Zombicide Scenario M01 - The Big Rubble Part 1

"We've heard someone shooting. One, maybe two shooters. It's coming from a building in a severely damaged block downtown. We have to check it out to see if there is someone still alive, but to get there, we'll have to go through this giant, half-crumbled mall. And it's Saturday. I hate malls on Saturday."
This Zombicide batrep is based on a scenario from the Toxic City Mall expansion set and runs directly on from the last scenario that I posted recently, Death From Above. That ended with Elsa and Gary fleeing from a horde of Zombies and a flock of Zombie Crowz. This scenario answers the question of what happened next to them? The Crowz will not be reappearing but the Survivors face another new threat - Toxic Zombies, whose acidic blood can prove lethal to anyone in close proximity to them.
In this scenario I am using the three of the four Survivors from the Toxic City Mall expansion set to search for Elsa Bryce-Howard (she's the fourth Survivor from that set) and Gary Bridges. They are Derek Foster the locator, meaning he finds missing persons. He started with the +1 Maximum Range skill and a Claw Hammer. Next was Neema Freeman, a hard-nosed corporate executive, who started with the Born Leader skill (which I forgot to use throughout the game. D'oh!) and was armed with a 9mm Glock Pistol. Finally, was Raoul Nicholas the freelance mercenary. He started the game with the Webbing skill, which meant that any weapon or piece of equipment he carried counted as being in his hands. He was armed with a Fire Axe. Elsa and Gary had the starting skills of Break-in and Slippery respectively.

The photo above shows the board set up for the start of the game. There are two pimp-mobile cars and two police cars on the board and four Zombie Spawning Points. Four Toxic Walker Zombies patrol the mall corridor.

The tiles used were from left to right in the top row, 7B, 4M and 3M. In the centre row from left to right are 5C, 2M and 1M. In the bottom row from left to right are 1B, 3C and 2B. North is at the top edge of the board. The four rubble tiles cannot be entered or crossed over. They also block line of sight and Zombies cannot spawn in them.
OBJECTIVES
Find the two Survivors, Elsa and Gary. They will be in one of the Zones marked with a red "X". When found, flip the token over. If it has a white "X" underneath, Elsa has been found. If it has a green "X" underneath, Gary has been found. Note that this differs slightly from the official rule, but works better for my scenario. Once found, the Survivors must exit the board in as many cars as are needed. If anyone is left behind, the mission is a failure.
SPECIAL RULES
Find the Survivors. Add the white and green objective tokens to five red objective tokens and shuffle them with the red sides facing up. When the white and green tokens are revealed, place Elsa or Gary, as appropriate, in the Zone he or she was found. Elsa and Gary start with no equipment, weapons or experience points. Each objective token discovered grants 5 experience points to the person who reveals it, whatever the colour of it is.
Toxic Roamers. Place a Toxic Walker in each of the mall corridor Zones.
You can use cars. Each pimp-mobile may be searched only once. It will contain either the Evil Twins, Ma's Shotgun or Pa's Pistol. Draw randomly. The police cars can be searched more than once. draw a card until you find a weapon. Discard the other cards. The Aaahh! card triggers the appearance of a Walker as usual and interrupts the search.

Derek, Neema and Raoul began the game in the pimp-mobile parked at the front of the mall. Notes relating to the rules will be written in blue.
TURN 1

DEREK. "Well, we're here," Derek said as he climbed out of the pimp-mobile. "I'll check the trunk out first." Popping open the trunk, which was not locked, Derek found an unusual looking pistol. On its barrel were engraved the words "Pa's Pistol". He wondered who the hell Pa was? He checked that it was loaded. It was, although he didn't recognise the make of the large calibre bullets. Still, it might come in useful and it gave him a ranged weapon. He held it in his left hand to go with his Claw Hammer which was held in his right hand. He tried to open the door to the mall but it was locked. A single blow from his Claw Hammer shattered the lock. He smelt the room's occupant before he saw him. It was the unmistakable stench of rotten flesh. A Zombie Runner snarled at him from behind a counter. It climbed on top of the counter, ready to charge into combat with Derek.

