Yuma Proving Ground - The Action

I don't think I mentioned in the first post about the Yuma Proving Ground background but I actually bought a set of rules, Zona Alfa. Set in some dystopian Russian universe after a second Chernobyl that didn't go well. It's based on a computer game that I've never heard of, let alone played,  this was my first game using the core rules and I make some reference to that during the report. If you're familiar with the rules this will make some sense but if you're not just ignore my rambling. I originally posted on a forum that uses the rules and so was using that as a way of checking my understanding of things that didn't make sense to me at the time.

The rules state, WUSIWUG – Each team will have a veteran leader and 3 to 9 other members – game board is 3’ or 4’ square – game duration is 4 + 1D3 turns long. Well this is my game and I’ll have none of that dictatorial nonsense from any rules writer.

Everyone has a pistol, this is Arizona after all. Some have knives, chains and in the spirit of what you see is what you get I think 3 of them had grenades, although they only had 1. Bubble carries a pump action shotgun and not much else, Vincent and Big Dave have shotguns as well as multiple other weapons. They don’t subscribe to Bubble’s minimalist approach. Babe carries a huge revolver and a spiked war hammer, I think she’s from Games Workshop so is obviously spikey but she looks cool.

Three of them had pouches of some sort and these contained medical kits, you know the sort of thing, a strong antiseptic like bourbon, to relieve the pain, a cork, to push into a wound and stop the bleeding, a bandage, to elicit sympathy from the female members of the crew. That sort of equipment.

You may remember we weren’t allowed to join the Hells Angels, we don’t discuss it because it’s a bit embarrassing but they said we weren’t tough enough. Everyone is green or inexperienced and we don’t have a leader, well that’s not strictly true. Fast Freddie who is a bit of a poser, he carries twin colts in a western rig and Big Willie vie with each other to take the gang leader role but we all know that Ulrika is the Brains as well as the Beauty in the gang. Of course she can’t be the leader because she’s a girl.

There are 3 character levels in the rules, inexperienced characters take 1 action per turn, hard men take 2 and veterans take 3. Being green is a bit limiting.

Arriving at a barrier in the road, Freddie said “It looks like they don’t want us to go any further”. Big Willie wanted to know what Quarantine meant. Both of them were looking a little dubious about the quest to rescue Alice.

“Don’t be ridiculous” said Ulrika, “If we meet anyone we’ll just tell them we came in from the south and didn’t see the signs. They haven’t completed the fence yet so there’s nothing to keep us out”.

“Are you sure about this” said Fast Freddie when they came to the next sign.

“Don’t be such a Jessie”, retorted Ulrika, “we’re not looting, we’re rescuing Alice and if there’s any beer left in the bar….well technically that belongs to Eight Balls dad so we can’t be looting something that’s already ours. Well….Ebenezer’s and he said we could have it, didn’t he Eight Ball”

Eight Ball looked embarrassed, shuffled his feet in the sand and muttered “well I didn’t tell him we were coming in case he wouldn’t allow it”.

Ulrika had a rather disbelieving look in her eye and I could see she finally understood why we hadn’t been allowed to join the Hell’s Angels, we would be more at home in the Hells Grannies Arizona Chapter. With a slight, incredulous shake of her head she turned and moved off the road, aiming to arrive at Ebenezer’s place from the south. We followed.

The rules call for a square board and starting 6” in from any edge. This board is 0.8 x 1.2m, so roughly the right area but wrong shape. Our objective is the Bar and the Hot Spots are the Gun Shop and Dora’s Crib, I didn’t place them symmetrically so rolled a dice to determine my start point, the white marker. Then rolled another dice to determine the number of turns the game would last, 6 turns. That means some event will happen on the start of the 7th turn that ends the game.

Then I realised that all my characters were rookies and only have 1 action per turn, they have effectively a 6” move so can’t get to the Bar, search it and get off the table in 6 turns. My solution was that they would spend the night in the bar and have 6 turns to get inside, neutralise the opposition and search the place before getting down to looting/liberating Ebenezer’s stock of beer and whiskey and having a good time.

Ulrika issued her commands, “Tank, you, Dave, Angie and Harley check out Franks gun shop and get to the Bar as quick as you can”. “The rest of you with me” and she strode off in the direction of the bar like a man whose been in the desert most of the day and has worked up a tidy thirst.

Just as quickly the other group made for Franks. Obviously not because they had a thirst but because Dora Du Fran had told them that the Army and Police were making regular patrols to ensure no one entered the exclusion zone. I imagine once the final zone area has been established they will fence it off to keep people out, but as we still don’t know what they’re excluding us from we don’t know how big an area this will be.

