Yuma Proving Ground - a Forbidden Zone - Suffield Canada - 23rd Aug

[CapnJim]

Alrighty then.  So far, so good.  Or at least, so far, not so bad...I think we're all presuming the other shoe will drop in no time at all...

If I do something along these lines, I'm reckon I'm going to set it around the Plumbrook Reactor, a NASA nuclear research station just south of Sandusky, Ohio not far from the Lake Erie shore (halfway-ish between Toledo and Cleveland).  Plumbrook went critical in 1961, and was shut down in 1973.  We used to train there when I was in the Ohio Army National Guard from '80 to '84, so I actually have experience leading patrols on that site...of course, there will have been some kind of "incident" after 1973, so I'll have to develop the backstory.  Gotta come up with a crew, too - neither should be hard to do, what with all the inspiration here...

If/when I do this, the facility will have changed it's name to the Plumbrook Energy and Nuclear investigation Station.   

I will start my own Post-Apocalyptic thread here if/when I actually start in on this...I'll talk to the fellas next Friday to see if they want in - otherwise, I'll do it solo.  And I gotta decide whether to use Fistful of Lead or Zona Alfa.  Mind you, I own and have played both, and I think either will work...

But back to the topic at hand...waiting with bated (baited?) breath to see what transpires next in your story!     

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

If/when I do this, the facility will have changed it's name to the Plumbrook Energy and Nuclear investigation Station.

       

[mikedemana]

I am enjoying the rollout of this saga...keep it up! Nice character development, too...hope they don't all die as soon as we get to know them!! 

Mike Demana

[Doug ex-em4]

I am enjoying the rollout of this saga...keep it up! Nice character development, too...hope they don't all die as soon as we get to know them!! 

Mike Demana

Nonsense - it’s about time we had a character pogrom…..

Doug

[Dan55]

Wonderful start, nice table and nice figures, I like the outhouse touch.  Yes, Babe is a necromunda figure.

We used to play games where the secondary objective would be the bar, and once captured, the outhouse became the primary objective.

[Grumpy Gnome]

Loving the characterful narrative!

[Bullshott]

This is developing nicely.

A word of caution. If you are going to base much of your campaign in a TL2 area you really are going to need some more experienced characters. Within Zona Alfa it takes 5 (survived) games to get rookies up to Hardened and another 5 to get to Veteran. You will find that you need those extra experience levels, not just for better combat abilities but also for additional actions, the ability to carry more extra gear and acquiring useful skills like Bone Doc and Scrounger.

Also, either promote someone to veteran and give them Leader skill or bring in a new character at that level (perhaps someone's older brother with military experience). Leader skill will help nearby rookies pass their Will checks and also allows the Leader to donate actions to get your rookies moving, etc.  Promoting another character to hardened (or introducing a new one) with Bone Doc skill will also ease the pain (literally). The ability of a Bone Doc to carry double Med-Kits is a real life saver if played properly.

[CapnJim]

Nonsense - it’s about time we had a character pogrom…..

Doug

Er, not had yer tea yet?   

This is developing nicely.

A word of caution. If you are going to base much of your campaign in a TL2 area you really are going to need some more experienced characters. Within Zona Alfa it takes 5 (survived) games to get rookies up to Hardened and another 5 to get to Veteran. You will find that you need those extra experience levels, not just for better combat abilities but also for additional actions, the ability to carry more extra gear and acquiring useful skills like Bone Doc and Scrounger.

Also, either promote someone to veteran and give them Leader skill or bring in a new character at that level (perhaps someone's older brother with military experience). Leader skill will help nearby rookies pass their Will checks and also allows the Leader to donate actions to get your rookies moving, etc.  Promoting another character to hardened (or introducing a new one) with Bone Doc skill will also ease the pain (literally). The ability of a Bone Doc to carry double Med-Kits is a real life saver if played properly.

Good advice.  I'm gonna take a stroll through Zona Alfa this evening, and start seeing how I want to proceed...

[CapnJim]

By the way, there Vags, when did the "Incident" at Yuma take place?

[Spinal Tap]

What a fantastic read, you've nailed it.

Can't wait for more installments.

[has.been]

If/when I do this, the facility will have changed it's name to the Plumbrook Energy and Nuclear investigation Station.   

It won't stand up Capt. 

[Bullshott]

Good advice.  I'm gonna take a stroll through Zona Alfa this evening, and start seeing how I want to proceed...

