Vampifan's Views 28 - Monthly Musings 13

Vampirella by Greg Hildebrandt

In my last post, I reviewed two WWG construction vehicles, a digger and a grabber. I was extremely embarrassed to discover that I had stuck the bucket of the digger on back to front. Thanks to Johnny and Mathyoo for pointing this out to me. I corrected my mistake and I took a new set of photos, which I have used to replace the original ones in my review. Check them out if you want to see what the digger should look like. I also took that opportunity to reposition the arms of the grabber so that the claw attachment is now raised off the ground. I posted a couple of pics of the two vehicles on the WWG forum and from the following comment it might appear that I didn't get it wrong with the placement of the bucket - "The bucket on an excavator is made to be removed, and some models have made this an 'on the fly' operation with a locking system that can be disengaged to swap buckets or to mount other tools (like a grab or a steel roller for tamping soil to the right hardness). I have seen operators use this to swap the bucket placement back and forth, from the classic 'curled back pulling toward the operator' position to the 'scooping away from the operator' position yours is in above. That can be really handy when they are digging around previously buried pipes and foundations.
Alexio
(I'm an archaeologist, part of the job is watching trenching and excavations)"
That made me feel less like a klutz. Even so, I do think the change was necessary.

 Once again, I have a story to tell you about the kindness of others and the generosity of my fellow bloggers. I recently received an e-mail from Phil Hynes asking if I'd be interested in a green of a tar zombie that he had sculpted and painted? Phil did point out that the figure was slightly larger than 28mm scale, but that certainly didn't bother me. Within two days of confirmining that I was very interested, I received a small package that not only contained the aforementioned  tar zombie but also a fridge magnet of a zombiefied head of Elvis Presley. I'm sorry I don't have a photo of the fridge magnet. The two photos to the left show Phil's tar zombie. For those who don't know what a tar zombie is, they first appeared in the film, Return of the Living Dead. They were kept stuffed and locked away in large metal drums and they got their name from the thick fluid that was used to preserve them. No, it is not tar, but the name stuck. Mayhem ensued when one of the barrels was accidentally opened.

Not only is Phil's sculpting spot on but so is his paint job. I stuck the figure onto a circular slottabase and added the sand and gravel. The only painting I did was on the base to tie it in with the rest of my zombie horde. I am absolutely delighted with this figure, especially knowing that it is a one off. Once again, many thanks, Phil!

In other news, I have seen four films at the cinema this month, which is very good going for me. They were The Amazing Spiderman (not bad but I wasn't wholly convinced by the make-up/CGI of the Lizardman), Batman - The Dark Knight Rises (very good but I'd rate it no more than 4 stars), Ted (rude, crude and very funny) and finally, The Expendables 2 (mindless action that is just so over the top it made me smile!) All four were entertaining in their own ways. I'm looking forward to seeing Dredd 3D, Cockneys vs Zombies, and The Sweeney next month.

I have to admit that these past couple of weeks my figure painting and card modelling have almost come to a standstill. I do have a very good excuse, however. I was chosen by Ed Teixeira of Two Hours Wargames to be a play-tester of the new ATZ rulebook - Final Fade Out (FFO). This has been a dream come true for me. Let me tell you that FFO is a very different set of rules to BDTZ. In my somewhat biased opinion I think that they will be the best set of zombie skirmish rules on the market. BDTZ certainly had its faults but FFO is such a vast improvement. It is undoubtedly ATZ, but not as you know it. It is leaner, meaner and more streamlined.
In my last Monthly Musings, I said was a bit uncertain about continuing my current ATZ campaign or should I start a new campaign? I also said I'd make my mind up after I'd read FFO. Well, not only have I read it, I have also play-tested a lot of the rules. I am now more convinced than ever that I want to start a new campaign. Vampifan will still be the Star and team leader. His team will consist of Gap, Big Sil and Angie. Yes, I'm bringing back Angie but this time she and Big Sil are going to be a married couple.
I could have continued my current campaign but after carefully weighing up all of the pros and cons, I decided it would be best to start again.
I'm sorry to say that I made a lot of mistakes in my BDTZ campaign. I never rolled to see if any of the team left at the end of a month. I ignored the use of resources, especially food and fuel. When I started using the PEF rules from I, Zombie I didn't realise that they should be used in addition to the initial zombie placement rules. I used them instead of initial zombie placement, so my encounters should have had a lot more zombies in them. There were a few other minor points that I got wrong. As a result, I view this campaign as a practice session. It was fun but it was also flawed.
With my experience from that campaign and a better set of rules, the FFO campaign should be very different. FFO is part skirmish game but with more of a role-playing element thrown in, albeit role-playing lite. FFO has so many changes from BDTZ that it will feel like a totally new game. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to playing it for real.

Vampifan's Views 26 - Monthly Musings 12

Vampirella by Frank Frazetta for her 25th Anniversary

A couple of weeks ago, my friend, Simon/Brummie got in touch with me to let me know that there was a Vampirella statue up for auction on e-Bay. Naturally, I was interested. With five days to go before the auction closed I decided to wait until the last minute before placing a bid. I set myself a limit of £50, as I didn't think it was worth more than that. As the deadline approached the bidding had gone from an initial £20.00 to £46.00. With just one minute to go I put in my bid of £48.00... and got pipped to the post with a bid of £51.00 with seconds to go. That is what I hate about e-Bay. I was gutted.
So, the following day I decided to see if anyone else had this particular statue for sale, or, failing that, any other Vampirella statues. A search on Google revealed that no one else was selling the aforementioned statue. However, I did find a much better Vampirella statue for sale on e-Bay. It was a statue that was commissioned for Vampirella's 25th Anniversary (that was in 1994) and was based on a painting by Frank Frazetta, which I show here.

And here to the left is the statue. It is 1/8th scale, meaning that if Vampirella was standing up she'd be 9" tall or 225mm. When it originally went on sale it retailed for $195.00 (roughly £125.00). Incredibly, the seller was asking £25.00 for it. What I most like about e-Bay was that this item had the Buy Now option. So that is what I did. Two days later, I received a huge parcel in the post. I wasn't expecting the box she was in to be so big. Vampirella herself has been beautifully sculpted by Shawn Nagle and the lizard-type creature is an impressive looking beastie. The statue is a perfect representation of the Frank Frazetta artwork. I am overjoyed at my purchase. To get it at such an incredibly low price was an amazing bargain. I very rarely use e-Bay and my experience over those two days showed the highs and lows of being a buyer.

More good news and another story about the kindness of others. Early in June I received this message from Ernie Huff, a long time follower - "Hello, I have been a follower of your blog for sometime now and recently posted on your site.  I have some models that I would like to send to you that I think you might enjoy for your battle reports.  I would like to game more but have limited time with family, work, and school, but I definitely enjoy the adventures of Team Vampifan! Everything is free with no strings attached.  You can use or not as you see fit." Wow! That came right out of the blue and was most unexpected. I was both delighted at the offer and mystified to see what Ernie would send me.

At the beginning of this month the parcel arrived. In it were these seven Burago 1/43 scale die-cast metal cars. Even though my ATZ campaign is set in America, the car I like most out of this collection is the Mini Cooper - a classic English car. If you don't know which one I'm talking about, it's the one with the red cross on the white roof. My collection of die-cast cars is growing very nicely.

Now, if that was all that was in the parcel I'd have been more than happy with it. But there was more. Ernie very kindly added this set of 28mm scale Victory Force Miniatures armed office workers with gear. This is a set I have been eyeing for quite some time as they make for a fantastic group of survivors to use in ATZ. They are armed with an assortment of assault rifles and all are equipped with backpacks and/or pouches on belts. These guys (and gal) are a well prepared group for dealing with zombies. I certainly want them to become part of Team Vampifan, if Vampifan can recruit them. They'd be an asset to anyone's group.

