The Young Ones on Vacation - HeroQuest Skirmish battle report part 4

You can find part 3 of this battle report over here.

TURN 4

In turn 4, the Hero Phase opened up with SPG rolling a total of 6" for movement. Electing to make a break for it, he jumps into the pond and swims for the shore away from the two Zombie Shufflers that have cause him grief previously.

Vyvyan meanwhile rolls a total of 9" for his movement and heads straight for the remains of the groundskeeper. Vyv needs the groundskeeper's housekeys to the cottage in order to get back his own car keys and get both himself and SPG out of there.

The Security Team now get their action phase. Trooper 2 moves in to engage the zombie attacking Trooper 3. Both Trooper 3 and the Sergent are locked in melee with some Zombie Shufflers from the previous turn. In the ensuing melee, both Trooper's 2 & 3 score some Skulls on their Zombie, but it saves each time. As such, the three remain locked in melee combat for next turn.

The Security Sergent unfortunately misses scoring any hits on his zombie. So, the melee remains for next turn between the Sergent and the Zombie Shuffler grappling with him also.

But now, the Monster Phase kicks in and the zombies are massing. A total of five new zombies appear on the table edge where the only noise has been made. Most of the recent arrivals spy the closest non-zombie, that being the Security Team, and make for them. SPG however attracts two of the Shufflers as he swims to the ponds edge.

Amongst these zombies heading for the Security Team is a Runner. The Zombie Runner rolls a massive 12" for movement and sprints all the way to the gate of the car park.

SPG now has a total of four Zombie Shufflers waddling towards him. Meanwhile the Security Team is getting boxed in. Behind their vehicle emerges the zombie fireman who last turn bit off the neck of Trooper 1. Things are looking desperate as the three Security personnel are all engaged in melee and Trooper 3 already has a wound from the previous turn on him.

Fortunately for Vyv, he is obscured by the pick-up and doesn't attract attention when it's time for each zombie to move towards the nearest visible non-zombie. But the car park is beginning to get flooded with the monsters.

"Brains, brains, brains..."

"Ock, there's too many of the buggers."

Worse still, the zombies that will be arriving in Turn 5 now comprise a Zombie Brute as well as another four Shufflers. The Zombie Hoard is growing.

In the melee, the Zombies fail to land a blow, and the Troopers breathe a sigh of relief as they continue to struggle with them. But the zombie firefighter is right on their backs and the Runner, along with a bunch of Shufflers, is closing in fast.

With that, Turn 4 comes to a cliffhanger end. Stay tuned folks.

The Young Ones on Vacation - HeroQuest Skirmish battle report part 3

 You can find parts 1 & 2 of this battle report over here.

TURN 3

The Hero Phase opens with Vyvyan rolling 8" for movement. He makes a b-line straight to the Esky of food and drinks he stashed in the bushes when he noticed SPG being kidnapped. Securing his lunch, he now gains the equivalent of two Healing Potions. These restore 4 body points each. It's always a good think to have a solid lunch whenever possible. Especially when there are zombies about.

SPG manages to roll 6" for his movement and not too soon! He dives into the pond escaping the Zombie Shuffles that have been harassing him the previous turn. Swimming to the small island in the middle of the pond, he rescues his favourite toy, his oversized Rubber Duck. The zombies won't be able to get him here as they avoid water. But the longer he stays in the middle of the pond, the more zombies are likely to gather on the pond's bank if they spy him. So not the greatest of defensive strategies.

Vyv and SPG have been able to gather three key plot points now, but they still need to get the keys to Vyv's Ford Anglia. That means getting the groundkeepers keys off what remains of his corpse. So, they need these two additional plot points in order to get away.

Weapons, Lunch (drinks and food) and SPG's favourite toy are secured.

The Hero Phase now complete, it's the Security Team's go.

Trooper 1 is locked in mortal combat with the Zombie Runner. Trooper 1 rolls three dice in attack. Rolling, he gets a total of 3 Skulls.

The Runner only has one dice in defence and already has one injury, so it's cooked. Trooper 1 decides to fall back now to Trooper 2, getting the hell out of dodge before more zombies come.

Trooper 2 now has his go and decides to shoot at the recently arrived group of three Zombie Shufflers. What he won't be aware of (as technically they are still off the table) is that a group of five more Zombies are awaiting to enter the table in the Monster Phase.

