Zombicide Dork Tower Survivors 01

One of the many things I like about Zombicide is that the creators invite guest sculptors to contribute to the game with sculpts of their own for Survivors and Zombivors. This idea began when Zombicide Season 2 was announced and has continued for Season 3 and Black Plague. One of the sculptors asked to participate in Season 3 was John Kovalic, creator of the cartoon strip, Dork Tower. I am a big fan of John's work but I didn't include his set of Survivors when I made my very large pledge for the Zombicide Season 3 Kickstarter project. To be honest, I didn't think I could find a use for his cartoon figures. That all changed once I developed a love for the Chibi figures of Super Dungeon Explore late last year. Just last month I was fortunate enough to find John's set going for sale at a very reasonable price on eBay, so I bought them and quickly painted the four Survivors from the set. Although the figures are very cartoon-like with their disproportionately large heads they are not Chibi figures. John's work is more akin to that of The Peanuts by Charles M. Schultz.
So, what is Dork Tower about? It's a story of five gamers and the lives they lead in the town of Mud Bay. Anyone who follows my blog ought to be able to identify with them. Dork Tower is unashamedly geeky but a lot of fun. The story has been in print and online since 1997 and is still going strong today. You can learn a lot more about it here - http://www.dorktower.com/ Let's meet the cast of Matt, Gilly, Igor and Carson, shown below from left to right respectively.

Matt McLimore was a web cartoonist and Games Master for his local group in quiet little Mud Bay, Wisconsin. DM'ing made him a natural leader, gaming taught him strategy, while trying to make a living cartooning trained him to survive on little. General frustration and plenty of free time playing Warhamster: ZombieSide meant that when the zombies did come, Matt was ready and waiting. The hordes have disrupted his weekly gaming sessions and they're gonna pay - and he doesn't mean in Gold Pieces or Experience Points. And, unlike his game-table experience, he's not giving any of them a saving roll!
Matt is armed with a pair of 9mm Browning HP Pistols, a Broad Sword and has a Hand Grenade in his coat pocket. Matt starts with two Blue Level Skills. Yes, plural. A lot of Season 3 Survivors get either the Helicopter Pilot or Fast Roping Skill to make use of the new rules for helicopters in the game. So Matt starts with Helicopter Pilot (self-explanatory) and Born Leader, which allows him to give one free Action to another Survivor to use as he or she pleases. This Action must be used during the recipient's next Turn or is lost.
Gilly Woods was Mud Bay's Perky Goth fangirl and cosplayer, so she's always been an outsider, making her strong, fiercely independent and self-reliant. She's had to put up with idiot fanboys labeling her a "fake geek girl" long enough. A veteran of many Comic-Cons, she's used to dealing with the mindless, shambling, unwashed masses. Since most of the haters were zombie-like to begin with, she doesn't see a whole lot of difference between putting down a basement-dwelling fanboy with a well-timed quip, or plugging a zombie right between the eyes with a trusty Glock.
Gilly is armed with a pair of  9mm Glock 17 Pistols, a Short-Sword and has a Dagger on her upper right arm. Gilly's two starting Skills are Fast Roping (allows her to exit a flying helicopter by rappelling down a rope) and Shove, which allows her to use this Skill, for free, once during her Activations. Select a Zone at Range 1 from her. All Zombies standing in her Zone are pushed to the selected Zone. This is not a Movement. Both Zones need to share a clear path. A Zombie can't cross barricades, fences, closed doors or walls but can be shoved out of a hole. Shove can't be used by Survivors in a car or helicopter.

