Vampifan's Views 64 - Monthly Musings 42

Miss Vampirella May 2015 - Julie Strain

This month's Vampirella model is Julie Strain, model, actress and just about anything else you can think of. Julie Strain is a one woman industry! From the age of 28 she has been merchandised on everything from a Zippo lighter to an interactive CD-ROM. Carefully orchestrated and planned, originally by Julie, but now by Julie in tandem with her husband, publisher, producer and co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kevin Eastman. Together, they have made Julie the "Queen of All Media".
As a genuine cult heroine, her series of action/adventure and fantasy films have earned her a huge fan base. Julie has been featured on television, in music videos and she is found on calendars, posters, greeting cards, coffee mugs, dolls, watches and countless trading cards.
Her various skills include baseball, basketball, bodybuilding, cycling, horsemanship, jet skiing,  martial arts, modern dance, motorcycling, racing cars, roller skating, singing, track and field events, volleyball, water skiing and weaponry. All in all, an impressive career for a woman who had to sleep in her truck when she first arrived in Hollywood and who admits to being a "painfully thin, ugly duckling" in high school. It is a wonder that she has time to fit everything in!
One thing she did fit in, though, were quite a few covers for the Vampirella Monthly series.
Harris Publishing knew they were on to a hot item with Julie, and they even gave her her own Julie Strain Special comic book, featured her heavily on the Vampirella website and modeled a Vampirella Action Figure on her! And, yes, I do have that action figure in my collection of Vampirella memorabilia.
She is wearing the same costume that Arban Ornelas (Miss February) wore, so my criticisms of it still apply. The waistband is far too high on her hips, which means the gold bat logo is too high. It should be at crotch level. I must admit, I do admire her pluck for wearing such a revealing costume.

The big hobby news for me this month was the arrival of The Forgotten King expansion set for Super Dungeon Explore. YAY! It seems like I have been waiting ages for this but that's not true. It was delivered a couple of days ago so I haven't had time to fully assess it but first impressions are highly favourable. The first thing I noticed was that the box is smaller than the Super Dungeon Explore box and it opens normally with a lid, unlike SDE, which had a hinged opening. However, upon opening the box I discovered that it contains a lot more than the basic set did. Whoopee!

Unlike SDE, which came with one rulebook, TFK comes with five books. In the top row from left to right is a 4 page catalogue of Soda Pop games, with Ninja All Stars featuring prominently on the front cover. In the centre is the Explorer's Handbook, a 24 page book of background info on the world of Crystalia. I can't wait to read this book as I love background fluff. At the far right is a set of Quick Start Rules, designed to teach newcomers the basic rules of the game.
In the bottom row are the two main rulebooks. SDE can now be played two ways - in Arcade Mode or in Classic Mode. Arcade Mode is something new and this 44 page rulebook allows players to play the game solo or collectively against the Consul whose actions are determined by cards. Heroes still use their Classic Mode stat cards but all monsters have different stat cards to their Classic Mode counterparts. Effectively they have fewer stats and they do not roll dice. Their stats are a fixed value to make game-play run smoother.
The Classic Mode rulebook runs to 36 pages and will be most familiar to those of you who have already played SDE with the first edition rules. New rules have been added and a few things have changed but if you are at all familiar with old-style SDE then you should find Classic Mode very easy to grasp.

Here are the various decks of cards included in the game and a set of 16 dice. The dice have not changed from first edition. Red dice are better than blue dice and green dice are the best of all.

Two sheets of counters printed on thick card come with the game. Most are spell effects and not that many will be used in a typical game.

The game comes with six double-sided gaming tiles. On the side shown in the photo above are the tiles for the Fae Woods, which are the realm of the Forgotten King. The thick black lines are walls that block movement and line of sight.

On the reverse of the Fae Woods tiles are the tiles for an Overgrown Castle. TFK tiles are slightly smaller than the old SDE tiles but they still measure 12 squares by 12 but have less of a border. They also have more features on them. Note that the Adventure Tracker from the basic SDE set has now been relegated to the dustbin.

And finally, here are the set's 58 miniatures, with the heroes, pets and treasure chests moulded in grey plastic and the monsters, creeps and spawn points in green plastic. Incidentally, the Forgotten King himself is the third figure from the left in the back row. The figures do come pre-assembled and the level of detail and sculpting has improved over the earlier SDE figures.
I'll be spending a lot of time reading and re-reading the new rulebooks and playing some practice games to familiarise myself with the new rules and rule changes. However, much as I want to get the figures painted as soon as possible, they will be taking a back seat because I want to concentrate on reducing my mountain of unpainted Zombicide figures. It may be quite a while before I review any TFK figures.

