into Zona Alfa, but intend to do Black Dawn once a) I have sufficient terrain and figures (rapidly getting there) and b) I have moved house

Look forward to seeing what you come up with; I've still got your 'Bullshott goes under water' bookmarked and one day...........


Loving it!


Thank you.

Offline Dentatus

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 2257
    • Stalker7.com
Re: Zona Britaniya - Trotter Watch: Black Dawn Episode One
« Reply #4 on: May 11, 2021, 08:29:32 PM »
Very nice. Thanks for posting.

Online Pattus Magnus

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 2000
Re: Zona Britaniya - Trotter Watch: Black Dawn Episode One
« Reply #5 on: May 12, 2021, 04:31:11 AM »
That’s a great narrative report and I really like the figures and table. I’m looking forward to the next installment!

Offline Spinal Tap

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 974
Re: Zona Britaniya - Trotter Watch: Black Dawn Episode One
« Reply #6 on: May 16, 2021, 06:00:17 AM »
Thanks guys.

The crew got a garbled radio message from Marek today, reads as:


"Get a ****ing move on you lot, I'm n__ paying you by the h__r. ____ had a transm_____on from a St___k_r called Dentatus to say he's got a huge job for your crew wh_n you get this one f_n_shed.

Details ___ be foun_ here:

https://www.wargamevault.com/m/product/357787

NOw ****ing move it"

« Last Edit: May 16, 2021, 07:06:10 AM by Spinal Tap »

Offline Spinal Tap

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 974
Black Dawn Mission Two - Find and Fetch


Once things have calmed down Pavel fills the crew in; apparently he copied the coordinates onto a flash drive but lost it somewhere in the area of the bandit’s camp; they all pulled out before he had time to recover it.

He goes on to describe the camp, a collection of tents, containers and junk from a supply vessel that broke up as the ice formed following the nuclear attack. The bandits tend to keep to the West of the vessel but could be anywhere.

Following Pavel for most of the day the crew arrive a little over an hour before dark; the decision is do they move in now or wait until morning.

Needing food badly the decision is made to attack quickly and loot what they can, getting the hell out of there before reinforcements can be called in. (7 Turns).

P5170002 by markndebs, on Flickr



Del, Denzil and Pavel move in from the Eastern sector whilst Rodney and Raquel will descend from the North.

P5170003 by markndebs, on Flickr


Turn One – Denzil moves and opens fire missing everything but letting the bandits know that they were there.

Delboy moves, shoots and manages to kill the bandit nearest the edge of the camp.

Rodney and Raquel flank the enemy, take up a covered position and wait.

Pavel heads towards the Northern pair, keeping out of trouble – maybe that’s why he survived the initial attack which killed his crewmates.


P5180007 by markndebs, on Flickr

P5180006 by markndebs, on Flickr


Bandits retreat to cover, and fire but their efforts are ineffective.



Turn Two – Delboy quickly fires off 2 bursts and kills another bandit whilst Pavel continues his traverse around the battlefield.

Now the bandits have put themselves into range Rodney shoots another and it looks like they are going to rout.

Flushed with success he runs up the stairs of the ship’s bridge, finds a pack of Thatchers, and immediately runs back again with the pack in pursuit.

Raquel provides covering fire and takes out 2 but 4 are still dangerously close.

They all rush Rodney who kills one with his machete before going down himself; the others attempt to finish him off but his armour holds – for now.

The remaining bandits, seeing a determined Trotter Watch and the pack of Thatchers make a run for it.


P5180008 by markndebs, on Flickr


P5180010 by markndebs, on Flickr


Turn Three – Raquel and Pavel move to Rodney’s aid and kill the 3 Thatchers as Delboy, nervous of a trap, throws a bolt at the container in the bandit camp.

He was right to be so cautious.

Another 4 bandits appear, and these are more determined than their retreating mates, taking up offensive positions.

Del throws a Molotov Cocktail, very poorly, and just manages to catch one, rather than all, of the bandits – he goes down screaming as he is engulfed in flames.

Del then opens up with his AK and another bandits falls.

Denzil fires wildly, misses one enemy but pins another.

The bandit shrugs his pin off and fires, putting Denzil OOA; his partner moves to a better firing position and drops Delboy.