NEEMA. The beautiful, coffee-skinned executive was not having a good day. A zombie apocalypse was not on her agenda. Still, she had survived many a boardroom fight and she was ready for a fight now. Her expensive designer suit was torn and tattered from a previous run in with the undead. Luckily for her, she had found a 9mm Glock Pistol with spare ammo at the same time as she had found Derek and Raoul. It made sense for them to stick together and so here they were at a partially ruined shopping mall, hoping to find more survivors. She exited the pimp-mobile and strode to the mall door that Derek had just opened. As soon as she saw the Runner she acted without hesitation. She fired her Glock like a seasoned marksman and blew the back of the Runner's head off with a single shot.
"It's clear now," she announced as she stepped inside the trashed store.
"Thanks," Derek said feeling relieved at not having to fight a Runner.

RAOUL. The former mercenary climbed out of the pimp-mobile and moved past his two colleagues to enter the store. His eyes took in his surroundings, missing nothing. He quickly noticed a familiar looking gun butt beneath a large cardboard box.
"Oh my, you are a beauty, aren't you?" he said as he revealed the weapon to be an AA-12 Atchisson Assault Shotgun. He had used one once during his time as a U.S. Marine. It was a lethal weapon with a 32-round drum magazine and was capable of firing 300 rounds per minute. It was the perfect weapon for killing Zombies. Raoul was a very happy man!

ZOMBIES. No Zombies appeared at Spawn points 1 and 2. One Walker appeared at Spawn Point 3 and a Fatty, accompanied by two Walkers appeared at Spawn point 4. (Note I forgot to place the two Walkers alongside the Fatty in the photo above, but I remembered them soon after. See below.) 
TURN 2

DEREK. "Raoul, you lucky son of a bitch!" Derek exclaimed as he followed his two friends into the store. Raoul just smiled at him as he caressed the Assault Shotgun. Derek began sifting through the rubbish and debris on the floor. He soon found something he thought might prove useful - a Hockey Mask. (This is actually a very useful piece of equipment as it prevents 1 Wound to the wearer per attack.) He used his Claw Hammer to bust the lock on the door leading to the interior of the shopping mall. Three Toxic Walkers were waiting just outside and a fourth was close by.
"Not again!" Derek moaned.

NEEMA. "I hope you guys have left something useful for me to find," Neema said as she also searched amongst the garbage and litter.
"Any luck?" Raoul asked.
"Oh yes!" Neema replied, smiling happily as she pulled a Machete from beneath a vending machine.
"Do you need a hand again, Derek?" she asked as she moved in front of him to look out of the wide open exit door.
"Huh?" she muttered as she raised her Pistol. "Spiky Zombies! I haven't seen them before."
This was their first encounter with Toxic Zombies. She wondered what made these Zombies different from others they had met? Her first shot punched through the centre chest of a male wearing a white shirt. Her second shot struck him in the bridge of his nose. The blood that spattered from both wounds made a hissing noise as it landed on the floor and it bubbled for just a few seconds. Neema's knowledge of chemistry immediately kicked in.
"Be careful guys," she warned. "I think these bastards have acid blood!"

RAOUL. "Duly noted," Raoul replied as once again he spotted something very useful lying behind the counter - a .44 Magnum Revolver. He was happy enough with his AA-12 but he knew that Neema or Derek would appreciate having the heavy calibre weapon.
"Any of you guys want a .44 Magnum?" he asked as he showed it to his two surprised looking colleagues.
"Oh, please!" Neema replied quickly. "I had one of those back at home."
"It's yours," Raoul said as he passed the Revolver over to Neema. She tucked her 9mm Glock into her skirt pocket and lovingly took possession of the .44 Magnum.
"Now to deal with these deadheads," Raoul announced. He selected semi automatic fire for his Assault Shotgun. Three rounds boomed out in a near deafening noise and blasted the heads off the two Toxic Walkers about to enter the store.
"Holy shit!" Derek exclaimed. "That was freaking awesome! I want one of those!"
ZOMBIES. The one remaining Toxic Walker in the mall corridor moved slowly towards the door of the store that the three humans were occupying. From Spawn Point 1 one Runner appeared. Nothing appeared at Spawn points 2 and 3 and one Walker arrived at Spawn point 4.
TURN 3

NEEMA. Making sure she kept her distance from the female Toxic Walker who was approaching the doorway, the young executive tested her .44 Magnum and found it to her liking. One shot and one kill. Making sure she didn't step in any spilled blood she moved cautiously down the corridor to the musical instruments store next door.

