Friday 12 August 2016

Zombicide: Black Plague Runners 01

The core set for Zombicide: Black Plague contains the same number of Runners as Fatties, which is 14. Like the Fatties, they come in two poses. I have converted some of them, just so they don't all end up looking the same. Runners in Zombicide: Black Plague follow the same rules as they do in other games of Zombicide. They have two Actions per Turn, just one wound will kill one and they grant one Experience Point to the Survivor who kills each one. After all Zombies (including the Runners) have gone through the Activation step and resolved their first Action, the Runners go through the Activation step again, using their second Action to Attack a Survivor in their Zone or Move if there is nobody to attack.
These three Runners have not been converted. For the one at the far left, I copied his colour scheme from the rulebook.
The Runner in the centre has been painted in red and blue livery, one of two colour schemes that I adopted for one of each Zombie sculpt in the boxed set. The second common colour scheme that I used was dark brown and ochre yellow, as shown on the Runner at far right.
Here are some of my converted Runners. The guy at the far left had a hole drilled all the way through his stomach. Then I slotted in a metal spear from my spare parts box through the hole. It probably caused his death as a human but won't affect him as a Zombie. The next runner in line has had his right arm chopped off above the elbow. A severed arm lies beside him. I think it is unlikely that it is his. It looks too fresh.
The Runner third in line has had a severed head added to his base, which you can see by his right foot in the previous photo. The Runner at the far right was most complex conversion. He has had an upper and lower body swap with the second Runner sculpt. The two body parts were drilled and pinned to hold them in place whilst the superglue set.
These three show the second of the two sculpts for the Runners. None of these Runners have been converted.
The Runner at the far right should have been in the dark brown and ochre yellow colour scheme but I got him mixed up when I was setting them up to be photographed and didn't spot my mistake until after I'd cleared everything away. It didn't seem worth the effort to re-shoot.
At the far left is the Runner who should have appeared in the previous two photos. He is not converted but the other three shown here have been converted. The Runner in the bright yellow trousers has had his left hand bitten off.
The Runner second from the right has had the arm of  a plague victim added to his base. It has a cadaverous green tinge to it and is covered in boils. The Runner at the far right is another upper and lower body swap conversion. Being made of plastic you can cut the body in half with a craft knife, but I find that takes too long, so I use a small saw instead. Once again, the two halves of the body were drilled and pinned.
I've said this before, but I do not like fast moving Zombies in games, books or films. I'm a traditionalist and I like my Zombies to be slow and shambling. That said, I am happy to accept Runners in the Zombicide games. They just seem to fit in so well and are always a dangerous threat to the Survivors whenever they appear. Go figure!

18 comments:

  1. The Olympic Athletics starts today so you have runners. (Not that I think you are following the Olympics closely but very topical.)

    While I do like "The walking dead!" from a game point of view fast zombies give players more to worry about and that is always a good thing.

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    1. Thanks, Clint. I hate all sport with a deep passion and I'm pissed off the wall to wall coverage of it on TV. Thank God for DVDs! I'm binging on boxed sets of "NCIS".

      I agree with your comment about fast zombies giving players something extra to think about.

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  2. Great stuff Bryan. Not only are these runners wonderfully colourful. But you've made so made little touches to them too, such as the plague hand and most notably the spear guy (bet you have to think twice about picking him up!!). Clearly a labour of love, and another delightful posting Ref "Black Plague".

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    1. Much appreciated, Simon. These were a labour of love to paint and to convert. Spear guy is just the first of a few Zombies to have weapons thrust into them and remain in place. You'll see them in my next two posts which will wrap up this series as I review my female and male Walkers.

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  3. You have to follow the #1 rule of "Zombieland" - Cardio!!

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    1. Me too, it's why motorbikes were invented.....

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    2. I can't drive. So, I'm screwed again. Face it, come the zombie apocalypse I'm dead on day one.

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    3. It's why I live in a street filled with people I can outrun!

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    4. I wish I could say the same. :-(

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  4. HAHAHAHAHAAHAHA

    Yes that's right, you don't have to run fast in a zombie apocalypse with an entire herd right on your heels.... just faster than the other slowest living being near you, is fast enough.

    Love the zombies Bryan, I find the runners hard to paint, but this is the Olympic torch (sorry just had to say that) which points the way.

    *PS actually, I don't follow sports either.

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    1. Thanks, Steve. Good man for not following sports either. Are you sure we're not related?

      For me, painting Runners is no harder or no easier than painting any other type of Zombie. I simply enjoy painting any type of zombie so much!

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  5. Excellent and topical too (even if it is a coincidence), as a protest against the Olympics you could do one holding a flaming torch or with a javelin, discus or shot in it's head. Just a thought.

    Oh good the ladies next!

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Many thanks, Roger. I'm going to file away your suggestions for future reference. I like them all.

      Yes, the ladies are coming next. Check in on Monday.

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  6. These are very nice models again Bryan. Lovely paintjobs as well helps disguise the same sculpt nicely.

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    1. Very true, Simon, but I feel different paint schemes only goes so far. Plus, I like converting minis.

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  7. More Black Plague, which can't be bad. I have to say I prefer the second sculpts to the first of these Runners, but still prefer the Fatties sculpts. And these are just the figures from the main game, right? We've still got zombie wolves and whatnot to come from the expansions, right? But after the remaining figures from the main game, of course...

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    1. Spot on, Jez. You are right on all counts. And I also prefer the Fatties to the Runners.

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