ATZ Batrep - Christmas with LTL Mom

I had a friend in town this past weekend and we had been planning to do some Napoleonic gaming.  However, the kids wanted to game and he has been following my new fascination with ATZ for some time and wanted to give the THW games a whirl so we wound up gaming the entire weekend from Friday night until Sunday afternoon with small breaks for sleeping and eating.  What a fantastic weekend.  We played ATZ and the Pirates game to the point of exhaustion.  Unfortunately my pictures are not top shelf this time but most are sufficient.  No detailed rolls this time, I was just too tired to track them!  So all you get is the story.

After LTL Mom had her run in with the highway gangers she made camp in the wastelands, took inventory, and did some deep thinking about her next move.  She was missing Nick, Maggie, and Dad pretty badly, so she finally decided to go back and see if it was all just a bad dream.  I mean, after all, this couldn't really be happening, could it?  She quickly realized it was no dream when she found Zombie Maggie.  But something very extraordinary happened when she found Zombie Maggie.  She found that she was able to get through to her somewhat, maybe because of the life long affinity they had for each other.  With effort she found she could control her well enough to not attack her and take simple commands.  On the spot she decided to find Dad and Nick and take her Zombie family in search of the cure.

Along the way she ran into an old friend named Bobby and he agreed to help.  Together they drove off with the last of the gasoline in search of the cure.  The biggest problem Mom had was keeping Zombie Nick, Dad, and Maggie from eating Bobby's brains but somehow she managed.  As they were approaching a town they came across the burning wreckage of a sleigh.  There were charred reindeer everywhere, it was quite a mess.  Mom thought "Hey wait a sec!  This must be Santa's sleigh!"  But there was no sign of Santa anyplace.  Mom thought maybe he survived and was hiding somewhere close by.  If only she could find him, maybe he could be the answer to her problems.  With that thought in mind, Mom, Bobby, and their Zombie wards head into town to see what they could see..

Here is our band of Heroes heading into town.  Mom (red square) and Bobby (yellow square) are moving at a brisk trot and notice a few Zeds have seen them.  Zombie Dad (blue square) Zombie Maggie (green square) and Zombie Nick (aqua square) lumber along behind.  Mom and Bobby are Rep 4.  It's hard to believe Mom is still Rep 4 after all her kick butt action, but the die Gods have not been kind to her.  ZDad, ZMags, and ZNick are all finally Rep 4 again!  Too bad it took being a Zed to get there..

Right away the activation goes awry.  Mom and Bobby are not sure if they should stay with their Z troop or not.  (I've tried to get the activation die into the pictures.  Red=Zed, Green=Heroes, Blue=Police)

Well, here we go..  As usual, something quickly goes wrong.  The Zeds activate first and three Zeds close on Bobby, and two on Mom.  Mom takes down one Zed but Bobby goes OOF. 

Now Mom activates and goes into action!  She turns in place and kills two Zeds with her shotgun.  ZDad and Zkids are coming to help Mom but they don't make it.

Mom activates again and takes down another Zed while Zdad and Zkids ferociously attack another Zed to protect Mom and OOF him.  The last Zed attacks Mom and this was his last mistake.  You'd think that by now everyone would learn to leave Mom alone when she's wearing her No Bozos shirt!

Bobby regains consciousness! So he and Mom take off down the street with Zdad and Zkids in tow.  What's this?  A cop in the distance.  He's running towards Mom and Bobby and yelling something.

Mom and Bobby decide not to hang around and so they bolt into the gun shop.  They find a Zed inside but no single Zed is a match for LTL Mom.

The cop runs up and opens fire on ZMaggie knocking her down.  Zdad and Znick advance on the cop but they won't get a chance to rend him as retribution comes from the window of the gun shop.  Never, ever, shoot at one of Mom's kids, even if they are Zeds.  Bobby fires and misses but Mom blows the cop away.

All this shooting has been attracting Zeds.  Zmaggie has gotten up by now and Mom and Bobby are looting the gun shop.

Mom and Bobby go up stairs to see what they can loot but they find a civilian Mom and daughter hideing in the apartment.  The civies won't join Mom but they do not hinder her either.

Meanwhile, out in the street, ZMaggie has OOFed a Zed that got in her way and rejoined her Dad and Brother.  They want to feast on the cop really bad but Mom keeps yelling for them to follow her.  They reluctantly obey.

A short while later Mom and Bobby have made it to the garage next door where they find another single Zed.  No problemo.  ZDad and Zkids follow.

The Zeds start heading to the downed cop to feast.

As Zdad and Zkids come out of the garage they get into an altercation with a feasting Zed.  The Zed goes OOF and Nick is knocked down.   Now worries, he's back on his feet next activation.  In the mean time, Mom and Bobby have hooked it out the window on the other side and entered the taller building next door.

When Mom and Bobby get to the third floor they get a nice surprise.  It's Santa!  Err.. and.. uh.. his sexy assistant?!?  You always hear Santa described as "Jolly Saint Nick".  I guess we now know why he's so jolly.

Well, it turns out there is some good news and some bad news.  The good news is that Santa indeed can supply the cure.  The bad news is that he wants something for it.  He wants Mom and company to get him out of this town and to safety.  It seems that he is in a bit of a tight spot.

It turns out that Mrs. Santa is very pissed off about this new "assistant" of his.  She is so angry that she has put out a contract on the "hussy" and she has dispatched a crack squad of North Pole enforcers to retrieve Santa.  What the heck are North Pole Enforcers you ask?

The most fearsome and intimidating snow men you have ever seen!,  Led by the notorious Penguin Guards.  Yes, yes, I know that penguins come from the South Pole, not the North, but this is my Wasteland and I thought the penguins looked cool.  Beside, they were part of the set.  I bet they would be hell on knee caps anyhow..

So with the rare and tantalizing prize of the "cure" at hand, Mom agrees to Santa's demands and prepares to try to evacuate the group.  But now a random occurrence strikes.  Our group finds a safe place to hunker down and hide and the encounter is over.

This was not exactly the ending I had expected or hoped for, but it was the will of the dice Gods.  The saga will continue.