There was one more surprise in the parcel and that was this figure you see to the right. She is Glimmer, a contestant in The Hunger Games film. This 28mm scale figure is from the Wizkids collectible set of plastic The Hunger Games figures. She's going to need repainting as pre-painted figures tend to be very basic. Plus, I will remove her from the large plinth she stands on. Once I finish with her, I'll have a mighty fine Survivor with bow and arrows. Sorry about the picture quality, but I downloaded the image from the Interweb and it was the best I could find. I'll post much better photos of her once I repaint and rebase her.
So, all in all, a very nice haul. Ernie, I thank you for your kindness and generosity. You are a star! Rest assured, the figures and the cars will see use in my ATZ campaign.
I have managed to get through July without buying a single figure. Yes, result! I'm talking about 28mm scale figures, so my Vampirella statue does not count. I have finished painting 8 Studio Minis zombies, 9 Red Box zombies, a Red Box Chaos demoness and 3 Reaper college students. I'm not saying what I'm painting now. It's a secret but I can't wait to show you them once I finish them! I finished making my Stoelzel's Structures Cottage. I was so impressed with it that I have begun work on a second Stoelzel's Structure model - the Warehouse. I must admit that I have become a huge fan of Carl Stoelzel's work this year; to such an extent, that I now rate his company higher than that of WWG. Since WWG introduced their TLX system, their crown has been slipping, in my opinion. The fact that I haven't made a single TLX building speaks volumes.
A big thank you to everyone who left a comment on my ATZ batrep, "Assault on Precinct 13". It was certainly the most popular batrep I have posted and for me, the most fun to play. The fate of SWAT Sergeant Wayne Connors has been decided. He will survive, and no, he's not going to lose his leg. I have decided that his suit prevented the zombie bite from breaking the skin and it was shock that caused him to go Out Of the Fight.

I'm sure that many of you will now know that THW are working on a new set of rules for All Things Zombie. Final Fade Out will replace the Better Dead Than Zed rulebook. For the most part I think this is a good thing. The BDTZ rules have been in need of an overhaul for quite some time now. Plus, many of the rules in BDTZ have been updated. If you compare them with the likes of After The Horsemen or 5150: New Beginnings, you'll see what I mean. Although FFO will share rules in common with ATH, Ed stresses that FFO is not ATH with zombies. FFO is set now in the modern era, whilst ATH is set many years in the future. I'm looking forward to seeing what changes have been made and hopefully, FFO will become the definitive set of zombie skirmish rules.
The one thing that is causing me some concern is how will this new rulebook affect my ongoing ATZ campaign? Should I carry on as normal or should I start afresh? I can see merit in both options. At the moment I'm 60/40 in favour of starting a new campaign. I'd love to go back to Day One with the knowledge I have now. If I do start a new campaign, how should I end my current campaign? Given what Team Vampifan have gone through so far, there needs to be some sort of closure for them. Maybe they ride off to find a new sanctuary away from Mayhem City. Or on a more downbeat note, they get attacked by a large horde of zombies and are all wiped out. Or perhaps Sunny and the Killer Klowns gain their revenge. I'm not making any firm decision one way or another until I have read FFO. Ed's announcement, earlier this month, about FFO has given me lots of food for thought. I have no idea when FFO will be released, so until then I'll just carry on as normal

Qwik - Game of the Wasteland

Qwik - Game of the Wasteland is the latest gaming supplement from Two Hour Wargames (THW). Although it is a stand alone game, it features rules for converting characters from ATZ and 5150, which is one of the main reasons for me reviewing it.
The game of Qwik is a sport inspired by the 1989 film Salute of the Jugger (aka Blood of Heroes). It starred Rutger Hauer and Joan Chen in a post-apocalyptic setting where Qwik was the number one sport.
The premise of the game is very simple. The first team to stake a dog skull (known as the bean) on a spike in their opponent's end zone is the winner. Teams comprise of five players, made up of one Kwik, (the only person allowed to touch the bean) one Chain (whose main function is to protect the Qwik) and three Drivers (short for piledriver, whose role is to knock the opposition out of the match, literally). Teams may wear soft armour or hard armour for protection, but this will slow them down, so the third option is to go unarmoured. Wearing armour is a balancing act between speed and durability. Qwiks are faster than the other team members so they tend to be unarmoured or wearing soft armour. It is rare for Chains and Drivers to go unarmoured. The Chain will be armed with one or two lengths of chain, hence his name, whilst Drivers will be armed with a piledriver - a two-handed weapon with a heavy blunt end to pummel their opponents. Some piledrivers may have a hook on the other end, used for tripping up opposing Qwiks.
The game mechanics are very similar to a lot of THW games but character creation is different. Each starting team begins with 60 points to buy Attributes and Armour. Each player has three attributes, comprising of Savvy, Speed and Strength, none of which can be higher than 7 or lower than 1 and no character can have Attributes totalling more than 20. Each player may or may not have a Signature Move, which may be beneficial or detrimental, depending upon what is chosen or rolled for. Your initial Star and Grunts may chose their Signature Moves but any replacements must dice for them.
The game is played on a field made up of 35 squares, 7 long and 5 wide. A map is provided with the game, along with counters to represent five teams. The game can be played in one of three locales - the Heart of the Wasteland (this is where all teams start out), the Settlements or the City. Opponents in the Settlements are far tougher than those from the Wastelands, whilst those from the City are the toughest of all. The goal of every player is to become top dog in the City.
There is no limit to how long a game may last. Time is measured by the referee throwing stones at a gong at a consistant pace. When 100 stones have been thrown, a short rest is allowed to mend wounds, replace badly injured players or just plan the team's strategy. As soon as the bean is staked the game is over.

VERDICT. I can remember watching The Salute of the Jugger when it was first released and I'm sure I still have a copy of it on VHS video. Actually, it's not a bad film and I may well seek it out on DVD. The game that Ed has devised looks to be a lot of fun. I haven't played it yet but I'd like to give it a go. Fortunately, like all THW games, it can be played solo or against an opponent. I imagine once you get into it, it'll prove to be very tactical, like a game of chess. As for a tie-in with ATZ, I can see it happening once a year or two have passed in the campaign. It needs time for it to develop and take off, so don't expect to see it featuring in my campaign just yet, as I'm still in the first month of the campaign.
There are a range of 15mm scale figures available for the game from Highlander Studios. No good for me, as I'm a 28mm scale fan. Still, I'm sure it can't be too hard to find alternatives.
On the whole, I like this supplement, although I do have a few minor quibbles about the team roster sheet. There are four columns left blank on it. The first is headed UME and I have no idea at all what that means. The second and third are headed MAN and ATK, which I presume stand for Maneuver and Attack respectively, but what do I write in them and are they to be used every turn, in which case you're going to need a pencil and an eraser? The fourth blank column is headed SIGNATURE and that is clearly for the character's Signature Move, if he or she has one.
I bought the hard copy version of the game for $15.00 and got the PDF version for free on the same day that I placed my order. The beauty of the hard copy is that it comes with the counters and game board, so I don't have to worry about printing them out. If you just want the PDF version, it'll cost you $12.00.

