Tuesday 31 July 2012

NMRIH First Batrep (testgame)

Played my first ever game of No More Room in Hell (set in 1888) made lots of mistakes, forgot skill bonuses etc. I learnt alot so its all good. I ran out of time so only managed to play six turns. I imagine when I start the campaign properly it will be much quicker next time.

The scenario I had set my party was that the road had been blocked by fallen trees and there carriage could not get pass the blocked road. They where to go to the nearby town visible in the distance to seek assistance or to borrow some tools to remove it themselves. Approaching the village they come across a man wondering aimlessly down the road as if drunken.

Game starts.



Rules where all standard the only thing I changed was the deployment of the zombies at first I used a scatter dice and a D10 from the centre to deploy but this was a little to random. So for further spawnings I divided the board into six sectors and rolled a d6 per zombie and deployed the zombies into the sectors rolled. This still needs working on spontaneous zombie appearance in a sector with the party is in seems silly and melee get started too quickly and bogs them down. I'm fine with the zombies appearing when searching building etc but will tackle then when I come to part two.

The sectors where numbered  as follows in the above picture moving down the right side and back up the left 1, the top field, 2, the Ruins 3, field in front of the Ghurkas 4, the field to the left of the party 5, The Forest (this count as rough terrain) 6, the field at the top elft

Post game: Changed the armament of the Ghurkas as initially they where armed with knives but they where extremely ineffective at wounding zombies so in future games the Kukri's carried will be classed as machetes much better weapons. What do you think?

Characterwise.  They all start with 1 Ammo and 1 Food (ammo is used to reload when failing an ammo test and can be shared amongst the group)


Sir Theo. Shot caller, Sword, Pistol, Blademaster, Nerves of Steel, Sterner Stuff
William.  Backup, Sword, Pistol, Club, Two Fisted

Bo'Sun. Backup, Teeth (chomp chomp), Zombie Stomper, Horribly Scarred.
Ghurka Trackers. Sheeple x 4, Rifle, Knife, Blademaster.

Set in a rural area and the total points value of the party totalling 500 (rounded up) the Starting Dice Grave per turn is 9. (Number of dice rolled per turn, any rolling a 4,5,6 cause a zombie to spawn). Gunfire etc add diceto this pool showing the noise attracting more zombies. (this gets quite big quite quick as the RoF of the weapon is used. Luckily not many SMG's where in use in the 1880's).

Anyhow here we go my first AAR.

Deployment

Sir Theo's Group deployment.

Zombies deployed using the scatter method.
Turn 1

Sir Theo and his colleagues approaches the apparently drunken man. 'Hello there are you ok sir?' Sir Theo says as he walks towards him. The man just replies 'braaaaaiiiinnns' and lunges at Sir Theo.

Sir Theo and William draw there pistols. 'Stand back Sir or we will open fire' the zombie takes another step forward and Sir Theo and William unload there pistols into the man with no effect the Ghurka tracker quickly bring up there rifles and open fire to protect there master's bringing the man down.  Sir Theo studies the man on the floor riddled with bullet holes and as he looks up and can see many more of these strange men approaching towards them. Shouting to his comrades  'Form a firing line on me and prepare your weapons'


Man swaying drunkenly in the road.

Hello there are you ok sir?
Zombies advance
Braiiins the drunken man lunges at Sir Theo and is riddled with bullets as he charges.
Sir Theo group won the initiative this turn and approached the seemingly drunk man. advancing to within 3" Sir Theo halts as the man swipes at him (I didn't want sir Theo to react aggressively to the first encounter with the zombie, so no actions apart from movement).

Zombies Turn
The Zombies then all advanced beginning to form groups towards Sir Theo's party as the Zombie tried to engage Sir Theo in melee. The whole group snapfired the last shot from the Ghurka on Sir Theo's flank bringing him down after surviving fire from the rest of the party.


Sir Theo was lucky rolling a 10 to hit he had to make an ammo roll but fortunately passed his test.


Dice Grave total 16

Turn 2

Sir Theo now aware of the danger of the oncoming undead advances forward a little and forms a firing line. Turning to his comrades and giving the order to fire at will. The three trackers on the right flank of Sir Theo open fire on the two nearest zombies bringing one of the fell creatures down.

Sir Theo, William and the Ghurka on the left flank  all open fire on the zombie advancing towards them down the road hitting numerous times but none proving fatal. William's pistol gave an ominous click click click as he ran out of ammo.  'Dam these creatures are tough' he says aloud to William.

