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DOWNLOAD PDF AN ONGOING NEWSLETTER October 2010


The Combat Zone Slasher
by Arjen Pilon

0018 Trooper Leader. Handgun. Cigar. Peaked fatigue cap Combat Zone Slasher Claims Four

HADDONFIELD - Four teenagers on 13th Crystal Lake Street were brutally murdered during last Friday's Halloween. Eyewitnesses claim they saw the Combat Zone Slasher leave the scene of the crime. Corporate security forces are investigating.

Local gangs are mustering their strength to catch the Slasher themselves. Last seen exactly 5 years ago, the Slasher has claimed 58 lives since his first appearance exactly 15 years ago. He has never been caught and his true identity is unknown.(AP)

Whoever the Combat Zone Slasher is, he has come back for more.

This article gives you the ins and outs on designing your own Combat Zone Slasher and using him in games. Playing a Slasher game basically requires two steps. First you have to design your Slasher, as not all Slashers are the same, and second you have to select a scenario to play.

Designing a Slasher

Not all Slashers are the same, but many share common characteristics. They are exceptionally tough and they have a habit of returning, no matter how often they are defeated.

The Slasher is an anti-Hero with unique abilities and a slightly different profile:

Type: Slasher
Points value: 275 including choice of equipment
Quality: Elite
Action Points: 8
Rerolls: 5
Attack Dice: 2D8+1D6
Wound Dice: 2D8
Initiative: 1D8
Toughness: 10+

Slasher special rules

Evil never dies

No one ever managed to kill the Slasher, people have tried but the Slasher always returned sooner or later. If the Slasher is killed the current turn ends immediately but do not remove the Slasher from the table. Place it on it's back to show that it's down.

At the start of the following turn, before rolling for initiative, roll a D6 and apply the appropriate result. A slasher may not use a reroll on this roll!

D6 result Effect
1-2 In an unguarded moment the Slasher has disappeared! He is considered defeated and probably won't return for at least a year.
3-4 Despite his wounds the Slasher gets up again and may continue to fight as normal
5-6 In an unguarded moment the Slasher has disappeared, but the wonder of a witness quickly turns to horror as he feels a big knife plunge in his back. The Slasher stands up as above, but in addition may be placed anywhere within 20cm of his previous position. He may be placed in close combat

Complete lack of emotion/raging psychopath

The Slasher will stop at nothing to kill more victims, it is immune to panic and rout reactions and treats all reaction tests as an OK! result. This also means the Slasher can leave close combat without penalty.

In addition, because he knows no fear the Slasher may never 'Keep Down'.

Boogieman

The Slasher brings with it many tales of horror that inspire fear in all-comers.

Green or Average quality figures suffer an additional –1 to any Reaction tests while in Close combat with a Slasher.

Jumping from buildings

The Slasher may choose to jump from any building by simply moving out of it. If he does so, he gets an automatic damage roll of 2D6 for every floor level he falls, so if he jumps from the third floor he falls down two levels and gets a 4D6 damage roll.

Other models are not allowed to jump from buildings as they have more sense of self-preservation.

Slasher abilities and quirks

In addition to all the special rules above, each Slasher may choose up to one of the Slasher abilities below. In addition, he must choose at least one Slasher quirk.

Slasher abilities (pick one) Special rules
Cloud of bees From within his long coat the Slasher has the ability to summon a cloud of supernatural bees to attack a victim nearby. It costs 3 action points to summon the bees. The cloud has a range of 15cm and hits the target on a D6 roll of 3+*. A successful hit causes no damage but automatically triggers a rout reaction in the victim. The cloud of bees can be summoned once per turn. Models in NBC or bee-keeping suits are immune to the bees, as are models that are immune to reaction tests like robots.*Modifiers to hit: green quality target +1, average quality target 0, veteran quality target –1, elite quality target –2, no other modifiers apply.
ColossalThe Slasher is simply huge! He has a toughness of 11+
Combat maniac The Slasher is a maniac for close combat. Rather than having one rusty blade, he may be armed with multiple weapons chosen from the Slasher weapon list below
Decapitator The Slasher knows just where to find a victim's weak spot, or just likes to lop off people's heads. He rolls 2D8+1D6 wound dice instead of 2D8
One step ahead The Slasher is always one step ahead of his chasers, he may roll 2D8 for initiative instead of the normal 1D8. In addition, if the Slasher has the highest initiative, he may choose whether to go first or second
Where'd he go? The Slasher has a habit of attacking suddenly from unguarded angles. When a player wishes to fire on the Slasher from opportunity fire he must first roll a D6, on a score of 1-5 the Slasher escapes the shooter's vision: the opportunity fire action is wasted and the shot misses. The Slasher may continue his turn normally. On a score of 6 the shooter may fire as normal. Modifiers: veteran +1, elite +2