Things are not looking good at this point with half the mission time used up, three crew down and not one objective completed.


P5180011 by markndebs, on Flickr

P5180012 by markndebs, on Flickr


Turn Four – Raquel (Bone Doc) runs to Rodney and administers a MedKit. He stands, loses his pin, takes an E-Juice moves towards his attacker and kills him whilst Pavel shoots the other.

Delboy and Denzil remain down and the field is currently clear of hostiles.



Turn Five – This is now really damage control.

Rodney moves onto the ship’s bridge with his single action (E-Juice previous turn) and prepares to search.

Raquel moves into the container at the bandit camp and prepares to do the same.

Pavel moves to Delboy, uses Del’s MedKit to revive him, Del shakes off his 2 pins and staggers to Denzil.



Turn Six – Del revives Denzil with a MedKit as Raquel searches the container. At last, a bit of luck, it’s the flashdrive.

Discretion is the better part of valour, especially in the Zone, so Del decides they should cut their losses; he makes no attempt for a further search.

Rodney searches the ship and finds a MedKit and an E-Juice.

The others prepare to move out.



Turn Seven – Rodney performs a second search (Scrounger) then the crew muster out to lick their wounds.



Overall they have achieved the primary objective but will be continuing the adventure with depleted supplies; will need to be more careful next time – this Living Off The Land is a bugger.


This was a hard fought ?Victory? But we are still cooking.

I’m especially enjoying this campaign compared to ones I write myself as I have not read through it, so don’t know what’s coming next until I have completed the previous scenario.





From the official campaign document:

Aftermath One file on the flash drive shows a satellite map of the area marked with five waypoints, each spot a set of GLONASS coordinates. There’s a separate file with notes on each location’s environmental conditions, the Zone Security drone flyover times, and any hazards or hostiles encountered. You gesture at the dead bandits and bodies of hostiles.“These scum delayed us and Chelovek already has a helluva head start.” Pavel grins.“No worries. I know a short cut and a way to get there fast.” “Oh really? What’s that?” “My crew found an old army UAZ at a checkpoint not far from here. I got it running again.” Your eyes narrow. “Great. What’s the catch?” “Might need a little petrol, is all.” He shrugs. “Lucky for you, I know where to get some of that too.” Sure, you think. Lucky me.

« Last Edit: May 18, 2021, 08:08:20 AM by Spinal Tap »

Offline Spinal Tap

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 974

Black Dawn Mission Three - Eat Here and Get Gas




This mission involves getting fuel and supplies from the vehicles at the heart of the abandoned complex and, of course, keeping Pavel alive.

The hostiles are, for whatever reason, reluctant to fight to the death and will flee if their numbers deplete below 75%.

Thought this mission looked a bit easy so added a few tweaks to up the difficulty – that wasn’t a good idea!





The crew crest the ridge and spy a collection of shanty buildings and evidence of a supply depot long since depleted.

'Trust me' says Pavel, 'there's diesel in that old military truck and some kit in it's trailer'.

Trust is in short supply but you order the team to prepare to move in; it's all going smoothly until the crew approaches the central are when all hell breaks loose.

4 well armed bandits appear in the East whilst a mass of Thatchers and a couple of Clicker swarms appear to the South.



Turn One (Living is Easy)– Denzil moves to cover then shoots at the bandits, killing one instantly whilst Rodney pushes South and dispatches 2 Thatchers.

Raquel destroys a Clicker then moves to the vehicle, grabbing a syphoning kit from her pack as she goes.

Delboy moves to the trailer, searches it and finds 2 Med Kits and a Tool Kit, then moves to be close to Pavel who holds his position.

All hostiles are sufficiently depleted to flee the field.



Turn Two (Turns to Shit) – 2 separate groups of bandits, also well-armed with military kit, appear to the East and South while another Clicker swarm comes from the West.

Rodney is hit by a bandit who had LOS and goes down OOA, the other bandits can’t draw a bead.

Denzil shoots the offending bandit dead then moves to higher ground on the warehouse roof to the Advanced Equipment Objective.


Pavel moves to Rodney and administers a Med Kit, Rodney rises, rallies and kills a bandit in the second approaching group.

Raquel gets the diesel into a container then retreats to cover as the Clickers are closing in.

