M.O.O.S.(E). Ministry of Occult Studies (England): 12/10 Game shots

[pocoloco]

  I hope that Dr. Hugh Jarse and his creations can be stopped in time!

I will also make some popcorn and watch the agents go down in the blaze of g(l)ory

You could get yourself those Quonsen huts and use them for a field laboratory setting, poor agents having to clear each hut, not knowing what they encounter inside....

[Legionnaire Bert]

Cracking background reading, Mason. I am excited and enthused about taking part in these games!

[Mason]

Yet another FINE ADVENTURE is in the offing here...time to stock up on popcorn!

I will also make some popcorn and watch the agents go down in the blaze of g(l)ory

I hope I dont disappoint you fellas too much with this effort then, as it wont be so much an AAR, but more of a round-up of the playtest games with some pictures thrown in for good measure.
 

I hope that Dr. Hugh Jarse and his creations can be stopped in time!

Lets hope that the Thames Valley team and their allies are up to the task then, shall we?
 

I am excited and enthused about taking part in these games!

I hope so, mate, as you are the guinea pig for these and there is NO ESCAPE now!






Back to the meat of the matter.....


Scenario 1: Entering the Infected Zone.

The first scenario of the Black Dossier (BD) is very similar to The Beach from Test Island 3 (TI3), as the team have to enter the infected area and fight their way past the zombies that infest the region.

Here is the table set-up used.



The Thames Valley team will be entering the table from the right hand side, up to 5 Inches in, with the Zeds doing the same  on the opposite side, with a Spawning template between the two buildings on the left.

A Spawning template would work exactly the same way as a Nest in TI3, Spawning a new Zombie each turn as a replacement for one removed.

In the first two test games, the Lurkers had acess to a Maniac, but this proved a step too difficult for a starting scenario, as it caused havoc in tandem with hard-to-kill Zombies.

In the end we used only Zombies as the opposition, but the scenario rules will allow for Swarms and Giant Vermin to be used as well.

(The full rules for the scenario will be posted later once I have run them past Uncle Mike).


Some pics of the starting positions of the Zeds.







The barrels in this picture were used to mark out the area occupied by the Spawning template, as I have not made one yet.
(I will have to make one soon, as they will be quite a feature in these scenarios...)



The team enter town at the other end of the table, weapons at the ready, expecting troble at every corner...




Back later with the second part.........

[Kitsune]

Quite exciting set up, even though I've been told the result(s) already!

[DeafNala]

The Set & the Cast of Characters looks FINE...LET THE SHOW BEGIN!

[styx]

Nice stuff!

[Mason]

Quite exciting set up, even though I've been told the result(s) already!

Thanks, mate.
He must stop gossiping with all and sundry  .
You 'working' at Salute, or free to roam?

The Set & the Cast of Characters looks FINE...LET THE SHOW BEGIN!

Thanks, Amigo!
Not sure about the 'show' bit, though.
 

Nice stuff!

Thanks, styx!




Back to the game(s).

As mentioned before, the Maniac caused havoc in the first two games and was eventually removed from the list of options for the Lurker player.
The Maniac was too much for the team to contend with if the majority of them could be tied up dealing with 'Tough' zombies.

Another thing that was involved in all three games, and seemed to work extremely well, was the use of 'Queens' as in the Giant Insect and Swarm rules.
A Zombie could be upgraded to a 'Queen' or 'Lead  Zombie' at a cost of 2BP and could only Command other Zombies.
This worked very well. With three such leaders on the board, it was possible to get seven Zombies moving at once and provide an excellent representation of a shambling horde whilst still using the standard SA rules with no other modifications.

Some pictures of the zombies showing them advancing as a shambling horde



This shot shows how seven of the Zombies could advance each turn, utilising the 'Queen' rules


















The team advance to meet the horde head on.











The face off!






The team open fire.
Zombies begin to fall under the hail of lead......







......but not all of them stay down!
The fact that more kept rising from the Spawning point was not helping the team get past them.





