JAN.NBR - Through the Woods (Perdita v. Nicodem)

[Apollyon]

“Dammit, get off!” The twin crack of the convict gunslinger’s revolvers sent birds scattering in every direction out of the nearby trees. The Nurse that had been relentlessly trying to apply a bit of unwanted bedside manner collapsed in a heap at his feet. “Crazy bitch,” the gunslinger thought pulling the last of the woman’s needles from his leg and looked around, trees obscured his vision beyond a few yards. “Oh crap, where’s Nicodem?” An uncanny howl in the distance and a familiar “Sqwak!” of the necromancer’s vulture showed him the way.

He moved slowly through the underbrush, revolvers out in front of him in case one of Nicodem’s creations mistook him for lunch. Suddenly the sound of more gunshots split the air ahead of him, but he couldn’t see the source.

Ahead through the trees Perdita Ortega feathered the hammer on her own revolver the bullets whipping through the forest and around trees and shrubs to slam into their intended target. The desiccated remains of a small, but vicious looking dog were put back to rest.

“Come on Ortega’s let’s round ‘em up and finish ‘em off. I’ve found Ras…” Her sentence was cut off as another necrotic abomination slammed to the ground nearby, reaching for the bound form of the ice witch that lay at the gunwoman’s feet. “You ain’t going nowhere with that,” she spat at the abomination.

Another zombie rose where the dog had fallen, its blade slicing at the air and drawing Perdita’s attention away just long enough for the Necropunk to leap back over the jutting rock from where it come, the limp form of Rasputina tossed like a sack of potatoes over its shoulder.

“Oh no you don’t. Papa get that witch! The rest of you with me.” The whole Ortega crew leapt into action, bullets splitting the air. Papa sprinted around the boulder cornering the Necropunk and reaching for a stick of dynamite at his side. Perdita fired at the walking dead around her, first putting down a second dog and then the Punk Zombie. As the zombie’s blades clattered to the ground, the ghostly figure of Bete Noire stepped out from behind one of the trees, licking at her lips. Nino caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and let lose, cutting the woman in half with his fire. Francisco scanned the forest for more targets eventually spotting a vulture perched atop the rock outcropping. A single crack rang out and the carrion bird’s carcass toppled to the ground at Perdita’s feet.

“Alright,” Perdita called out reaching for her belt to reload, “move up, help Papa with that last one!”

Roland crept quietly forward through the trees, it didn’t seem the Ortega’s had noticed him yet and he was just fine with that. He still couldn’t see where Nicodem had gotten to, but judging by the number of bodies lying around and the number of Ortegas still standing, this wasn’t looking like a winning gamble. Even as the man counted his odds, the dead rose again, two of the corpses merging together to form a single, massive construct that made the gunslinger shiver. It didn’t matter how many times he saw these Flesh Constructs of Nicodem’s they still sent shivers down his spine. The gunslinger considered laying down some suppressive fire to keep the Ortega’s busy, but decided to keep his head down and watch.

The Construct reached out with one massive fist grabbing hold of Perdita, its other slammed downward on the woman’s head. There was an audible crack and the creature tossed the woman aside like a rag doll. Shambling toward Nino.

Unaware of the fate of his cousin, Papa Ortega lit off the dynamite and blasted away at the Necropunk. The creature faltered and slammed back against the cold stone behind it. A black cloud of energy engulfed the necrotic creation, closing its wounds. Papa Loco coughed, the cloud drawing the life out of him. In a final act of defiance he lit one more stick of dynamite. Parts scattered about as the blast sent him hurtling into a nearby tree and blew the Necropunk to pieces.

The blast set Nino and Francisco into motion, Nino caught sight of a glint to his right and snapped a shot in the direction. Roland tried to pull his head back around the tree in front of him. Too late he thought, “Oh crap, maybe they do know I’m here,” and as the pulled slammed into his head darkness consumed him. Francisco gunned away at the Flesh Construct, letting out a whoop as the thing stumbled and fell.

His celebration was cut short as the creation re-knit and rose back up to its feet. Another of the walking dead shuddered, reaching down to claim a pair of fallen blades at its feet. Out from behind one of the trees, Nicodem stepped and glanced about.

“You’ll pay for killing my pet, Ortega,” the necromancer taunted before waving a frail hand in Francisco’s direction. The dead straightened and a dark flame seems to burn in their eyes. Clouds of death enveloped both of the Ortega cousins, setting them to coughing and sputtering. A final barrage of gunfire cut down a trio of zombies around the necromancer, but it did little to halt the advancing dead. There was a wailing and a gnashing of teeth, then the forest was silent again.

Nicodem, 2 Canine Remains, Punk Zombie, Bete Noir, Convict Gunslinger (Assassinate, Army of the Dead, Hold Out)

Perdita, Nino, Francisco, Papa Loco (Treasure Hunt, Bodyguard-Perdita, Hold Out)

Turn 1 - Perdita, the Remains, and a Necropunk all rush forward to the treasure. Everyone else advances through the forest out of sight. Vulture lands atop some terrain getting LoS to Perdita and the corpse.

Perdita guns down one of the Canine Remains. It is promptly raised as a Punk Zombie that Slice and Dices Perdita.

Turn 2 - Nicodem wins initiative. Necropunk grabs the Treasure Counter and Leaps away over an intervening rock outcropping.

Ortegas companion activate, gunning down the Zombie, the second Remains, a poor-choice placement of Bete Noir, and the Vulture. Papa Loco runs around the outcropping to corner the Necropunk.

Nicodem activates raising all of the corpses as Mindless Dead and converting two of them into a Flesh Construct with a lucky flip. That Constructs slams Perdita causing her to burn a soulstone to prevent death.

Turn 3 - Nicodem wins intiative again. Perdita spends her second soulstone to cheat the initiative, but still loses.

Flesh Construct crushes Perdita accomplishing Assassinate.

Ortegas companion activate, Head Shotting the Convict Gunslinger that had finally gotten into range and putting down the Flesh Construct.

Papa Loco goes out with a bang during his fight with the Necropunk.

Nicodem raises the corpses, and again crafts a Flesh Construct to engage the remaining Ortegas. The Flesh Construct puts a beating on Nino, he's on his last legs.

Turn 4 - Ortegas win the initiative. Nicodem pays a soulstone to cheat, taking back the initiative. One Mindless Zombie is converted to a Punk Zombie and Decay drops both Ortegas to their final wounds.

Ortega's companion activate, but only Nino manages to disengage (to be fair we let him) and gun away at Nicodem. Three dead zombies nearby Nicodem absorbed the shots at the Ressurectionist Master and then it was over.

Final score: Nicodem - 8, Perdita - 0

I was really worried the whole of this game as I completely failed to recognize the threat of all the Ortegas simul-activating. Nasty. The forest negating the Convict Gunslinger while having only minimal effect on the Ortegas hurt as well. In the end, it was the lucky flip on turn 3 to get the First Construct up that turned the game around or it was going to be a steam rolling.

[razide]

Carnage in the Woods would have been a more appropriate title for this BR.

All those bullets couldn't have Ortega's from waves of undead. Nicodem must have been exhausted from performing so many resurrections and reconstitutions.

Exciting nonstop action battle report. Keep 'em coming.