The nearest zombies drew near and smelling flesh charged engaging a Ghurka and Sir Theo in melee. A group of zombies approach the groups left flank out of the nearby fields. The Ghurka drew his Kukri and met his foe slashing him across the stomach and arm but the zombie continued to fight on. Sir Theo drew his sabre and dispatched his opponent with ease removing an arm and striking its head from its body.

Sir Theo's party advance and open fire on the approaching Zombies.

the remaining zombies smelling flesh charge into melee.

More zombies arrive and begin to  quickly surround the party.
Sir Theo won initiative again and party all advance 3" and open fire, William misses completely and rolled a 10 also failing his ammo roll and will have to spend a turn doing nothing whilst he reloads. The Ghurkas on the right flank open fire on the two approaching zombies bringing one down. The zombies having started within 6" charge towards the party all of which snapfire and either missed or failed to wound. Sir Theo passed the gut check with ease for being charged and then won the initiative in melee easily rolling a 9 to the zombies 3 and hacked him apart with his sword. The Ghurka passed his gut check also, won initiative but failed to hit the zombie. The melee continued into the next turn ( this was my first mistake, the combat should of continued with the zombie rolling to hit the the Ghurka again and so on until one party is destroyed. I then realised this in the next turn. But to me it seemed quite brutal so the way combat will work will be to roll off for initiative each round fought , the winner then rolls to hit, rolls to wound and so on until there is a winner.)

Zombies Turn
8 Zombie reinforcements arrive this turn mostly in the four sectors around Sir Theo and co  these mostly bunch up and advance. This will need working on a bit more I think.

Dice Grave 20 (in hindsight I forgot to add the snapfire shooting to this total throughout the rest of the game)


Turn 3

The Ghurkas on the right flank seeing there comrade struggle both draw there kukri's and wade into the combat to help him. Sir Theo seeing another group of undead approaching from the left advances to the hedgerow and takes aim winging one the zombies but not causing any damage. The Ghurka on this flank takes careful aim with rifle and with a well placed head shot brings one down as the other two charge in. Williams quickly reloads his revolver. The Ghurkas on the right flank made short work of there single opponent hacking him apart with there knives. The Ghurka on the left has no such luck and is dragged down by the two zombies and they begin to feast on his still warm corpse. Sir Theo Grimaces at the sight but remains stalwart.

The three Ghurkas hack down there opponent.

Ghurka on the left flank is brought down and feasted upon.

More Zombie Spawn and advance.

Sir Theo moves to the hedge and opens fire missing and running out of ammo. The Ghurka next to him opens fire and kills one of the approaching zombies. The three Ghurkas win iniative and with some lucky rolls manage to kill there opponent in the first round (knives only kill a zombie on a roll of 1-3 so only a 30% chance).

Zombies Turn
The Ghurka on the left is charged by the two zombies, his snapfire missed and they engage him in melee he passes his gut checks but loses the initiative on the first round, they hit they wound he dies and they begin to feast. Sir Theo the only one able to see over the hedgerow passes his gut check at the sight. (multiple zombies are harder to killer as they receive bonus's in combat the more they outnumber you).

4 Zombies spawn in the neighbouring two sectors giving the group some breathing space but the group on the left are slowly forming into very big group.

In the heat of the game I had forgotten the Ghurka's all had the blademaster skill which adds plus to there Initaive score in melee (this may have resulted in some ties and dice may have been re-rolled in there favour)

Dice Grave 13

Turn 4

Sir Theo seeing what the disgusting creatures were doing to his comrade brandished his sabre at them and in a commanding voice said 'Sic em Boy' Bo'sun went straight through the hedgerow bringing one of the creatures down to the ground and proceeded to rear it to pieces. Sir Theo hopped over the hedge and swiftly chopped through the remaining creatures neck putting it down. Meanwhile William and the three Ghurkas took aim at the approaching zombies and opened fire killing the zombie advancing down the road and one crossing the field towards them.
Sir Theo and Bo'sun charge the feasting zombies

Zombies are bought down in melee

More Zombies spawn and begin to advance
Sir Theo won the initiative again and with Bo'sun passed there gut checks and charged the feasting zombies. Bringing them both down in the first round of combat. William opened fire on the zombie in the road and blew it away, the Ghurka's opened fire and kill one of the tow approaching zombies.

Zombies turn

The zombies spawned 2 this turn right in from of Sir Theo and another opposite the Ghurkas (this is what I mean by needing some working through zombies appearing from nowhere).

Dice Grave 17

Turn 5

Sir Theo wiping the blade on the corpses clothing looks up to see another approaching 'Sic em boy' he says to Bo'sun watching his canine companion go charging off toward the zombie. Reloading his pistol he looks around taking stock of what s happening to his comrades.

