After six attempts, I've reached the point with this book where I know what do and where to go. The only thing stopping me from completing it - bar some dirty tricks towards the end - is a lack of decent stats and luck with the dice. I'll get there eventually, but there's no telling how long it'll be before the dice fall my way.
ATTEMPT 7
I rolled pretty well this time around: Skill 11, Stamina 31, Luck 9, Firepower 8 and Armour 34. My only real worry was that low Firepower score, but that can be offset with the use of rockets. Other than that, I was feeling like I had half a shot at victory.
Things got off to a bad start almost immediately. The Red Chevvy at the beginning hammered me, dropping my Armour from 34 down to 20. I didn't want to use a rocket, as I was determined to rescue Sinclair, and using that path requires the use of two rockets early on. With only four at my disposal, I didn't want to waste any.
It got even worse when I stopped to investigate the booby-trapped ambulance (which I did because I wanted the credits from the resultant encounter). The Highwayman who set the trap shot me up bad, leaving me with just 13 Stamina, and a Skill penalty from being shot multiple times. I was banged up, my car was banged up, and things were looking pretty bleak.
I rescued Sinclair from the biker gang without much trouble, and following that I turned west, going by a different road than usual. After refilling my car with petrol I decided to spend the night at an old roadside cafe.
I had the choice of sleeping in an upstairs room or an outhouse. I went with the outhouse, figuring that I shouldn't sleep too far away from my car. Unfortunately (due to a failed Luck test), I had gone to sleep on a nest of redback spiders, and was bitten during the night (which reduced my Stamina). I had to use a pack from my med-kit to stop the venom. I spent the rest of the night sleeping in the car.
The next morning I decided to search the cafe, but found nothing of use. As I stepped back outside, I saw a man in robes emptying a can of petrol over my car, some sort of cultist determined to cleanse the world of its decadent past. I was able to knock the match from his hand before he could set my car alight (with a successful Skill check). He ran off, and I drove away before he could return with more of his ilk.
After that my mission proceeded pretty smoothly for a while; see previous posts for more details on the encounters to be had. Eventually I neared New Haven, and was met by a woman named Amber. She told me that New Haven's refinery was under threat from a gang known as the Doom Dogs, and we'd have to sneak into their camp and disable their vehicles to have any hope of completing my mission. We waited for nightfall, and I took the chance to heal up. (At this point I had a Skill of 9, a Stamina of 29, a Luck of 7, Firepower of 8, and Armour of 19.)
Amber and I approached the camp of the Doom Dogs on foot after dark. Amber noisily kicked a rock, but (with a successful Luck test that reduced my score to 6) the guard didn't hear it. After he passed by we crawled up to the fence, and I cut it open with some wire-cutters that I'd taken from the gang that had kidnapped Sinclair.
We mined the vehicles, and fled the camp, with the Doom Dogs none the wiser, but when the mines went off one of them failed to detonate due to a faulty fuse. We ran, as the sound of an engine starting sounded from the camp.
We were able to reach the Dodge before the Doom Dogs could catch up to us (because my Stamina was greater than 10). I started the car just as their Station-Wagon appeared, armoured with thick plates of steel and mounted with machine guns. The Station-Wagon (Firepower 10, Armour 19) was formidable, and too close for me to blow it away with a rocket. I managed to survive the initial battle, taking only minimal damage. (I had to fight the Station-Wagon for three rounds. Despite its higher Firepower, it only beat me in one round, reducing my Armour to 15.)
We broke apart and the Station-Wagon tried to ram me. I was able to avoid a head-on collision (with a successful Skill check), but was still rammed in the side, and the vehicles were locked. Over the loudspeaker came an offer from the gang's leader, the Animal: fight him in hand-to-hand combat, or I'd have to shoot it out. I figured I'd have a better chance of winning a fist fight, so I accepted his offer.
The Animal was an imposing figure (Skill 11, Stamina 16), wearing a facemask and gloves of studded leather. I used my knuckle-dusters, but it did little good. The Animal pummeled me to death, and my adventure was over.
THE POST-GAME
Well, that was my best attempt yet, but the Animal was too much for me. I'm not entirely sure how to play that battle. The rules for fist-fighting state that a combatant is knocked out after losing 6 Stamina points, but the entry where you fight the Animal says that it's a fight to the death. I ended up fighting until my Stamina was reduced to 0, as in regular Fighting Fantasy, but I probably should have ended it earlier than that via knockout. I would have lost either way. From now on, I'll use the knockout rules for this fight.
SURPRISE ATTEMPT 8
I missed my post last week, so I decided to throw in an extra attempt this time around. I rolled a Skill of 11, a Stamina of 28, a Luck of 8, Firepower of 7, and Armour of 28.
I followed the same path as before, which involves rescuing Sinclair from the biker gang. I destroyed the Red Chevvy with a rocket to avoid that fight, but the battle with the Motor Cycle at the barricade did not go well at all. My Firepower was a little higher than his (7 vs. 6), but I was damaged badly, finishing the fight with only 5 points of Armour.
That was my score when I limped into the blitz race later in the book. I had to win it to have any hope of continuing, and I did it with just a single point of Armour remaining. My only hope was if I could somehow make it to the car repair shop without taking any damage at all.
Unfortunately, that's impossible. Not long after the blitz race, there's an encounter with a motorbike-and-sidecar that rides up behind you and opens fire with its guns. It can be easily taken care of with an oil slick, but that opening salvo is unavoidable, and inflicts - you guessed it - one point of Armour damage. This might be my most embarrassing death in this book yet.
DOUBLE SURPRISE ATTEMPT 9
Since my last try was quick, and I'm kinda getting sick of this book, I decided to give it another go. I rolled a Skill of 9, a Stamina of 31, a Luck of 8, Firepower of 7, and an Armour score of 24. Pretty bad scores all around, to be honest.
I decided that Sinclair could fend for himself this time, and took the easier route. The major obstacle here is a jump over a bridge, but I was able to clear that (with a Skill check) and continue on my mission. I reached Amber and the infiltration of the Doom Dogs' camp with a Skill of 9, a Stamina of 28, a Luck of 6, Firepower of 7, and an Armour score of 12.
When we approached the camp and Amber kicked the stone, I failed the resultant Luck test. The guard heard and came to investigate, so I jumped up to silence him. I didn't have any knuckle-dusters, but I was still able to knock him unconscious with a single blow (with a successful Skill check).
We scrambled up to the fence, but I didn't have any wire-cutters to get through. I was forced to skirt around close to the Doom Dogs camp. Unfortunately (because I failed a Luck test), I was spotted, and the Doom Dogs surrounded and captured us. Once again, my mission was a failure.
THE POST-GAME
Done in by a failed Luck test yet again. I'm still bitter about the couple of Luck tests Ian forces on you just before the infiltration of the Doom Dogs' camp. Perhaps I am better off rescuing Sinclair, and thus getting the wire-cutters. It'd leave me with fewer rockets, but I'd still have enough to get me through to this point I think, even with low scores. The question is, what awaits me after escaping from the Doom Dogs? Are there more difficult vehicle combats? I can't remember, so I have no idea what to do. I'll have to weigh up my scores to decide which path to take next time.
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