Zona Alfa - Holiday Mission(s)

Original Draft 2021-04-06

Last weekend was the super-long Easter weekend. 4 days. Soooooo good.

Assembled a board on Sunday and played out two games.

World Buildings

Definitely rating in as one of the funest parts of the process... assembling the map.... a blank canvas and a big ol box of terrain. Wanted to get some of the newer pieces on the board. The swamp pieces, the new trees, and the distribution warehouse seemed appropriate.

Was a very 'nature' setting as it turned out. Put the river/ship on there so the swamp made sense. Transitioning to forest in the middle. Sparse industrial on the other end. Quite happy with the result and hard to be disappointed when you have no particular plan.

Placed the new globe anomaly up between the depot offices as the first game's Mission Objective. 6 hotspots. Was a full 6x4 board just, cos, why not?!

The ship/river takes up a good foot of playable area so really a 5x4' board. I made some scatter terrain 'bare rock faces' or 'mud pools' which were added to the swamp. This was a lino floor tile I picked up at bunnings and cut into random blobby shapes during the first couple of days of this weekend (and not worth documenting).

Didn't realize i'd picked up quite this many d10s!  Ooups!

Game 1

In game 1 the crew has to get  SCIENTIST up to the globe anomaly intact. SCIENTIST then needed to perform 2 successful investigates and that's it.  The team arrives in their now (at least semi-)functional ship and unloads on a rustic, creaky dock.

The team was the current/standard new rookies line up. 

The crew sets up a presence in the middle of the board, and SCIENTIST bolts ahead. The SCIENTIST is a unarmed, entirely player-controlled character (i.e. not moving set distances automatically etc).

Someone triggers the Hot Spot near the office and some mutants pop out.

Fortunately they are dealt with quickly before they doing any major harm (i.e. ganking SCIENTIST for example), though one reached base contact with one of the rookies.

HUSTLE keeps a watch while SCIENTIST starts the investigation. I remember this: twice in a row he fails the Search action, but then passes the armour test and the will test.

[I treat this as a pass, it means that while doing the Search/Investigate processes they trigger the anomaly's attack but shake it off and successfully take the reading or whatever (2nd Will check pass). The initial roll is to 'engage' the anomaly, and if they pass then smooth sailing, otherwise they get attacked but can still 'succeed'. Failing the second will check gives them a pinned and fails.]

A roaming patrol of dogs appears down toward the swamps. Quite far from the crew so they start off just moving edge-to-edge across the board unless there's some noise or commotion that attracts them. This is from the homebrew 'control check' rules.

Another Hot Spot is triggered and produces some more dogs.

The roaming patrol is triggered by the attack and it's dogs from both sides.

The Hot Spot also reveals an anomaly. 

The crew is running out of time and makes for the Exfil point at the side of the board. They have further tasks to achieve in an adjacent area.

On the way out they trigger a final Hot Spot. Bandits! Despite overwatch HUSTLE is hit and quickly med-kits, but is hit again, going Out of Action [ed: in hind-sight he actually had 2 med-kits, oh well]. LEADER dashes in and finishes off the remaining bandit and patches up HUSTLE. That's a lot of pinned markers (max allowed is 4).

...And the crew boots off the board.

Thus endeth Game 1. The wide open boards really give the crew an advantage setting overwatch and picking long firing lanes. The extensive movement required to get around is a hinderance however so it's not all one way - conversely it does provide a buffer against melee hostiles so another advantage there.

This game I was on top of the rules, including some clarifications and stuff that had previously been nebulous. Fairly confident that the way things were done was now 'the correct way'.

I did however find myself spending 2/3 of the time just writing up the play-by-play in the book. Good for knowing precisely what went down and checking things were right, but felt like I wasn't really watching the board/story and just moved the pieces in response to the paperwork.

The main reason I'd been writing the play-by-play was to kind of confirm that the rules were being done correctly, the appropriate number of actions being done, not over using med-kits/eJuice and recording loot taken. I was now fairly confident that I was handling all of this fairly well so next game would be different.