ATZ Supplement - I, Zombie

At last, the supplement that all fans of ATZ have been waiting for has been released. I,Zombie finally sees the light of day. This is the third and final part of the ATZ trilogy and it is easily the biggest, running to 130 pages. Contents include rule changes and new rules, which include phobias and quirks, fame and fortune points, buildings, bicycles, boats, swimming, horses, breakage, lack of sleep and bartering. The Lazarus Project section includes rules for two new types of zombie - ragers and smart zombies (or smarties as they are nicknamed). Also included are rules for using Big Ass Worms (of the kind found in the Tremors series of films) and psykers and psionic powers. The next section focuses on encounters and introduces PEFs (Possible Enemy Forces) to ATZ. The final section of the book is devoted to a campaign setting based in and around Lake Havasu City in Arizona. Here, you get detailed info on the area, its inhabitants, major NPCs, and how to interact with them. Also included in this section are rules for zombie wrangling, zombie racing (taken from the Dead Heat game) and pit fighting. Finally, there is a brief preview of THW's next gamebook - After The Horsemen.
I'll take a closer look at what's inside, along with my views. Most of the new rule changes are logical and worth adopting. The new Fast Move rules (roll 2d6 and add the result (limited to up to twice your Rep) to your Move value) are fine but neglect to mention those with the Athlete or Slow Attributes. I'd recommend rolling 1d6 for those who are Slow (like Vampifan) and 3d6 for those who are Athletes. The Rep limit would still apply, of course.
The first of the new rules is Phobias and Quirks. They provide a bit more flavour and personality to your Stars and Grunts and like all of the stuff presented here are entirely optional. To gain a Phobia or Quirk you roll 2d6 at character creation or whenever you gain a new Rep and add your Rep score to the total. Easy enough. But look closely at the table on p.8 and to get the best result you'd have to roll double 6 and be Rep:12! Rep:12? WTF? I know Ed said there is no limit to how high your Rep can go but I do think the numbers on this table need revising! I may use these rules but only if the relevant table is amended.
The only advantage of using the new Fame and Fortune Points rules is to make it easier to get a Rep increase. If you do use them you just might get that Rep:12 character! I don't think I'll be using them.
The new rules that deal with buildings are definitely welcome and I like them a lot. For me though, the floorplans you are meant to draw to represent a building's interior are unnecessary, given the amount of interior detail I include in my model buildings. Whilst I won't be using the floorplans, I will be using the rules. For those of you using the likes of model railway buildings, these will be a godsend. Ed helpfully provides numerous examples of building floorplans.
The rules for bicycles, boats and swimming probably won't get much use in my campaign but I do like the new rules for lack of sleep. Unless your heroes have a permanent place to spend the night, lack of sleep will be a constant threat.
The Lazarus Project rules are probably what most of us zombie fans have been waiting for. The goverment began working on ways to reverse the zombie outbreak from the start of the apocalypse. On Day 13, they made their first breakthrough. Those infected who were exposed to the antidote seemingly made a full recovery within 24 hours. Production of the Lazarus Virus went into overdrive and by Day 21 the government were ready to distribute the antidote by spraying all of the major cities from the air. On Day 22 the planes took off and discharged their payload. It was a complete and utter failure that only worsened the crisis. Instead of curing folk, it created two new types of zombie - Ragers and Smarties.
Ragers are fast and deadly in melee. They do not feed on victims but instead rip them apart. They will attack humans or zombies but not other Ragers. The really bad news about Ragers is that if you defeat one in melee combat you may still end up being infected and turning into a Rager. Nasty!
Smarties are by definition cleverer than normal zombies. They can use firearms and melee weapons but are notoriously bad shots. Regardless of modifiers they only ever hit if you roll a 6 on a d6 followed by a roll of 1,2 or 3. It works the same as Rep:3 humans who are Pitiful Shots. It is possible to play a smart zombie as one of your Grunts but I doubt if non-party members would see the wisdom in fighting alongside a zombie! Even so, smarties can be a serious threat to a party.
Next up, we are introduced to the Big Ass Worms. These creatures are the ultimate predators with a Rep of 6 and 9d6 to use in melee. It is almost impossible to hurt them because of their incredibly tough skin. I will not be using them in my campaign as they do not fit in with my vision of my campaign world.
Finally, in this section are the rules for Psykers and psionics. These seem to be a straight copy from the rules in the 5150 sci-fi game and some will say they should have stayed there. Not me! I must admit that when I think of psionics, I think of sci-fi games but I can see the merit of including them in ATZ. It is probable that I will include Psykers in my campaign at some point in the future. That is something that will more likely happen later down the line than sooner.
The second half of the book is devoted to running a campaign and these new rules are the best reason for buying this supplement. I can't stress enough how good they are. Adding PEFs to ATZ is an inspired move. These will certainly be used in my campaign.
If you do decide to set your campaign in the setting provided be aware of some important facts. First, the campaign is set three years after the zombie outbreak. Secondly, the zombies won! The human population is a mere fraction of its number prior to the outbreak.Thirdly, humanity lives a day to day existence with survival being the major priority for most people. Lake Havasu City offers a place of refuge but it is not all sweetness and light within. It is run by a cruel and despotic governor, with his private police force who are little more than thugs in armour who carry lots of guns. Entertainment is provided by Governor Newness in the form of zombie racing and pit fights between humans and either zombies, ragers or other humans.
Of course, you don't have to use the setting provided, you can design your own. The thing is, Lake Havasu City provides you with a template to design your own setting and there are rules aplenty to accomodate most folk's vision of the future. I think it highly unlikely that I'll be using the Lake Havasu setting in my own campaign. It'll be interesting to see to see just where Team Vampifan are in three years after the outbreak, assuming they are still alive!
I'll close this review with a few words from Ed Teixeira, the book's author. "What started out as a Zombie game has evolved into a post-apocalyptic game with Zombies in it. And after playing I, Zombie you'll realise there is a difference. The ATZ world will give you hours of fun at any level you want. Remember, it's your game so use as much or as little of the rules as you feel like. And yes, there will be more ATZ scenarios to come in the near future."
Well, hooray for that. I had high hopes for I, Zombies and I must say, I am not disappointed. This supplement was everything I was hoping for and more. Go buy it now, if you haven't already! It costs $25 for the book version or $20 for the PDF version from the THW website. Those who buy the book version (like I did) will get a free copy of the PDF version.

One final comment before I leave - did you see the results of the Readers Poll on the TMP Forum? ATZ:BDTZ won first place in the Best Sci-Fi Rulebook or Codex for 2009. Who said zombie gaming was a flash in the pan and dying? Many congratulations to Ed for a very worthy winner. I just look at all the new blogs devoted to this game that have sprung up this year and realise that ATZ might be undead but it certainly isn't dead! Long may it continue!

ATZ Risks & Rewards Cards

This is my second review of a game aid for All Things Zombie, the first being the Litko plastic tokens. I'll let Ed of Two Hour Wargames explain what this is all about before I go into further detail:

"What's in that building? Is it empty? Zombies? Survivors? What's their Rep? Did I find anything?

With Risks and Rewards we've done all the work for you. Draw a card and you'll know instantly all there is to know about what's lurking inside that darkened building.

Risks and Rewards is a 54 card deck that gives you a wide variety of information. It tells you if you've met zombies or survivors, how many of each, what they're armed with and all based on the type of area you're exploring.
All on one card
All that plus new weapons and loot not found in ATZ - Better Dead Than Zed. And did we mention the special Carolee (THW girl) NPC?
Risks and rewards: Save your dice rolling for when you need it!"
Searching buildings for loot is such an integral and important part of ATZ. Whenever one of your PC/NPCs enters a building you are never sure if it will be empty or occupied by humans or zombies. If there is opposition and you defeat them you can then search for loot and hopefully it will be something worth having. Often you'll find nothing. All of this is resolved by rolling on the appropriate tables in the ATZ rulebook. Now the need to roll dice has been negated and the cards tell you everything you need to know.
The three circles at the top of the card tell you how many humans will appear in a building depending upon its location - urban, suburban or rural. The type of human is colour coded - red for Gangers, blue for Military and green for Survivors. So the card in the bottom left corner of the photo above shows 2 Gangers in an urban area, 3 Survivors in a suburban area and 1 Survivor in a rural area.
If there are no humans in a building then there will be zombies. The number of zombies that you'll encounter is shown in the three boxes below the circles. So, the card in the bottom right of the photo shows 1 zombie in an urban area, 0 zombies in a suburban area and 2 zombies in a rural area. Note, you can never meet zombies and humans in the same place.
Going further down the card is info telling you the Rep and Weapon used by the first human of the group. If there is more than one human in the group you continue to draw a card from the unused pile to determine their Rep and Weapon. Anything else on these cards is ignored.
Finally, at the very bottom of the card is the type of loot you've found. Seven new items have been added and they are baseball bat, bow, crossbow, grenade, machete, SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) and scope. All are worthy additions to the game and I applaud their inclusion. One item from the rulebook that doesn't appear on any of the cards is The Cure. Seeing as it could only be found at a hospital or military base in an urban area if you rolled rolled a 12 on 2d6, I don't mourn its omission. Searching for The Cure should be handled as a special case. Plus, some GMs may decide it simply does not exist.
There are two special cards in the deck and they are the "Reshuffle Deck" card (self-explanatory) and the Coralee card. You can see them both at the top of my photo. Coralee, aka the THW Girl, is an NPC who may join the hero's party. Obviously, if she does, then this card can't be used again, although I'd suggest using it to create a new NPC, like for example, Vampirella, he says wistfully! Full stats for Coralee appear in the rules provided with the cards and I can tell you, she'd be quite an asset to anyone's party. Even better, I just read on the TMP forum that a 28mm scale and a 15mm scale figure of Coralee is in the pipeline. Yeehaa! That'll save me from doing a conversion for her.
So, what's the verdict? Well, in my humble opinion, these are an essential purchase for any ATZ fan. I haven't had a chance to use them yet, despite playing ATZ very recently (batrep coming with my next post!). They certainly do cut down on the dice rolling and are an elegant solution. I particularly liked how they handle meeting multiple humans in a building. A very simple but clever solution.
I noted with amusement and appreciation that LTL Dad used them in his latest Nuts! batrep, although to be fair, he did spice things up by including zombies in the game! He commented on his blog just how useful they were, so if you want a second opinion on them, there you have it! I have no hesitation in highly recommending them to all ATZ gamers. The deck costs $15 and can be purchased from the THW website.