RAOUL. Raoul quickly followed Neema down the corridor. He tried the door handle to the store but found it locked. One blow from his Fire Axe swiftly dealt with that problem, only to reveal a new problem. Locked inside the store was a single male Zombie Walker.

DEREK. "I'll deal with him," Derek proclaimed as he quickly joined his colleagues. "Now let's see what this little beauty can do."
He aimed the strange weapon called Pa's Pistol at the head of the Walker and pulled the trigger. The Walker's head exploded in a ball of flame.
"Incendiary round," Raoul explained. "Very nice, my friend. That's a keeper, I'd say."
"Yeah, cool!" Derek replied, feeling good about his new weapon.

ZOMBIES. Attracted by the sound of gunfire from within the mall, all of the Zombies outside headed towards the rear entrance to the ruined mall. (Note the two Walkers accompanying the Fatty. I didn't forget them after all.) Unbeknownst to the Survivors they were in big trouble. All of a sudden, a Toxic Abomination emerged from Spawn Point 1. This was really bad news! Two Walkers appeared at Spawn Point 2, one Runner from Spawn Point 3 and two more Walkers from Spawn Point 4. 
TURN 4.

DEREK. Derek moved into the musical instrument store but found nothing of interest inside.
"Let's move on," he suggested.
(The objective token he found turned out to be a normal token and not one of the missing Survivors. he earned 5 experience points but nothing else.)

NEEMA. "Let's try door number three," Neema said as she walked over to the store directly opposite. It was a budget shoe shop, not the kind of shop she would normally frequent. Of course the door was locked but she thought she could smash it open with her Machete. Maybe she lacked sufficient strength or maybe she just hit it in the wrong place but both of her attempts ended in failure.

RAOUL. "Here, let me try," Raoul said in a sympathetic voice as he saw how frustrated Neema was getting. He moved alongside her and with one mighty swing of his Fire Axe he destroyed the lock. He was greeted by a male Toxic Walker who had clearly heard them trying to open the door and was standing just behind the door. The door bumped into him as it swung open and distracted him for just a brief moment. It was all the time Raoul needed to turn the Zombie's head into a fine red mist with a 12 Gauge Shotgun round from his AA-12.

ZOMBIES. The Toxic Abomination joined a Runner outside the mall's rear entrance. Elsewhere, the other Zombies shuffled their way to join them. From Spawn Point 1 came two Toxic Walkers, whilst two normal Walkers appeared at Spawn Point 2. Spawn Point 3 remained clear but one Walker appeared at Spawn Point 4.
TURN 5

NEEMA. Neema moved into the shoe shop and gave it a quick once over. It was just as litter strewn as the other stores. She saw nothing of interest and informed the two men it was clear. She moved back out into the mall corridor. (Finding the blank objective token advanced Neema to the yellow level. She gained the +1 Action skill.)

RAOUL. The muscular and ruggedly handsome mercenary moved back along the mall corridor to the only store they hadn't searched yet - a toy shop. He used his Fire Axe to smash open the locked door. He was not surprised to find a Zombie inside. This time it was a male Runner. The Runner was quick and dodged the first shot. The second caught him in the right shoulder and practically tore off his arm. The third shot was fatal and made mincemeat of his head.

DEREK. "That's the only way to deal with them," Derek said as he slapped his buddy on the back and moved inside the toy store.

ZOMBIES. Now there were six Zombies outside the mall entrance - a Toxic Abomination, a Toxic Runner, two Toxic Walkers, a normal Walker and a normal Runner. More Zombies were closing in and now that Neema was at the yellow level, their numbers would increase. From each of Spawn Points 1 and 2 came one Walker. From Spawn Point 3 one Runner emerged whilst from Spawn Point 4, two Runners arrived together. It was getting quite crowded outside and the three Survivors had no idea what awaited them. They'd find out very soon.

To be continued.

Vampifan's Views 83 - Monthly Musings 57

This has been a fantastic month for me. I have a lot of good news to share but first I will start, as always with another picture of the gorgeous Vampirella as painted by Joe Jusko.