Game 2

In Game 2 the rookies were sent back from the adjacent zone early. Scouting ahead, they spot a number of bandits gathering, possibly intent on stealing the ship.

The crew for this mission was just 4 veterans (subbing in KNIFE from the old crew, and dropping all three Rookies). There are 3 waves of bandits incoming from the opposite side of the board and if they make it to the ship the mission fails (seasoned with Hot Spots to taste).

The bandits start up near the warehouses and arrive at the start of turns 1, 4 and 7.

[ed: in hind-sight i might have had two bandit entry points (top left and top right) and have 2 squads (of 4 models) coming on each wave.]

The crew starts at the previous Exfil point, and head again to the centre of the board to prepare an ambush. As the bandits approach the ship-side bounds of the distro centre the crew uses overwatch to neutralize them. With 2 turns before the next wave of bandits arrive they trigger a Hot Spot to clear the area and boost their loots. Mutants.

The next wave of bandits arrive.

The centre turns into a killing ground.

Zombies from a second Hot Spot.

Third wave of bandits.

HUSTLE weathers three rounds of melee and prevails like a champion.

Rats from another Hot Spot and the last of the bandits. Plus an anomaly.

With the last wave of bandits disposed of the crew makes for the dock ASAP.

And sails off into the sunset.

Not overly challenging. Again, the space allowed fairly tight control over how the combat process went down. This is planned of course, I didn't blithely charge in, but the hostiles didn't really pose too much of a treat. They were able to make base contact (i.e. zombies) so it wasn't entirely safe but... yeah...

I think i could have also used the 'Hot Spots have a chance of automatically triggering' rule to help increase the potential threat.

Anyway, I was pretty much just playing on the board for Game 2 and at the end of the turn writing down a quick summary of the important actions that happened, plus loot etc.  Felt far more narrative.

The Wash Up

Next time I'll probably look at playing on a fairly small board to keep the action focused/concentrated/intense.  Probably a 3x3'.

I'd also like to make one more set of 4 bandits [ed: underway]. Either to run 2x6 or 3x4.    I subbed in the rookies and my new STALKERS as the final set of bandits in game 2, so there's probably room for just a couple more. I have some incomplete models already printed so will see what's there.

And that's about it - an enjoyable day/session.

Update 2021-04-09

4 extra non-descript bandit types. Added a couple of shotguns into the bandit arsenal.

Until next time...

Zona Alfa - New Anomaly

So, several times I've gone into local cheapy shops... the $2 shop... penny saver... reject shop... whatever they call them in your regional area.... looking for hobby 'stuff'. I don't have anything in mind normally. Something useable for quick and easy terrain filler perhaps. 

Yesterday I made the rounds in a local shopping hub, mainly looking for aquarium plants for use as mutated plants perhaps.

Instead I found this...

A glass globe on top of a 'garden solar nightlight thingemy'. Had a nicely visible crackle effect and was a suitable size. At 4 bucks it was hard to go past.

Used a diamond grinder tip on the dremel to cut off the threading and reduce the size a little. The bottom 1/6th was also without the crackle pattern.

Cut out and painted a simple mdf base and hot glued it on. Done. Didn't want an even larger base as the anomaly needs to theoretically slot onto the board next to a hot spot etc, and it's already quite large.

The mdf was painted with darker in the middle, hopefully implying a hollow depth inside the sphere.

It does have a connection line running around the centre of the sphere which I don't 100% love but it's not visible at arms length so [shrug].

One of the easiest and probably most effective pieces I've even done.  Almost feels like I cheated somehow. Where's the pain? The blood spilt to hobby blades? The burns from hot glue guns?

Couldn't resist a quick and dirty impromptu diorama shot...

I did toy with the idea of using the solar light setup inside the anomaly but decided against. In the STALKER game (which is my primary head-canon for what I make for the game) anomalies are mainly not visible. You might see a swirl of leaves, or a distortion of the air and what's behind it like a lens - but in general anomalies aren't glowing objects.  Even this one is more solid than they appear in the game.

In the end I just went quick and simple option and tbh I really like it.