The three Ghurkas take aim with there rifles bringing another creature down with accurate fire. The remaining zombie makes into melee with one of the Ghurkas whom after striking many blows upon it managed to bring it down by severing its head at the neck. William draws a bead on the zombie heading towards him putting a shot through each of it eyes taking it out of the fight for good.

Bo'sun reaches his target and rips it apart making short work of it. Turning to return to his masters side another creature springs from the bushes and try to grab hold of him unable to comprehend what was happening to it  the second zombie is torn limb from limb by the dog.

The Ghurka fought for his life and just as he was beginning to tire the zombie stumbled and he managed to wedge his kukri through the undead things skull getting a killing blow.

William and the Ghurkas bring down two more zombies

Bo'sun charges and rips a zombie apart

The remaining zombie charges into the Ghurkas being hacked down after a long struggle.

Bo'sun is charge by a spawning Zombie

Which gets ripped limb from limb for even thinking about it


Sir Theo's side wins iniative. Sir Theo reloads his pistol using up his ammo point. William and the Ghurkas open fire and bring 2 of the 3 zombies down approaching them. The remaining zombie charged into a Ghurka and after 6 rounds of combat eventually was bought down. Bo'sun passed his Gut check charged the zombie and ripped it a new one.

Zombies turn 
6 Zombies spawned this turn mostly the opposite end of the table.  One spawned right in front of Bo'sun which charged into him and was ripped to bits for his trouble :D go Bo'sun.

Dice Grave 15

Turn 6

The large group of zombies made it over the fence into the field with Sir Theo and Bo'sun and smelling flesh began to advance towards him. Sir Theo shouted to William 'I need the strength of your sword arm my friend' William looked his way and seeing the large group drew his own sabre and charged. Seeing William heed his words he whistled to Bo'sun  and said 'Sic em Boy.

 More zombies appeared in front of the Ghurkas and began there charge towards them. The Ghurkas bough there rifles up and unleashed a volley bringing one down before engaging the remaining one with there blades. The creature dived straight at the Ghurka in front of him its clawed hands ripping across his midriff and spilling the mans guts distracted by the fresh blood spilled the Ghurkas two comrades hacked the creature to pieces.

Sir Theo, William and Bo'sun pitted themselves against the zombies in front of them pairing off fighting tow creatures each. William parried and struck many a glancing blow slowly shearing off limbs and wearing his foes down eventually overcoming both his adversary's . Sir Theo made a quick two handed slash and felled both his opponents in single blow. Bo'sun slowly bore both his opponents down using his low muscular body to knock them off balance bringing them low then striking swiftly, grabbing them by there necks and shaking them until there necks broke.

The zombies surge forward.

A zombie is taken down by rifle fire as they charge into combat it reaches the Ghurkas line and brings one of them down and begins to feast.

Zombie and Ghurka trade blows

Sir Theo, William and Bo'sun charge into the approaching horde

After a gruelling combat they are all destroyed.
The Ghurkas destroy the feasting creature.

Zombies one the initiative this turn, 2 spawn 1 add to the large group now totalling  6 and approaching horde status this group moved closer to Sir Theo. The two zombies in the field with the Ghurkas charge in one being taken down by snapfire. The remaining zombie brings one of the Ghurkas down and begins to feast. His comrade within range of Sir Theo pass there guts check at the sight.

Sir Theo's Turn
The two remaining Ghurkas draw there Kukris and charge the feasting creature (no guts check required to charge as feasting zombies count as suppressed). Destroying it after 7 rounds.

Sir Theo, William and Bo'sun all pass there guts checks and charge the approaching horde pairing off into individual combats, Sir Theo one initiative in the first round hit 3 times and caused 3 wounds. William (forgot abut his two fisted skill which grants an extra to hit dice) went 8 rounds before finally defeating his two opponents. Bo'sun now starting to tire took 9 rds before destroying the last remains from this group.

FIN

Ran out of time and had to pack up at this point as I have no dedicated game room. The SWMBO demanded I giver her back the kitchen work surfaces with all my stuff spread about.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. If there any tips, anything you don't like please say so and I may not of thought of it and this will be the way future batreps will be done.

Thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

34 comments:

  1. Very enjoyable read, you get better the more games you play of any rules set Brummie.....

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  2. There will be more need to tweak some bits as in six turn they didn't really move very far.

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  3. Nice report! Barktholomew -I mean, Bosun, is a terror!

