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DOWNLOAD PDF | AN ONGOING NEWSLETTER | March 2009 |
The combat zone is a hard place to live, but once in a while it’s peaceful (i.e. there aren’t as many people dying in the streets as usual). Short term alliances have been formed and everyone actually respects cease fire treaties. These times are treasured, but even now the slightest spark is enough to start another full blown conflict. This summer evening however everything is quiet and one gang has a nice little outing. They went to the cinema, which today was featuring the original 'Dawn of the Dead'… Players: This scenario is designed for 4 players, but can be played with 2 or 3 players. With 3 players, leave out the police. With 2 players, leave out the police and the Romero fanatics. General rules:
The table The scenario is played on a 120cm x 120cm table. A building representing a movie theatre is placed on one corner of the table and a building representing the home base of the Paranoid cineastes is placed in the diagonally opposing corner. A crate and a hand truck (or counters representing them) are placed on the roof of the latter building. The rest of the table is filled with loads of terrain in a mutually agreeable manner. The Paranoid cineastes deploy in or within 10cm of the cinema. The Police deploy in the diagonally opposing corner, but are not allowed to deploy in or the cineastes home base The Helpful bystanders and the Romero fanatics each role a die and the highest roller chooses one of the remaining corners leaving the other corner as deployment zone for the last force. Force 1: Paranoid cineastes This is the force that went to the cinema. Although they are a bunch of tough guys (and gals), the combat zone has made them somewhat paranoid and watching a zombie flick in an abandoned theatre doesn’t exactly help then. Once out of the cinema the cineastes start seeing zombies everywhere. Eventually almost hysterical they shoot at everything that moves. Mission: Stop the ‘zombie infestation’. Kill 8 ‘zombies’ (remember that you are very paranoid, so all other forces are considered zombies) or escape this ‘zombie infected’ place. At least one member of the paranoid cineastes has to reach the roof of their home base. If the Helpful bystanders smack some sense in a randomly determined group leader (check the Helpful bystanders’ mission) before you kill 8 ‘zombies’ or reach your home base, you lose the game.
If a randomly determined group leader has been defeated in Close combat by the Helpful bystanders, the Cineastes are no longer allowed to attack the Helpful bystanders. If the randomly determined group leader is defeated in combat by a helpful bystander, but is still in combat the next round (e.g. if a helpful bystander defeated you and chose to roll wound dice, but did not manage to penetrate your armour), the combat stops automatically and both models are placed 2 cm apart. Force 2: Helpful bystanders You and your gang were just enjoying the evening when suddenly some idiots stumble out of the neighbourhood cinema and start shooting at stuff (well people actually) screaming something about zombies. These guys are clearly hysterical and there is only one way to make them come to their senses … Mission: Slap one randomly determined group leader (representing the overall leader of the force) of the Paranoid cineastes in the face to make the cineastes come to their senses before they reach the roof of their home base and barricade themselves. In other words, get in close combat with the group leader and defeat him in hand to hand combat. Defeating does not necessarily mean killing the group leader, but is perfectly ok as well. You can choose whether you wish to roll wound dice once you defeat the group leader. Once he has been defeated he has come to his senses (or died). The entire force will also come to their senses and are no longer allowed to attack the Helpful bystanders. In light of the recent peaceful tidings in the combat zone you don’t intend to do unnecessary harm (how much harm is necessary is left to the player). This means that if you do not manage to smack some sense in the Paranoid cineastes (i.e. the randomly determined group leader) before he is killed by other forces you lose the game. Note that this force is allowed to shoot at the paranoid cineastes, as long as the group leader is defeated in close combat (i.e. it is advised not to shoot at the group leader, but you can happily wipe out all other paranoid cineastes) Force 3: Romero fanatics Although there is no such thing as zombies, this force thinks they are just that… Oddly enough they don’t find the notion of never having died and still being a zombie slightly inconsistent, but other than that they play their act well. Influenced by movies and violent video games (and perhaps a tiny bit because they are just mentally unstable and living in a world of constant fighting), these guys lost track of reality and try to eat as many people as possible. Mission: Eat a total of 5 members of the other gangs. Eating: A killed individual is turned on its back and left in the place it died. It can than subsequently be eaten (or ripped apart) by a Romero fanatic. This is done by moving in base to base contact with the body and spending 2 action points. The required 2 action points can be divided over multiple Romero fanatics in base to base contact, representing a swarm of grabbing hands tearing the body apart. This also means that it is not necessary to eat an entire corpse in one turn. The action points required can be spent over multiple turns by multiple Romero fanatics. Routed and panicked individuals can also be eaten in this manner, but at least two Romero fanatics are then required