Did I mentioned the rumour mill, well currently the most popular theory was that A.R.S.E. had been carrying out various biological and genetic experiments and these had gone wrong. The A.R.S.E. compound inside the Yuma Proving Ground was a complete no go area, Threat level 3 they said. The whole of the Proving Ground had been evacuated and was considered Threat level 2. The Military were patrolling the existing fence around the Ground but on the outside of it. They obviously wanted to contain something!

There was a new fence under construction but it was a huge undertaking and in the mean time, signs had been erected along a possible perimeter and this whole area was under constant surveillance by armed patrols and constituted Threat level 1.

Meanwhile Harley has arrived at the back door to the Gun Shop and tries the handle of the door, it’s not locked, he turns the handle.

The door wasn’t locked, he pushed it open and was slightly surprised to find there were some other occupants of the shop and they didn’t look particularly happy to see Harley. Facing him was a huge black man, Delmare although he didn’t introduce himself at the time, but he was activated by Harley moving within 3” of him. Well you would be wouldn’t you, some big bloke with a shotgun pokes his head around your door you’re bound to be a little activated. Harley noted 3 other hostile looking people, and I don’t use the term loosely, were in the room as Delmar started to raise one of his two BA Pistols….so Harley shot him.

Harley isn’t the best shot in the world and neither are the rest of the Vagabonds, rookies remember, and he misses. (40% chance of a hit and he misses)

Delmare fires back and he has a 50% chance to hit, Harley takes a bullet some where and rolls around on the ground for a while, his blood mixing with some of the Arizona dust. Big Dave who is stood just behind Harley is a little surprised by the events unfolding in front of him but he brings his shotgun up and blasts away.

He continues to be surprised when Delmare smiles, his homemade armour saves him. Although it was a critical save!

Dave is even more surprised when Pit Bull Billy rushes out from the doorway, yelling and screaming some sort of undulating war cry.

Billy though, has forgotten the golden rule – WUSIWUG, he doesn’t have a gun, just a big length of chain and a whopping big knife. He’s also forgotten that he’s only in a threat level 1 situation and after his bold action running out of the building he has to stop and get his breath before he can start to use his whopping big knife. Did I mention rookies are at a bit of a disadvantage.

He notices, out of the corner of one eye, Angie grinning evilly, she knows the rule writer subscribes to a form of you go, now I go.

But Tank, who is against the back wall of the Gun Shop and right by the window, peremptorily takes the, I go, seriously.

He drops his grenade through the broken window and ducks down below the sill.

I didn’t mention that when generating the threat in the Gun Shop I rolled a 6 which gives me Bandits, or Savages in my case. It also give an Anomaly which Tank has just blown up.

Anomalies are specific to the rules and I don’t really understand what an Anomaly is, I can barely spell it but having never read or played computer games set in the Stalker reality I’m going to have to construct my own version of it the next time one of them survives contact with the Vagabonds.

If Tank had popped up and looked through the window he would have been as surprised as Dave was to see all three Savages still on their feet, although one of them looks a little stunned, as well he might be.

Stunned equals pinned in the rules for those who know about these things.

Donna who is the only Savage who can move, does so and then Angie’s smile gets even wider when at almost point blank range she “pops a cap” into Pit Bull Billy. Is that the right expression? Anyway with a critical success she hits him where his rudimentary armour can’t save him and he drops to the floor, out of the fight, or ooF.

Over with the other part of the gang Fast Freddie has taken a swig of Pollyjuice Potion or Vodka laced with gunpowder, not sure which, but he explodes into action. He reaches the Bar, throws the door open and sees a bunch of rambling shambling creatures whom he recognises as Zombies. Obviously been watching too much late night TV but his nerves are shot due to the Pollyjuice and he fires, hitting one of the creatures between the eyes and it dies….again.

By this time I’m starting to get the hang of activation and he jumps back into the street, using his final action to get out of reach of the threat and within reach of support.

One by one the Zombies shamble out of the building, and one by one they get shot at. Ulrika fires and misses, Desire fires and misses, Fat Willie fires and misses, Vincent fires his shotgun and misses, 3 times, there’s a bit of a thread running through this narrative. Eight Ball and Babe couldn’t get a clear shot and moved to the right.

Bubble fires last and puts an end to this awful missing trend, she hits and kills the little girl. This isn’t going to look good in the papers, or at any subsequent trial.

Donna had moved to the window inside the building, the Savages got the initiative on the next turn and she shot Angie who has no armour and is OOF.

