AKULA Zombie Gauntlet: This time it's personal. (Using our 28mm doubles)

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AKULA Zombie Gauntlet: This time it's personal.

OR

Playing with yourself in the zombie apocalypse will get you killed.

OR

That Gas Hole is going to get us all killed!

A while back, as described in this previous battle report; (Get Matt to the Church on Time) , I had put together some 28mm gaming avatar figures to represent our group so we could "personally" put ourselves through scenarios in the zombie apocalypse.  Our table top avatars could be armed appropriately with weapons that we each actually have in our possession.   My intent was always to make more avatar figures for other members of our group and I was able to get them finished for our annual summer gaming weekend at my house. 

For our table top zombie gaming, we use the excellent TOTAL AR:SE rules by AKULA.  The following scenario is a version of a game we have run at a local convention.   Our group of survivors is running low on supplies and must get though the mass of zombies to the gas station (The Gas Hole) on the far side of board to get access to fuel, as well as picking up at least 5 food items by searching vehicles and buildings.  No problem.

Here we have the rogues gallery showing our group in both our life size glory and our armed and dangerous table top avatars.  Notice the smiles on the life size versions compared to the grim determination of the table top avatars.  Maybe they have a better idea of what is coming.



Some shots of the zombie infested desert valley before the mayhem starts






Surveying our situation, we made a quick plan of attack.  The road directly in front of us looked relatively clear of zombies so we would move up and hopefully be able to search several vehicles for supplies before we attracted the attention of too many zombies.  Then we would either head right around the back of the Cycle Garage, or left towards the Diner depending on how the zombies were moving.  We would try not to engage with firearms or make too much noise right away so that we could delay activating too many of the zombies within noise range.


With our foolproof plan in place and a quick encouraging word, we moved out to gather supplies, get fuel and smash any zombies that got in our way.




Moving forward we reached the first two vehicles.  Matt checked the police car to make sure there were no zombies trapped inside and then started searching the vehicle.  Darren checked the back of the pick up truck and found some food.  Things were off to a good start!


Josh ran up and used his fire axe to take out the lone zombie policeman.  Feeling confident, Darren advanced to bash the zombie with his baseball bat but swung badly and was lightly wounded by the zombie.


With proper survival priorities in mind, Mark B and I raced to the back of the abandoned beer truck so we could search it for the wonderful beer that hopefully remained inside.


Josh searched the cab of the pickup while Mark M covered his back.  Unfortunately the pick up truck proved to be empty of anything useful.


Matt's search of the police car turned up a loaded shotgun. Not food but definitely a good score!  So far the plan was working pretty well.


Still struggling with the zombie, Darren just couldn't manage to connect with his bat.  Aaron moved up to lend support if needed.


Then things started to go wrong.  Suddenly a zombie dog loped around the side of the truck and attacked Mark B as we searched the beer truck.


The padding from the rubber Batman costume didn't protect him at all and the zombie dog took him to the ground in a bloody mess.  Our group had suffered it's first casualty.


Darren finally managed to take out the zombie he had been fighting but more zombie dogs were closing in.  Seeing the slavering dogs bearing down on him, Aaron ended our attempt at silence by firing up his chainsaw.  Now we were making a lot of noise and more zombies would be aware of our presence.  It was on now.


A zombie hulk lumbered forward and lobbed a huge chunk of asphalt at Matt, but the missile slammed into the side of the police car instead.  I fired my 9mm pistol point blank at the zombie dog attacking me but the bullets did no visible damage.


Seeing me struggling with the dog, Darren yelled that he was on the way to help out.


Opening up with his SKS rifle, Matt blew large chunks out of the zombie hulk, wounding it twice but generating more noise in the process.


The zombie dog's jaws clamped down on my arm, wounding me and reducing my combat effectiveness.  Damn, damn, damn.

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Splattering bloody gore all around, Aaron shredded the two zombie dogs that had attacked him.  Feeling confident with his chainsaw, he charged the approaching zombie hulk in an effort to cut the beast down.