On the painting front, I have been extremely busy working on my Shadows of Brimstone 30mm scale figures. I have painted two thirds of my collection and have taken photos of most of them. That's over 60 figures all done this month! Expect to see lots of reviews of these Weird West figures next month. Shadows of Brimstone is a game that greatly excites me and I can't wait to start playing my campaign and of course, chronicling it on my blog. In a related topic I have been buying more MDF scenery for my Wild West games. I bought two more log cabins from 4Ground and lots of furniture items from TTCombat (chairs, tables, bar counters, bottles and coffins). I haven't made any of these yet as I only recently received them, but they will get made sooner rather than later.

The best news ever for me, was that I received my huge parcel of goodies for the Battle Systems Urban Terrain sets. Good grief, but that parcel was HEAVY! I spent far more on this Kickstarter project than any other project I have backed. I won't say how much, but I consider it money very well spent as these sets are going to totally transform the way I play so many games. Let's take a look at some of the stuff I got. Note these photos were taken from the Battle Systems' website.

I bought four cityscape sets. The photo above shows just what you can do with four sets. Each set comes with a gaming mat measuring 60cm by 60cm (roughly 2 feet square), which are made from synthetic cloth with a 2mm thick rubber foam backing, much like a mouse mat, making them very durable. The four sets combined as above will cover an area four feet square. Just imagine gaming on a board like that! These sets are ideal for zombie apocalypse games or contemporary 7TV2e games but I also plan on using them for my forthcoming Judge Dredd campaign (more of which later).

I also bought two shanty town sets. The photo above shows the contents of one set. Again, this set is ideal for any post apocalypse game or even a contemporary setting that takes place in the slum area of a city. This set will also see extensive use in my Judge Dredd campaign. Mega City One is now just a shadow of its former glory as much of the vast metropolis was destroyed in a recent war and its population greatly depleted. Shanty towns are now prevalent there.

Here we see one of each of the cityscape and shanty town sets combined, which just goes to show how versatile they are. This is how I want my Mega City One to look like. This is what I love about these sets - you can mix and match to your heart's content. Later this year, Battle Systems will be launching a new Kickstarter campaign - this time featuring sci-fi terrain. I can't wait for it to be released as it will give my Mega City one a more futuristic feel and allow me to recreate the interiors of the vast city block buildings. I have cut back on the Kickstarters I'd like to back but this one just fills me with excitement. Best of all, it will be fully compatible with the urban terrain sets.

Here's a preview shot of what you can expect to find in the sci-fi terrain sets. I am drooling over this already as my mind fills with ideas for gaming possibilities. In a rather prescient move on my part, I bought a couple of the sci-fi terrain mats which were on offer as an add-on extra. That's forward planning for you!

In addition to the four cityscape and two shanty town sets I also bought numerous add-ons, including these fine houses to make a suburban housing estate set up. Other sets that I bought were the fire station and police station, the art deco buildings set, the diner set, the generator set and a fair few duplicates of sets from the cityscape and shanty town sets.
Bear in mind, these sets are made of thick card, they can be assembled by means of plastic clips and when you've finished, disassembled and stored away flat. Roofs and floors can be removed easily to gain access to a building's interior. In addition to the buildings the sets also contain loads of furniture items, scenery items and scatter terrain. For these smaller parts, I'm glueing them together. One other thing I'm doing, which is a pain in the ass, but essential in my opinion is to paint the white edges of the components. This is something I do with all of my card scenery and the results speak for themselves as a sofa, for example, that has been edged looks like a proper miniature sofa and not a cardboard cut-out. It is very time-consuming but well worth doing. Note that everything shown in the photos above have been edged, so Battle Systems also think it is worth doing.

Finally, I also bought a couple of these transition game mats to better combine the cityscape mats with the shanty town mats. I really do love these mouse mat style gaming mats. These sets are incredibly versatile. I remember that World Works Games attempted to make buildings and scenery that could be assembled without glue and taken apart after use. They were the TerrainLinx range, often abbreviated to TLX. I really disliked them and I never made any of them as they were overly complicated to make. Plus, I much preferred buildings that did not come apart. What Battle Systems have done is solve the construction problem that WWG failed to grasp properly and they have made these flat pack sets such a must have item for gamers with storage problems. I'm a convert to their way of thinking. These sets most definitely appeal to me and I rate them the best thing to happen to my gaming hobby!