Litko ATZ Plastic Tokens

Whenever I read one of LTL Dad's THW batreps, I noticed he used little coloured tokens to indicate the status of a particular figure. It was a good idea, I thought. Having originally seen the tokens being advertised on the THW website I knew that they were made by an American company called Litko Aerosystems. A quick glance at the Litko website showed me that they were a company who specialised in making gaming aids and accessories for a wide variety of games. Seeing as I am such an unashamed ATZ fanboy I thought I'd order some. They arrived a couple of weeks ago, so here's my review of them.

First up is the ATZ Action Token Set, which comprises 15 coloured plastic tokens - 5 Hunker Down, 5 Fast Move and 5 Duck Back. They are made of a hard plastic and are about 3mm thick, which makes them not too difficult to pick up. I just wish they'd made the Duck Back tokens in any other colour than blue as they are too similar in colour and shape to the Fast Move tokens.

The next set is the ATZ Status Token set, which also comprises of 15 tokens - 5 Stunned, 5 Out of the Fight and 5 Dead. The Litko website offers a good tip if you find the writing on the tokens a bit difficult to read. Rub over the writing with a white wax crayon then wipe it clean with a cloth. Although I could read the wording on the tokens I bought well enough I still tried out the tip and it made quite a noticable difference!

Moving on, we come to the ATZ Bullet Token set, which can also be used for anything that makes a loud noise in the game, e.g. screaming kids, a car or motorcycle engine or a chainsaw to name but a few. These 15 tokens comprise 3 number 1, 3 number 2, 5 number 3 and 4 number 6.

Finally, is the Obviously Dead Token set, which comprises 10 identical tokens. This was the one set of the range that I did not buy. For starters, it costs the same as the other three sets - $4.99 - so that represents poorer value for money. Secondly, you already get a set of Dead tokens in the Status set, so I don't see the need for this unnecessary duplication.

I ended up buying two each of the Action tokens and Status tokens and three sets of the Bullet Tokens. You can purchase them from http://www.litkoaero.com/ I noticed that THW have recently revamped their website and I couldn't find them listed there any more so it looks like you'll have to go directly to the source if you want to buy them. EDIT: I just got an e-mail from Ed at THW to say they are now available from the THW website, so there you go.
Which brings me to the main point of this review. Should you buy them? Are they essential for play? Undoubtedly, they are not essential for play. I've been playing ATZ for a few years now and never felt that the thing that was most missing from my games were a bunch of plastic tokens! Having said that, I think they look cool. The bullet tokens are without doubt, the most useful of the sets. Instead of placing a small die as I used to do, I can now use a bullet token, which also has the added bonus of showing the direction of the shot(s) being fired. I'll be using these in all of my future games of ATZ so look out for them in my next batrep sometime next month. So, should you buy them? That's not for me to say. You make up your own mind but if you're as big a fan of ATZ as I am then you'll surely want them!

ATZ scenario: Giving Up The Goat

This is the first of a series of scenarios for All Things Zombie (ATZ) by Two Hours Wargames. The introduction to the scenario reads as follows: "Three days ago two members of your group went down river by boat in search of supplies. They were expected back before nightfall but it's been three days since they left. Julie and Phil have only been with your little group of survivors for a short time. Maybe it was a mistake to let them go by themselves but sometimes that's the way things go. Since the zed outbreak it's better to look out for yourself. But that still doesn't make you feel any better. You asked for volunteers and two others will go with you. You just hope for their sake that Julie and Phil didn't go all the way down to Lake Havasu. Not with the rumours about things worse than zombies prowling the countryside."

This is a short scenario that introduces new rules and monsters to the world of ATZ. The new rules consist of sleep deprivation and its affects on a PC as well as detailed rules for using boats in your campaign. There are short rules for encountering feral dogs, javelinas (a large boar-like beast found in the US southwest) and rattlesnakes. The new monster that features in this scenario is the Chupacabra, whose name translates from Spanish to "goat-sucker." Be warned, they are a lot tougher than a zombie in a fight! The scenario also introduces a new concept to ATZ that is a common tool in other THW games - PEFs or Possible Enemy Forces. They can be enemies, allies, items or places. PEFs can be almost anything and their use reflects the uncertainty of what the player can expect.

So far, so good. the scenario is played as a series of random encounters on a board that has been divided into 18 squares, forming a 3' by 6' rectangle with each square being 1 foot per side. You start with a Rep:5 Star and two Grunts or you can substitute characters from your own campaign. I was going to give this scenario a negative review because it lacks a clear ending or indeed any guidance on how to end/continue it. I mentioned this on the THW forum and got a reply from Ed Texeira, the scenario's author. He informed me that the scenario was complete but the key to it is that it is the first of many. There are clues to be found as to what has happened to Julie and Phil but nothing concrete. At the end of the scenario you can only speculate upon their fate. I wanted something more satisfying, even if it was just a note to say "to be continued."

The scenario is only available as a PDF file but the good news is that it is only 14 pages long, which isn't much to print out if, like me, you prefer to have a physical copy to hold in your hands. The even better news is that it only costs $3.00. If you are a fan of ATZ, do you need this product? That depends entirely upon the campaign you're running. Yes, the rules for sleep deprivation and using boats are useful but they aren't essential. They're entirely optional. Ditto with the rules for the animal encounters and the Chupacabra. For me personally, I doubt if I'll ever use the Chupacabra in my games. It just doesn't really float my boat. However, I can see myself using the other new rules. So although the scenario has faults, I'm still going to give it a thumbs up and recommend it to ATZ fans. If, as Ed suggested, this is just the start of the story, then I look forward to seeing how it unfolds.

Vampifan's Views 04 Christmas Greetings

This will be my last post before Christmas so I thought I'd let you know what my plans are for 2010 regarding my blog and have a reminisce about the past year, looking at the highs and lows.
First up, remember that I entered the Diorama of Doom 2009 for the first time with an entry that featured Vampirella beheading a chaos demoness as the demoness attempted a zombie summoning ritual. You can see it below if you've forgotten what it looked like. Well, it is now a prize winning Diorama of Doom. Yep, the judges awarded it fourth place in the competition. I was absolutely ecstatic. My first diorama in years and years and it wins a prize! Result! That was certainly a major highlight of the year for me as I did not expect to be placed at all. There were some excellent entries and the three that beat me deserved their placings.
I think for me, 2009 will be remembered as the Year of the Zombie! My 28mm scale zombie horde grew at the fastest rate ever and shows no sign of slowing down. Even though I have bought dozens and dozens of zombie miniatures this year I have kept on top of them by getting them all painted. That is quite an achievement in itself.
2009 saw the release of All Things Zombie: Better Dead Than Zed by Two Hours Wargames, which has been my favourite zombie game to date. Haven, the first supplement for the game was also released, although Ragers, the second supplement has been delayed, whilst THW work on All Things Horror, a game that is supposed to encompass a plethora of undead and supernatural types. I already own a copy of ATH:Origins, being one of the lucky few to get it as soon as it was released. I'm in somewhat of a quandary about reviewing it as shortly after buying it, it got pulled from sale due to some creative differences between THW and a third party. What I can say about ATH:Origins is that it is little more than a teaser for the main course. All of the good stuff will appear in part 2, if and when it gets released.
I began the year and indeed my blog by playtesting a set of skirmish rules featuring zombies that must still remain unnamed. I'm not sure if they will ever see the light of day. I'd like to think they will but that decision is out of my hands.
My greatest achievement of 2009 has undoubtedly been my blog. It has grown beyond my wildest dreams and it continues to be a labour of love for me. I now have 35 followers (thank you all for signing up, I truly appreciate it) and the numbers continue to grow. Even those who haven't signed up but still pop in to see what I have to say are welcome and again I appreciate you taking the time out. Likewise, the hit counter reached 10,000 far faster than I expected and then streaked ahead to pass the 20,000 mark in even less time. Remarkable! I made a vow to post regularly on my site, at least once a week and most times twice a week. I am pleased to say that I have kept that vow and it is a vow I hope to maintain for the next year.
The blog mainly concentrates on undead miniature figures and that will continue. I have concentrated on zombies because I wanted to show off my complete horde as well as showcasing new releases. 2010 should see more figure reviews of ghouls, vampires and werewolves. Yes, I know that werewolves are not undead but I'm still going to feature them. It just feels wrong not to.
My award for best figure manufacturer of 2009 goes to Studio Miniatures, manufacturers of the finest 28mm scale zombies on the market. They haven't been in business a year yet, but what an impressive debut they've made. Congratulations to all at Studio Miniatures. Worst manufacturer by far is FU-UK, who at the start of November announced that the winning entries of their zombie sculpting competition were available from their website store. I ordered them all immediately and I'm still waiting for them to arrive. Absolutely lousy customer service and a disgrace to the many people who placed an order in good faith. I have only been made aware of their monumental cock-up by checking the Frothers forum. There a lot of angry people on that forum!
I also like to review films, DVDs and books related to the undead. 2009 has been a good year for me with more crackers than turkeys. Best film of 2009 was undoubtedly Zombieland, which mixed comedy and gore to great affect. Worst film had to be Lesbian Vampire Killers. Great title, crap film! The best book that I read in 2009 was without doubt, Zombie CSU by Jonathan Maberry. In fact, I've yet to read a better book about zombies. The fact that Jonathan himself took the time out to thank me for my reviews of both that book and his excellent novel, Patient Zero, shows what a top notch bloke he is. The worst zombie novel that I read this year was Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist. It was unbelievably boring, which was a great shame, as his previous offering, Let the Right One In, a vampire novel, was a corker. As for TV, there is very little that I do watch. Most drama series that I watch nowadays tend to be DVD boxed sets. My last post saw me enthusing about True Blood, which has now become my favourite vampire TV series since the sadly missed Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, both classics of the genre.
So, enough reminiscing. What of the future? My next project that I'll be working on these Crimble holidays is to photograph my zombie horde in its entirety. That's over 300 figures, folks! 6MilPhil, one of my followers asked me if I'd do it a couple of months ago. I thought it was excellent idea. Veloci, another keen follower, suggested I put a figure of myself in the photos, either being chased by the horde or surrounded by them. I shall do both. I have a perfect figure of myself by Mark Copplestone. He used to lead my gang in Gangs of Mega City One. Expect to see the results very soon.
I'll continue to review zombie miniatures but as I said earlier in this post, expect to see more undead and supernatural figures as well. I'd love to do more gaming but sadly that won't happen as often as I'd like. I certainly hope that ATH part 2 and ATZ:Ragers get released soon, as I'd love to play them both. I am sure that a lot of the increased traffic to my blog came after I started reviewing my World Works Games scenery. There is still more lovely WWG stuff that I haven't shown you yet so look out for more reviews in 2010.
I know that I'm getting the Sookie Stackhouse series of 8 paperback novels by Charlaine Harris for Christmas. They are the novels that True Blood is based on, so I shall look forward to reading and probably reviewing them here. Amazon.co.uk are offering all eight novels for just £24 in a boxed set - fantastic value for money at just £3 per novel.
Well, I'll wrap things up now and wish you all a zombietastic Christmas and all the best for the new year. Take care and thanks for reading.