But just then the chainsaw sputtered and stalled and the massive mutated zombie pummeled Aaron into a bloody pulp across the desert floor.  Ouch.


Things were definitely going downhill fast.  With two of our group down already and more of the undead closing in, things did not look good.  Mark M started sniping zombies with his hunting rife while Darren & I tried to fight off the zombies attacking us.  Josh (a volunteer firefighter/EMT) rushed up to try and use his EMT skills to heal me (we added a Medic skill that allows a figure with that skill to heal a wound on a 4+) but a zombie distracted him and he failed to heal me.


More zombies pressed in on Darren as he tried desperately to fight them off.


Through strength in numbers, the zombies pulled Darren down and ripped him apart.  My situation had just gotten a lot worse.


Two zombies surged forward and grappled with Matt, wounding him and preventing him from lending much needed support with his assault rifle.


Things looked grim as more of the undead surrounded me.  Mark M took out a zombie with a shot to the head, while Josh was still unsuccessful in healing me.


My pistol proved completely ineffective against the zombie dog trying to rip me to pieces, and suddenly I felt boney fingers clawing at my back and dragging me down from behind.  Just before my world went black, I saw Josh retreating from the pack of zombies around me while further away Matt was frantically fending off the two zombies attacking him. 


Seeing Matt in trouble, Josh rushed over to his position by the police car to administer first aid.  Mark M fell back and assessed the situation.  Only three of the group was left standing and Matt was badly wounded and engaged with two zombies.  Not good.


Mark M shot at the zombie hulk as it advanced but the bullets did no damage.  Josh and Matt fought for their lives against the two zombies and finally managed to take them down.


Finally getting some breathing room from the surging zombies, Josh healed Matt several times and greatly improved his prospects for survival.


Mark M's self preservation instincts kicked in and he took off, sprinting away from the remaining members of the group towards the perceived safety of The Gas Hole.


Thanks to the medicinal drugs coursing through his system, Matt was able to ignore his wounds and catch up to Mark.  But they weren't out of danger by any means as more zombies approached.


Moving as quickly as possible, the remaining group members gave the zombies a wide berth.


Nowhere was safe from the relentless zombies and Mark and Matt were forced to generate zombie attracting noise by firing their rifles at the approaching undead.


Finding himself wounded by a Zombie that got too close for comfort, Josh and the others looked to put some distance between them and the oncoming zombies.


Matt fired at point blank range and took out an oncoming zombie before it could attack him.


The noise generated by the semi automatic weapons fire drew more and more zombies to the area.


Fighting furiously, Matt fended off the attacking zombies, killing some and pushing the others back.


Still, the undead pressed forward relentlessly.


Josh also found himself once again fighting off the zombies in hand to hand combat.


Mark took the opportunity to slip by the combat as the zombies are distracted.


With so many zombies closing in, Matt tore himself away from dead hands clutching at him, broke off from combat and started running to catch up with the others.

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Matt, Josh and Mark sprinted behind the Cycle Garage with several zombies and a zombie hulk closing in behind them.


Still more zombies lurched out of the alley to block their way forward


The group made a dash past the zombies and found themselves very close to the back door of The Gas Hole.   At last safety seemed to be only steps away.


Matt moved quickly to the back door, opening it up and urging everyone to get inside.  Mark ran through the open door but Josh saw some vending machines along the wall and made the decision to go grab some food items before making for the safety of the building.


Charging into The Gas Hole, Mark soon discovered that the safety of the building was only an illusion as several zombies lurched out of the darkness.


Crap! The Gas Hole has been infested with zombies!  Not good!


Crushing a zombie's head as it tried to grab him, Matt dove through the door into the back hallway of The Gas Hole.


Seeing only one Zombie in front of him, Josh felt confident that he could fight his way to the vending machines to get some much needed food items.


Unfortunately a zombie dog charged in from behind and boxed him into the narrow alleyway.


Mark killed a couple zombies but more kept shambling out of the darkness.


Josh took down the zombie dog with his fire axe, but another dog appeared in front of him and there was a zombie hulk plus more zombies closing in from behind where he couldn't see them.