Speaking of Zombicide, I have finished painting my second batch of 20 Toxic Zombies. I am well on the way to finishing another 14 Toxic Zombies as well as 6 Season 3 Survivors and Zombivors (three of each). Next month sees the launch of the Zombicide: Black Plague project. This project has me drooling at the mouth in anticipation. I'll be backing it big time. It takes Zombicide back to medieval times where magic exists and brave heroes do battle against evil necromancers, zombies (of course) and an assortment of fantasy creatures and monsters. There is already an expansion set in the works called Wulfsburg. This set introduces, werewolves, wolves and zombie wolves to the game. Oh, yes! Bring it on!
Whilst on the subject of Zombicide, let me tell you that I'll be devoting all of June to it on my blog. Expect to see more reviews of my Toxic Zombies as well as the biggest batrep I have ever published, as I go back to the very start of the zombie apocalypse and discover how the original six Zombicide Survivors from Season 1 meet for the first time. It is truly epic. It took me 16 hours to play over a period of three days and I took over 360 photos of the action. What fun it was. Zombicide rocks!

Zombicide Zombies - Season 2 Toxic Abominations 01

Toxic Zombies were introduced to Guillotine Games' Zombicide game in the Season 2 expansion set, Toxic City Mall. Toxic Zombies differ from Standard Zombies in a number of ways. First, upon elimination, a Toxic Zombie inflicts 1 Wound on its assailants if they are both in the same Zone. This is a free attack called Toxic Blood Spray. Ranged attacks from outside the Zone do not cause this effect. Toxic Zombies exist in all types - Abominations, Fatties, Runners and Walkers. They have the same characteristics and get the same targeting priority as their counterparts but are removed first in Ranged Combat and car attacks. Toxic Fatties come with an escort of two Toxic Walkers. Toxic Zombies do not benefit from the extra activation cards of other Zombie types. Eliminating a Toxic Zombie with a car does not cause a Toxic Blood Spray.

The Toxic Abomination at the left of the photos is the figure that you get in Toxic City Mall. He is wearing nothing more than a pair of underpants, a pair of fluffy rabbit slippers (!) and a spotted handkerchief tied around his head.The Toxic Abomination has an additional game effect - all Standard Zombies standing in its Zone at the end of the Zombies' Phase become Toxic Zombies. Replace their miniatures with matching Toxic Zombie miniatures. If there aren't enough Toxic Zombie miniatures, any remaining Zombies are simply not replaced. Replacing Standard Zombies with Toxic Zombies does not generate a new activation for the Toxic Zombies. Remember that this effect only applies to Standard Zombies. Other Zombie types are not affected.

The Toxic Abomination at the right is a conversion. I turned his underpants into shorts and his slippers into trainers with modelling putty. I also made him bald-headed. I acquired him by sending away for just about everything in the Zombicide Season 2 Kickstarter project. Amongst the goodies I received were three extra Abominations - one Standard, one Toxic and one Berserker. There are a few scenarios that require more than one Abomination be used, but thankfully, these are very rare. A Toxic Abomination can act once per Turn, has 3 Wounds and rewards the Survivor who kills it with 5 Experience Points.
Finally, I'd like to mention how I painted these figures. Normally, I paint my figures using Foundry paints. But for these I also used the Army Painter Zombicide paint sets - Zombie Core Paint Set and Toxic/Prison Paint Set Expansion. I first used Zombie Skin with a wash of Zombie Shader, which perfectly matched the colour scheme of the Toxic Zombies' skin tones in the rulebook. The spikes were painted with Dirt Spatter, followed by Boney Spikes then Brain-matter Beige. The boils were painted with Toxic Boils and highlighted with a 50/50 mix of Toxic Boils and Brain-matter Beige. The rims of the eyes and mouths were painted first with Dead Black, followed by Foundry White 33C for the whites of the eyes and teeth. These paints are quite thick and they give good coverage. I am very impressed with them. I know I will use Zombie Flesh the most and was wondering what to do when it runs out. Unfortunately, these paints can't be bought separately at the time of writing and I don't want to buy another boxed set just to replace one colour. Fortunately I discovered that Foundry Boneyard 9B is a perfect match for the Warpaints' Zombie Flesh. Sorted!

Impact Chibi Pit Lord

My final (for now) review of Impact Miniatures' range of 28mm scale Chibi figures focuses on one of their larger figures - the demonic Pit Lord.