As I mentioned above, I am keen to start a Judge Dredd campaign. I will be using the Judge Dredd Miniatures Game rules by Mongoose Publishing. I am currently building up my collection of Judge Dredd figures, which is fairly extensive anyway, with the figures and vehicles I'm missing from the Warlord Games range of Judge Dredd miniatures. Warlord Games currently sell the largest range of 28mm scale Judge Dredd figures. Their various boxed sets are a cheaper way of buying the figures when compared to buying each one individually. You're usually saving £10.00 per box.
My plan for my campaign is to use a small force of Mega City One Judges, who will all be named after my blogging friends. The force will be led by me, Senior Judge Scott. The other Judges I'm planning on using are Street Judge Gilbert (my good friend and co-editor of The Gamers Cupboard, Steve), Street Judge Hillers (Steve's wife), Street Judge Moore (Simon/Blaxkleric), Street Judge Webb (Roger/Dick Garrison), Street Judge Crowe (Jez, who asked to be called Judge Crowe instead of Judge Winstanley), Street Judge Burnett (Clint), Med Judge Nash (Andy/Da Gobbo) and Psi Judge Tarot (Tarot from the Gamers Cupboard). These names and posts are not yet set in stone. So if you want a name change (Hil and Jez did), just let me know. Also, if you want to play another role like for example Cadet Judge (surely not!), Rookie Judge (again, surely not), Exorcist Judge (unusual), Heavy Weapons Judge, Riot Judge, or Tek Judge, just let me know and hopefully we can work something out. The campaign will be more combat oriented and less investigative. If anyone doesn't want to be included or wants to be included but hasn't been mentioned, do let me know. I don't know when I'll be starting this campaign but anywhere between one and two month's time is most likely. Depending on interest I may well run a play-by-blog scenario to run alongside the campaign, using the same characters. This however, will likely happen next year after everyone has gained some experience and risen in levels.
If you are interested in my look at a history of gaming Judge Dredd on the tabletop, please check out my article on the Gamers Cupboard blog which you can find here - http://thegamerscupbard.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/gaming-judge-dredd-on-table-top.html

Generally speaking, my Monthly Musings post comes at the end of the month but I've posted this one a few days early because my next few posts will be a Zombicide batrep, which I wanted to run over consecutive posts without a break in the middle. It features the return of Elsa and Gary, who fled from a growing horde of Zombies and Crowz.

Zombicide: Black Plague - Dork Tower Survivors

Back in 2015, I posted a rather unusual review of four cartoon Survivor figures I wanted to use in some games of Zombicide. You can check it out - here.
For those who can't be bothered to check it out, here's a pair of photos of the four figures from that review.

They are from left to right, Matt, Gilly, Igor and Carson from the Internet cartoon strip, Dork Tower. These were specifically designed for use in Zombicide. I said at the time that I would review my Zombicide: Black Plague versions of them, plus two of the characters, Ken and Kayleigh, who were missing from the contemporary set. Well, here they are. I have had the fantasy versions of them for nearly a year now and painted them as soon as I got them. I was just waiting for the right opportunity to show them and that time is now.

There is a story to tell about how I came to own these six figures. Steve Jackson Games made a boxed set of six 28mm scale Dork Tower figures. When I went to purchase this set last year I discovered to my dismay that it was out of production. Bummer! So, I instigated plan B and luckily found one eBay seller who had a set for sale at a very reasonable price. The box art was correct and he included a photo showing the three heroes, Carson, Kayleigh and Ken, who you can see after these three directly below (Matt, Gilly and Igor). His description suggested it was a full set of figures but when I received it I found it was missing Matt, Gilly and Igor. This was not good. Should I return the parcel, claiming I had been mis-sold due to the set being incomplete? That was kind of a grey area. Sure, his photo showed the three figures that came in the box but there was no warning that three figures were missing. Plus, no one else was offering a set for sale. In the end I decided to keep them and I bought a second set of the contemporary Dork Tower Zombicide Survivors shown above. Once they arrived I set about converting the figures of my missing trio. I based my conversions on the box art of the Dork Tower fantasy figures set and a few photos from the Internet of the missing trio.