When I first stated playing Zona Alfa I played series of games against a mate, with 12 point forces. I went for 2 Vets and 3 Hardened, while he went for a Vet Leader, 2 Hardened and the 5 Rookies. Although he had more guns and could cover a larger area of the table, I was able to move much faster and avoid getting into unnecessary firefights with him. At the end of games he was typically left with slow moving rookies strung out across the table, while my team was able to move captured savage out with ease. His veteran leaser was having to constantly use up actions to motivate nearby rookies.

Another disadvantage of Rookies is that (unless motivated by their leader with extra actions) they don't get to do useful things like aimed shots or go on Alert (something I regularly do to provide cover for my team's)

[Vagabond]

Sorry I've been a bit remis in keeping upto date on this.

Who doesn't remember Alice?  Didn't he originally find her in a different restaurant?

Dan you are quite correct I didn't expect anyone to recognise the reference except the Mad Lord Snapcase and if 55 is your year of birth I out rank you. I've re-read your thread and have a couple of questions on the 5 parsecs campaign system but there's no rush. I played a game in a running campaign of 5 somethings from the borderland yesterday and can see how this might bring something to the party.

Excellent part 2 and I'm agog for more. Some of your team remind me of some bodyguards I hired years ago, in an adventure entitled 'The Scoop'!

I'm not sure where I'm going with this but I had wondered about linking it to my games "Red Sparrow Down" and "The Scoop" I rather like the Bio and Genetic disaster rather than the nuclear one but I'm still reading backgrounds.

I’m liking your background here and your very convincing plunge into talking ‘merican (apart from "jessie", obviously).
Doug

Thanks Doug, as I said earlier "It's all your fault directing me here. I'm really pleased you did.

hope they don't all die as soon as we get to know them!! 
Mike Demana

Thanks Mike, to be honest that was my original intention, I thought if I started off with 12 characters after the first couple of games I'd be down to a manageable number. Callous is my middle name.

We used to play games where the secondary objective would be the bar, and once captured, the outhouse became the primary objective.

That sounds a brilliant idea.

By the way, there Vags, when did the "Incident" at Yuma take place?

Well Cptn you must have heard of Gender Fluid, this is Time Fluid and it's on a Need to Know Basis, you don't need to know  . Both the places I mentioned in the background currently exist in Arizona and unless it's been in the American Press it's probably not happened yet. Of course if your press is like ours they will only tell you about it once you discover the truth for yourself. So it could have happened and no one knows yet.
Does that help?

Plumbrook Energy and Nuclear investigation Station
It won't stand up Capt. 

I think there are little purple pills that will help the Cptn, although I don't know that they are purple you understand, only heard about the colour. 

Bullshott I'm in the process of re-reading your thread to elicit information, I think you are quite right in your assessment of the game. Rookies are a liability but it was reading your thread originally that I got the idea of starting at the beginning, i.e. when the event or events kicked off, so there are no teams used to the Zone it's only just evolving. I played a game (posted on my blog "Red Sparrow Down") years ago. that sort of set the scene for this type of campaign. It was a back story for a game I ran with the Gentlemen of Much Piddling at our annual get together called the Scoop, also on my Blog. It was an immensely complicated game that involved the Mad Lord Snapcase and DougnotEM4 searching a facility in the American South West trying to discover what had gone wrong. I was trying to create a detective game that had clues so they could discover the events that happened. It sort of degenerated into a "throw grenades into a building and kill every thing before it kills us sort of game. It was so complex I never wrote it up in the end.
That maybe where I end up or I might catch a plane and go to Russia and the real Zona Alfa. We'll see.

Thanks for your input.

Thanks to everyone else who has commented as well.
Cheers

[Dan55]

Not meaning to be picky, but in spite of what they tell you in "stalker", did you know that the original Zona Alpha was in Canada?

Do you know that in twenty years of being on the internet you're the first person to guess what the 55 was for?

[Vagabond]

Not meaning to be picky, but in spite of what they tell you in "stalker", did you know that the original Zona Alpha was in Canada?

Do you know that in twenty years of being on the internet you're the first person to guess what the 55 was for?

Someone mentioned the Canada one recently on this board, it sounds to be a place worth visiting. 

55 hope it's not your password as well.

Coincidentally I'd like to introduce you to Horseman's Flatts, you may recognise the Deli. Also some of the characters under siege in the Deli. 



I played 3 games set in the town and posted them on LAF and my blog back in 2018

Spooky