Rae's Cafe

I have wanted to do this for ages since purchasing the M.U.C.K. collection from Carl Stoezel.

I have a daughter called Rae-Ann (pronounced Ray Ann). In the shop signs that comes with the collection is a sign that says "Rae's Cafe". We call her Rae for short.

I have been so focused on getting buildings up so I can play that I haven't had the time to personalise the building fronts so all the look the same. But I had a spare hour last night, not enough time to build a house so I did this.....

I will be adding window decals and I downloaded some window images last night but didn't get the time to print them off etc. So this is the start of my personalisation of my M.U.C.K. buildings and I can see Rae's Cafe being a national chain appearing in most towns and cities.

Karl decides its time to leave town (BATREP Week 3)

Again slight different start to start of this game as I decide to leave as a family. Karl, his wife Megan and his daughter Lizzie. Also go from section 7 to 1 and 3 to 8 due to the layout of the table and that Karl's flat is located in sector 7. Only 10 zombies were generated and 5 ended up as a group. The PEF's have reps of 5,5 and 2.

Karl stares out of his flat window. The power has been out for four days now and the town has been going to pot. He's witnessed people attacking each other for what little they carry. Zed's are walking everywhere, there's one now walking down the empty road, shuffling along. That's it, Karl shouts out to his wife and daughter, "time to go girls". Megan and lizzie walk into the lounge and Karl continues "I spoke to Rob downstairs yesterday and he mentioned of a safe zone setup over the other side of town, a fenced in area free of zed's. Grab what you can carry we're outta here". Without any arguments they grab a bag each and fill them up with clothes and the food that's left in the flat. "Right lets check on Rob and his family, see if they want to come with us. Get in our car and get the hell out of here"

Karl hands his pistol to his wife, gives his knife to his daughter, hefts the shotgun here acquired from the hardware store and heads downstairs. Knocks on the door to the flat below there's no answer but they can here shuffling sounds coming from inside the flat. Karl try's the door and its open so they enter the flat and are faced with 4 zombies. Rob and his family have been infected. Karl fires the shotgun and kills 3 zed's and Megan fires at the last one killing that one too with her pistol. They search the flat and find 2 units of food and an automatic pistol. ( Zombies activate first and they move towards building, Karl and his family activate and move downstairs. One PEF moves towards building, One moves away. Karl activates following turn and enters the flat below and I got decent rolls and we took out 4 zombies in one turn. Zombies didn't activate or the PEF's. I activate again and they search the flat. Zombies move upto the building. 2 Pef's mobe towards the building).

The door to the newsagents on the ground floor is locked so Karl breaks the door down and enter the shop to find a zombie which he quickly dispatches with the shotgun. They search the shop and find 2 more units of food.They then leave the newsagents and walk straight into a 9 strong army patrol. Karl and his family get arrested as they are all carrying weapons. They don't resist as they are outnumbered 3 to 1. The army escorts them to the safe zone after disarming them and taking their bags from them. (I activate again and we all move down a floor. The zombies activate and I randomize whether they move to left or right after hitting the building. One Pef moves towards the building one moves away. I again get activated and I breakdown the door to the newsagents and shoot the only zombie in there. The zombies move off and One PEF moves around the building. Another moves towards the building. I activate again and search the newsagents. The zombies do not and one PEF moves away from the building. I activate last this turn, the zombies move around the building away from my exit luckily for Karl. Unless a zombie sees a character enter a building I rule that they can't figure out how to enter a closed door. One PEF moves to the corner of the building by the entrance and the other moves back towards the building. When I move and leave the buidling the PEF turns out to be a 9 strong army unit. I decide there's now way the 3 of us can survive a confrontation so let them arrest us).

As Karl and his family are shown to their new living quarters, a room in a house shared by 3 other families, suddenly they hear a shout from outside, "they've got inside" followed by gunfire. The guards escorting them run back outside. Karl looks out the window and see's about 20 Zed's plough into the two guards killing them and then moving off down the road. The fence across from the house has a gaping hole in it. The zed's must have got in there. Karl runs to the kitchen empties the cupboards of the food into a bag and heads out to the guards bodies and takes a shotgun, 2 pistols and a knife of them. Waves his girls over and heads out the hole in the fence hoping to find somewhere safe to spend the night.

I managed to roll high rolls pretty much all the time this encounter. Karl kept his family together and didn't lose any rep as this was a failed encounter. Rolled a 6. Another high roll. I changed what they left with so that their weapons matched the mini's I wanted to use and instead of having one unit of food each I exchanged one unit of food for a knife.

A very short encounter robbing them of all their resources and their car I was planning to use in following encounters. Oh well lets see how they get on as survivors as they have now lost there citizen status...

BATREP week 2 for Karl Hunter

I start this scenario the same way as the week 1 from Karl's apartment. I generated 9 zombies from entering the table and 6 ended up as a group. The PEF's this time have reps of 5, 4 & 2.

It's been a week since Karl saw his first zombie: Mike, since then Mike's store was re-opened a couple of days later by his son Joe. Karl had noticed that the police were more active driving past on a regular basis and he had walked past a national guard checkpoint on his way home from work yesterday. A curfew was in place, all members of the public had to be home before dark.

