Mini Review - Zombicide The Board Game

 Hi Everyone,

                        Yesterday, I unexpectedly joined in on a game of Zombicide. I did not get to take any photos, as I did not want to interrupt the flow of the game for the others. You are in a house with 6 rooms.  Each player begins in a different room, armed with one weapon. Zombies come in various types, Breakers can break baracades at windows and doors and get inside. Relatives are inside the house and can spawn within the house (blocking you from making any searches), "Fatties" move slower, and normal zombies begin at three "Spawn points" surrounding the house.

There is a weapons cache inside the house, which players can gain access to, as well as searching the rooms they are in with one of their three basic actions per turn. Wood can repair windows. Weapons have different stats - number of shots, range, to hit number and damage.  You destroy spawn points by throwing molotov cocktails at them, made by finding flammable liquid and mason jars.

Players gain experience for doing tasks, one a player has passes a certain level, they get bonus actions, but they also unlock a zombie ability, such as the number spawning each round. 

Objectives per game increase in complexity, Destroy spawn points, get cars etc.

Thanks to Alice, Steve, both Dave's, Martin and our host, Richard for a fun time I next had a game of Carcosonne with Richard and Dave. Another great game.

On another note, my "Alien" GM Richard (another one), loves the electronic version. He has been giving us blow-by-blow accounts of his progress or lack of it for the last few weeks before we start our Alien session over the airwaves. 

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

Getting wet

Or Rather Getting Brushes wet

Hi all,

         Just to show that not every second of my time has been sent in the garden lately, it certainly seems like it though. Here are a few painted bits of minis. Some of them are nasty looking critters too. By the (C) Copyright date on the sprue,  I have had them for a while, so it was about time they saw some action, as it were.

Ready for snipping.

First wash.

Terracotta first coat.

First coat of thin brown wash.

Light highlights added.

A fire ready to be lit.

Close up on Alien. For the next stage of painting this mini, see "Crab Man" post 24th May 2020.

All models are in the early stages, feel free to add any comments or tips below.

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

Expanding a barricade.pt1

Terrain Tutorial

Hi everybody,

                    Picture this, we are all on jankers duty and restricted to barracks, you have run out of coal to paint white (you hope), the Sgt. Major is ordering more rations and PT kits from HQ for a bit and you are thinking "What can I do now?".

                   Well, I may have the solution for you today, embellish one of your old bits of terrain. In this case, I have a rough barricade made from a scrap bit of plastic that I had to hand. Couple that with a few carved up lolly sticks and scrap bits from laser cut models (optional), then we will see what we can make. I am using PVA wood glue here, but if you have a glue gun that should work too. This can work for a variety of model eras, from fantasy to bolt action and wild west. This is also a good tutorial if you have some new recruits with you, as no blades are needed..

Pick your terrain piece

First part to be fitted to the barricade,

Now in place.

The lolly stick has been carved on the edges with a craft knife to distress the wood and remove the straight edges. It goes along the piece in a roughly 30 degree angle to the right, attaching to the piece sticking out on the right.

Now in place.

Rear view.

 Now for the other side. The two square holes in the side wall planking do not give much cover to those inside,so with two more small bits of lollies broken along their length, I will convert the hole nearest to the corner to a mere slit to peer out of and leave the other one to shoot out of.

Before fitting.

I have added extra planking to reduce the target area on the left while still having a reasonable arc of fire and viewpoint.

Back to the left section of the barricade. I added a small wooden bar to the middle of the circular opening to prevent potential entry.

The bar in place

The Archer in action.

Inside showing shutter details.

 The central panel has had its face distressed, showing Dwarf axe blows and arrow dents.

Before painting.

 I now add whites and browns to the central area to blend it in more with the rest of the model.

Painting time.

After rough splashes of paint.

Added grunge.

More additions were made to the left edge of the barricade forming extra support for the plank sticking out, this has the benefit of attackers having to travel further round the hazard, giving the defenders more opportunities to shoot at them, or throw rocks if they are out of ammo.

Here we see our lone Elf defender against two Lizard Folk..

"Time to even the odds".

A close up of the supporting struts.

"An easy target".

Not up to professional standards, I was "winging it" as I went along, but sometimes that is all that is needed to put a bit of terrain on the gaming table.  I hope that gave you some inspiration to spruce up a model or even do a scratch build with some leftover materials, such as making rocks with foam core and filler, adding a standard to a wooden meat skewer. I add a base to the model in part two.  You may even have chance for a quick game before the Sgt. Major comes back. I hope so.

Stay safe everybody.

Ivor Cogdell

P.S. No Lizardmen were harmed in the making of this diorama.

Project Z Battle Report 3 - Campaign Pt.1

Hey folks,
                I had another scrap over at Martin's place with our mate Richard. The table was set  out for Project Z - Zombie Apocalypse Battle Report 3.

