Sunday, January 15, 2012

Zombies in Stalingrad


Once again we did not have quorum for our regular ongoing Dragonlance Campaign so I quickly set up another East Front WWW2 game.

Stalingrad, October 1942

SITUATION

A few weeks after our heroes Last Mission a report came to the BPO Stalingrad HQ that a unit of Russians had been attacked by another unit of Russians which had advanced out of the German lines – they did not carry weapons and all attempts to communicate with them were ignored – they fell upon the soviets holding the line and savaged them in brutal hand to hand fighting. Pandemonium ensued. An entire regiment of artillery was tasked to level the area just to get the situation under control. The BPO commander suspected paranormal involvement and the team to the front to investigate.

There they waited a few days until they got a report that a forward observation post had spotted what seemed to be a large number of Russians gathering just beyond the german lines.

The team moved to the front….



FORCES

Soviet Forces

Leytenant Anya Putyatin – BPO Psionik
Serzhant Boris Trotsky
Rayadovoy Ioseph Dizaleski - BPO Sniper

7x Soviet Riflemen
3x Soviet HMG crew (with Maxim HMG)


German Forces

1x SS Bloodmage
4xVeteran SS Minders
27 x Reanimated Russians

THE GAME
(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


Amanda (Leytenant Anya Putyatin) and Dave (Serzhant Boris Trotsky)


Patrick (Rayadovoy Ioseph Dizaleski) brought his own hat.


Soviets preparing to hold the line…


Darkness fell….

…and out of the darkness loomed…


The Zombie Horde!!


Slowly they shambled towards the soviet line. The soviets fired buckets of bullets at them – but with very little effect!?

(at this point the players were getting VERY nervous and making comments about how they’d really enjoyed playing these characters and that I wasn’t being very nice….)


During the five or so turns to advance to the Soviet lines the two machineguns, six riflemen, sniper rifle, submachinegun and BPO Psionik only managed to drop three zombies.


The HMG team was the first to be overrun – despite hundreds of bullets being shot downrange they hadn’t caused a single casualty with their fire. On their first turn of close combat the team leader bashed in one of the zombies head with the butt end of his SMG and it reeled back and crumpled to the ground.

In following turns the two gunners would beat a number of them to death with their bare hands!?


Zombies continue to shamble forward – and who is that skulking behind them?! An SS Blood Mage and his minders (bodyguards, yes, but also there to kill him if it seemed capture was immanent).


These two riflemen beat one zombie down with the butt ends of their rifles and were feeling so confident they rushed out to beat on some others that were separated from another group before they could converge and overwhelm them.


Rayadovoy Ioseph Dizaleski had started dropping zombies like crazy when they came out of the shadows and tried to cross the street in front of the building, but eventually his position was overrun… well with one zombie. After the first one got through, BPO Psionik Anya Putyatin turned her attention there and started melting zombie brains with her mind…


AT the other end of the line one zombie had stumbled into the wire and became entangled, but others behind him simply crawled over top of him…


The MG team holding the gap in the wall, holding off the three or four times their number.


The pile of zombies outside Dizaleski’s hide. There was some debate as to who was responsible for the pile. Dizaleski claims he shot them all point blank as they rushed out of the shadows and across the street. Trotsky, however, had also spend turns (and entire drums of ammo!) blazing away down that street and thus claimed he was responsible for the majority of them. Truthfully had they been examined more closely a number of them would have had no sign of gunshot wounds at all but rather looked like their heads exploded from within or had simple melted…


Another pile of corpses mounts in front of the MG position – mostly due to the gunners fists!

I missed getting a shot of him while he was down – but the team leader of the MG team was wounded and knocked down, but Leynant Putyatin rushed to his aid and got him back on his feet and into the game again! (lets hear if for the Combat Medic edge! HIP! HIP….!?)

(bah, my first kill of the game and I didn’t even get to reanimate it! Fie! FIIIIIEEEE!)


A Zombie crawling over the other zombie caught in the wire finally gets over and attacks the rifleman beyond.


The riflemen who had earlier rushed out from their position being overwhelmed as the SS Blood Mage strolls on by – expecting there to be a number of fresh Russian corpses to animate at this position soon enough.


More of a mess in the center.


Another Russian is finally overwhelmed – his comrade fled and leapt over the wall!


The Blood Mages first victim – REANIMATED! Unfortunately no one else was around to witness is so no guts checks…


His comrade didn’t last long… From his position behind that wall he tried to fire on the Blood Mage – but the minders were on hold and interrupted. They tied their opposed agility rolls and thus went simultaneously. The Russian went down in a hail of submachinegun fire…


…but not before he shot one of the SS minders!


Another zombie over the wire while four flank through the building to the side.


Trotsky decided to run and help out his sniper (not having any more zombies to shoot out in the street). The two of them finally beat down the last two remaining zombies at their end of the line.


Mopping up in the middle.


The SS saw that it was lost and scarpered, but not before…


… they raised one last zombie and sent it on it’s merry way towards the soviet lines. It almost made it to Anya Putyatin – who had advanced a little too far into the “no man’s land” beyond the soviet lines.

Wow… from certain doom to total victory. The Soviet only lost two dead – another had been only slightly wounded and returned to the fight with the aid of Anya Putyatin. The SS lost one of their minders – who turned out to be only wounded and was captured by the BPO. The Germans had started with 27 zombies (and animated two more Russians along the way) and they were all beaten down – mostly with fists and rifle butts…

Afterwards, Serzhant Boris Trotsky successfully persuaded his superiors to have the riflemen holding this position to be transferred to the BPO (and replace the rifle squad he’d lost in his last action….).

Fun times!

Coming Soon to Savage Timmy’s Playhouse:

Well, with any luck, next week we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled Dragonlance Campaign… Assuming we can get quorum!?

1 comment:

Amanda said...

hmm....I don't think it was just all rifle butt and fists that helped win that fight...Anya made a pretty good dent into those zombies too!! I totally like the black and white photos - perfect for the evening's zombie adventure.