You can find him in the Chibi Adventurers section of Impact Miniatures' webstore as CA-PITF Pit Lord. He costs £12.57 but he is huge! Compared to GW prices for a similar sized monster that is a bargain. He stands 65mm tall from the bottom of his hooves to the tips of his horns and he has a wingspan of 90mm.

He was beautifully sculpted by Juan Miguel Lopez Barea and he comes in 8 parts - body, head, left hand with sword, right hand with half the flaming whip, the second half of the flaming whip, two wings and a 48mm diameter base. Please note that as with all Impact Minis' bases that come with their figures, the slottabases are plain and untextured. However, Impact do sell textured bases with a dungeon floor pattern on them with both a slot in them and without the slot. They come in two diameters - 24mm and 48mm. The Pit Lord does not come with a slottatab under his hooven feet so I pinned and glued him onto a textured base that did not have a slot in it.

The figure fit together extremely well. I used superglue to stick him and it worked just fine. I added a small bit of Milliput to the join between the two halves of the whip just to strengthen it a tad. Please note that he is made of Trollcast resin, as are the majority of Impact's figures. I feared that his fiery whip might easily snap but actually, it is quite springy and providing you take good care of your figures he should last a lifetime. Incidentally, I store all of my Chibi figures in foam-lined cases made by KR Multicases.

I like demons a lot and the main reason that I bought this particular one was to use him as a substitute Dungeon Boss for Starfire the Dragon in Super Dungeon Explore. Yes, he does have a big head and big eyes (all four of them!) but I would certainly use him in other fantasy games like AD&D or Warhammer (a Chaos Khorne Demon) if I still played them.

Impact Chibi Pumpkinheads and Giant Pumpkins

I have a few more 28mm scale Impact Miniatures Chibi figures to review, which this time consists of three Pumpkinheads and four Giant Pumpkins.

The Pumpkinheads to the left and right of my photos are listed as CA-PUMP on the Impact Miniatures' website and the cost £3.49 each. I bought two. In the centre of the group is the Pumpkinhead General who is listed as CA-PMPA. He is slightly dearer at £4.19.

The Pumpkinhead General is the same sculpt as the ordinary Pumpkinheads but he comes with extras - a cloak, top hat and pet crow, which have to be glued in place. I used superglue, which worked fine.

The Pumpkinheads are unarmed but no doubt they will have some special power. I do not have any game stats for them yet, but I suspect that will change when Chibi World, the Impact Miniatures' RPG, is released.

It is just the way they have been photographed but the fire within their heads seems to be glowing with a white hot intensity. That is just the effect I was hoping for.

The Giant Pumpkins can be found in the Impact Elfball Sideline Figures range. All four can be bought for £11.69 and their reference code is EO-PMP4.

From left to right we have Looking Up, Side Look, Big Grin and Single Tooth.

Individually, they cost £4.54 each, except for Looking Up who is £5.93. I have no idea why he should be more expensive than the others. Clearly, you'd be better off buying the set of four.

I bought these figures after seeing one of the Spawn Points from my Von Drakk Manor expansion set for Super Dungeon Explore. It was a spooky animated tree holding a Halloween pumpkin aloft. As soon as I saw these Impact figures I made a connection. These will fit in perfectly as Minions of Von Drakk, no doubt brought to life by the Coven Witches of Glauerdoom.

Impact Chibi Skeletons and Zombies

Impact Miniatures are a company who make 28mm scale resin figures, including a range of Chibi Adventurers who are very compatible with the figures used in Super Dungeon Explore. You can find them here - http://www.impactminiatures.com/index.php?option=chibi

The skeleton is listed as CA-SKEL Chibi Skeleton on the Impact Minis website and costs £3.49. I bought four of them to help supplement my SDE Skeletons.

He is very lightly armoured with just a helmet and shoulder guards, which I have painted rusty and ancient looking.

He is armed with only a rusty sword.

I have no game stats for him yet. A rulebook for using these figures called Chibi World will be coming out later this year. I can't wait to get my hands on it as I know the author, Steve Gilbert, very well and I know that writing it has been a labour of love for him. You could use this figure as a Bonehead or Rattle Bone in SDE.

The zombie is listed as CA-ZOMB Chibi Zombie on the Impact Minis website and he also costs £3.49. Once again, I bought four of them.

The zombies are unarmoured and carry a wooden club. I have deliberately kept my gore effects to a minimum on these figures.

As yet there no game stats for zombies in SDE but they will be making an appearance as an expansion set for The Forgotten King, which is available now.

Given my love of all things undead I simply had to add these delightfully cute figures to my collection. I never thought I'd ever describe a skeleton or a zombie as being cute!