Delboy decides to take a risk and see what might be in Denzil’s rough location, his bolt toss spooks up a handful of Maggotmen and larvae in the hut right next to him.

The ensuing battle sees Delboy go OOA without killing a single one of them.

Seeing the mayhem both groups of bandits make a run for safety as Clickers close in on the team; the Maggotmen attack and put OOA both Pavel and Rodney – luckily no-one has yet been killed but three crew are down and hurt.


Turn Three – see 6 Thatchers and 4 Bandits appear in the West with a further 4 Maggotmen from the East.

Through excessive use of E Juice and Med Kits by pretty much all of the team this turn ends with all but Pavel up and fighting with some damage done to both the Maggotmen and Thatchers. However, the whole team now has only 3 Med Kits (including the 2 just found) and 2 E-Juice.

Bandits shoot at Rodney again but his armour saves him, leaving him shaken and pinned.

Thatchers and Maggotmen move to leave the field.



Turn Four – More Thatchers, Maggotmen and Bandits appear, again to the South and West – not rolled a single hostile to the North nor any alternative variants.

Decision is made to move North as it is relatively clear (let’s hope this doesn’t change).

Del kills one bandit in each of the advancing groups then moves to cover Northwards while Raquel approaches Pavel and administers one of the increasingly scarce Med Kits – he rallies and joins Delboy.

Denzil also moves North, taking time to blast a Clicker as Rodney rallies and joins him.


As the turn ends both Bandit crews and the Clickers bug out whilst the Thatchers and Maggotmen close in.



Turn Five (All About Survival Now) – Looks like heading North was a good call as Bandits and Clickers again come from the South and more sluggish Maggotmen from the West.

Delboy tries to scatter the Thatchers with a Molotov but his aim is awful, he shoots one and continues to pull back; Raquel shoots another and everyone simply heads to the cover in the North East.

All hostiles advance but none cause harm.



Turn Six – Bandits and a lone Mutant from the South and West respectively with 6 fast moving Radiation Ghouls (Reds) from the East (very close to our heroes hideout – Bugger).

Luckily nothing from the North as that would have spelt real disaster and the end of this campaign I think.

Pavel takes a potshot at them and misses – again.

With a roar Rodney blasts the horde of red creatures, killing 2.

All crew move to cover to ensure the 2 teams of bandits on the field cannot get a clear shot.



The game ends with the Team able to extract from the area as 2 teams of Bandits, 2 groups of Maggotmen, a huge Mutant and 2 Clicker swarms converge on their position.

The Rad Ghouls move away.


The most tense game of Zona Britaniya (Alfa) ever – really didn’t think they were going to make it.

The next 2 missions to end the campaign could be tough though with severely depleted supplies and equipment.

Pictures grabbed on an ad hoc basis today, I’m afraid, so not running alongside the story.


P6020001 by markndebs, on Flickr


P6020002 by markndebs, on Flickr


P6020010 by markndebs, on Flickr


P6020012 by markndebs, on Flickr


P6020015 by markndebs, on Flickr


P6020020 by markndebs, on Flickr


P6020021 by markndebs, on Flickr


P6020022 by markndebs, on Flickr


P6020023 by markndebs, on Flickr

Offline Bullshott

  • Scatterbrained Genius
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    • http://www.flickr.com/photos/27772452@N07/sets/
Great report as usual. I do enjoy reading about the exploits of Trotter Watch  :)

Offline Spinal Tap

  • Mad Scientist
  • Posts: 974
Great report as usual. I do enjoy reading about the exploits of Trotter Watch  :)


That's good  :)


Here's another one:


Black Dawn Mission 4: A Little Zone Waltz


From the Official Document:


Pavel was right about the jeep; the UAZ was old - older than you by a couple decades. Perhaps older than your father. You cast a skeptical gaze over the frayed canvas roof, the faded red star on the hood, the rust-eaten door panels, the cracked sidewalls on the gray tires. “This still runs? You’re sure?” you ask him. The mechanic chuckles. “You bet. Like cockroaches, these things. An atom bomb can’t kill them. I’ll find a good battery, fuel her up, and off we go. We’ll catch up to those bastards in no time.” Pavel lifts the hood. It sticks, then jerks opens with a grinding screech. Rust scabs fall like snowflakes. He spits, leans in, wrench in hand, careful as an animal tamer in the mouth of a lion. His voice comes out of the engine compartment. “There is one stretch we might have to walk,” he adds nonchalantly. “Kikuk. A tiny village, really. Careful to the left, gentle on the right… a little Zone waltz down a dirt road. No problem for guys like you.” It’s your turn to spit; you knew this luck was too good to last. You rap on the fender with the butt of your AK. “Hey. Tell me about this village.”