Trooper 2 shoots with three Attack Dice and likewise scores 3 Skulls, smocking one of the Shufflers. Trooper 2 then falls back to the rear of the security vehicle to join the rest of his team.

Trooper 3 now opens fire aiming at the poor zombie Nun, one of the hapless victims from the hospital that had been tending the first victims of this outbreak. He rolls 2 Skulls, "killing" the zombie outright as it only has 1 die in Defence. Smoke one more zombie. Trooper 3 shuffles along slightly to grant Trooper 2 a clear LOS to the oncoming zombies for next turn's shenanigans.

The Sergent now has a go. Seeing how good his men have done he takes aim at the nearest zombie. He shoots at the patient from St Catherines Hospital and rolls 2 Skulls. The female zombie has only one die in defence but manages to roll a Black Shield, saving one hit. However, with one health and an unnegated hit, she goes down easily with a shot to the head. The Sergent will not be outshone by his men today.

But now it's the Monster Phase. There are a growing number of zombies on the field now and they are beginning to close in on our heroes and the Security Team. Five new Zombie Shufflers arrive in the Monster Phase. Two spy SPG and make for the pond. The other three spy Trooper 1 and make a move toward the car park.

"Oh crap! Time to scarper."

Trooper 1 suddenly gets into a fistfight with a zombie firefighter. The zombie beats on the poor Trooper and he suffers 2 Skulls. The Trooper rolls his defence dice but fails to save either of the hits. The zombie grabs the poor Trooper and bites into his neck, killing him outright!

Aaaaarrrrgggggg!

Trooper 3 also finds himself in fisticuffs with one of the Shuffler Zombies. He cops a single hit from the zombie that he fails to save against. As such, he is down to a single hit for next turn and remains in melee, grappling the zombie.

The Sergent also finds himself caught in melee when one of the Shufflers lunges forwards and grabs him. Taking a single Skull result in the attack, the Sergent manages to shake it off with a roll of a White Shield in defence. Still at full health, he will nonetheless have to grapple the zombie again next turn.

But next turn, the Monster Phase will see five more zombies arrive on this side of the table where all the noise, shooting and action is. And one of these new arrivals is another Zombie Runner. Things are starting to get a little hairy.

To be continued!

The Young Ones on Vacation - HeroQuest Skirmish battle report parts 1 & 2

You can find the scenario set up and house rules over here.

The Young Ones on Vacation - HeroQuest Skirmish battle report

TURN 1

The scenario set up

The table layout is as you can see. Vyvyan and SPG begin in the top right corner for the table. The Security Team have just arrived in the carpark in the lower left corner. The Security Team, having just arrived in a vehicle, have generated three noise markers. This will attract three zombies to that side of the table next turn. Zombies are scattered about the table.

Vyv and SPG roll only short moves of 3" and 4" respectively. Clearly, they are sneaking their way back to Vyv's Ford Anglia at the car park when the spy both the zombies and the security team.

The security team make three noise markers driving into the car park. That's going to cause issues next turn. They exit the vehicle, the security sergeant radioing back a sitrep.

SPG's favourite toy is where he left it when the science team captured him and carted him off to the lab. SPG is going to be very motivated to get this back despite there being zombies hanging around.

Vyv left both his lunch and his cricket bat when he chased after the hamster nappers. So Vyv is going to need these if he hopes to get SPG and himself out of the parkland in one piece.

The keys to Vyv's Ford Anglia are in the grounds-keepers cottage. The keys to that cottage are on what's currently left of the grounds-keeper. Vyv, being a medical student and rather fond of violence, isn't too squeamish when it comes to digging through guts. Good thing too because he's going to have to get dirty to get the keys to the cottage. Unfortunately, there are zombies hanging around that corpse. So best to tread carefully here.

Vyv's car keys are in the cottage on the entrance table.

Turn 1 opens with the Hero's (Vyv and SPG) making their moves first. The security team goes next and finally the monsters (i.e. zombies) get their turn. With the Hero phase done. The security team stays put and tools up. Spying the closest threats to them. Trooper 1 spots the Zombie Brute and, it being the closest threat, opens fire. The trooper scores 2 Skulls. The Brute however tolls 1 Dark Shield, shrugging off one damage.

Noise markers are placed ready for next turn.

Bam, bam, bam!