The casualties begin to mount up.






As the sun begins to set, the team eventually fight their way through the horde.







They had better soon find a place to hole up for the night.....

[Just John]

Great stuff. Are there many 20's style Zombies out there? I know Tengu do a few and there are plenty of doctors etc but what else?

[Ramirez Noname]

"They had better soon find a place to hole up for the night....."

But will it be any safer ? 

Great report as always, Sir.

RMZ

[Mason]

Great stuff. Are there many 20's style Zombies out there? I know Tengu do a few and there are plenty of doctors etc but what else?

Thanks, John!
Tengu do quite a few now, you are right.

My painted ones are a mix of Tengu, repainted Horrorclix and Four A miniatures, but there are others.

I have quite a few more that I have not got around to painting yet:
Cold War miniatures have plenty that will work for the Interwar era, also most hospital patients will work (I have the Studio miniatures patient set to finish off).
It is also pretty easy to get hold of some period civilians and add zombie heads to them.

I will eventually get around to finishing more of mine and will post them up when they are done.

Great report as always, Sir.
RMZ

Thanks, RMZ!

"They had better soon find a place to hole up for the night....."

But will it be any safer ? 

 

Probably not, but where would be the fun in that?
 

[Treebeard]

Not sure I ever post in this thread which I'm a big fan of.
Wonderfull work and story telling Mason.
Always very atmospheric.

[Kitsune]

Thanks, mate.
He must stop gossiping with all and sundry  .
You 'working' at Salute, or free to roam?

Thats a bit like asking GW to skip raising prices for a year!

Not working Salute this time, so gotta queue up with the rest of the punters.

[Legionnaire Bert]

Thanks, mate.
He must stop gossiping with all and sundry  .

They had better soon find a place to hole up for the night.....

Who are Al and Sandy??? Never met 'em, mate, let alone gossiped with 'em - you must have mistaken me for someone else who doesn't share my trade mark restraint and sense of decorum...

 

Took three tries, but I got there in the end. Bring on the next shambling horde!

[Mason]

Not sure I ever post in this thread which I'm a big fan of.
Wonderfull work and story telling Mason.
Always very atmospheric.

Thanks, Treebeard!
I have been watching your OW thread and your name has been added to the 'list' of people to blame for my head being turned in that direction.
Some nice stuff there.

Thats a bit like asking GW to skip raising prices for a year!

Not working Salute this time, so gotta queue up with the rest of the punters.

 
Mine turn to get up early for Salute this year, then.
I will be on the Red Planet Miniatures VSF table.
Come over for a catch-up.
 

Who are Al and Sandy??? Never met 'em, mate, let alone gossiped with 'em - you must have mistaken me for someone else who doesn't share my trade mark restraint and sense of decorum...
 

Yeah, yeah!
Pull the other one, mate.
 

Took three tries, but I got there in the end. Bring on the next shambling horde!

Well, Scenarios Two and Three are waiting for you!
 




Should have a little update soon, as I have been working on the 'Zombie Spawning' template and it is nearly there.
(I should be working on some Japanese, but it is the Year of the Butterfly after all... )

[Mason]

Should have a little update soon, as I have been working on the 'Zombie Spawning' template and it is nearly there.

Finished it!
 

A really quick and dirty job.

Easy enough to do:
A few spare zombies that have been filed down a little on one side so that they lay flat.
Glued down on a CD and a bit of flock and stuff for texture.
Brown undercoat on the whole thing and a few colours quickly slapped on the bodies.
A couple of washes and a wetbrush or two followed by some scenic bits and bobs and: Voila!

Zombie Spawning template.




It should also double up nicely as a Scene of Terror (or even of Mild Discomfort).
(It must be quite disturbing finding ten dead bodies just laying on the ground!)

I think it looks OK for a quick job.

Here's hoping you agree.
 

P.S. I may go back and add a couple of bodies sitting almost upright, but did not have the time today....not sure if I will bother.
What do you think?