My prize winning Diorama of Doom 2009.

ATZ:BDTZ Battle Report 02

It's time for part two of my All Things Zombie: Better Dead Than Zed battle report. Part one ended with two of Lieutenant Catweazle's National Guardsmen being taken hostage by a gang of skateboarders. Part two features the rescue mission.

The photo above shows the four heroes of this scenario. From left to right they are Corporal Steven "Shuggy" McGraw, a Rep:4 soldier with the Brawler attribute and armed with an Assault Rifle, Flash Bang Grenades, and a One Handed Weapon (combat knife).

Lieutenant Ulysses Catweazle was the team leader, a Rep:5 Star with the Brawler and Nerves of Steel attributes. He was armed with an Assault Rifle, a Machine Pistol and a One Handed Weapon (combat knife).

Private Angela Ziskin became a Rep:5 veteran at the end of the last scenario. She had the Marksman attribute and was armed with a Bolt Action Rifle and a One Handed Weapon (combat knife). All three soldiers wore concealed body armour.

The fourth member of the team, shown at the far right, was Siobhan O'Hearne, a Rep:4 experienced civilian who was armed with just a Pistol. She joined the team during the first encounter. Before the scenario began, I had to roll on the Keeping it Together table to see if she stayed with the group or left. Catweazle scored twice as many successes as her, meaning that not only would she stay with the group but she didn't need to take the test after the next encounter as well.

The National Guardsmen were Foundry Figures 30mm scale Backstreet Militia figures from their Street Violence range and Siobhan was a survivor from the Cold Wars Miniatures 28mm scale range of The Dead Will Walk.

This was a Raid Encounter, which took place in the suburbs of Mayhem City during the hours of daylight on day 34 after the zombie outbreak. The following special rules had to be followed. There would be no zombies placed on the board at the start or placed in a building when it was being searched. They could only be generated by a loud noise like shooting. There would be 1d6+2 buildings on the board. I rolled a 4 to give me 6 buildings (four semi-detached houses, an armoury and a garage). The team member(s) could be held in any one of them. Whenever the team entered a building they had to roll 1d6. On a result of 1, they would find their colleague(s) there. The colleague(s) would be unarmed but could not activate until contacted by a team member. If the team member was not found before searching the last building he/she/they would be found there.

Prior to turn one, Team Catweazle parked their SUV outside one of the semi-detached houses. They moved out and walked to the side door, with their firearms at the ready.

TURN 1. Activation = Team Catweazle:N/A.

The team enter the house but find it empty. No hostages, no gangers. They search it for loot and Ziskin finds a luxury item (an unopened bottle of whiskey). The others find nothing.

TURN 2. Activation = Team Catweazle:N/A.

The team leave the house by the front door.

TURN 3. Activation = Team Catweazle:N/A.

Walking to the house next door, the team gathered by the front door.

TURN 4. Activation = Team Catweazle:N/A

The team entered the house and found it occupied by one ganger - Tony Morley, a Rep:3 punk armed with a Machine Pistol. The hostages were not located here. Rolling on the Enemy Awareness table, the Ganger was caught unaware. This result meant that the heroes got a free turn of activation before he could activate.

TURN 5. Activation = Team Catweazle:N/A, Gangers:N/A

Lieutenant Catweazle drew his combat knife and had no trouble in silently killing the ganger. No alarm was raised. Shuggy, Ziskin and Siobhan searched the house for loot and Shuggy found a cache of food.

TURN 6. Activation = Team Catweazle:N/A

The team moved out of the house.

TURN 7. Activation = Team Catweazle:N/A.

The team crossed the road to the armoury at a normal walking speed.

TURN 8. Activation = Team Catweazle:N/A. Gangers:N/A.

The team entered the armoury and discovered that it was occupied by three gangers. They were Vikky Ross, a Rep:4 banger armed with an SMG (she's standing behind the counter), Quincy Rosenior, another Rep:4 banger armed with an SMG (he's the dude in the blue hooded top), and Billy Beeny, a Rep:4 banger armed with a BA Pistol (he's dressed in the white T-shirt in the photo above). First thing to do was roll on the Enemy Awareness table. This time I rolled a 3 and the Gangers were allowed to make normal In Sight reaction tests. Each one passed 1d6 so they could all snapfire. Vikky went first. She fired her SMG three times at Catweazle and missed with all three shots. Quincy also fired three rounds from his SMG. His target was Shuggy. He hit once and knocked Shuggy down. Billy suffered a spot of bad luck. He rolled snake eyes when he fired at Catweazle. His BA Pistol was out of ammo! Bummer!

Catweazle passed 2d6 on his Received Fire reaction test and was able to snapfire. He chose Quincy as his target and one of his three shots hit the Ganger squarely between the eyes, killing him instantly. Ziskin fired once at Vikky but missed. Now Vikky had to make a Received Fire test. She passed 1d6 and because she was in cover was able to snapfire back. Once again, she missed with all three shots. Even so, it forced Ziskin to take the Received Fire test. Although she passed 2d6, because she was outgunned, she was forced to duck back. The term "duck back"  is a bit misleading as the character ducking back can move in any direction just as long as he can find cover within 6". Ziskin was only 2" away from the ammo shelves to her left so she moved behind them. The final shooting of this turn came from Siobhan, who snapfired her Pistol at Billy. One shot hit and knocked him down. So Shuggy and Billy had to make Recover from Knock Down reaction tests. Shuggy passed 2d6 and was only stunned. He would miss the next turn's activation as he recovered. Billy only passed 1d6 and was out of the fight as he fell into unconsciousness. What an incredibly exciting and action packed turn!