    What we tend to do for zombies is have a predetermined spawn points that make sense- like manholes, an alley, large building, etc. Then roll for each, with maybe a 6 being two zombies, a 5 being one, 1-4 = no zombies. but add to this for proximity noise. if sneaking by, no modifier, if running by, +1, if missile fire combat +2, if close combat +3 (more constant noise & blood in the air)-and adjust number of zombies for the power level of the game.

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    1. Trouble its set in country side perhaps I need to make some holes in the ground or something.

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    2. Maybe an old well that connects to an abandoned mine?

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    3. Could also be zeds lurking in the woods just out of line of sight. Or from behind the barn, etc.

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  4. I've really enjoyed it!

    And taking machete rules for kukris makes sense, if you ask me, it is no pocket knife after all!

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    1. Yes. The Ghurkas kept winning combats but failing to wound constantly

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  5. Good bat rep! My only suggestion is to think about getting a terrain mat for your games. Weyland Games does a GW 'Battlemap' for £16 and its about 4ft x 6ft. Worth checking out.

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    1. Cheers I'll have a look. Its smuggling it past the missus :D

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    2. well, it ain't too expensive, and being a mat it just rolls up or folds up and doesnt take up much room. Easier to store than a board.

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    3. LOL I know that mate, you've never met my missus mind :D

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  6. Nice batrep. I've never played NMRIH so can't make any comments there, however, I do think a kukri is much closer to a machete, also.

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  7. A great read, an excellent batrep Brum!

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  8. @joe and Ray. Thanks I saw one in the flesh many years ago and agree it should be a machete.

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  9. All looks pretty spectacular to me! How do we get round Bosun not been infected when he bites a zombie? With regards to spawning how about a plague pit; could just be a mound of earth with a spade to show that it has been freshly dug. Check these out for some possible ideas.

    http://dusttears.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/pike-shot-zombies-arrival-points-2.html

    http://losingsanity-einarolafson.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/these-lovely-creatures-are-zombies.html

    All the best,

    Michael

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    1. Thanks, They are created by evil magic similar to the Hammer Horror movie (Plague of Zombies. They will attack the living and attempt to eat them but they won't be the infectious types.

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  10. Good read mate and a great fight!!!

    First games are always hard to keep track of everything.

    Bo`sun is a killer!!

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    1. Cheers dude. The next game will be far easier.

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  11. Great batrep, lengthy but most enjoyable. The only critique I might have, and only because you really asked for it, would be that it was a tad hard to read the white text on the full color image background. I don't know the rules, but the game seemed like a ton of fun. It's also nice to see the dog we just voted on in action so soon after being named!

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    1. Thanks dude. I've changed the white so its sharper it was a bit off white. If its still hard to read I'll have a little redesign

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  12. Great batrep.

    I would be interested in hearing more on your thoughts about the game played etc.

    One thing you could do for your fields is but a coir door mat and cut it in to sections.

    Like the second one down on this page: http://www.naturalrugs.org/mats.htm

    It is cheaper than a gaming mat, and maybe easier to sneak past the Mrs.

    I will be envious if you get the mat, as I have yet to find a suitable one in my part of the world.

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    1. I've been looking around the pound shops to find something suitable but haven't quite found what I'm looking for. I've been after a thicker matt to cut up and use as a cornfield.

      I think gameplay wise the rules are pretty robust and straight forward. Wome things I'm not to keen is the spawning and the way melee is worked out in the book. I'll have more to say once I get a few more games under my belt proper.

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  13. Hey that was a pretty cool game :) I really like how all the scenery pulls together to make a great bit of scenery! Nice work :D

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    1. Thanks It wasn't really planned. I just had a spare few hours and did it spur of the moment kind of thing. Plus I got game in on schedule :D

      Yay me

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  14. Excellent - sounds like everyone had a great time. A couple of questions - Where was the Tin Mine, and the Rolling Cornish coastline?

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  15. Loving this. Great batrep. The photos are great. Really tells the tale.

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  16. Great report.

    Love your zeds!

    ... wouldn't be the same without Bo'sun ;)

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  17. I don't want to be negative. for my tastes the report was too long. I gave up about 1/2 way.

    Which is to say if you had split it over two posts I probably would have finished it.

    However It looks like everyone else enjoyed it so this is more a reflection of me than your AAR>

    Just wanted to be honest with you though.
    All the best Clint

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  18. @Van-Helsing, Irqan, Gnotta and Thib-0 Thanks all.

    @Clint Thanks mate, you make a good point and in a way I agree, it would probably make it easier for me. I will take it into consideration for the next one certainly. Thanks again.

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  19. How did I miss this ? Good report for you first action with the NMRIH rules, but a tad too long.

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    1. Thanks. I'll certainly make it into smaller chunks and perhaps have less text

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