Synopsis: This second game of Potters Field was to establish new rules and make alterations to previous rules in an attempt to make game play quicker with less book keeping and dice rolling. In this report we establish how Survivors will search and scrounge for items, how zombies can break through doors and alter how zombies get added to the table.

Mission: Get to the Garage across the street and secure a vehicle to leave the slums of the field behind us.

Round 1:

Survivors:
When we last left our hero he had found some saftey within the ol gun store. Outside, a horde of undead neighbors and friends shambled after our intrepid, ill prepared survivor. Inside the store Maddock finds Boe, another survivor who apparently had the same idea as Maddock… Find guns! Boe was already rustling through the remaining debrie of the old gun shop when Maddock had entered. After a breif and untrusting introduction the two decide to search the place together, but find nothing. The place has apparently been picked over before they got here.

Zombies:
As our survivors search the trailing horde of twitching dead begin amassing at the door they last saw Maddock enter through.

End Round: No new Zombies added to the board.

Notes: During round 1 we were rolling a d6 at the end of every round to determine if more Zeds arrived. This would occur on a roll of 1-2. On this round we rolled a 3 so no Zombies joined the frey.

Searching requires you spend a point of Fatigue and roll a d10. On a roll of 9 or 10 you will find something. You may only search 1 room a turn. You may continue searching as long as you find things, meaning that if you search once and find nothing you’re done. Maddock rolls a 3 on a d10 and Boe a 6…indicating that nothing was found.

 

Round 2:

Survivors:
As the dead amass at the door, it seems to be holding fine. Maddock decides to rest for a minute and catch his breath as does Boe.

Zombies:
Still piling onto the door…How long will it hold?

End Round: 10 Zombies added to the board at a distance of 8″ from our survivors location.

Notes: By resting for a full turn our heros regain 1 point of Fatigue each, leaving Maddock at 3 and Boe at 10. At this point during play we are still rolling a d6 to determine whether or not we will add Zombies to the game. This time we rolled a 2. Then we roll a d10 to see how many Zombies…Unfortunately for us, Mrs Grimey rolled a 10, so we have to add 10 Zombies. The we roll again on a d10 to see how far they are from us…She rolls an 8…so we place them 8″ away in any direction we like. We placed them in spots that made sense to us and continued to round 3.

 

Round 3:

Survivors:
Maddock, feeling tired and scared decides he better take another moment to gather his wits as he watches the zombies piling onto that door…it can’t hold forever.. can it? Boe opts to go upstairs to the apartment above the gun shop to look for something up there and finds a First Aid Kit.

Zombies:
Banging on the door, the hinges begin to shake, but luckily for our survivors the door still holds.

  

End Round:
No zombies added.

Notes: Spending a Fatigue point Boe searches the upstairs. She rolls a 9 on the D10. Rolling again on a chart to see what she finds she results with a first aid kit. Now that there are enough zombies (10 for a typical door), we roll a d6. The zombies must roll a 6 this round to see if they break the door. They rool a 3 so the door stands. Every successive round the required number to roll will drop by 1. So next round they would need a 5 or above, then a 4 and so on. Maddock regains another Fatigue Point from resting.

 

Round 4:

Survivors: Our intrepid survivors prepare themselves for the journey across the street.

Zombies: The battering on the door subsides…apparently they have forgotten about the would be feat that await inside.

End Round: No more zeds.

Notes: This is the 3rd round in a row that no zombies were added… I was beginning to think that this new method of placing zombies wasnt very good. So next round we decided to change the mechanic. Earlier in the day I had been thinking about how long zombies would follow a survivor once Line of Sight had been lost, I decided 3 rounds was adequate…so if you’re wondering why the zombies stopped pounding on the door thats why. This was round 4, so they forgot about us.

 

Round 5:

Survivors: Maddock kicks out the door of the gun shop and makes a mad dash for the Garage across the street. Boe follows suit.

 

Zombies: Those that have Line of Sight begin to shuffle after the warm fast moving heros.

End Round: 6 Zombies @ 6″ distance are added to the board.

Notes: This round we changed the rule for placing zombies…We decided that at the end of every round you must roll a D6…the result of that roll is how many zombies you have to place, and they have to be placed 6″ from one of the survivors.

 

Round 6:

Survivors: Maddock continues his mad dash for the garage door, Luckily its unlocked and he opens it. Once again Boe follows behind.

 

Zombies: The zombies move in…One being close enough takes a swing at Maddock, clawing him twice Maddock is fearful of being infected so close to a getaway! The zombies that were left at the Armory’s back door now have line of sight to our heros and begin moving toward them.

End Round: 2 Zombies added at 6″.

Notes: Maddock looses a Resilience point (Leaving him at 4) due to the attack he suffered from the zombies. Since there were 2 successful hits Maddock also risks infection. Luckily for me I rolled good enough to avoid it. Phew!

 

Round 7:

Survivors: Maddock swings his bloody axe 2 times at his groaning assailant but misses. Weilding her hockey stick Boe takes two swipes at the closest zombies and kills one.

Zombies: Swinging at Maddock a zombie misses, another moves in and hits Maddock with one success. Another swings at Boe and misses.

End Round: 1 Zombie added at 6″.

Notes: Since there was only 1 successful Hit Maddock only looses 1 Res Point (Leaving him with 3). Now this was more like the last game…I could feel the tension building big time.

 

Round 8:

Survivors: Maddock and Boe run into the garage and Maddock slam the big overhead door closed, leaning against it out of breath, as they both contemplate the growing hordes of walking dead outside that door!

 

Zombies: Move in and begin pounding on the door.

 

End Round: Add 5 Zombies @ 6″.

Notes: Maddock must spend a point of Fatigue to run inside the garage and close the overhead door. A large door like a garage door will require a mountain of 20 zombies to break it down. But look they’re on their way. Sorry I didnt have a car or truck available in scale for this scenario and I didn’t really feel like making the paper one supplied in Mayhem, so we pretended there was a vehicle inside the garage for next time!

 

Final Thoughts
At the end of the game we had 40 zombies on the table, truly enough to make you a little nervous about your survivor making it out alive. Of course we still havent made it out of anywhere…just from one building to the next. Playing the game started to remind me a little of Dawn of the Dead when they run from the mall to the Gun shop… Unfortunately for us our Gun store was totally empty. I’m thinking that maybe it shouldnt be a 2 outta 10 chance of finding something…but then again it was pretty hard and VERY disappointing when you find that you’re stuck in a building that is totally void of anything useful. In anycase it was rather fun once again and ran a little quicker this time, aside from the time taken for rule discussion with Mrs Grimey.

Next Time in the Field:
During a daring escape from the garage our intrepid heroes find themselves in a broken down car a few miles from where they started…but still not out of Potters Field!