Challenge Submission #19 - Yet Another Shambling Horde of Zombies

This was my last batch of zombies done for the Painting Challenge. It is a mix of 36 Wargames Factory Zombie Vixens, and 24 Zombicide Box of Zombies Set 1 Walk of the Dead. 

Horde #2 out for a shamble

The Zombie Vixens come as 3 identical sprues of 12 figures of which 10 are standing, one is missing its lower legs, and the last is missing everything below the diaphragm. All the figures have separate heads and some choice of arms, so it is possible to do a fair bit of 'mix and match', although some combinations fit together better than others. The bases also come as a separate piece, but only enough for the standing figures. I had a half dozen wooden discs of the right diameter in the bits box to put the half figures on, so it all worked out in the end. The figures are finely sculpted with a variety of open wounds, with some showing exposed bones and/or skulls, all looking appropriately gruesome.

The Zombicide set consists of three figures each of eight different poses which are described as 'walkers', 'runners', or 'fatties'. They come as one piece, including the base, so no assembly required. The latter two types will add some variety to the usual slow moving undead, being faster or tougher respectively.

Once the Zombie Vixens were assembled both sets were primed flat grey using a rattle can, and then painted with Vallejo acrylics, followed by a coat of Army Painter Strong Tone Quickshade. I deliberately left the bases plain so they would look like concrete, rather than adding sand or flocking. As with my earlier Challenge submissions, the Quickshade leaves everything rather glossy, so I will hit these with some clear matt spray once it is warm enough to do it outside.

 

I am looking forward to getting these on the table with the Conscripts house rules for Zombies (with a bit of tweaking to accommodate the 'runners' and 'fatties'). Thanks for reading.

Challenge Submission #17 - A Horde of Shambling Zombies

 

This is the first of two large batches of zombies that I did for the Painting Challenge. I am starting with two boxes of plastic Wargames Factory Zombies that I picked up at a local hobby store at least a decade ago. They have languished in the 'big box of unpainted minis' until now. These seem to have gone out of production in the interim.

Each box contained five identical sprues with enough parts to build 30 figures. Every sprue provided one figure in a lab coat, four different pairs of legs, four upper torsos, and a variety of heads. All the left arms were part of the upper torso, but the right arms were separate. This allows for some mix and match, although some combinations work better than others. I will let the pictures tell the rest.

The figures were assembled and then glued onto 1 inch fender washers. I wanted to leave the bases quite plain to look like concrete, so I used some spackling paste to create a smooth transition from the molded base to the washer. Once everything was dry and sanded, the figures were primed grey from a rattle can. They were then painted using Vallejo acrylics, followed by a coat of Army Painter Strong Tone Quickshade. Here is the end result.

 

The Horde, out for an evening shamble

 

 

It has been quite a while since the Conscripts had a Zombie game, and I am looking for a chance to get these minis on the table top. Stay tuned for some upcoming Zombie mayhem.

Hallowe'en Zombie Game Battle Report!

Sometimes it's fun to do club games themed around a particular holiday or time of year. Remembrance Day is a good example. This year Hallowe'en fell on Friday and the game on Thursday, so I teed up something appropriate... Urban Zombies!!

Each player took control of 5-8 models, each representing a different faction. US Army, Big Pharma Mercenaries, Management Suits, SWAT Team, Urban Street Gang, etc.   Several objective markers were scattered about the board, representing plague antidote vials, bags of cash, porno mags, etc. and grabbing one of these for your faction gained you a victory point.

There were a bunch of zombie spawning barrels scattered around, too. Zombies would spawn randomly each turn and move towards the closest humans. Zombie kills were tracked by faction and served as tiebreakers in the event of equal VPs scored.

The zombies are the "solanum" type described in World War Z and other genre sources. Basically they need to be shot/hit in the head to be sure of a kill. We use a modified version of GW's Lord of the Rings with some additions for how hard it is to kill zombies (basically either call a "headshot" at -1 to hit, or re-roll successful To Wound rolls) and for automatic weapons.

The Big Pharma Mercenaries spot zombies coming out of the Bank.

Getting closer!!

Here's the SWAT team getting up close and personal with a zombie horde.

Conscripts busily plotting their next moves. We used a card activation system; each player was assigned a playing card put into a deck, and when his card was drawn he took his turn to move or shoot.

Conscript Indo moving his Corporate Suits (Foundry models, below).

Conscript Jim ran the Urban Street Gang (Bobby Jackson's "Thugs" - awesome figures). He was pretty successful in picking up objective markers despite (or because of?) the short range of his gang's weapons.

Here they are sitting on objective #4.

Shotgun template!!!

Travolta lookalike surveys the situation.

Conscript Frederick ran the Mercenaries and they racked up an impressive bodycount.

After eliminating a score of zeds they aimed at a bigger prize - the Corporate Suits.

Conscript Dave had the US Army team that also stacked up zeds like cordwood.

I think the best part of the game was the amount of friendly kills Jim racked up with his homies. They didn't scruple in the slightest at shooting into melees between zombies and their own comrades and invariably, the bullets hit their buddies.

The final standings were as follows:

Dave V.: 2VP + 16 zombie kills
Jim: 2VP + 2 kills (+2 kills on his own men :-)
Mike: 1VP + 14 kills
Frederick: 0VP + 15 kills
Indo: 0VP + 1 kill (yay!!)

