ATZ-FFO : Episode 5 : Are they here to save us? (AAR part 1)

Oberst Muller was in the front vehicle. He was still puzzled why Von Evil needed the civilians. It was very strange for somebody who had no feeling about losing men and materials not more than a week ago. His battalion was the last one so deep into "contaminated" area but orders are orders and Muller was happy to save lives for once.

 "Squad, be professional. We are here to save, not to kill. Reports said they may be armed due to the dangerous environment. Scouts have spotted a large group of undead heading the village and they will be there soon enough."
The squad members looked serious. "We are the Heer, not the SWD*"
 (*Special Weapon Division, replaced SS when Hitler was assassinated, see the first entries for background information).

The German team, vehicle and the village

Team 1, Muller, Sven and Jorgen

Team 2: Kohl, Gretchen and Hans

Team 3: Klaus, Peter (new comer with LMG), Friedrich

The zombie horde will arrive in 10+1d10 turns:

in 15 turns, the zombies will be here.

 Turn 1    (3, 6)

The red dice are the PEF. 2 on the east side, 1 on the west side.

The convoy entered the village. It was all quiet and nobody was seen in the street.

Turn 2    (6, 5)
With the nerves playing hard on the soldiers, they believed something was on the east side, but it was nothing but imagination. 

PEF 5, nothing pass 0d6
PEF 4, nothing pass 1d6, ER+1

Turn 3    (6, 3)

Turn 4    (1, 6)


Oberst Muller and his team quickly got out and entered the house in the north of the village. They met 2 scared unarmed civilian who easily agreed to be evacuated.

North 2 civilians, REP5 Unarmed, REP3 Unarmed. Test passed +5 success, the civilians look for evacuation.

Turn 5    (2, 3)
Muller and his men, followed by the civilians, went upstair and met another civilian armed with a pistol. After a quick discussion, he surrendered the pistol and joined the evacuation. Up to this moment, it was going smoothly.
Kohl and his team entered their house and met 3 civilians.
"We are here to evacuate you, undead are on their way."
"Non sense. I am an educated person and  there is no such things as undead people. This is a cover story. We won't leave this house that saw my family for generations."
"But you will die here"
"We will see that."
...


In the meantime, Klaus met a young women who agreed to join the convoy and leave the village.

Klaus met a young French woman who join the evacuation

Turn 6    (4, 4) Event: Medic in area 5

A German medic driving a captured vehicle was entering the village. Wiener had 2 badly wounded soldiers and he was trying to join the safety of a German base.

He had a pistol and a bayonet with him and REP3


Turn 7    (3, 5)
Muller and his group went down stair toward the trucks, happy to have cleared this house very quick.
Kohl had no luck with the civilians.
"As a teacher, I went to school in different places and I can tell you that I have never seen such thing as an undead" went the snobbish civilian.
"Dear Francois, nevertheless I believe we could join them and get evacuated. It will not be of any inconvenience beside the food maybe. And after all the misunderstanding is cleared, we could come back here."
"Maximilien, I may agree to that point and this could be a good reason. In addition, we may avoid unnecessary danger by leaving the front zone"
Kohl could not believe his luck that they agreed. He was feeling hopeless. The civilian joined him.
Kohl asked: "Anybody upstairs?"
The snobbish man replied: "Some people from the city who arrived few days ago are renting. Not sure if they are here or not"
Klaus and his team went upstair their house and managed to take 3 more civilians to evacuate.

Wiener was driving carefully when he saw a group of undead in the South. he stared at them in disbelief and pray that they did not hear him.

Not the kind of things you want to spot at a crossroad

The zombies are still figuring out what brought them here.

PEF visible by the Medic, pass 2d6. Zombie at PG+1. With the Medic and his 2 OOF, this make the group of zombie at 13 (12 Germans + 1) 

Turn 8    (2, 5)
Muller exited the house and stopped. A large group of zombies was standing few yards away, humming the air, apparently looking for them. He saw also the ambulance with the German medic. The medic had just stopped his engine and was showing he would be helpless against the zombies.