Igor Olman believes that anything worth doing is worth doing to excess: comics, gaming, movies and fandom in general. So it's no surprise that when the horrors of the zombie hordes appeared on his doorstep, he launched into them with all the gusto of a Warhamster Fantasy Roleplay 25th-level Dwarven Hellwarrior armed with Zordaz's +25 Axe of Lordly Slicing and Dicing, with the "Mighty Big Cleave" bonus. Nobody's quite sure where Igor got his full arsenal of bazookas and rocket launchers from. Nobody's quite sure where he was storing them. Frankly, his friends are afraid to ask. Igor calls his bazooka "THACO."
Igor is armed to the teeth with a Bazooka, three rockets for the Bazooka, one Mini-Nuke Missile, a Two-Headed Axe, a Spear and a Hunting Rifle. He didn't think it too many; in fact, he didn't think it enough! Igor's two starting Skills are Fast Roping and Bloodlust: Melee, which if he spends one Action, he may Move up to two Zones to a Zone containing at least one zombie (or rival Survivor). He then gains one free Melee Action.
Carson the Muskrat is a mild-mannered soul. But he's small, fast and clever, making him hard to get a hold of. And somehow he got hold of a vintage, fully-operational British Bren Gun Carrier. Igor may have been involved, frankly. Don't let Carson's quiet demeanour and trepidatious outlook on life fool you; when his friends are threatened, he fights like a cornered animal: literally.
Carson's Bren Gun Carrier is, of course, armed with a .303 Enfield Bren Light Machine-Gun. Carson starts out with the Skills, Helicopter Pilot and Slippery, which allows him to Move through a Zone containing Zombies without having to spend one Action per Zombie in the Zone. Entering a Zone containing Zombies ends his Move Action.
These are fun sculpts and contrary to my initial misgivings that they have no place in Zombicide, I now realise I was wrong. Looking through my Zombicide Compendium volume 1, I spotted one scenario in particular that would be ideal to play using these four Survivors. Expect a batrep soon. By the way, do any of you get the THACO reference for the name of Igor's bazooka? Old gamers, like myself, will remember it from first edition Dungeons and Dragons. It stood for To Hit Armour Class 0. My God, that takes me back many a year!

DORK TOWER is the award-winning fan-favorite comic strip and comic book about five gamers, and the real world.
Sure, it’s also about the worlds they create, the games they play, the technologies they abuse and misuse and the conventions they road-trip to. But it’s a comic for everybody, geeks or otherwise. You don’t have to know Dungeons and Dragons, the music of Jonathan Coulton, the latest social networking phenomenon or the hippest meme to get it. All you need to know is that Geek if the new Mainstream, and pretty much everyone has the same hopes and fears, whether you’re a dork, a nerd, or a mundane.
DORK TOWER has been published in print and online since 1997, when it was first in the pages of Shadis Magazine, and later in Dragon. The comic book has sold nearly a half-million copies, and is collected in 9 award-winning trade paperbacks that have been published in English, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Polish…and soon Portuguese.
Games such as CHEZ DORK and DORK TOWER (Steve Jackson Games) and WARHAMSTER RALLY (Jolly Roger Games) have brought the comic’s cast to life over the gaming table. The characters also make frequent appearances in MUNCHKIN (Steve Jackson Games), which DORK TOWER John Kovalic also illustrates.
DORK TOWER is the story of Matt, Igor, Ken, Carson the Muskrat (yes, he’s a muskrat) and Gilly, the Perky Goth.
And they’re human. Just like you.
Even the muskrat.
Welcome to DORK TOWER.
- See more at: http://www.dorktower.com/about-dorktower/#sthash.aG6ppVKO.dpuf

DORK TOWER is the award-winning fan-favorite comic strip and comic book about five gamers, and the real world.
Sure, it’s also about the worlds they create, the games they play, the technologies they abuse and misuse and the conventions they road-trip to. But it’s a comic for everybody, geeks or otherwise. You don’t have to know Dungeons and Dragons, the music of Jonathan Coulton, the latest social networking phenomenon or the hippest meme to get it. All you need to know is that Geek if the new Mainstream, and pretty much everyone has the same hopes and fears, whether you’re a dork, a nerd, or a mundane.
DORK TOWER has been published in print and online since 1997, when it was first in the pages of Shadis Magazine, and later in Dragon. The comic book has sold nearly a half-million copies, and is collected in 9 award-winning trade paperbacks that have been published in English, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Polish…and soon Portuguese.
Games such as CHEZ DORK and DORK TOWER (Steve Jackson Games) and WARHAMSTER RALLY (Jolly Roger Games) have brought the comic’s cast to life over the gaming table. The characters also make frequent appearances in MUNCHKIN (Steve Jackson Games), which DORK TOWER John Kovalic also illustrates.
DORK TOWER is the story of Matt, Igor, Ken, Carson the Muskrat (yes, he’s a muskrat) and Gilly, the Perky Goth.
And they’re human. Just like you.
Even the muskrat.
Welcome to DORK TOWER.
- See more at: http://www.dorktower.com/about-dorktower/#sthash.aG6ppVKO.dpuf