The noise of all the gunfire meant I'd be rolling 17d6 for zombie reinforcements. They would appear on any result of 5-6. Not only that, but the other Gangers were alerted. For the three remaining houses I rolled 2, 1 and 0 for the number of Gangers, meaning that three Gangers would be headed towards the armoury next turn.

Zombie Reinforcements = 6.

 

TURN 9. Activation = Team Catweazle:5, Vikky's Gangers:4, Josy's Gangers:3, Zombies:2.

Catweazle decided to charge at Vikky. Being a Star, he chose to pass 2d6 on his Wanting to Charge reaction test. Vikky had to make a Being Charged test. She passed 1d6. This meant that although she couldn't fire at Catweazle she could melee with him normally. She stood no chance as Catweazle drew his combat knife and gutted her. She slid to the floor and died, crying for her mum! Siobhan moved to check on Shuggy and Ziskin took Billy's BA Pistol, even though it was empty. Loot was loot and it was finders keepers!

The other three Gangers were led by Josy Alsopp, a Rep:5 head case, armed with two BA Pistols. She emerged from house 3 with Slipknot, a Rep:4 banger armed with a BA Pistol. From house 4 came Whitey, another Rep:4 banger armed with a BA Pistol. Two female zombies appeared at the back of the armoury and homed in on the building.

The other four zombies appeared at the front of the armoury. They too, advanced towards the building.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 10. Activation = Team Catweazle:3, Gangers:1, Zombies:6.

The zombies failed to activate this turn and so remained rooted to the spot. Catweazle ordered his team to search the armoury for loot. He found an item of food, whilst Siobhan found some medical supplies. Although the other two found nothing, they did take the SMGs from Vikky and Quincy.

Josy ordered her gang to double move and all three passed 2d6 on their tests. As in the first game I gave the gangers a temporary Athlete attribute if they attempted to double move whilst using their skateboards. This gave them 3d6 to roll instead of 2d6. It was my way of them making good use of their skateboards due to the lack of official rules for skateboards.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 11. Activation = Team Catweazle:4, Gangers:1, Zombies:3.

Catweazle led his team out the back door of the armoury. He immediately took an In sight reaction test and passed 2d6, allowing him to shoot as normal. He'd spotted the two female zombies but knew that Josy with her twin BA Pistols was the greatest threat... and the closest. He fired twice at her with his Assault Rifle. The first shot hit and killed her outright. This forced Slipknot and Whitey to take the Leader Lost test. Both passed 2d6 and came to a halt. They would chose a new leader when they were next active, assuming they would still be alive. Shuggy only passed 1d6 on his In Sight test and he snapfired three times at Slipknot, the closest enemy. Only one shot hit and it caused an Out of the Fight result. Ziskin passed 2d6 on her In Sight test and she opted to shoot the slim zombie female. She hit and killed it with consumate ease. Siobhan also passed 2d6 on her In Sight test, but being a civilian was forced to snapfire. As a consequence her two shots at the fat zombie female missed.

It was the zombies' turn to activate. The four at the front of the armoury reached the front door. The fat female zombie at the back decided that Catweazle looked like the tastiest treat - well, he was the tallest! Being a Star, Catweazle was allowed to choose how many dice he'd like to pass on the Being Charged reaction test. Not surprisingly, he chose to pass 2d6 and thus was able to fire before the zombie reached him. One shot was all it took to put the fat zombie down permanently.

This left the Gangers to activate and only Whitey remained standing. He only managed to pass 1d6 on his In Sight reaction test and so his two shots at Catweazle were snapfired. He missed with both of them. Again, Catweazle showed what an advantage it is to be a Star and chose to pass his Recieved Fire test with 2d6. He fired back. His single shot hit Whitey and knocked him down. Sadly for Whitey, he failed to make his Recover from Knock Down test and became obviously dead. This was another intense and exciting turn! I was having a great time!
Zombie Reinforcements = 4.

TURN 12. Activation = Team Catweazle:5, Zombies:4.

Catweazle led his team at the double along the path between the skateboard park and the basketball court. All four passed their tests with 2d6.

Of the four new zombie reinforcements, one arrived in the centre of the skateboard park, one in the basketball court and two in the narrow passage between the armoury and the basketball court (these two don't appear in any of my photos - an oversight on my part!). The four zombies at the front of the armoury entered the building and discovered two fresh corpses and one unconscious human. It was time to feast! I rolled to see how long the feast would last and scored a 4 on the 1d6. I'm not too sure if I shouldn't have rolled 1d6 for each victim or just the once for all three. Either way, it made no difference to the outcome of the game.
Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN:13. Activation = Team Catweazle:2, Zombies:5.

Having only Reps of 4, the zombies again failed to activate. Catweazle and his team entered house number three, and it was here that they found their two colleagues, Corporal Perry Kroeger (Rep:4) and Private Carrie Bryce (Rep:3). They searched the house for loot and Ziskin and Kroeger both found food supplies.
Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 14. Activation = Team Catweazle:2, Zombies:4.

The four zombies in the armoury continued feasting. The zombie in the skateboard park found Whitey and began feasting on the fresh corpse. This feast would last for four turns. The two zombies on the path between the armoury and the basketball court stumbled across the corpses of Josy and Slipknot. Yummy! They too began feasting and decided to take things real slow as their Feast lasted for 6 turns. The zombie in the basketball court moved towards the house he'd just seen four humans enter.
Catweazle ordered to his team to move at the double out of the house. He, Shuggy and Ziskin passed 2d6 and thus moved 16", the others only passed 1d6 and so moved 12". Both of which were better than the normal move rate of 8".

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 15. Activation = Team Catweazle:4, Zombies:2.

Once again, Catweazle ordered everyone to move as fast as they could. This time the four members of the team made double moves but Bryce and Ziskin only passed 1d6 and so moved at 1.5 their normal rate.
The zombie in the basketball court spotted them and headed towards the entrance/exit. The other zombies continued feasting.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 16. Activation = Team Catweazle:4, Zombies:3.
The team reached the SUV together with a combination of normal moves and double moves. The zombie mime exited the basketball court but stood no chance of catching any of the team before they left. So it was game over, as the other zombies continued their gruesome feast.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

I enjoyed playing part two just as much as part one. Combat in ATZ is very different to combat in most other games that adopt the I go, you go system. Have a good look at how the combat was handled in turns 8 and 11. ATZ uses a system of reactions that I found refreshingly different. If you never played any Two Hours Wargame before (they all use the same game mechanic) then it can be a bit hard to get your head around this radically new concept. Fortunately, the rulebook makes life very easy with lots of examples of how things work. I hope my own two battle reports have helped as well.

All that was left to do was to roll for improving Rep. Catweazle, Shuggy and Ziskin were eligible to roll. Siobhan wasn't because she failed to kill any zombies in this encounter. To my amazement and delight, Catweazle and Shuggy both rolled higher than their Reps and thus became Rep:6 and Rep:5 respectively. I had to roll for the other three (Siobhan, Kroeger and Bryce) to see if their Reps dropped a level. Sadly for Kroeger he rolled a 1 and so dropped to Rep:3.

I do hope you enjoyed reading these two battle reports as much as I enjoyed playing them and writing about them. I am hoping to run more ATZ games next year. Thanks for dropping by!

ATZ:BDTZ Battle Report 01

It has been quite a while since I ran a battle report. I'd like to run more on my blog but I am limited as to when I can set them up. I live at home with my parents and I have to wait until they go away on holiday so that I can set up the scenery on our dining room table and leave it there until I've finished the scenario. Taking notes and photos for my blog is very time-consuming and so a game can take up to three days to complete. I was very fortunate a couple of weeks ago in that my parents were away for a week (they usually take long weekend breaks - Friday until Monday). As a consequence I was able to run two scenarios that week. The second one continues the action where the first one ended.

This time, the scenarios used the All Things Zombie: Better Dead Than Zed (ATZ:BDTZ) rulebook by Two Hours Wargames, which I reviewed quite a few months ago.See http://vampifansworldoftheundead.blogspot.com/2009/04/all-things-zombie-better-dead-than-zed.html  Character generation was easy to do and didn't take long to complete. I decided that my heroes would belong to the military. I diced to see if they were National Guard (1-5 on 1d6) or US Army (6 on 1d6). Not surprising, they were National Guard. The two photos below show my team. They are all from set SV5/4 Backstreet Militia from the Foundry Figures 30mm scale Street Violence range.

At the far left is Corporal Perry Kroeger, a Rep:4 Grunt with the Poser attribute and armed with Assault Rifle, One Handed Weapon (combat knife) and Flash Bang Grenades.