Zombicide Season 3 Ultimate Survivors 01

"The world evolved and so did we. We learned in a couple of months what a soldier might need years to learn. The lives we had, the people we were, are all gone, and we have accepted that. We are survivors and we are here to bring the future."
Of all the products I got with my Zombicide Season 3 parcel, Ultimate Survivors #1 was the set I was most looking forward to receiving. Why? Because it takes your Zombicide Survivors to a whole new level, making them much stronger and preparing them for campaign play instead of one-off games. I really want to run a Zombicide campaign and the new rules provided with this set will help accomplish that goal.
The biggest change between normal Survivors and Ultimate Survivors is that Ultimate Survivors now start all games with two Skills at the Blue Danger Level instead of one. This will make a big difference and greatly improve their survival chances. The six figures that come with this set are upgraded versions of the six Survivors found in the original boxed set of Zombicide - Amy, Doug, Josh, Ned, Phil and Wanda. I am very pleased that Guillotine Games chose these six to be their first Ultimate Survivors because they have been around the longest, plus, I have a soft spot for them due to me using them more than any other Survivors. Let's take a look at them.

First up is Amy the Goth Girl. Amy was a Goth girl who hated everything from mindless consumerism to the pointlessness of daily existence. The world Amy despised so much has crumbled, but from it comes the promise of a fresh start and simpler times. Desperate zombie battles have sparked a will to live in Amy, but she still doesn't feel comfortable without some white foundation on.
Amy is very well armed with a Katana and Sawn-Off Shotgun in her hands and a .44 Magnum Revolver and Hand Axe tucked in her ammo belt. Her first Blue level Skill is +1 Free Move Action, which is self-explanatory. To this she adds the very useful Medic Skill. Once per Turn, she can freely remove one Wounded card from herself or any other Survivor standing in the same Zone as her.

In the centre of this trio is Doug the Office Guy. Four hour commutes, twelve hour days, uncooperative colleagues and unappreciative bosses are a thing of the past for Doug. Sure, dealing with zombies is a little stressful, but frankly, quite a pleasant change from the daily grind. An Uzi in each hand helps in dealing with troublesome ex-colleagues and ex-bosses, most of whom Doug is pretty sure were already zombies before any of this anyway.
Doug is still armed with his twin Uzi Sub-Machine Guns and he has a Pistol in a holster on his right hip. He starts the game with the Matching Set Skill. When he performs a Search Action and draws a weapon card with the Dual symbol, he can immediately take a second card of the same type from the Equipment deck. Shuffle the deck afterward. His second starting Skill is Hoard. This Skill allows him to carry one extra Equipment card in reserve. I guess that explains his big backpack and coat of many pockets.
Last in line is Josh the Street Thug. Josh grew up poor in a tough neighbourhood. Surviving day to day was all he could do before the zombies. Now there's no more law and no one can tell him what to do. Josh finds his street smarts in high demand by other survivors. Respect, worth more than all the money in the world is his reward now.
Josh is armed with a pair of Pistols, just as he was in normal Survivor mode. However, I decided to gold plate the Pistols to convert them into the Evil Twins, which could be found in a Pimpmobile car in Season 1. Note that although the Evil Twins are two Pistols, they only take up one space on a Survivor's ID Card. It seemed appropriate that Josh would find them and want to keep them. Josh begins with the Slippery Skill, which allows him to move through a Zone containing Zombies without penalty. To this, he adds the Jump Skill. He can use this Skill once per Activation to Move two Zones into a Zone which he has Line of Sight. Movement Skills, like Slippery, are ignored but Move penalties, like having Zombies in the starting Zone do apply. When Jumping, he ignores all Survivors, Zombies, barricades and holes in the intervening Zone. Any other obstacle, such as rubble, prevents the use of this Skill.

