ZONA ALFA Test Game Jan. 19, 2019
Four members of the Cape Cod Wargame Commission spent Saturday afternoon playing Zona Alfa. We decided on a Factory Raid in a Threat Level Two area – four Hot Spots plus the Mission Objective.
A 2 v 2 game, Other Pat and I faced off against Matt and John. Each player was allowed 12K to form their crews. In typical authoritarian fashion, Matt’s Evil Landlord and a Property Manager Henchman rousted the Serfs, kitted them with AKs and E-Juice (Amphetamines and Vodka) gave them a rousing speech and sent them into battle. The rest of us opted for more balanced forces with a mix of Veterans and Hardened Zone dogs.
The Mission Objective was a cache of supplies in the old factory. There was a Six Turn Limit and no Visible Hostiles in sight.
Turns One and Two saw both sides jockeying for position trading shots on either side of the factory. Matt advanced to the car wrecks adn the Army truck. Eager for Salvage, John triggered the Hot Spot to his front by the barracks and spawned three Zombies. Fortunately for him, they popped up out of LOS of his squad and began shuffling toward the nearest visible target, in this case, a gaggle of Matt’s Green Recruits.
Part of my squad angled toward the factory while the Sniper and RPK looked for good angles near the fuel tanks. Other Pat’s Veterans leap-frogged between the Conex containers and the Office.
There were some casualties, two Serfs who got caught in the open by my sniper. Evil Landlord Matt was unfazed. “Plenty more where they came from.”
Turn Three and Four saw both sides scrupulously avoiding any more secondary Hot Spots, moving wide around them to avoid the triggering radius, and trading fire, trying to Kill or at least Pin their opponents. The race to the Factory was on.
A nasty little firefight erupted around the old brick building; people chucking grenades through windows, spraying full auto through doors, firing down onto the factory floor. Then to add to the chaos, someone – can’t recall who – triggered the Zone Hostiles lurking around the cache. More Zombies.
Despite all the flying lead and shambling undead, lucky dice rolls by Other Pat and me carried the day. Our opponents were beaten back and conceded the game.
Our Take Aways:
- This was a one shot game. We all agreed we would be much more cautious with our crew if we were in a campaign.
- Big areas need more cover. AKs have decent range and even though support weapons like the RPK and the Sniper rifle slow a STALKER down, they can definitely reach out and touch someone. My Sniper suffered some bad luck but even then, his position on those Fuel Tanks dominated that section of the table. (Matt also could have used Smoke Grenades, had he thought to bring them.)
- Might be good to introduce a Chess Clock or sand timer to ratchet up the tension, force decisions, and speed up the game.
That’s all for now. Settling down for a holiday tomorrow and going to watch “Counterpart” on Amazon.
Thanks and have an excellent day.
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