To his left is Corporal Steven "Shuggy" McGraw, a Rep:4 Grunt with the Brawler attribute and armed exactly the same as Kroeger.

In the centre of the group is Lieutenant Ulysses Catweazle, a Rep:5 Star. As the group leader and a Star, I was able to choose his attributes and I gave him Brawler and Nerves of Steel. He was armed with an Assault Rifle, a Machine Pistol and a One Handed Weapon (combat knife).

The female standing closest to him is Private Angela Ziskin, a Rep:4 Grunt with the Marksman attribute. She is armed with a Bolt Action Rifle and a One Handed Weapon (combat knife).

Last in line is Private Carrie Bryce, a Rep:3 Grunt. She had the Runt attribute and was armed in an identical manner to the lieutenant.

All five wore concealed body armour and they had all witnessed the Feast (this meant that they did not have to take a reaction test if they saw a zombie feeding on a victim).

As with all of my zombie games, this one took place in Mayhem City, USA, this time in the suburbs. It took place on day 33 after the outbreak and occured during the daytime. The encounter was a Discover one, which to quote the rulebook, "in this encounter your group will search the board to determine what and who can be found. This is the "basic" encounter and is great for introducing players to ATZ." That seemed like a good enough reason for me to try it out. The initial number of zombies on the board is determined by rolling 1d6 per human if the setting is in the suburbs. I rolled 5d6 and scored 16. The mechanic for placing zeds is to roll 1d6 for each zed and depending on the result place it 12" away to the top, bottom, right or left of the group with top or bottom being twice as likely to crop up. In a word this is boring! Not to mention too unrealistic. So I used a house rule that I came up with and rolled a Games Workshop scatter die for direction. This gives me a 360 degree arc for where a zed could suddenly appear. The whole concept of how zombies can suddenly appear, seemingly out of thin air, is frankly unrealistic! However, as a game mechanic it adds a great deal of tension and uncertainty to the game, so I'm not knocking it.

TURN 1. Activation = Team Catweazle:4, Zombies:5.

Activation in ATZ works like this. Each side rolls a different coloured die. I used white for the military team and red for the zombies. If the scores are tied, then re-roll. Otherwise, the higher score determines which side is active and will activate its groups first. It also determines which Rep or higher the corresponding group may activate. After the first group completes all its actions and any reactions that it caused have been resolved, the active side is the team that scored the second highest activation roll, and so on until all sides have moved. However, if the die roll is higher than that of the team leader's Rep, then that group remains inactive for the entire turn! In the case above the zombies scored higher than the humans but zombies are only Rep:4. This meant that none of them could activate this turn! The humans were lead by a Star with a Rep of 5 so could move normally provided they stuck together. If either or both of the Rep:3 females began the game as a separate group they would have been unable to activate because the die roll of 4 was higher than 3. Being lead by a much higher Rep character does not stop much lower Rep characters from activating provided they remain as part of the group.

The National Guard team had parked their SUV outside the apartment in the south east corner of the board prior to the game starting and were allowed one turn of movement before the zombies were placed on the board. They moved at a walk towards the front door of the apartment. After rolling for activation, each soldier made an In Sight test to see if they could shoot at the zombies. Ziskin passed 2d6 and held fire because the zeds were over 6" away. Catweazle, Shuggy and Kroeger passed 1d6 and snapfired. Incredibly, they all hit and killed their targets. Bryce passed 0d6 and so could not fire.

The ground floor of the apartment was occupied by two civilians - Ray Pegg (Rep:3) armed with a Shotgun and a Two Handed Improvised Weapon (cricket bat) and Ed Frost (Rep:3) armed with a Two Handed Improvised Weapon (golf club). Lieutenant Catweazle offered them the chance to join them and they gladly accepted the offer. Rolling on the Meet and Greet table was pretty much a foregone conclusion!

Zombie Reinforcements = 1.

TURN 2. Activation = Team Catweazle:5, Zombies:2.

I rolled to see where the new zombie appeared. Zombie reinforcements could arrive at any loud noise, like for example, gunfire. The soldiers searched the ground floor for loot. Shuggy and Ziskin found a cache of food each. The others found nothing. Ray and Ed watched as the zombies began to shuffle towards the apartment.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 3. Activation = Team Catweazle:3, Zombies:1.

Ziskin made an In Sight test and passed 1d6. She snapfired at one of the zombies and although she hit him, she only knocked him down. No kill this time. She then followed her four colleagues up the stairs. Ray locked the front door then he and Ed also moved upstairs. Hiding in the spare bedroom was a single female civilian called Siobhan O'Hearne (Rep:4) armed with a Pistol. She had no hesitation in joining Catweazle's growing band of survivors. Being outnumbered seven to one she'd have been foolish not to!

Outside, eight zombies approached the front of the apartment, another four emerged from the small wood by the billboard and the zombie who was knocked down by Ziskin stood up.

Zombie Reinforcements = 0.

TURN 4. Activation = Team Catweazle:3, Zombies:4.

The zombies reached the front door of the apartment but couldn't enter because it was locked. They would have to spend a turn knocking it down. Lieutenant Catweazle ordered everyone to move upstairs and out onto the patio, so that they could fire down on the zombies trying to get in. Ray, Ed and Siobhan followed but the two guys stayed indoors to watch their backs. Before anyone could fire they all had to make In Sight reaction rolls. Catweazle, Shuggy, Kroeger and Bryce passed 2d6 and could fire normally because the zombies were within 6". Ziskin and Siobhan each passed 1d6. Ziskin could snapfire but Siobhan could not fire at all because she was a civilian and not as well trained in firefights as the military. Shuggy went first and dropped a Flash Bang Grenade amongst the zombies below. It landed on target and exploded, forcing all zombies within the blast (6" radius) to lose their next turn of activation. This was an excellent result for the heroes! Catweazel, Kroeger and Bryce fired twice with their Assault Rifles. Ziskin fired once with her Bolt Action Rifle. Catweazle scored two hits and both were kills. Kroeger scored two hits as well, but only one was a kill, whilst the second was just a knockdown. Bryce scored one hit but it too, was just a knockdown. Finally, Ziskin scored one hit and it was a kill.

Zombie Reinforcements = 3.

TURN 5. Activation = Team Catweazle:3, Zombies:6

Once again, the zombies failed to activate. Due to the Flash Bang Grenade, the zombies at the front of the apartment wouldn't have been able to move anyway, but this result prevented the three reinforcements from closing in. Another excellent result for our heroes! All four soldiers armed with Assault Rifles fired twice and Ziskin fired once. Although Ziskin was limited to just one shot, she was able to roll 2d6 to hit and choose the best result because of her Marksman attribute. Catweazle, Shuggy and Kroeger each hit once, all scoring kills. Bryce missed with both of her shots. Although Ziskin hit her target, she only scored a knockdown result.

Zombie Reinforcements = 2.

TURN 6. Activation = Team Catweazle:5, Zombies:3.

Kroeger threw a second Flash Bang Grenade that landed slap in the middle of the six remaining zombies at the front of the apartment, causing them to lose this turn's activation. Catweazle continued to impress with his shooting. He fired twice. Both shots hit their targets and reulted in two more deaths. He was on a roll! Shuggy equalled his leader's feat this turn by scoring two kills from two shots. Bryce only hit with one of her two shots but it did kill one of the zombies who had been knocked down. Ziskin fired at the last of the knocked down zombies but this time she missed completely. Siobhan succeeded in spotting a zombie emerging from the house across the road. She could only snapfire, but amazingly, she hit the zombie with her first shot and killed him.

Zombie Reinforcements = 2.

TURN 7. Activation = Team Catweazle:1, Zombies:4.

Five zombies advanced on the apartment. The knocked down zombie struggled to his feet. Catweazle bagged himself two more zeds with a couple of highly accurate shots from his Assault Rifle. Shuggy, Kroeger and Bryce also fired two rounds each. Shuggy and Kroeger each hit and killed their respective targets. Bryce finally had a bit of good luck as both of her shots hit and scored kills. For a brief second the board was cleared of all zombies!

Zombie Reinforcements = 2.

TURN 8. Activation = Team Catweazle:2, Zombies:3.

As one zombie crossed the street towards the apartment another moved slowly through the wood by the billboard. Ziskin made an In Sight reaction roll and passed 0d6, so could not fire. Catweazle, Shuggy, Kroeger, Bryce, Ray and Ed moved back downstairs with the two civilians leading the way.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.
TURN 9. Activation = Team Catweazle:6, Zombies:3.
For the first time in the game, the humans fail to activate. The two zombies moved closer to the apartment.
Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

Turn 10. Activation = Team Catweazle:5, Team Ziskin:2,  Zombies:6.

