The Orignals - An After the Horsemen AAR

“T” and the rest looked down from the crest of the hill and the cluster of buildings.

“What do you think it was?” Big Red asked.

“Not sure,” he replied. “Looks like military to me.”

“I think I saw something move down there,” Annie said as she continued to work her binoculars over the area.

“What do you think?” Walter asked to no one in particular.

“Let’s party,” replied Big Red.

The four survivors made their way slowly and quietly down the hill.

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This is an AAR of a recent play test of After the Horsemen, the Post Apocalypse game from Two Hour Wargames. I’m just about done with the tactical rules and I’m putting together the campaign rules so thought I’d bring out some old friends.

Many years ago I produced a line of 15mm zombies and hunters for All Things Zombie. Eventually I realized that I didn’t want to be in the miniatures business so sold them off to Mike at Rebel Minis. The four hunters were sculpted by Rod Campbell of Highlander Studios who has done additional work for THW products as well. Here’s a picture of the Originals as they appear in my collection.

 

L-R: Walther, Annie, “T” and Big Red.

Highlander Studios

http://highlanderstudiosinc.com/shop/index.php

Rebel Minis

http://www.rebelminis.com/hunterspack.html

The Originals

The Originals are a band of Pack Wolves led by Walter.

Name	Weapon	Rep	Fitness	People	Savvy
Walter	BAP	5	3	5	4
“T”	SG	4	4	3	2
Big Red	2 x MP	5	5	4	3
Annie	AR	4	3	2	4

I wanted to do an Explore Encounter so laid out a military looking complex with a very low Encounter Rating of 1. This meant that the chance of running into anything would be low and a bit higher when searching buildings. The downside is that there was a greater chance of meeting hostile survivors.

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The four walked down the middle of the street. The movement farther up in the center of the street proved to just be tumbleweed. At a nod from Walter, “T” and Big Red headed towards the nearest large building on the right. As Walter and Annie covered their backs, the two burst in through the door.

It was dark inside but empty. “Clear!” yelled “T”. The two searched the building with a quickness borne of repetition.

Walter and Annie watched the approaches to the building but saw nothing.

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Three PEFs (Possible Enemy Force) markers were generated and placed at the start of the Encounter and all had high Reps so would move quickly to resolution. By turn three all had come into sight of the Originals and proved to be nothing but nerves. This meant that if anything was encountered it would be in a building. The bad side was only two of the Originals could enter at the same time. Once the PEFs on the table were eliminated I could stop rolling for activation and just go from building to building.

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“Crap,” Big Red said after a few minutes. “Nothing in here worth a crap.”

“Let’s go,” Walter said. The Originals went around behind the large building and systematically made their way down the right side of the street. Each time they reached a building they alternated who would go inside. Annie and Walter found some useable food in one of the buildings. They came across four circular concrete structures which appeared to be giant fans. 

“Looks like ventilation for an underground area,” Annie said. They kept walking.

Annie and Big Red took the last building at the end of the block. “One, two, three!” The duo burst into the building. They were not alone.

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Each time you enter a building there’s one defining moment. This can be a perceived empty building or a bustling tavern in one of the larger settlements. Regardless of how many people are actually in the building you have one defining moment. This is triggered just like a PEF. In this case they rolled on the PEF Resolution Table and scored the following:

·        Contact.

·        Neutrals.

·        One Lone Wolf.

I had a list of six Lone Wolves previously generated so rolled 1d6. I scored a “6” and…

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“Hello ladies, “the Lone Wolf said. He had one BAP leveled at each girl. “If you drop yours, I’ll drop mine,” he said with a smile.

Big Red and Annie hesitated then slowly began to lower their weapons as did the Lone Wolf.

“My name’s Billy Pink,” he said still smiling, “Pleasure to meet you.”

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A quick People Challenge and Billy scored better. That meant the two groups could exchange info, barter for items, and part amicably. As I was playing it from the Originals side and Billy was an NPC in that case, Billy, as a Lone Wolf had no chance of joining the Pack Wolves. I considered the building to have been searched.

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Part Two - Coming soon!

Where confusion reigns and things change in a matter of second.