Big Dave rolls a grenade into the building through the open door.

Unfortunately it missed the doorway, hit the wall and rebounded into the middle of his mates. BOOM.

As I’m reading the rules, because the Vagabonds don’t have armour they need a critical success to avoid injury, as lady luck decided, Tank and Angie had critical successes and also passed their will test, so the only casualty is Dave and he’s ooF. Serves him right.

Things aren’t looking too good at this stage.

It doesn’t get any better when Delmore jumps out and Tank fires at him and misses. Big Dave on the ground pulls out his bandaid and sticks it over the wounds from the grenade fragment's and feels a bit better. Inside the building the last Savage, Roberto feels fine now that the ringing in his ears has stopped and he will move next turn.

This is rather complicated, and I probably got it wrong. The Vagabonds have the initiative, Ulrika fired and missed. That zombie moved into contact with her but can’t attack (1 action for threat level). Fast Freddie fired and missed, zombie moved into contact with him but can’t attack. I was sure I’d read something about shooting into a melee but couldn’t find it so I resolved that to fire into a melee, if hit then hit zombie, if miss then test for a hit on your mate.

Fortunately the Vagabonds are really crap shots. Desire fired, missed Zed and then missed Freddie. Eight Ball fired and killed the zed facing Ulrika. Vincent fired his pistol and missed both the Zed and Freddie.

Fat Willie, Babe and Bubble all moved to contact the Zed but can’t attack.

Next turn Tank fires at Delmore who fires back, they both miss. Donna in the building fires at Tank and misses, Roberto runs outside and levels his gun at Tank but can’t fire because he’s only got 1 action.

Back over with the Zombie I’m still confused about combat but everyone missed except Babe who hit with the hammer at +1 damage, so one dead zed.

I’m now in turn 6, Tank wins the initiative and at this point I had Tank take a swift sip of Pollyjuice Potion. The Pollyjuice kicks in and he’s like a wild man. Well he’s like a wild man without the potion but you know what I mean.

He fires at Delmore and misses, he fires at Delmore again and hits him but the shot bounces off Delmore’s armour and he’s not pinned.

Giving up on Delmore he fires at Roberto and hits him. Roberto’s armour saves him but he’s pinned/stunned. That Pollyjuice isn’t working as well as I’d like.

Delmore fires back at Tank, Tank takes it in the gut and goes down ooF.

Big Dave is back on his feet, these Medikits are wonderful things and he’s ready to rock and roll next turn.

Donna comes out of the Gun Shop but can’t do anything else.

Just call me old fashioned but I’d given Pollyjuice to all the males, this is some potion that when you drink it you can perform 3 actions in a turn, a bit like cocaine but faster. Fast Freddie had 2 doses but I didn't give it to the female members of the Vagabonds. We’re still in turn 6 and Ulrika shouts “Go and help Tank, not knowing that Tank was past help but Big Dave could use a hand. Freddie moves two actions and fires, he has 2 guns so fires twice. He misses twice.

Big Willie moves 2 actions and fires at Delmore, Delmore’s armour saves him again but he is pinned. Eight Ball moves 2 actions, fires and misses.

Vincent doesn’t hold with drugs and so only moves slowly, I don’t hold with drugs and so Bubble and Babe also move slowly.

Turn 7 and the Army, Navy and Airforce all arrive at the edge of the board but for some reason, unknown to me now, they didn’t move onto the board until the end of the turn.

That gave Donna the chance to fire on Big Dave, you remember he’s just got up after being shot once. Well she shot him again and he goes down OD (Obviously Dead)

NOOOO screams Eight Ball as he fires at Donna and misses, Willie fires at Delmore and misses, Freddie fires at Roberto and misses. It’s really been one of those days.

Vincent, Bubble and Babe move round the corner of the Gun Shop, ready to open fire on the Savages at their next opportunity.

They are just in time to see the Army, Navy, Airforce, Police and some private contractors de-bus from their vehicles demanding everyone stops shooting and drops their guns.

In view of their overwhelming numbers and the fact that the Vagabonds are vaguely law abiding and the Savages are not as daft as they look, both groups comply.

And that my friends is how I and the rest of the Vagabonds ended up in Fort Huachuca prison block waiting to see our lawyer.

We had two more medikits and so Tank and Angie were saved before being carted off to prison. The Army also had kits and Harley and Pit Bull Billy recovered quickly. Big Dave is in the Operating Theatre and we’re waiting to hear how he’s doing but it doesn’t look good.

Well this probably isn’t the most auspicious opening to a campaign but I think it’s got a lot of potential.