I've been so busy painting entries for the Dropship Horizon painting comp and planning a new Zombie game that I haven't had a chance to post for ages! But now, I bring you...
ESCAPE FROM ZOMBIE ISLAND!
Can our heroic survivors fight their way past the shambling zombie hordes to collect the supplies they need and make it to the boats?
This was a chance to playtest my new rules set at the Buckenham Bone Crushers games club. We made use of Paul's fantastic scenery including the sea defences, cliffs and beach board.
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| The isand (please excuse blatant "Walker's Crisps" advertising!) |
Survivors started in 5 locations, each group consisting of 3 survivors. Zombies are represented by red counters scattered across the board. When one is spotted, we roll a D6: 1-2 = 1 zombie, 3-4 = 2 zombies, 5-6 = 3 zombies. Survivors move by expending action points, each has 4 per turn which can be used for shooting, walking (1" per AP), trying to hotwire cars, picking up items etc.
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| Jayne and Zoe (or their stunt doubles) face the zombies. |
Groups include Interstellar Mining and Extraction Consortium (IMEC) personnel, Security officers (including big cyborg), townsfolk, woodsmen, starship crew (Mal Jayne and Zoe, though sadly I couldn't find my Firefly figures so they are played today by their stunt doubles from a GZG ravagers pack).
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| Rifle Rick prepares to search the fenced-in outhouse. |
Survivors need to find fuel for a boat plus either food or water. These can be located in various buildings around the board - but so are zombies!
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| Security forces lock the door and settle down for a siege. |
Making noise such as driving a vehicle or firing a weapon causes zombies to make an extra move towards the source of the noise. The more you shoot, the closer the zombies get...
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| Attracted by gunfire the zombies start to crowd the security office. |
Zombies also have their own movement turn. They can't enter a building if the door is locked - but they might manage to break in through the windows!
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| Townsfolk investigate a workshop... uh-oh, more zombies! |
Die rolls are made for new zombies and what equipment might be found when entering a new building. Zombies occur in groups of 1-3, their toughness and effectiveness in close combat increasing as the size of the group grows.
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| Charlie revs his chainsaw. |
Chainsaws are fun for hand to hand combat - but they make an awful racket that will attract more zombies!
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| Alan Axe scarpers but Izzie i-Pad is too slow. Shaun's already been devoured. |
Zombie movement rules dictate their behaviour according to what sounds they've heard, whether a survivor is in sight etc.
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| Mal, Jayne and Zoe clamber into the fuel truck. |
The starship crew roll a 1 for their initiative, giving a random event - they found the keys in the van and can drive off immediately! A quick stop by the cargo containers at the storage depot results in a jerrycan of water, very useful. As the pursuing zombies approach, the crew clamber back into the tanker and head for the ramp down the cliffs.
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| Oh dear! Izzy i-Pad gets eaten... |
Things aren't going so well for the townsfolk. Still, the zombies will feed on the dead for 1 turn which gives the remaining survivor a chance to escape!
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| The fuel truck hurtles down towards the beach. |
Starship crew head for the beach, they know there is another fuel truck here that they've got to move out of the way plus more zombies to kill.
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| Security team make a break for it. Rapid fire! |
Security team decide to break out. The tracked vehicle is locked but they're able to get into the SWAT van round the corner before the zombies get them. The cyborg is very tough and punches the head off a zombie with great ease.
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| Pistol Patty and a scared child leap from the roof and run for safety. |
Pistol Patty has found a small child (event roll), they've managed to climb onto the roof while the zombies devour Chainsaw Charlie round the front and now they're off the back of the shack and running...
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| Rifle Rick leaps from the roof... and rebounds from the fence into the zombie horde. |
Rifleman Rick heroically leaps from the top of the other shack... but gets tangled in the fence and is eaten by zombies before he can regain his feet.
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| IMEC pick up Alan the towsfolk survivor in their digger... |
Alan the townsfolk survivor joins IMEC in their digger. IMEC have found a crate of food which should last them for a good long voyage - especially now since their friend succumbed to the zombies.
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| ...and try to catch up with the fuel truck. |
They drive after the fuel truck, co-operation looks like being the best way to escape the island.
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| Patty and the child run for their lives. |
Meanwhile, back in the woods Patty and the small child make a special
sprint move but the zombies aren't far behind. Past the forestry 'mech they dash, coming into town.
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| Security team grab some food supplies. |
The security team (pausing only to pick up a WALL-E type droid) swerve into the workshop and pick up a food crate the townsfolk discovered earlier.
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| Cheerleader zombie leaps aboard the digger! |
Alan the townsfolk survivor rolls a 1 for his initiative. The event that results is...
Zoombie! The closest zombie makes a sudden fast move and leaps onto the back of the digger. Luckily for the IMEC team this zombie cheerleader runs out of action points before she can bite them. All she can do is groan and wave her rotting pom-poms in a threatening manner...
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| Jayne takes down several zombies but there are just too many! |
As Mal drives the Shell tanker down and makes a neat 3-point turn, Zoe leaps out and runs to the cab of the oil tanker. Can she move it out of the way? Jayne provides covering fire with his trusty rifle Vera, shooting at zombies further along the promenade and eliminating two. Sadly he fails to notice two more hauling their rotting corpses up the sea wall behind him, the first he knows is when their cold dead hands grip him and their teeth crunch into his warm flesh! Zoe can't get the truck started, no keys and it looks like the engine has seized. Is she, too, doomed?
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| The digger demonstrates how efficient it is at squishing zombies! |
One IMEC survivor shoots the zombie cheerleader at close range. As the zombie's broken body falls from the rear of the digger, the other IMEC survivor guns the engine, hurtles down the hill and leaps dramatically through the gap between the oil tanker and an old loading 'mech, the digger scoop neatly decapitating both zombies as they go. Zoe is safe and can leap onto the beach from the oil tanker's cab.
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| Patty and the child join the Security team in their SWAT van. |
Back on the edge of town, the zombies are closing on Patty and the child - but in the nick of time, the SWAT van arrives! Everyone piles in and with smoking tyres the van veers off towards the ramp down to the beach.
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| Supplies are brought on board and the boat is fuelled. |
Down on the beach, Mal has also managed to jump the Shell tanker through the gap between the oil tanker and the loading 'mech. All the survivors quickly haul the food crate on board and run the fuel hose along from the tanker.
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| And they're ready! Time to go! |
Food - check. Fuel - check. Water - check. All aboard - let's go!
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| The SWAT van leaps through the gap. Can they make it? |
Tyre's squealing, the SWAT van swerves down the ramp and also makes the leap through the gap, onto the beach. Are they in time to join the others? (All vehicles trying to jump through roll a D6 and succeed on a 4+. Had they failed... well, let's say I was very disappointed that there wasn't a high speed collision between the 2 fuel tankers!)
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| No! The boat has left. Gunfire riddles the fuel tanker leaving the beach in flames! |
Alas! The boat is already moving away from the jetty. Gunfire rattles out and the shell tanker and nearby boats are riddles with bullet-holes. With a gusty
whuumph! the fuel ignites, incinerating nearby zombies and rapidly spreading to nearby boats. Patty, small child and the security team look on in dismay as the boat disappears over the horizon. From behind them comes the wet thudding sound of zombies tumbling down the cliffs before shambling slowly across the beach towards them...
The End!