At the far left is Matt McLimore, an every-gamer, and the person most likely to be in the middle of things. Gaming is in Matt’s blood — he was born to live La Vida Dorka, and worships the game, Warhamster. Still, he tries to reconcile his love of gaming and popular culture with a desire to function in Society. Society appears to be on the losing end of that proposition more often than not. Friendly, unassuming, and sometimes personally insecure about his role in the world, Matt will thus always manage to be at Ground Zero for the fanboy excesses of his Mud Bay pals. His fantasy character is a Ranger. His conversion had the most work done to him. I kept his head and part of his upper body. Everything else was discarded. His bow and quiver of arrows came from my spare parts box. The rest of him was sculpted out of Green Stuff modelling putty, which effectively meant his hat, body, arms, legs, belt and dagger. He turned out okay and I'm quite happy with him, although, obviously, I'd have preferred to have the metal version of him.

Next up is Gilly Woods, who is Goth by design and perky by nature, a combination which is a constant embarrassment to her brother, Walden, the Dark Lord of Mud Bay’s Goth community. Though close friends with Igor, it was a long time before she actually got to meet Igor’s buddy, Matt. Once they did encounter one another Matt was immediately smitten, and the pretty Perky Goth and the shaky but sincere young gamer appear to have a great deal in common — including chronic datelessness and a feeling of not quite fitting in. Timing is everything, however, and Matt’s was characteristically bad, meeting Gilly only days after hooking back up with his ex-girlfriend, Kayleigh. Gilly has taken on the role of a Magician. She was the easiest of the three to convert. I cut her in half at the waist and removed her twin pistols and her pigtails. I gave her a long dress and let her hair down so it flowed all the way down her back. I remodelled her left hand. I think she has come out really well. I'm very happy with her conversion.

To Igor, anything worth doing is worth overdoing. He throws himself into every new game, comic, craze, hobby and pastime with an overwhelming enthusiasm that has made him the official poster boy for Reckless Abandon. As the Power Gamer’s Power Gamer, Igor Olman is a die-hard, take-no-prisoners action junkie. He is in love with Apollo Smile. He is a god to min-maxing RPG munchkins everywhere, and a games-master’s worst nightmare. Igor had to be a fighter, although I am somewhat surprised he is not very heavily armed, although  I bet his sword is probably the best magic sword in the game. He was easier to convert than Matt but not as easy as Gilly. I cut off his arms and all of his weapons, and I carefully removed his headband. His sword arm and sword originally came from an old GW plastic Skeleton, I fleshed out the hand and the arm. His shield came from my spare parts box. His tabard and chain-mail armoured arms were made out of Green Stuff. I am happy with this conversion. It is interesting to compare my conversions with the original trio just to see how much they have changed. This is another reason why I included those two photos at the start of this review.

These next three are the official Dork Tower fantasy figures. From left to right are Carson the Muskrat, Kayleigh Hardcastle and Ken Mills. Let's take a closer at them and their backgrounds. These figures are made of metal and came with small integral bases. I glued them to 25mm diameter MDF bases.

Sweet-natured and easygoing, Carson is everyone’s friend and seems to fit in everywhere — which is somewhat surprising in itself because Carson is a muskrat. He is equally at home rolling dice in Matt’s various role-playing games, playing the latest console combat extravaganza, or just surfing the web. More a follower than a leader, Carson trustingly goes into role-playing situations secure in the knowledge that his boon companions will probably end up using him for a battering ram or attracting the attention of a hungry beastie who will suddenly develop a craving for Muskrat Surprise. He has a job as a part-time worker at the local Internet cafe. Carson has chosen the role of a Thief to play as his fantasy alter ego. He appears to be unarmed but he could be hiding anything in his robes.

If there was ever an Odd Couple for the new millennium, it is Kayleigh and Matt. Kayleigh Hardcastle is prim, sensible, conservative, and can’t understand what Matt sees in games, science fiction, pop culture — and, especially, his dorky friends. Nonetheless, she’s decided to give it a chance, joining Matt’s gaming group. Ken is amused. Igor is appalled. And Matt is stuck in the middle because Gilly has joined the group, too. Torn between his commitment to Kayleigh and his attraction to Gilly, Matt’s only remaining refuge is in the friendly confines of the local games shop, Pegasaurus Games, run by Bill Blyden. Being a woman of virtue, Kayleigh chose to play a Paladin. She is heavily armoured in full plate armour and shield and she carries a sturdy sword. Against all the traditional conventions of heraldry she has painted her shield pink with a white female symbol.