I think it might end up mainly used as a focus point for missions due to the size of it. It's potentially a tiny bit large to drop onto all maps/terrain areas. Not sure. Am hoping to set up a board this (extra-long-)weekend.

And that's that.

Until next time...

Zona Alfa - Terrain... [Really? More?] Box and Swamp

Original Draft 2021-03-29

On the weekend I picked up a 128 litre container specifically for all the Zona Alfa stuff. Tehre's still some room. I put in the miniatures box which filled it right up, but it was a tight fit. So that's out again. 

Which means there's a little extra room in there...

Yep, of course some more terrain pieces.

Unashamedly copying a project i saw someone do. These are 'swamp' tiles. One of the PC sequels was set in a swampy area and similar terrain to this.

Starting with a cheap millet broom and 9 coasters.

Hot glue. I have immense difficulty getting a glue guns that work effectively. This cordless one was going ok, but it's now failing to push through. i went and picked up a corded one from officeworks - the glue comes out of significantly hotter so it takes longer to set.

Anyway, to date i have assembled 4 pieces. early days. The hot glue around the bases is quite blobby and i'll need to smooth that down once they're done. just a hot nail or something will probably do.

They'll mostly need trimming down to a better height too. just over head height was the goal but i kind of ended up double that along the way.

2021-03-31

Did the wood glue and sand thing. Fairly heavy on to try to hide the hot glue blobbles.

That dried overnight, then a base coat of 'elshin grey'.   Have run out of my texture paint and I think it may even be discontinued. Wanted a darker look for the swamp pieces anyway.

Washes and dry brushing to follow. I'm intending to use some 2-part epoxy glue to create some puddles in there as well. Will be pretty free form but should just add a little something extra.

update ends

2021-04-01

April already, far out!! 

So, project done! Washes, dry brush, blue wash in 'water' areas and then epoxy over that to form some pools. Not shown but then a light clear coat over the top.

Turned out pretty good.

Bloodsucker to the right...

snorks ahead...

Can't wait to use this on a table.

Wasn't going to, but I'm also making a handful of smaller ones just to help add some variety, will add in after this when they're done, but the main project is done. yhay!

update ends

Update 2021-04-06

Got a plastic box of suitable size for storing these in - and it fills up the space in the big box nicely. Noice. All the terrain neat and tidy = happy camper.

Until next time...

Real Life Stuff - Floods March 2021

Sure there was lots of rain, but there was probably similar quantity and timespan back when we were putting the cement pylons down for the pergola. Really - it rained for about a month non-stop, and heavy most of the way through. What we didn’t have was people dumping out from the dam at the same time.

Just a quick preface: There are some mud-maps at the end of the article to aid locational context.

On Saturday we’d been out visiting people and on the drive home swung by for a look at the sports fields. There was water onto the middle field (bottom field, middle field, canteen and carpark). In the previous flood (per paragraph 1) it got to the middle field and stopped.

Ok, so that’s still quite a lot but it took the last couple of weeks to reach that height. Fine.

I drove by the following day at around 4pm and the water was up to the top of the carpark. That’s new.

And the dirt road out to some properties was over and the adjacent fields. hmmm...

I walked back and had an in-person look. This was a panorama shot more-or-less from the canteen/carpark.

there are some stairs that go down to the fields. See that orange arrow - that just the top top of some chainlink fence behind some goal posts, probably 2 storeys tall including the roof. So that's quite some volume that filled up in about >12 hours.

The rain wasn't done though - I'll skip ahead a bit but on Sunday night I had a dream that I was walking down our street and there was water coming up from the Eastern end.

That morning early I went for a wander and discovered that yep, the water was now at the end of our street, though not as far as in my dream.  I think these two pics were Monday morning (maybe tuesday).

These are the fields along the border road of the suburb, parallel to my street. The sports fields are to the left of the shot.

Same again. Water weed from a small dam/creek somewhere in there. Covered the border road and some ended up floating into my street too. Very glad it didn't clog up the drains.