‘OK’ says Delboy ‘we’re going to have to get across this sector with as little damage as possible’.

‘We’ve only 4 Med Kits left, barely any E-juice and I’m fresh out of spare grenades’ he continued, ‘so no wasting kit, no heroics and definitely no getting chewed up or shot’.



Mission 4 was not going to be easy as Med Kits are low and all the salvage will be high level so no chance to source any more – might score a few useful items to aid in the last fight but I didn’t want to do much searching and activating hostiles – 2 or 3 locations at most.



Turn One – Delboy advances and tosses a bolt at the group of tents to the South Nothing appears.

Raquel thinks she hears something and indicates she’s tossing a bolt too – there’s definitely something there. Nothing again.

Laughing, Denzil tosses a bolt just to take the mick out of the others and the ground erupts as 2 snow beasts appear and the inside of the tent glows eerily. Anomaly!!

As the 2 mutants advance Rodney throws a satchel charge which explodes right between the 2 creatures – one looks a little injured but the other is unharmed.

The beasts, enraged, charge Del who wounds the faster of the 2 but takes a wound from the other for his trouble.

20210615_132337 by markndebs, on Flickr


20210615_132353 by markndebs, on Flickr


20210615_133113 by markndebs, on Flickr


Turn Two – Denzil makes short work of the 2 snow creatures and Raquel rushes to deliver a Med Kit to Delboy.

‘Thought you said you wanted to save these Boss’ she says with a smile.

He gives her a scathing looks, shrugs off his pin, and advances towards the next part of the settlement.

Rodney moves to the tent, passes his Will Check and searches the anomaly finding 4.5K of salvage and an item that makes him feel so much quicker (+1 movement).

He searches the rest of the tent and finds 1K salvage and a Scope – Del will be pleased.



Turn Three – Delboy yells to Pavel to make all haste to the EZ saying they’ll catch up once they’ve looked for a few Med Kits.

Denzil and Raquel advance at double pace to cover as Rodney tosses a bolt to the nearby Yurt; the snow bubbles as 8 Maggotmen and Grubbers appear and start towards Raquel.

Delboy tosses a Molotov and takes out 4; flushed with success he throws a second, overthrowing massively and missing everything.

Rodney kills 2 but the others manage to close on Raquel.

20210615_134200 by markndebs, on Flickr


20210615_140112 by markndebs, on Flickr


Turn Four – Raquel fights valiantly with the Grubbers, killing one but taking 2 pins while Delboy closes the distance to her before taking out the last one; he then moves forwards after Pavel to be joined moments later by Denzil.

Rodney searches the Yurt finding 1750 Salvage, a NOD system and another scope – this one’s for Raquel.

20210615_141414 by markndebs, on Flickr


Turn Five – Pavel in the old truck reaches the pass out of town while DB uses leader to help Raquel drops her pins, then the pair set off to exit town too, followed by Denzil, and finally, Rodney.



Turn Six – Everyone gets out of Dodge.

20210615_142936 by markndebs, on Flickr



In many ways a successful mission but the team are going into the final stage seriously lacking in Med Kits and E-Juice. They redistribute their kit to best suit everyone’s particular talents, take a breath then head out.






Offline Grumpy Gnome

  • Galactic Brain
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As always a joy to read!

Offline James Mahdeep Bond V

  • Bookworm
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You got a good thing going. Nice human figs. I'm jealous. The  crawlies gave me the creeps. Good job. Whenever I get the revulsive shivers from just peering at figures, I kind of get transported out of the now into someplace else.  That's a really fine effect. Maybe all the snow added to the shivers. Gotta go warm up  now.

Offline Corporal Chaos

  • Scientist
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Always an interesting read. Thanks.
I should be painting right now.

Offline The Rock

  • Librarian
  • Posts: 172
nice report

 

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