Kohl was progressing carefully up the stairs and met a large group of 3 civilians with 1 armed with a hunting rifle. He looked like having a military experience by the way he was handling the gun. Kohl tried to explain why they should surrender but again, wasn't convincing at all.

Klaus met the same situation. Upstairs he met with 2 civilians with one agitated armed young civilian with a hunting rifle and a more calm and unarmed man. The gun was giving confidence to the  young man and he was refusing assistance. Klaus would need more time

Kohl negotiating at the second floor.(dice=floor)

Klaus negotiating with agitated armed civilian in the attic (dice=floor)

The 2 encounters saw 1 REP5 with hunting rifle in each group and a poor dice roll for the German ending up in a tight draw. Not enough for the civilians to fight, but enough to delay the negotiations. And the zombie horde is now getting close.

Turn 9    (2, 6)
With the zombies still idle in the middle of the road, Sven took the opportunity and fired a burst, killing 1 zombie from the group.
The shooting confused the civilians who didn't know if the Germans were killing civilians or something else.
Kohl took a brief look at the window and told the armed civilian.
"Look, undead and a large group of it. We can save you now, or you can die here." hoping this will convince them.
In Klaus encounter, the situation was getting worse. The agitated man was getting nervous.
"you're killing people, I knew it. You are here to f.cking kill us."
Everybody, including the French people were frozen.
"Calm down, we have no reason for that. There should be an explanation, lower your weapon, take it easy..." was saying Klaus slowly approaching the man.

Turn 10    (6, 3)
Kohl's word successfully convinced the civilians who surrendered the gun. They saw the mass of zombie in the street and the German firing at them. That was good enough of a reason not to stay.
Klaus in the meantime was about to reach the young man and he was close to get the weapon that somebody sneezed.
The young man raised the weapon and shot at Klaus and the Germans. Klaus took the shot in the chest and the strength made him fell backward on Friedrich who dodged him. Peter was less lucky and received the shot in the face and died instantly. Friedrich tried to find his balance and shot the armed civilian without wounding him effectively, only knocking him out.


In the street Muller asked Sven and Jorgen to get ready and wait until any shoot count. There was too much at risk and shooting like mad people was not the option. The zombies shambled forward.

Turn 11    (6, 1, 4)
Muller murmured "Steady guys. Wait for them"

Friedrich gun jammed and he was trying to remove the bullet. The mad civilian was still in shock from the shooting but soon enough he was reaching for his gun.
Kohl was looking at the situation and trying to see what were the options. Joining the fight and endangering the civilians, reinforcing the house, ...


Turn 12    (3, 4, 2)
The civilian shot at Friedrich, missed him and he was left with no ammo. At the same time, Friedrich unjammed his gun and knock out the civilian.


The zombies were getting closer, Muller shouted
"Fire at will!"
Sven, Jorgen and Muller shot all they could, dropping 4 zombies from the horde. In the house, Kohl shot from the windows, killing 1 more zombie.

Turn 13    (1, 6)

With so many gunshot around them, from 2 house and from the men on the ground, the zombies were undecided which one to attack. This was enough for Muller and his team to kill 4 more while Kohl moved downstair with his group.
Friedrich in the meantime took the LMG.
"You", pointing at the girl"Tie him up well, and you", pointing at the calm man, "carry my wounded friend"

Turn 14    (4, 5)
With the zombies idle, Sven and Jorgen easily eliminate them while Kohl loaded the civilians in the trucks. They jumped in the driver seats and started the vehicles.
"Soldiers, with the shooting and the time, the horde is closer than ever. We have 3 houses and 2 damaged ones to investigate. We need to be careful from now"
Kohl looked at  Oberst Muller.
"Herr Oberst, where is Klaus' team?"
"I don't know, but I heard them shooting. I hope there is nothing serious"
Friedrich and his group went one floor lower.