Crazy Ned knew it. He knew THIS would happen. THIS was THEIR fault, but NOBODY ever listened. Ned has been preparing for years; collecting food and weapons, building a bunker, all to survive THIS. Unfortunately for Ned, he's lost his bunker key, so until he finds it he's going to need every survival skill he's got. And probably other people. Crap!
Ned has kept his Sniper Rifle and Frying Pan from being a normal Survivor but has replaced his Baseball Bat with a Pistol. I did wonder why he still has the Frying Pan, which is next to useless, but then I noticed that in the Equipment Deck found in the Angry Neighbors expansion there is an Item called The Holy Pan, which can only be used by Survivors who reach the Red Danger Level and it's a truly awesome weapon. Perhaps, this is what Ned has found. It would explain a lot. Ned's first Blue Level Skill is +1 Free Search Action, which is self-explanatory but he can still only Search once per Turn. His second starting Skill is Scavenger, which complements his first Skill extremely well as it allows him to Search any Zone on the board, and not just indoor rooms. That really is a fantastic Skill to have!
Moving on, we come to Phil the Cop. Phil is a policeman through and through, even though there isn't really a police force any more. He still wears his uniform, keeps his issued sidearm and sees it as his duty to protect civilians; at least, those that are still human. Being a cop keeps him sane, if a bit of a stick in the mud.
Phil is now armed to the teeth. He still retains his service Pistol and Shotgun but has added a Knife, a Machete, a second Pistol and a second Shotgun to his arsenal. This is rather anomalous as a Survivor can only carry five Items (six if they have the Hoard Skill, which Phil doesn't) and here we have Phil with six weapons. He begins the game with the Starts With a Shotgun Skill, which is self-explanatory. His second Blue Level Skill is Lifesaver. He can use this Skill once during each of his Activations. Select a Zone containing at least one Zombie at Range 1 from your Lifesaver. Choose Survivors in the selected Zone to be dragged to the Lifesaver's Zone without penalty. This is not a Move Action. A Survivor can choose not to be rescued if his Controller so decides. Both Zones need to share a clear path. A Survivor can't cross barricades, fences, closed doors, holes or walls. Lifesaver can't be used by a Survivor in a car, helicopter or observation tower, nor can it be used to drag a Survivor from a car, helicopter or observation tower.

Finally, is Wanda the Waitress. Wanda served burgers and beer at the local drive-in. The zombie apocalypse hasn't changed her routine much; she still has to dodge grabby hands, scoot around on rollerskates and firmly reject inappropriate advances. The new chainsaw is a perk though!
As you'd expect, Wanda has kept her trusty Chainsaw but has swapped her Sawn-Off Shotgun for a Pistol. Her first Blue Level Skill is 2 Zones per Move Action, which allows her to Move one or two Zones per Move Action. Entering a Zone containing one or more Zombies ends her Move. For her second Blue Level Skill she gains Bloodlust: Melee. She can spend one Action to Move up to two Zones to a Zone containing at least one Zombie. She then gains one free Melee Action.
There is one other important component to this set and that is a deck of Experience cards. Playing in Experience mode allows Survivors to earn Experience cards. These work just like Skills and enhance the Survivors' abilities. Equipment and experience points still reset between games but Experience cards remain from one game to the next, until the Survivor is definitively eliminated (or discarded). A Survivor earns an Experience card of the player's choice each time he reaches a Danger Level he never reached before, including previous games. The selected Experience card counts as a Skill and is immediately active. A Survivor can hoard an unlimited amount of Experience cards during his lifespan but may have only a single copy of each. Experience cards stack with other game effects. A weapon's Accuracy number can never be brought below 2+. If you use the Resurrection rules, a Survivor keeps his Experience cards when he turns into a Zombivor. The Zombivor can earn additional Experience cards.
To give you an idea of what the Experience cards are like most list a specific weapon and a Skill that can be used with that weapon. For example, there are three cards listing .44 Magnum but they each provide a different Skill - +1 Die: Ranged, +1 Free Ranged Action and +1 to Dice Roll: Ranged. So, they are like Skills but are specific to just one weapon. There is an obvious downside to these Experience cards and that is they only apply if your Survivor is armed with the weapon listed on the card. They are great if you start with or quickly find the weapon you have the bonus Skill for but otherwise are no good at all. This has obviously been done for play balance.
Full rules for using Ultimate Survivors are provided with this set, along with the deck of 110 Experience cards, the six 28mm scale figures and their ID Cards. Zombivor versions of the figures are not included but their Zombivor stats are provided on the back of the ID Cards. If you include Zombivors in your games then just use their normal Zombivor figure when an Ultimate Survivor is resurrected.
One point occurred to me about this set. The rules do not state when a Survivor becomes an Ultimate Survivor. That would suggest it is up to the players to decide. I'd suggest that your Survivor has to survive at least one game before he can even be considered to be an Ultimate Survivor. You may feel that Ultimate Survivors are too powerful but remember, these are optional rules and you don't have to use them. Also, these rules are meant to be used for campaign play. If you only play one-off games you don't need them.
Personally, I love this set and I can't wait to try out these six awesome characters in a few games or more. For veteran Zombicide players, this set is highly recommended. For the casual gamer or newbie, it is not an essential purchase. If you missed out on this set from the Kickstarter launch, I'm sure it will go on general sale in the near future. Just be patient.

