It
is 1944. The villainous Oberst Scharlach has been instrumental in
delaying the Allied advance from the beachheads. American Eagle,
alongside elements of the valiant 101st Airborne led by Sergeants
Stone and Black, has come to kidnap him from the farmhouse he is
staying at.
Little
do they know that the farmhouse is in fact occupied by a squad of the
fearsome Heldjager, and that Oberst Scharlach is waiting to close the
trap with some of his blasphemously animated zombies...
 |
| As the Airborne approach from the south... |
 |
| ...Hauptmann Schengel checks the back door. |
The Allies seized the initiative to
begin with. Sergeant Black moved his troops up to the drystone wall
opposite the ominously silent farmhouse, and Sergeant Stone moved his
squad out of the treeline to take a commanding view of both roads.
Disdaining such caution, American Eagle marched straight up the road,
determined to take Scharlach into custody with his own gloved hands.
 |
| American Eagle hides from no man. |
As he louched his way past a
window, one of the Heldjager saw his crimson cloak flying in the
wind, and with a cry of Achtung!, they leapt to their defence.
They reached the windows and a
storm of fire came from the Airborne, shattering glass and bone alike
as it tore through the first two to take positions. The Nazi return fire
was ineffective, but they were undaunted by their casualties and
settled in for a brutal firefight.
Using his amazing super strength,
American Eagle leapt over the farmhouse, ready to smash in the back
door and seize the Oberst. The Airborne, vulnerable as mortal men
are, stayed in position to rake the Heldjager with fire. Things were
heating up now, and though the Airborne's fire was surprisingly
erratic, they were accounting for more and more of the enemy – who
were giving as good as they got.
Hauptmann Schengel put down the
radio receiver with smug satisfaction and then flinched as the back
door to the farmhouse was kicked into a shower of splinters, the
battered doorframe silhouetting the dramatic form of American Eagle.
With a snarl, the two men leapt at each other as a muted howl came
from outside.
 |
| The first zombies arrive. |
The zombies were coming from two
ends of the T-junction. The Airborne were torn – did they save
their skins or the mission!? Sergeant Stone knew what to do! Leaving
his men to cover the house, he ran down the field towards the
zombies firing his Thompson from the hip. Ignoring the single man,
the Heldjagers fired on his squad, routing them – but not before
Johnson's 1919 unknowingly tore through the remnants of their first
fire team.
 |
| Stone draws the zombies' attention, in cover from the Heldjagers. |
 |
| Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, the Eagles fall back. |
Black's men were too close for
subtlety. They turned their weapons on the newcomers as one,
destroying half the horde in a blaze of fire as the Heldjager kept up
the pressure.
American Eagle and Schengel were
tearing at each other like animals, wrecking the kitchen as they
brawled. Neither man could quite get the upper hand, until the last
three bloodied Heldjager scrambled down the stairs to observe the
scene.
Stone's gambit now became apparent
– familiar with the mindless, shambling bloodlust of Scharlach's
minions, he was drawing them away to give his fellows time to act. Little did he realise that his squad was at that moment fleeing for their
lives.
 |
| The zombies chase Sergeant Stone. |
Seeing Scharlach on the hill,
Sergeant Black made a desperate run across the road – only to be
caught by the zombies! Unable to fire on them for fear of hitting
their leader, his squad sought a new target and found it – the
arch-nemesis himself, smirking on the hilltop! A rain of lead put paid to his wicked
machinations... for now.
 |
| Sergeant Black is in trouble! |
Busy smashing Schengel in the face,
American Eagle did not notice the Heldjagers creeping up behind him.
They were equipped with all sorts of evil weapons to deal with the
Ami's “Heroes” - but some instinct warned him and their first
shots went wide, only hitting him in the leg.
Sergeant Stone thought himself a
goner when he first saw the zombies lurch at him, but their shambling
lack of proprioception saved him as the lead monstrosity broke its
leg in the field's furrows and he shot it in the head.
Black's men jumped over the wall
and beat the zombies threatening their NCO to death with entrenching
tools and rifle butts, as American Eagle's body came flying out of
the farmhouse window to lie limp and bloodied in the road – the
Heldjager's foul weaponry had done its work well. Whatever this
“depleted uranium” was, high command would have to hear about it.
Enraged, the parachutists stormed
the house. Schengel got a shot off with his pistol (which embedded
itself in Black's lucky bible), but it was no use. Full of righteous
rage the Americans killed the Heldjagers around him, and Black shot the captain in the back as he attempted to flee.
As they congratulated themselves,
they heard gunshots and swearing from the east. Stone was still
running through the ploughed fields, leading the zombies a merry
dance. Steadying their weapons on casements they potted all but two,
who leapt on the sergeant with unholy bloodlust. Luckily, the
sergeant was a brawler from way back when, and with two quick swipes
of his entrenching tool, the field was America's.
American Eagle coughed weakly in
the road, bloody sputum running from his mouth – he was alive, but
barely. But when Black and Stone checked the hilltop for Oberst
Scharlach's body, no such relic was to be found...
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| Until next time, folks! |
Butcher's Bill
Uncle Sam's Boys: 8 Airborne,
American Eagle
Horrors of the SS: Oberst
Scharlach, 10 Heldjager, 21 zombies, Captain Schengel
Overview
This is the first playtest of my
WWII superhero game that I've put up here, and it was good fun. The
battle seemed squarely the Allies' until the Heldjager did their job
and put down American Eagle by bypassing all his special defensive
rules. Of course, the fact that Black's squad overcame their
previously shoddy die-rolling and slaughtered the Nazis in their turn
is neither here nor there. In our last game, American Eagle fell
under the spell of the wicked Count, and butchered his former Ami
comrades – he's not doing well outside the comics!
Man of the Match: Sergeant Stone,
for disposing of the greater part of a squad of zombies on his own.