Karl had been sent home early from work early today as there wasn't any work. His daughter Lizzie was playing the PS4 in her room and his wife wasn't home yet from her job at the farm. As he opened the fridge and helped himself to a can of beer he noticed that the milk was almost out, so thought he'd better head out and get some more before it got dark. He has seen people arrested for carrying weapons lately so he decides to just go out with a knife under his jacket.

Karl leaves his apartment and walks down the stairs to the out side. He see's no one around and heads to the convenience store. (Luckily the zombies activated as I did and moved just round the corner from the building as I exit it. 1 PEF didn't move, 1 moved away and 1 moved towards me over the first 4 turns. There was a random event, Wrong ammo, so I ignored it).

Karl enters the convenience store and sees 5 zombies, one of them is Joe and he seems to have been shot as there is a gaping hole in his chest. They all turn towards Karl and he backs up out the door, twisting his ankle and sees a national guard patrol across the road. They warn me that it isn't safe out here and go home. Then a phone starts to ring about 10 feet away from Karl drawing more zombies towards them all. (Even though there was 5 zombies I won the zombie surprise and decided to leave. Next activation roll was a double so random event. I twist my ankle. The PEF was resolved as a national guard checkpoint. But seens as the PEF was moving around I decided a patrol was more apt. We both scored the same amount of successes on the meet and greet table. The next initiative roll was a double and the random event was a mobile phone. It generated 3 zombies and continued to generate zombies every turn after).

The zombies charge out of the convenience store and charge straight into Karl. Karl turns and faces the zombies with his knife and Kills the first zombie stabbing it through the eye. The zombie drops to floor replaced by another that Karl stabs through the temple. The next zombie grabs at Karl and he pushes the zombie back and it falls over one of the dead zombies. Yet another zombie grabs Karl and Karl pushes him off him causing the zombie to fall down. The remaining zombie pushes Karl over and he falls to the ground banging his head stunning him. (Both myself and the national guard fail to activate. The zombies however do and they charge out of the shop and into me. I pass the charge into melee test with 2d6 but I don't have a gun so I allow it to turn me around and face them knife in hand. I amazingly survive the combat. I manage high rolls until the last zombie and I pass the "Harry are you ok Harry?" test I rolled a five!!! Thankfully. The rules state that only 4 figures can melee one figure at a time. I use this rule for human combatants but as far as zombies go they just surge towards you so as far as I am concerned if there's a group of ten zombies you have to fight them all, House Rule).

Karl gets jumped by 5 Zed's after saying hi to the national guard

Oh Christ Karl goes down

The national guard open fire on the remaining standing zombie and kill him. The national guard walk over and pop the weasel on the remaining 2 zombies as Karl regains his feet. Looking around the place Karl notices that the area has become crowded with zombies. There is a group of six off to Karls left and there are 7 others approaching from the right. Along with several others scattered around on their own all heading towards Karl, the National Guard and the ringing mobile phone. Karl decides to take the guards advice and head home. The national guard start shooting at the other zombies killing some more and drawing more towards them. As Karl heads home he bumps into another cicvilian heavily armed with a S.A.W. who shouts hey and then starts shooting the zombies that the national guard are shooting at. (Luckily both myself and the guard activate this turn but the zombie's don't. The guards shoot the remaining standing zombie killing it and pop the weasel of the two zombies on the ground. This draws a further 3 zombies toward them. Luckily none of them appear between Karl and his home. So next turn we all activate. Karl goes first and I decided to head home and I encounter a PEF which turns out to be a civilian armed with a S.A.W. we both roll the same amount of successes so we say hi to each other and he starts shooting at the zombies along with the national guard. Generating more than they killed!)

Thanks to the Guard for stepping in and helping Karl out ( I used my riot police figures as I do not have any army figures)

Karl says hi to a passing citizen

Things don't look to good for the Guard

Karl makes it home without any other incidents and flops down in his favourite armchair nursing his ankle wondering what the hell the world is coming to and his wife walks through the door and asks him how his day has been as if nothing has happened!! (I just walked Karl home all the while the national guard and the citizen kept killing the Zeds. As they were making the noise the Zombies just kept heading towards them).

The encounter wasn't a success as I didn't get my groceries. So I rolled to see if I decreased in rep and I rolled a 2. Almost did. This was nail biter. I really was worried when I got charged by the 5 Zed's and then taking the Harry are you ok test. There was over 25 zombies on the table when Karl made it home. The National Guard, although all rep 4 were lousy shots and they generated more zombies than they killed.

My first Zombie's

As I may have mentioned before I have absolutely no talent for painting miniatures. This maybe the only thing I am envious of in others. So I have purchased all my models via Ebay painted and based. Here are the zombies I first brought:

These were my second purchase to be used if I ever get to surviving over a year as they are less dressed

 The thing with buying 28mm miniatures they are not 28mm lol. The one on the right is 31mm and the one of the left is 34mm.