Ken Mills is the Thinking Man’s Fanboy, often providing a much-needed Voice of Reason. Nonetheless, Ken is 110 percent Dork (and I mean that in the nicest way), as capable of exceeding the legal limit for pop culture in-jokes and marathon game-and-junk-food consumption as anyone in Mud Bay. Even so, he appears to be closer to what Society deems Normal. Ken has opted to play a Cleric character and he is armed with a studded mace.

Here is a group shot of all six Survivors grouped together. I think they fit together as a unit very well and I wonder how many of you would have guessed that three of them were conversions if I hadn't told you? I will be using them in Zombicide: Black Plague but I have yet to create their character stats. I won't be using their contemporary Zombicide skills as some like Helicopter Pilot are not relevant in a fantasy setting. With their character archetypes of Cleric, Fighter, Magician, Paladin, Ranger and Thief, they have all the bases covered and they should work well together. Well, that's the theory!

Zombicide: Black Plague Male Walkers 01

This is the last of my posts reviewing all of the figures that are contained within the Zombicide: Black Plague core set. I have left the most numerous type of Zombie until last - the Male Walkers. There are 21 figures of Male Walkers, which are sculpted in three different poses. Apart from the gender change, Male Walkers are identical to Female Walkers regarding the rules of the game.

Two of these three Male Walkers have not been converted. For the one at the far left, I copied his colour scheme from the rulebook. The one in the middle has the red and blue livery that I used on one of each Zombie sculpt.

The Walker at the far right sports my dark brown and ochre yellow colour scheme, which has also been used on one of each of the nine Zombie sculpts. I drilled a hole through his chest and inserted a short spear from my spare parts box into the hole. The pointy bit is sticking out of his front but is rather obscured by a lot of blood. Actually, the spear was a lot longer but I had to cut a good bit off from the back because it stuck out too much and made it difficult for me to store him in the box with the others.

These next four have all been converted. Starting with the Walker at the far left, I drilled a big hole into his stomach. I don't know why I didn't have any intestines spilling out of it. A lapse on my part! Next to him, this Walker had his left arm hacked off at the elbow.

For the Walker second from the right I glued the severed gloved arm of a Fatty to the back of his base. It looks huge, doesn't it? The Walker at the far right had his lower body swapped with the lower body of another Walker, whom you can see below in the final two photographs. I like how he is lurching to one side.

These next three Walkers are all unconverted. Only their paint schemes makes them look different. The Walker at the far left is leaning forward more than the other two next to him.

I have nothing to say about the other two other than they sport the by now familiar red and blue and brown and ochre colour schemes.

These next four Walkers have all had minor conversions done to them. The Walker at the far left had a few holes drilled into his body. The next Walker in line had his arm chopped off below the elbow.

The Walker second from the right had a severed arm glued to the back of his base. For the Walker at the far right I repositioned his right arm so that it is bent at the elbow and pointing forward instead of to his side.

These three are the last of my unconverted figures. It was just a coincidence that the Walker at the far right shared the same dark brown and ochre yellow colour scheme to the Walker at the far right, but I did swap round where the colours went on them.

The Walker in the centre of this trio is entirely unremarkable except to say he bled a lot from that stomach wound. Once again, where are the spilled intestines? I clearly wasn't thinking straight when I painted and converted these!

Finally, we have four more converted Male Walkers. The guy at the far left had a hole drilled into his heart. Next to him is another victim of hacked off arm syndrome.

The Walker who is second from the right has had a severed hand glued to the front of his base. Last of all, is the Walker who had the lower body swapped with the Walker I showed above. I had to remodel the end of his hood with Milliput.
It is a wonderful feeling whenever I complete a collection of figures. I know this collection is not finished yet, thanks to the many expansion sets and add-ons I received, but I'm just happy to have completed everything from the core set. That in itself is a worthy achievement and it gives me another set of figures for which I'm very proud of.
I do have one more set of Zombicide: Black Plague Survivors to show you, but they are not official figures for the game. Let us just say, they are very different and leave it at that for now. I haven't decided whether to show them in my next post, which would round off this series of articles very nicely, or to keep them as a surprise for a future post. I'll mull it over and you'll find out what I've decided next week. Of course, if you do have an opinion on what I should do in this instance, please let me know in the comments section below.