Zombies relentlessly pressed in on the remaining survivors from all sides.


Matt yelled at Josh to forget about the vending machines and make a break for the building so they could close the door on the zombies before it's too late.


Despite the danger, Josh had his sights set on reaching the vending machines and stayed to fight the oncoming undead.


With the promise of tantalizing Twinkies just beyond his grasp, Josh payed the ultimate price for convenient snacks as he was torn apart by the attacking zombies.


His tired limbs aching from the ongoing combat, Mark was only able to push the zombies back, but not put them down.  He yelled at Matt to close the door and come help him fight.


With a renewed effort Mark charged the zombies and smashed one of their skulls with the butt of his rifle, sending the creature falling hard to the floor.


Paying no attention to the loss of one of their own, the remaining two zombies lunged forward and attacked Mark with savage fury.


Desperately defending himself the best he could, Mark felt himself tiring and slowing down and a sense of dread crept over him.


Suddenly Mark found his rifle stock caught up in the zombie nun's tattered robes and struggled to tear it free.  At the last moment he saw the second zombie lunging forward to take a huge jagged bite out of his exposed neck.  Mark's fight was over.


With the outside door now closed and barred, Matt turned to find the remaining zombies clambering over Mark's mangled body down the narrow hallway towards him.  He was trapped.


Fighting desperately for his life, Matt spotted a ladder on the wall behind him.  If he could break off and get to the roof he should be out of reach from the zombies.  From there he could take a much needed rest and take stock of his survival options.


But the moment of reflection cost him dearly and as he turned to run for the ladder, a bloody pair of hands grabbed him from behind and dragged him to the ground.


The last of our group went down, alone in the dark back hallway of a deserted place called The Gas Hole.  Not a good day for our gaming avatars.




++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Well, that turned out to be a complete failure on our part.  But it sure was a lot of fun!  Playing as our table top selves made the scenario even more entertaining.  With the mechanics of how the zombies react in the AKULA system, even those of us that died so quickly at the beginning of the game had a great time staying busy moving and attacking with the zombies throughout the game.

I think our initial plan was fine but as everyone knows, even the best plan never survives contact with the undead.   It's one of those things with the AKULA system, you never know how the activation cards are going to come up.  The two Fast / Hulk zombie activation cards that came up early on right after each other put a serious dent in our plan, and in our health. 

Still it was fun to see how Matt, Mark M and Josh were able to get as far as they did despite how bad things looked early on in the game.  Lot's of fun and looking forward to seeing how our avatars can do in the next game.

[SBRPearce]

Beautiful table, and a great AAR! Yeah, it would be cool to see a "rewind".

I ran an Akula zombie game once in which the Survivors got two cards, followed immediately by every zombie card in the deck. The survivors didn't even get a turnover before they were completely torn to pieces... After a moment of stunned silence, my buddy quipped "Okay, reset to your marks, roll sound for Take 2" and we treated it like "a bad dream".

[Illumini]

That is such a cool idea, the figs really look like you guys. Amazing terrain and really great battlereport as well, thanks 

[rollawaythestone]

This is top notch!

[von Lucky]

Awesome.

[Elk101]

Great set up and a brilliant idea with the figure likenesses.

[commissarmoody]

Great looking game.

[Marine0846]

Wow, what a game.
Love every thing about it.
Really love the idea of painted figures of the players.

[iPaint]

Great AAR. Lot's of nice pics. How long was this game? Seems like the rules play pretty fast. Really trying hard to find a download source for the rules, though....seems like all of the links on Akula's blog are dead.

~iPaint

[Muzfish4]

Fantastic AAR!

[m4jumbo]

Thanks for the comments. 

@ iPaint, I don't remember specifically, but I would guess we got though the game within 2 hours.   We have run a version of this scenario at a local convention a couple times within a 2 hour time slot, including a quick going over of the rules for new players. The rules do play quickly and new players can pick up the mechanics in no time. 

I've noticed too that the AKULA rules links have been down for a while.  Hopefully they will be readily available again.