My first BATREP (Battle Report) introducing Karl Hunter

I decided to play my first 3 weeks following Z-Day slightly differently from the rules as far as I didn't start the game on a table edge, I started in the apartment above the the newsagents. Any zombies normally generated after your move onto the table I placed as in the rules but using my building as the centre of their random placement.

I have started my character as a rep 3, I know this may make things a little harder but its more real to begin with I think.

The Hunter family lives on the edge of town in a top floor apartment over a newsagents. Opposite their building is an old church that has been there before the town arrived, next to an abandoned warehouse. Next to their building is a large building with two shops on the ground floor, a convenience store and a hardware store. There are 4 apartments above the shops, two on each floor. There are some older buildings and a farm along the top edge of the table to represent the first buildings before the town arrived.

All 3 Pef's have a rep of 5 for this encounter and as it's week one only one zombie can be generated at a time. So one zombie is placed 12" away from the Hunter's building. I will also highlight in blue after the narrative any rules and dice rolls.

Karl decides to go out with only his knife no gun. Normally he wouldn't go out carrying a knife to go and get some bits of shopping for the cupboard but with the wild stories flying around and the troubling news reports he felt a little better having it on him.

He walks to the convenient store and as he enters he notices that Mike the owner is acting a little wierd. As Mike turns round Karl has one thought as he stares into the eyes of his friend and thinks one one word Zombie. Karl is rooted to the spot as Mike advances towards him and reaches out to grab him. Karl try's to push Mike away but he's trying to pull him in close and bite him! Karl manages to push Mike off him and he stumbles to the ground and Mike decides to run back outside away from the horror that Mike has become. (I pass the Zed no Zed with 2d6 but rolled double three's. I knock down the zed in melee. Next turn I decide to run back outside).

As Karl runs back outside he spots a group of citizens. 2 guys and a gal, about 12 yards away. They shout a friendly greeting as the zombie that was Mike hurtles into the back of Karl. Karl keeps his footing and turns to face Mike. The 3 citizens just stand and stare as Karl stabs Mike through the head and the zombie drops to the floor. (The Pef is resolved as I move outside. Both myself and the citizens don't activate this turn but the Zed's do. I get charged by the zombie and manage a draw in combat dispite being charged to the rear. Both myself and the Zed's activate this turn but the citizens don't activate again. I kill the zombie this time in combat).

The citizens decide that 4 are better than 3 and decide to stick with Karl and enter the convenient store again. Karl still needs the bits for the cupboard and he finds the food items he's looking for and decides that he can help himself seens as there won't be anyone manning the store for a while. (As the meet and greet with the citizens went my way but I cannot recruit I decide that the citizens will work with Karl on this occasion. I search the store and find food)

Karl thinks it would be a good idea to pop next door hoping to grab a nice big axe from the Hardware store. As they enter the hardware store together. Once in the store they hear a low moan and wandering down the isle in front of them is what can only be called another Zombie and it looks just like the manager of the store Joe. The 3 citizen's yell out a challenge and charge into the zombie hoping to take it down. Unfortunately they are not skilled in combat and the zombie knocksdown two of them taking one out of the fight. Karl charges into combat and kills the zombie. (Both myself and citizens activate so we head next door and find a zombie. The citizens rolled higher than me so act first and charge into combat only to suffer heavy defeat. I follow and charge into combat and manage to kill the zombie)

The guy and the gal still standing decide its best to grab their friend and head to the nearest hospital and now knowing Joe is gone, Karl looks behind the counter and finds that Joe's shotgun is still there so he grabs it and makes his way home without incident. (I don't activate but the citizens do so I decide to send them on their way to help their out of the fight companion get to a hospital. I activate following turn and search the building finding a shotgun. I then decide to head home and I do so without any incidents).

The encounter was a success. I killed one zombie and managed to collect 2 resources. 1 food and 1 shotgun. I rolled for a rep increase and passed. Karl has obviously stepped up as killing the zombies improves his rep to 4.

More M.U.C.K builds

Here are the building's I've made leaving one side of the building missing leaving access to all floors easily during game play.

I place these around the edge of the gaming table where the missing walls don't show up and look odd in photo's, but using them makes the game run a bit more easily and smoothly.

This is one of my favourite builds as it takes up almost a whole 12" square. I use it as two shops and four apartments.

I plan to add some signage and things once I've built a few more buildings to give mnore detail and depth.



Rear view

                                                           







Smaller builds below

Got a little alleyway that can be added if needed

My builds from the M.U.C.K. collection

In this post I will be showing my builds using the M.U.C.K. collection from Carl Stoezel.

I like Stoezel's buildings as you can have a removable interior or leave a side off a building giving access to all floors.

This was my first build from the M.U.C.K. collection and my second build. So I have a certain fondness for it and I used this building as my base for my Hunter family.

For the first three weeks after Z day instead of playing ATZ by moving onto a board. I started in the Hunters apartment on the top floor. I felt it more realistic, after all its your game so make it what you want.

Batrep to follow......

The lift out interior is great but can be a little awkward sometimes. Remember to allow some space to the sides of your playing area for the interiors. 

I used less glue on my second build and it was a lot easier to put together less sticky and this time I did not burn my fingers.