East Street Games Survivor and Zombie 01

Two weeks ago I was contacted by my good friend and fellow blogger, Clint from Anything But a One! He wanted to know if I'd like a couple of 28mm scale figures to paint and review? They were produced by East Street Games for their upcoming zombie apocalypse tabletop skirmish game, Bullets and Brains. How could I refuse? I'm always happy to receive free gifts and even more happy to help a friend out. So here are the two figures that I received.

Apparently, East Street Games will be producing their figures in two forms - human and zombie. I think this is a great idea. The Survivor that Clint sent me was of an aged gent dressed in a hospital gown, socks and slippers. He is totally unarmed and seems to me, to be totally unsuited and unprepared to survive a zombie apocalypse. He is pointing with his left arm, possibly at a group of zombies heading his way. I do believe he is my first hospital patient figure who is not a zombie!

The Zombie version graphically shows how he died. His left arm has been ripped off, leaving him to bleed to death, assuming he didn't die of a heart attack from shock. A number of disgusting looking boils have erupted over his body. Finally, he has been shot in a diagonal line from his right hip to his left shoulder.
I like these two figures and if the rest of the range is as good as these two I shall definitely buy them all. Sadly, I can't give you any price details just yet as they are still in production. Also, I do not know when this range will be going on general sale but as soon as I know I will inform you.

Zombicide Scenario C19 A Little Setback Part 2

TURN 5.
CHUCK. First Action. Move North one Zone. This brings him in contact with the Walker who was threatening Fred.

Second Action. Melee Combat with his Crowbar. A Crowbar uses 1 die to hit, hits on a 4+ and does 1 Wound. Chuck only scored a 3, so he misses with his first attack. A Crowbar does not generate a Noise token when used in combat.

Third Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. This time Chuck succeeds by rolling a 5. The 1 Wound he causes is enough to kill the Walker.

Fourth Action. Ranged Combat with Shotgun. Chuck rolls 2 dice looking for results of 4+. He scores 1 hit, a 6, as represented by the Molotov Cocktail symbol, and a miss with the 3. He kills one of the three Walkers in the adjacent Zone and generates a Noise token.

FRED. First Action. Ranged Fire with Rifle. A Rifle only uses 1 die to hit but hits on a 3+. It has a range of 1-3 Zones and it causes 1 Wound. Fred rolls a 4, which is a hit and causes 2 kills. HUH?! How can that be? Two kills with one shot? Surely not? Read on and all will be explained. Fred has the Skill, Reaper: Combat. He uses this Skill when assigning hits while resolving a Combat Action (Melee or Ranged). One of these hits can freely kill an additional Zombie in the same Zone. Only a single additional Zombie can be killed per Action when using this Skill. How cool is that? By the way, if you're looking for this Skill in the Season 1 rulebook, don't. It isn't there. It appears in the Season 2 book, Prison Breakout and the Season 3 book, Rue Morgue.

Second Action. Move North one Zone.
Third Action. Ranged Fire with Rifle. He rolls a 3, which is just enough to hit the female Walker shambling towards him. She drops down dead with a bullet to the head.

ZOMBIES. The three Walkers move one Zone towards Fred, whilst the two Runners move two Zones towards Fred. Remember that Runners get two Actions per Turn, so they were able to move twice this Turn.

 Spawn Zone 1. Three Walkers spawn.

Spawn Zone 2. I draw the top card from the Zombies deck and my heart sinks as I see I have just spawned four Walkers in the same Zone as Fred. What a time to draw that card!

This is very bad news for our heroes! Can they possibly survive with so many Zombies closing in on them?
TURN 6.
CHUCK. First Action. Move North one Zone into Zombie Spawn Zone 2. If you're wondering why he didn't just stay put and shoot the Zombies next to Fred there is a nasty little rule that Zombicide uses, called Target Priority. The shooting Survivor does not choose freely the targets he hits with successful Ranged Combat rolls. Hits are assigned in this order -
1. to Survivors (except for the shooter)
2. to Walkers
3. to Fatties or Abominations (player's choice)
4. to Runners
The hits are assigned until all targets of the lower degree of priority have been eliminated. I know that some players hate this rule and ignore it but I'm okay with it because it forces players to think tactically. If Chuck had fired he would have had to kill Fred before he could kill the Walkers and there was no way that I'd do that. So, Melee Combat it is then.

CHUCK. Second Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. Needing a 4+ to hit, Chuck rolls a 4 and kills a Walker. He's off to a good start.