Project Z pt 1 - The Bunker.
Project Z pt 2 - The Wilds.

This time we are starting a campaign.

Ivor was sporting the Female Survivors again, Richard was Grooving On Down with the Biker Gang and Martin was shambling along with the Zombies.

The objective was to search the tavern. There are also circular "Loot Tokens" on the table. That's the good news, the bad news is that there are also four "Spawn Locations" to add d6 Zombies at the end of each turn. (Shown as dotted circles on the table).

Turn 1

Ivor's Female Survivors, coming on the table at the South East. (Random Roll by Martin).

Richard's Biker Gang. Coming on the table at the East. (Again Random edge rolled by Martin).

 Game note : If the biker gang kill every body else on the table (instead of the zombies) they get all of the loot.

The immediate threat area for the Ladies. Spawn point just above the centre. Bikers to the NE.

The Inn objective on the other side of the river. Spawn Points in the wood and to the right of the Inn.

Richard and Martin.

Ivor (At the 3D Cinema).

The North East Ruin, Biker Guys to East. Spawn Point just below ruin.

The Ladies move towards the nearest Zombie Group.

Top view, One of the Ladies is stunned, two Zed stunned. One Lady out of ammo.

Biker Boss about to ram a Z.

VRROOOOM !

Z Squished under tyres.

Punch up with zed's.

To rub salt into salt into the wounds, here come the Bikers, EEK !

BRRRRRRRPPPP ! "MAISIEEEEE...Nooo.   The Biker's let rip
 with multple Uzi's. Out Of Ammo Tokens litter the area.

 Sad to tell, the ladies were decimated, firstly little Maisie

bites the dust - shot  by an evil biker who trod her teddy into

 the sand, one more clawed by a zed and one girl goes

 turncoat and polishes off another party member.

Ladies in deep trouble, with just a stunned zed to show for it.

The Biker's get in the thick of it and takes a wound (Red Marker)..

One of the ladies scouts ahead or rather flees the carnage.

The biker gets stuck in the thick undergrowth and has to retreat.

One biker scoops up the loot (bottom right)., while the others make an orderly retreat.

Whats this ? Some mercenaries have turned up. Are they going to help our damsels in distress ?

Here come more zed's. At this point we had 100 zed's on the table !

A close up at the back of the inn.

Zed's swarming or rather shambling out of the wood.

A lone biker keeps the horde at bay with a burst from his gun. (Now out of ammo and needs to reload).

Still trying to get out.

The bridge crossing and sanctuary.

The APC moves around to the front of the building

The zed's ford the river, seeking warm flesh.

The biker rejoins his comrades.

One of the two remaining ladies, unfortunately, her bazuka is a dud !

"Food !"

The Bikers lay down covering fire. 

"UUURRRRGGGHHHH !"

"The entrance looks clear".

The APC moves up to the door of  the Inn and the troops disembark. "Get
that door open without doing too much damage to it." "Yessir."

"You would'nt hurt l'lii ole me now, would you ?" BANG.... "Uuuhh......". Falls to the ground.
Thinks "Good job i'm wearing a Flak vest."

"We got 'er. OOh, where did they come from ?"

"Kill them !"

"you're not getting Mama today boys". Blam. Blam..

"Supression fire, then, in you go !

"Food here too !" Momma's (left) in more trouble.

"UNNNGGGGG."

"Food fresh ..."

"I'll just play possum a bit longer to make sure they have gone."

Splash, splash, splash.

"It's time to leave!" Everybody on the bikes !"

"Now's my chance to sneak away, the noise will attract the zed's".

Inside the Inn, the soldiers dispatch the two zed's, then make a quick search of the room and find a vending machine still intact. They rip it off the wall and make their way back to the APC. 

"Alll aboard !"  Clunk,Vrooommmm.........

"Urrg........."  Crunch, Bump, Squish.........

"Charrrge.!"

"Time to grab that boat " Marcy breaks surface beside the boat. "I'm glad I was on the swimming team." "Pat, I thought you had died too.", as she swims toward the boat.

Close.

The Aftermath. 
                                  The Mercenaries obtained their objective, namely, "Get some Ciggs for the Boss", so they get some points. The Bikers got some loot and finished off four civilians, so they get some extra goodies when starting the next game too. The Ladies were having a bad hair day, to say the least. They will have to find some other group to join. Then they will seek revenge on the bikers. 

 We did enjoy that. It was noted that it would have been a totally different game if the the "dice gods" had put us in different locations, but it did ramp up the tension of the game for me. Everybody went home happy after a good game. Another great table design by Martin.

Ivor Cogdell

P.S. Martin's Putty Tats were about, but not very nosy, for a change.

Project Z pt.2 - The Wilds
Project Z pt. 1 - The Bunker