Sunday near midnight we got warnings from SES to prepare to evacuate our specific suburb. This here is the power box for our sector of the suburb. On Monday morning around 10am the power went off - the company had switched it off deliberately. Although the box itself is some way back from the waters there were power poles right in the flooded area and the risk of electrifying the water was obviously significant.

Again I'll skip forward a bit. Monday and Tuesday passed and there was no real sign of getting any power. From memory on Tuesday it actually stopped raining in the afternoon. Rumours were passing that it could Saturday before we got power back so I went for a drive to pick up a generator from a friend. Quite a drive - some detours, drove over the Nepean River into the blue mountains, the river was definitely up, but generally confined to the banks. 

The overpass bridge had a newly formed lake in all directions. Normally this is stock fields.

Skip forward, the rain had been and gone and the weather was actually quite nice. However the water level continued to rise due to run off from other areas, and tidal effects. 

This is the highest it got to, which was Wednesday around 10am. This is about halfway up the street. The road has quite a convex ridge along the centre so it can be a bit deceptive how far the water is up. 

Fortunately I don't think any houses were actually reached, though a few front yards will be quite soggy for a while.

The electricity co truck arrived just as I was about to leave for the generator so I managed to get some info, bottom line; 'probably unlikely to put it back on. go get the generator.'

This is the cul-de-sac about halfway up the road. The previous day there were pools on each side of the road that didn't actually touch, the following day it had accumulated quite a bit.

The power box is on the left side where the power pole is (red/brown fence).

Just looking down the street again.

This morning we went for walkies nice and early. The water had receded back by about 2/3 and the cross road was actually visible. Back to being an annoying pond. The cul-de-sac was also entirely clear. 

This is looking at the final pond from the other side, we walked around a connecting road.

Same spot but further left, looking out to the fields. The sports fields are to the left at the end of the street (just past the last houses).

Around 11am I had a look down the street and the road was clear through.

At 1:55pm the power went back on.

To their credit the electricity co were pretty on the ball with getting us back on line and their inspections. Can't fault their decisions or their handling of the situation. 

At it's highest I saw someone walking through the water in our street and it was about knee/mid-thigh height perhaps. Once the rain stopped people were kayaking on it and in the street it was fairly safe.

Some kayakers also went out onto the farm fields and where the sports field was, which would probably be a bit more dangerous - especially the sports fields as it's so deep, plus all kinds of chaotic currents I'd guess. 

This here shows the local area. The sports fields are the green lines, light green - lower field, darker green - middle field. The darker blue lines are the nearby parts of the farm fields (the water extended beyond that too). The red 'X' shows the position of the power box.

The medium blue lines along the streets show the position of the water around monday-tuesday. The light blue extensions show the highest reach tuesday-wednesday. Wasn't that long really in hind sight but feel like a lot longer - only 5 days, but felt like 10.   The orange dashes was our exit route if we decided to leave and the pink dashes was a cheeky alternative across a small reserve (hoping not to get bogged).

And that was that. Far tamer than many other people's experiences but quite worrying, distracting and annoying non-the-less.  We're obviously grateful that we and the suburb in general didn't go under. As one neighbour suggested it's actually a selling point that even with a 1:100 year flood we're still not getting cut off.

I estimate that it would take double that effort to come close to cutting off the entire street. and double that again to start reaching all of the houses in the street (and that's just coming up to the front door, not covering entire residences).

So, that's that. Could have done without it, but I learned a few things, and chatted a bit more with neighbours, so some positives I guess.

Update 2021-03-26

Time just loses it's flow at the moment. about 24 hours since the power came on, but feels like 4-5 days.

Went for walkies down to the sports fields. The main border road is clear and clean, not sure if they sprayed it down or something but it's back to normal, just detritus in the barded wire fence along it.  cows back in those fields too.

The sports field still has a sizeable quantity of water in it. You can see the top of the goal posts on the middle field, so mental comparisons for when it's gone entirely.  the water came up to (and including) the 10th brick of the canteen at pretty much the highest point in that area - visible water line below that.

Until (hopefully a far less soggy) next time...