CONGRATULATIONS DAVE V. ON THE WIN!!

We didn't have any prizes per se but the lads polished off the best part of a box of 50 mini chocolate bars :-)  Each time we play this game we've had a good time. The learnings from this session were that "hits" on zombies that don't kill should knock them back. Cinematic and good for gameplay too. We'll do that next time for sure!

ZombieZ PhotoZ

Zombietown about to be overrun...

Greg's "not-French" mercenaries in a spot of bother

"D'you 'ear somezing around ze cornair?"

"Creatures crawl in search of blood / To terrorize y'alls neighborhood"

Special Forces apprehend "Cam, the Rogers Man"

This ain't a scene, it's an arms race

"I-Team" reporter on the scene

SWAT far from the action, as usual

ZLO (Zombie Liberation Organization) aka "Deader-Meinhof Gang"

Quick Battle Report

Last night we gathered at Dallas' place for a Wolrd War 'Z' game. Several different factions including SWAT, the Homiez, the Zombie Liberation Army, Delta Force, Corporate Suits and Mercenaries, fought the Zombies, and each other, to capture a Rogers Wireless sales representative who was immune to the Zombie virus, and who could help keep their Iphones running through the Zombie apocalypse.

Visiting Ottawa conscript Sean joined Dallas, myself, Brian, Mike F and Dave V for the came. Iphone Cam joined us later in the evening, once his onerous Fringe Festival responsibilities had lapsed for the night. Dallas had the SWAT team, Brian had the ZLA, Dave V had Delta Force, Sean had the Homies, Mike F rolled with the Corporate Suits, and Sean had the homies. I had the Mercenary team. Cam pushed Zombies after he arrived.

Sean provided a huge number of Zombies for the game - new plastic ones from Warlord Games. They looked great, although less great when they were stacked fr*gging six deep around my team!! At one point there were over 60 Zombies on the table, including I suspect about 25 around my faction!



As advertised previously, we added some fun with random Iphone apps afflicting the different factions before each turn. Some of the apps, like IChainsaw or PDF copies of "World War Z" were a bonus to fighting the Zombies. Some, like IGrenade, Alien Farts and Blu Movies were not so much help.



Through approximately 10 turns, Dave V's elite Delta Force team ultimately captured the hapless Rogers rep, and evacuated to a chopper on top of one of the buildings. Dallas, Mike F and Brian engaged each other, and Zombies, in different firefights. Brian and Dallas nearly managed to stop Dave, but once he got control of the Rogers person, he was able to freely select Iphone apps that were most helpful and get away. Dallas' SWAT struggled to get the drop on the Delta lads, and took a lot of shooting casualties. Mike F's Corporate Suits ended up as food for the automatic weapons of the ZLA. They also fed a few Zombies.

Sean's Homies fought their way around the table, and although they didn't manage to capture anyone, they did kidnap a news crew, so something good came out of it for them. My team, beset by Alien Farts and Blu Movies, ended up as grey-matter calories for Sean's excellent Zombie horde, piles and piles of which emerged from the "S" Mart near my starting point!

Thanks again to Dallas for hosting, and for everyone for coming out to enjoy some light-hearted, Iphone-and-Cam mocking World War Z gaming!

And the winner of our first poll is.....

For our first poll, we asked fellow Conscripts and visitors: "what should be resuced from the Zombies during our game this week?" The winner of our first poll is....a tie, as you can see, between a person immune to the Zombie virus and, disturbingly, a supply of Iphones. Out of respect for the democratic process, we will incorporate both elements into tonight's scenario. Besides, who can pass up a chance to use Apple products take more digs at Cam?

I love the book World War "Z", but in a way, it's too bad that it arrived on the scene before I-turd mania reached current epic proportions. Had World War "Z" arrived on shelves at this moment in history, one chapter would surely have slayed the image of Itools, nattering away about their stupid apps while the Zombies destroyed the US army at Jonkers. Author Max Brooks would probably have killed a couple of birds with one stone by having the Itools represented as a bunch of stock brokers who sold mortgage-back securities and structured-investment vehicles. But I digress...



So tonight, as inspired by Mike F's comment on the poll, the factions fighting the Zombies, and each other, to survive in the World War Z universe have determined that the continued function of their Iphones will be essential to coming out on top in the Zombie apocalypse.

The factions will be looking to capture a Rogers Wireless representative who is immune to the virus AND has the necessary technical knowledge to ensure the Iphones can continue to function. This person has been located (thanks to GPS and Google Maps, still working despite the apocalypse) in downtown Toronto, and stupidly bragged about their immunity using their Facebook status and various Twitter postings ("@WarZ bit two days ago, still nothing but want nachos"). From the SAS to the Bank Robbers and Homies, survivors have determined that this guy must be captured.

And the Zombies? Well, they are just happy to have some brains to eat.

To keep with the Iphone vibe, and as inspired by Dave V and Dallas' suggestions, before every turn, players will roll to see which stupid app their faction manages to activate on their Iphones. Some might help against the Zombies - others, not so much...we've polled some of the real apps, and made up some impacts. We'll see if Cam actually has any of them too. I know he has at least one...

See you all tonight for some World War Z, Iphone-bashing mayhem. Also, welcome to stray Conscript Sean! Looking forward to seeing you.