Third Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. Sadly, this time he rolls a 2 and misses.

Fourth Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. He redeems himself by rolling a 5 and killing one of the two female Walkers in the Zombie Spawn Zone.

FRED. First Action. Melee Combat with Fire Axe. The Fire Axe uses 1 die, requiring a roll of 4+ to hit and each hit causes 2 Wounds. Fred rolls well with a 6 and kills the two remaining Walkers in this Zone with his one hit thanks to his Reaper: Combat Skill.

Second Action. Ranged Combat with Rifle. He rolls a 1, which is a clear miss. He generates one Noise token.
Third Action. Ranged Combat with Rifle. This time he scores a hit with his roll of 5. I really wanted to kill the two Runners first but because of the Target Priority rule, Fred must eliminate the Walkers first. Still, he does kill two of them because of his Reaper: Combat Skill. He generates a second Noise token, which is just out of shot.

ZOMBIES. The Walker and two Runners move into Zombie Spawn Zone 2 alongside Chuck and Fred. For the Runners' second Action, they attack and cause 2 Wounds. Note that Zombies do not roll to hit - they automatically hit with each attack they make. However, I can allocate their Wounds as I see fit.

The logical and sensible thing to do is to apply one Wound to each Survivor otherwise it'd be game over, so this is what I do. Whenever a Zombie causes a Wound, it also grabs one Item from the Survivor and replaces it with a Wound card. I get to choose which Item Chuck loses, and I pick his Pistol. Now Chuck can only carry four Items instead of five because his Wound card takes up one space on his ID Card.

Fred loses his Canned Food and replaces it with a Wound card. In Zombicide, all Survivors start with two Wounds. Once they receive their second Wound they are killed and removed from the game, unless you decide to bring them back as a Zombivor. I won't be doing that in this game if the worst comes to the worst. As it stands, our two heroes are in a very perilous situation. If either of them receives a second Wound the mission ends in failure.

The remaining three Walkers close in on Chuck and Fred.

Spawn Zone 1. Another four Walkers spawn.

Spawn Zone 2. Two Walkers spawn. Thank goodness the Walkers spawned in that order!
TURN 7.

CHUCK. First Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. In Melee Combat, Survivors can freely choose which targets they attack, so Chuck takes a swing at one of the two Runners. He misses with his roll of 3.

Second Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. Better luck this time! Chuck hits with a roll of 5 and kills the Runner. Runners only have 1 Wound and so are relatively easy to kill.

Third Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar and another wild swing that misses.

Fourth Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. Chuck scores a lethal blow to the head of the second Runner with a roll of 6. That should make life a lot easier for our heroes.

FRED. First Action. Melee Combat with Fire Axe. Fred also rolls a 6 and once again, thanks to his Reaper: Combat Skill, he kills two Walkers.

These two kills earn Fred two more Experience Points, taking him into the Yellow Level. He immediately gains the +1 Action Skill, giving him 4 Actions per Turn.

Second Action. Melee Combat with Fire Axe. He rolls very badly with a score of 1, as indicated by the Zombie head symbol shown on the dice. It's an obvious miss.

Third Action. Melee Combat with Fire Axe. Bloody hell! Another miss! Come on, Fred! Get your act together!

Fourth Action. Melee Combat with Fire Axe. Yes! He rolls a 6 and kills the plucky Walker. Thank God he gained that fourth Action!

ZOMBIES. Seven Walkers advance one Zone as they have Chuck and Fred in their sights.

Spawn Zone 1. One female Walker spawns.

Spawn Zone 2. One Runner spawns. Not bad! That could have been a lot worse.
TURN 8.

CHUCK. First Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. He rolls a 2 and misses.
Second Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. Chuck rolls a 5 and kills the newly arrived Runner.

Third Action. Ranged Combat with Shotgun. Chuck fires into the adjacent Zone, containing three Walkers, hoping to whittle them down. He rolls a 3 and a 4, meaning one miss and one kill. He generates a Noise token.

Fourth Action. Moves West one Zone. At first glance this seems like a foolhardy Action but trust me, it is a brilliant play. Firstly, it gets him out of that dangerous Zombie Spawn Zone and secondly... well, read on.