to be in base to base contact. No forces other than the Romero fanatics have the ‘eating’ ability. Force 4 The Police Where would we be without the police…? Well in this case probably better off. These guys don’t discriminate. Working by the notion of: “where there are to fighting, there are two to blame” they decided to make an end to this nonsense. That doesn’t mean they will go on a random slaughtering rampage, they will just take out some key figures. The helpful bystanders seem to be on their side and can therefore not be attacked by the police, unless they are provoked by the helpful bystanders. Mission: Get the group leaders of the Paranoid cineastes, the Romero fanatics and the Helpful bystanders killed (the helpful bystanders should learn to leave a police job to trained professionals). Note that you do not have to be the one to kill them as long as they die. Also note that you can not attack the helpful bystanders unless you are provoked, so it might be necessary to force a provocation at one point in the game Provocation: The Police feel provoked, if the Helpful bystanders attack (shooting or close combat) the Police or if a Helpful bystanders gets within point blank range of any policeman. This also means that the police can force a provocation by moving in point blank range of a helpful bystander (those lousy civilians should know better than not getting out of the way when the almighty police approaches) Q&A Q: Why do the Paranoid cineastes carry weapons to the movie theatre? Q: Why do the Romero fanatics carry weapons; aren’t they supposed to be zombies? Q: Why can’t I have a recoilless rifle? Q: Why just 200 points per force? If the paranoid cineastes manage to build a force of three groups, these will be lightly armed, so that the Helpful bystanders still have a winning chance. Additional notes A multiplayer scenario hardly ever is played as was envisioned by the designer. When playing this scenario it is therefore very well possible that surprises come up during the game. It is suggested that this scenario is used as a way of creating an ambience for your game. When something is unclear, just do what fits best in the spirit of the scenario. As to the victory conditions, the first force to complete its mission is the winner. If no one manages to complete its mission, the lat force standing is the winner. |
Oddly enough they don’t find the notion of never having died and still being a zombie slightly inconsistent, but other than that they play their act well. Influenced by movies and violent video games (and perhaps a tiny bit because they are just mentally unstable and living in a world of constant fighting), these guys lost track of reality and try to eat as many people as possible. Mission: Eat a total of 5 members of the other gangs. Eating: A killed individual is turned on its back and left in the place it died. It can than subsequently be eaten (or ripped apart) by a Romero fanatic. This is done by moving in base to base contact with the body and spending 2 action points. The required 2 action points can be divided over multiple Romero fanatics in base to base contact, representing a swarm of grabbing hands tearing the body apart. This also means that it is not necessary to eat an entire corpse in one turn. The action points required can be spent over multiple turns by multiple Romero fanatics. Routed and panicked individuals can also be eaten in this manner, but at least two Romero fanatics are then required to be in base to base contact. No forces other than the Romero fanatics have the ‘eating’ ability. Force 4 The Police Where would we be without the police…? Well in this case probably better off. These guys don’t discriminate. Working by the notion of: “where there are to fighting, there are two to blame” they decided to make an end to this nonsense. That doesn’t mean they will go on a random slaughtering rampage, they will just take out some key figures. The helpful bystanders seem to be on their side and can therefore not be attacked by the police, unless they are provoked by the helpful bystanders. Mission: Get the group leaders of the Paranoid cineastes, the Romero fanatics and the Helpful bystanders killed (the helpful bystanders should learn to leave a police job to trained professionals). Note that you do not have to be the one to kill them as long as they die. Also note that you can not attack the helpful bystanders unless you are provoked, so it might be necessary to force a provocation at one point in the game Provocation: The Police feel provoked, if the Helpful bystanders attack (shooting or close combat) the Police or if a Helpful bystanders gets within point blank range of any policeman. This also means that the police can force a provocation by moving in point blank range of a helpful bystander (those lousy civilians should know better than not getting out of the way when the almighty police approaches) Q&A Q: Why do the Paranoid cineastes carry weapons to the movie theatre?
Q: Why can’t I have a recoilless rifle? Q: Why just 200 points per force? If the paranoid cineastes manage to build a force of three groups, these will be lightly armed, so that the Helpful bystanders still have a winning chance. Additional notes A multiplayer scenario hardly ever is played as was envisioned by the designer. When playing this scenario it is therefore very well possible that surprises come up during the game. It is suggested that this scenario is used as a way of creating an ambience for your game. When something is unclear, just do what fits best in the spirit of the scenario. As to the victory conditions, the first force to complete its mission is the winner. If no one manages to complete its mission, the lat force standing is the winner. |