Braiiiinz...shug off hurt. Want braiiiiinnnzzz.

One hit

Trooper 2 also thinks that the Brute is the closest threat to him and likewise takes a shot. Rolling 2 Skulls, the zombie fails to shrug off the hits and is killed.

Blam, blam, blam.

Nice work team.

The security Sergeant makes a move and then shoots at the nearest zombie, which is partially obscured, to himself. Due to partial cover, the Sergeant rolls one less dice in attack. The Sergeant rolls 2 Skulls in attack. The zombie fails in its defence roll and is taken out immediately. Nice work Sergeant.

Trooper 3 now activates and makes a move action to get a clear shot at some zombies. He has three targets in equidistant range and Line of Sight (LOS). But the fence acts as an obstruction meaning that the trooper will roll one less attack dice. Trooper 3 targets the most dangerous zombie, the Runner, and scores a single hit. The Runner however shrugs this attack off with a single dark shield result.

Now the monsters get their phase. Zombies move towards the nearest loudest sound, the nearest visible non-zombie, or will move towards each other if neither of these options are available. The firefighter zombie moves towards the gate and tears it down. This opens the way for a bunch of zombies to move towards the nearest visible target, that of the security team. And onwards they come!

Shuffler Zombies get a move of 5". So does the Zombie Brute if it was still standing. The Zombie Runner however gets two red dice (i.e. normal d6) for movement.

Unfortunately for the Runner, it rolls a grand total of 3" for movement this turn. Not so much a runner, as a jogger right now!

As most of the Zombies are attracted to the Security Team either by sight, or noise, they move towards their dinner. Only one Zombie has a LOS to another target. That being SPG. The Shuffler Zombie, having no other non-zombie in LOS, moves towards SPG.

"Uh oh!"

TURN 2

Turn 2 opens with three new Zombies coming on to the table, having been attracted by the noise generated by the Security Team. All three zombies are Shufflers.

The Hero Phase opens with Vyv making a b-line for his cricket bat, rolling 10" for movement. "Ah, completely brilliant!" he exclaims as he picks it up and feels its weight. "This could come in very handy."

SPG likewise rolls 10" for movement and legs it past the female zombie Shuffler and straight towards his beloved Rubber Duck.

With Vyv claiming his cricket bat, that's one objective the Hero Team has collected. Vyv now adds +3 dice to any melee attack rolls he makes because, as Rick exclaims; "Vyvyan, you vicious bastard!" That's a total of six dice he will roll in attack. Moreover, Vyv can split the dice amongst multiple attackers if he is set upon by more than one zombie in melee. Swing away!

"Completely brilliant!"

"Out of the way, Lassy. That's my duck!"

The Security Team phase opens with them being in trouble. Beset by a large number of zombies, 7 in total, and one a Runner. Things look grim.

Trooper 3 opens up on the purple clad Shuffler directly in front of him and scores 2 Skulls. Purple zombie fails to defend itself and is outright splattered across the zombies behind it. Tropper 3 then falls back to get as much distance as possible.

The Security Sergeant opens up on the Runner, scoring 1 Skull, which the Runner fails to defend. The Runner therefore takes a single hit. The Sergeant then also falls back to Trooper 3. We can imagine that both were falling back whilst firing at the oncoming zombies.

Trooper 2 shoots at one of the newly arrived Zombies, being the closest threat in LOS. But he fails to land any hits.

Damn it. Missed!

Trooper 1 moves forwards towards the front of the Hummer and takes a shot at the Runner zombie. But he also misses his target. Clearly, he was freaked out by the oncoming mass of rotting flesh.

The Monster Phase opens with the Runner zombie rolling 7" of movement. It runs forwards and attacks Trooper 1, scoring 1 Skull in its attack. Trooper 1 manages to roll 2 White Shields in defence and pushes off the charging zombie.

But the rest of the little hoard shuffles into the carpark and quickly start to cut off access to the Security Teams vehicle.

Meanwhile, SPG has his own problems. The two Shuffler zombies close in behind SPG. Due to his tiny size, attacks against SPG roll one less dice. The female zombie attacks first but fails to land a hit. Next the male zombie has a go but likewise fails to land a blow. Incredibly SPG dodges between the two zombies and escapes being hit.

"Naff off zombies!"

With that Turn 2 comes to an end. Stay tuned for what happens next.