FRED. First Action. Ranged Combat with Rifle. Hang on, I hear you say. Won't this mean he'll have to shoot Chuck first because of the Target Priority rule? Ordinarily, yes, he would. But here's the clever part of Chuck's Move. Chuck has the Skill, Low Profile, meaning he can't be targeted by allied Ranged Attacks and he can't be hit by car attacks. He is ignored when shooting in or driving through a Zone he is standing in. However, weapons that kill everything in the targeted Zone, like the Molotov Cocktail, will still kill him. So Fred rolls a 6 with his shot and kills both Walkers courtesy of his Reaper: Combat Skill. You can see now why these two Survivors complement each other so well. Fred generates a Noise token. Please note, the Low Profile Skill does not appear in the Season 1 rulebook. It appears in the Season 2 book, Prison Breakout and the Season 3 book, Rue Morgue.

Second Action. Moves West one Zone to stand alongside Chuck.
Third Action. Ranged Combat with Rifle. A roll of 5 hits and kills two more Walkers. He generates a Noise token.

Fourth Action. Ranged Combat with Rifle. Fred ends a brilliant Turn with another hit and two more kills. My God, I love that Reaper: Combat Skill! He generates another Noise token.

ZOMBIES. Incredibly, there is now just one Walker left on the board! She moves one Zone East to stand in the Zone adjacent to Chuck and Fred.

Spawn Zone 1. Just a single Walker spawns. Cool!

Spawn Zone 2. Three Walkers spawn but it doesn't really matter. They are behind Chuck and Fred and are unlikely to catch them.
TURN 9.

CHUCK. First Action. Ranged Combat with Shotgun. Chuck scores one miss with his roll of 2 but a hit with his roll of 4 and he kills the female Walker standing in his way. He generates a Noise token.

Second Action. Moves West one Zone.
Third Action. Moves South one Zone, bringing him outside the generator room.
Fourth Action. Opens door to the generator room with his key. Only Chuck could open this door because he holds the key for it. Whenever a door to a building is opened for the first time, Zombies are spawned inside in the same manner as their Spawn Zones. You must draw a Zombies card for each room in the building. As the generator room is only a one room building I only draw one card for it and it turns out to be two Runners.

FRED. First Action. Moves West one Zone.
Second Action. Moves South one Zone to stand outside the generator room.
Third Action. Ranged Combat with Rifle. Fred fires through the open door and kills both Runners with his excellent roll of 6 and of course, his awesome Reaper: Combat Skill. He generates a Noise token.

Fourth Action. Moves East one Zone, placing him inside the generator room.

ZOMBIES. Four Walkers shuffle a bit closer to Chuck. One of them can see him and the others can hear him.

Spawn Zone 1. Four Walkers spawn.

Spawn Zone 2. A solitary Walker spawns.
TURN 10.

CHUCK. First Action. Moves South one Zone.
Second Action. Moves West one Zone.
Third Action. Moves West one Zone.
Fourth Action. Moves North Zone and reaches the Exit Zone.

FRED. First Action. Takes the Red Objective and gains 5 Experience Points. This is enough to advance him to the Orange Danger Level on his ID Card. At the Orange level he can chose one of two Skills. I decide upon +1 Free Combat Action. Of course, this also means that Zombies will now spawn at the Orange Level. Yikes!

Second Action. Moves East one Zone to just outside the generator room.
Third Action. Moves South one Zone.
Fourth Action. Moves West one Zone.

ZOMBIES. Five Walkers move towards Chuck. Although they couldn't see him they could hear him. Survivors make Noise even if they do nothing. Chuck is closer to them than Fred so they are drawn towards him. Note that I don't place Noise tokens for the Survivors but I am always aware of this rule.

Another four Walkers close in on Chuck but they are far too far away to be able to do anything.

Spawn Zone 1. Three Runners spawn. At this point in the game it's no big deal.

Spawn Zone 2. Two Fatties spawn. Each Fatty comes into play accompanied by two Walkers, making them quite a threat. It was great to see the Fatties make an appearance in the game but they have arrived too late to do anything.
TURN 11.

CHUCK. First Action. Exit board.
FRED. First Action. Moves East one Zone.
Second Action. Moves North one Zone into the Exit Zone.
Third Action. Exit board. Game over. Mission accomplished.
CONCLUSION.
That was just so much fun to play. What an incredibly exciting and tense game it was! I absolutely loved it! I was so pleased it ended well for Chuck and Fred because I honestly did not think they would make it. When the two Runners wounded them and they were stuck on Zombie Spawn Point 2, I really did fear the worst. The fact that they survived was truly epic and made for some great story telling. I must admit that starting off with Low Profile and Reaper: Combat Skills greatly aided them and was an awesome combination for the pair.
I hope this batrep gives you a good insight into how Zombicide plays, as well as a flavour of how much fun it can be. Trust me, I plan on posting lots more Zombicide batreps. Thanks for reading.