Ziskin made another In Sight reaction roll and this time passed 2d6. She fired at the closest zombie and killed it with a clean head shot. With more time to spare now, the four soldiers and two civilians on the first floor searched for loot. Catweazle found another cache of food and Shuggy found a luxury item (toilet paper!). The others found nothing of value.

Zombie Reinforcements = 0.

TURN 11. Activation = Team Catweazle:4, Team Ziskin:3, Zombies:1.

Catweazle led his team downstairs. Ziskin shot and killed the last zombie on the board.

Zombie Reinforcements = 0.

TURN 12. Activation = Team Catweazle:1, Team Ziskin:6.

As Ray unlocked the front door, Ed and the four soldiers gathered around him. Ziskin and Siobhan were inactive this turn, although it did not matter as there were no enemies left on the board.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 13. Activation = Team Catweazle:3, Team Kroeger:3, Team Ziskin:2.

Catweazle decided to split his team into two groups. He took Corporal "Shuggy" McGraw and Ed Frost and led them towards the house directly across the road. Having the highest Rep of the remaining three, Corporal Kroeger took charge of the second group, which included Private Bryce and Ray Pegg. They headed for the house diagonally opposite the apartment. Both teams moved at a fast pace, with the soldiers doubling their move (i.e. 16") and the civilians moving at 1.5 their normal speed (i.e. 12"). Private Ziskin and Siobhan O'Hearne watched their progress from the safety of the apartment's lower patio.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 14. Activation = Team Catweazle:2, Team Kroeger:4, Team Ziskin:5.

Kroeger's group reached the front door of the house they had been assigned to search.

Catweazle's team entered the other house and found it occupied by three zombies. Melee ensued immediately. First I had to make Surprise rolls. For the zombies this meant rolling a single die and adding the number of zombies in the encounter to the result. Their score was 8. The humans also rolled a single die each but they added their Rep to the score. Their results were Shuggy on 10, Catweazle on 6 and Ed on 5. These scores determined who went first in the melee.

With Shuggy scoring highest he went first and sensibly elected to fire his Assault Rifle. He hit his opponent but only achieved a knockdown result. The zombie who attacked Catweazle was on a hiding to nothing! She rolled 1d6 for melee, whilst the lieutenant rolled 7d6 (5 for his Rep, plus 1 for having the Brawler attribute plus 1 more for having a higher impact weapon). Suffice to say, Catweazle easily killed the zombie. Ed should have easily won his combat but luck deserted him. He began by rolling 4d6 but only passed once. The zombie rolled 1d6 and passed, thus tying the score. Both sides rolled 1d6 but this time Ed failed his roll whilst the zombie made her roll. This meant that Ed was Out Of The Fight and he fell to the floor unconscious.

Zombie Reinforcements = 0.

TURN 15. Activation = Team Catweazle:2, Team Kroeger:1, Team Ziskin:4, Zombies:4.

The zombie that had attacked Ed dropped to her knees and began to feed on him. I rolled 1d6 to see how long the Feast would last and unfortunately for Ed I rolled a 1. Ed was Dead! The zombie that Shuggy had knocked down stood back up. Catweazle scored an Auto-Kill on the feasting zombie and Shuggy killed his zombie assailant with a single bullet to the head.

They spent the rest of the turn searching the ground floor of the house for loot. Catweazle found nothing but Shuggy found yet more food hidden away.

Across the road Team Kroeger discovered that the house they entered was occupied, not by zombies or civilians but by three Gangers. The Gangers were led by Josy Alsopp, a Rep:5 Head Case armed with two BA Pistols. Her two companions "Slipknot" (the figure in the black T-shirt) and "Whitey" (the figure wearing the white baseball cap) were both Rep:4 Bangers, armed with a BA Pistol apiece. The Meet and Greet dice off resulted in the Gangers winning by two successes. So the two leaders rolled for Activation (the character's Rep plus 1d6), which saw Josy scoring 10 and Kroeger scoring 5. So, Josy got to fire first. She hit Kroeger but her Out Of The Fight result was reduced to a knockdown because Kroeger was wearing body armour. Nonetheless, this was a bad start for Team Kroeger.

Zombie Reinforcements = 1.

TURN 16. Activation = Team Catweazle:1, Team Kroeger:6, Team Ziskin:3, Gangers:4, Zombies:2.

It seemed like Lady Luck had totally deserted Team Kroeger! They could not activate this turn. Josy fired once at Bryce, scoring a hit, which resulted in a knockdown. Slipknot fired once at Ray and killed him with a well aimed shot. Whitey tied up Kroeger.

Across the road, Catweazle and Shuggy moved upstairs and found the first floor of the house to be empty. Meanwhile, Ziskin and Siobhan made In Sight reaction tests to spot the zombie woman moving closer to Team Kroeger's house but the results meant that neither woman could fire.

Zombie Reinforcements = 1.

TURN 17. Activation = Team Catweazle:1, Team Kroeger:4, Team Ziskin:4, Gangers:3, Zombies:2.

Once more, Ziskin and Siobhan were unable to fire at the zombie reinforcements because of the results of their In Sight reaction tests. Kroeger and Bryce made their Recover from Knockdown reaction rolls and scored 2 and 1 successes respectively, meaning that both were stunned for the rest of this turn, unable to do anything.

Josy stripped Kroeger, Bryce and Ray of their weapons, whilst Whitey tied up Bryce. Slipknot opened a window in the kitchen. The two zombies moved even closer to the Gangers' house. Catweazle and Shuggy searched the first floor of their house but found nothing worth looting.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 18. Activation = Team Catweazle:5, Team Kroeger:N/A, Team Ziskin:6, Gangers:4, Zombies:3.

Catweazle and Shuggy moved back downstairs. Josy led her gang with two hostages in tow out of the kitchen window towards the skateboard park. One zombie reached the front door of the Gangers' house, whilst the second zombie approached the side door of the house.

Zombie Reinforcements = N/A.

TURN 19. Activation = Team Catweazle:4, Team Kroeger:N/A, Team Ziskin:2, Gangers:1, Zombies:3.

As Catweazle and Shuggy crossed the road to see how their colleagues were faring, Catweazle made an In Sight reaction roll to spot the zombie granny. He succeeded and fired once, killing her easily. The other zombie reached the side door of the house. Ziskin passed 1d6 on her In Sight reaction test and snapfired at the last zombie on the board but her shot missed.

Josy and her gang moved at the double across the skateboard park. I gave all of Josy's gangers the Athletic attribute, which allowed them to roll 3d6 when taking the Fast Move test, but it only applied if they used their skateboards. Josy, Slipknot, Whitey, Kroeger and Bryce all passed 2d6 on the test so they all moved at twice their normal distance, heading towards the skateboard park exit.

Zombie Reinforcements = 0.

TURN 20. Activation = Team Catweazle:4, Team Kroeger:N/A, Team Ziskin:1, Gangers:5, Zombies:3.

Josy led her gang out of the skateboard park and off the board. It had been a good day for her. She had acquired some good military weapons, body armour and two hostages. Her gang would celebrate that night. Catweazle passed 2d6 when taking the In Sight reaction test against the last zombie on the board. He fired at her once and scored another kill. Shuggy entered the house and found the corpse of Ray Pegg.

Zombie Reinforcements = 0.

It was game over, and what an immensely enjoyable game it turned out to be! All that remained to do was to see if any of the surviving characters improved their Rep. Certain criteria must be met before a character can make a roll for improving Rep. If met the character must roll higher than their Rep or score a 6 if Rep:6 or higher. If these criteria are not met then they must roll to see if their Rep goes down (roll a 1 on 1d6). Catweazle, Shuggy and Ziskin were all eligible for improvement. Catweazle and Shuggy failed their rolls but Ziskin passed hers and thus advanced to Rep:5. Kroeger, Bryce and Siobhan rolled to see if their Reps dropped but fortunately none failed their rolls.

So what happened next? Lieutenant Catweazle would not allow any of his team to be taken without making a rescue attempt. Fortunately the ATZ rules allow for this possibility and have an encounter called Raid in which the heroes must raid an opposing human settlement and rescue a member of the group, or in this case, two members. I'll post part two of this mini campaign very soon. Keep watching and if you've read all of this account then many thanks for your time and interest.