Slasher quirks (pick one) Special rules
Body-part collector/cannibal The Slasher likes to collect or consume parts of the body from his victims. After it makes a kill the Slasher must roll a D6: on a 3+ the Slasher considers the victim fit for skinning/collecting/eating and must spend his next three actions to cut away the parts he desires and store or consume them. If the Slasher does not have enough actions to do this in the current turn he must do it in the next turn. The actions may be split across turns
Midget The Slasher is extraordinarily small and more frail than the usual Slasher. He has a toughness of 8+ and may not take the "Colossal" ability. However, all shooting at the Slasher suffers a –1 to hit as if he were keeping down
Talker The Slasher feels a deep need to explain to his victims exactly why and how he's going to kill them, and while doing so wastes heaps of time to caress his own ego. Initiating a round of combat costs two action points rather than one for a monologuer, as half of the time is spent talking.
Slow advance The Slasher has a very steady walk and never runs. The Slasher may only move 4cm when performing a movement action rather than the usual 5cm and may not perform more than 5 move actions in a turn

Slasher weapons

Unless the Slasher is a Combat maniac it may be armed with up to one of the following weapons.

A Combat maniac may take as many weapons as it likes but two will usually be enough.

The Slasher may not use any ranged fire weapons with the exception of thrown weapons (which are assumed to be carried along or picked up on the spot)

Power tool or two handed weapon attack modifier: +D4, wound modifier: +5, cannot use an additional close combat weapon
Axe, bone sawcounts as an axe
Machete, huge knife counts as a sword
Bladed glove/razor claws/meat hook attack modifier: +2D6, wound modifier: +0
Knife/blunt weapon/club/ice pick counts as a club or knife
Light thrown weapons (dishes, scissors, knives RoF: 2, point blank range: 3, short range: 15, long range: 20, damage: 2D6
Heavy thrown weapons (machete, heavy iron rods RoF: 1, point blank range: 3, short range: 15, long range: 20, damage: 3D6

Slasher scenarios

You can use the Slasher rules to play a very basic game where the Slasher faces a force of troopers or gangs with an equal points value, but it's more interesting to play a scenario specifically meant for the Slasher. I've devised two

Scenario 1: Stop him!

The Slasher has gone for an old-fashioned killing spree in the Zone. However, the local gangs running the neighbourhood have every intent to stop him before he kills too many people who supply the gang with valuable protection money.

The forces

The Slasher is all on his own (aaaaw...), with a weapon of his choice. Opposing him is 400 points worth of gangs chosen from the Gang Force list in the Battle Book.

The setup

Cover the table with buildings, preferably homes. The Slasher may then deploy anywhere within 20cm of the centre of the table, he may not be deployed inside a building. The gang player then chooses a table edge and places his gangs within 20cm of that edge.

What about the civilians?

When the Slasher (but not a ganger or other civilian) enters a building, determine how many civilians are in the building by rolling the appropriate amount of dice for the type of building

The civilians may be placed anywhere inside the building by the gang player.

They are of green quality, they count as out of coherency (4 actions), do not roll for initiative and are moved by the gang player as individuals every turn after the Slasher and the gangs have moved (including the turn in which they are revealed).

Type of building No. of civilians
School 2D6
Diner, bar, restaurant, bank or post office (there's always a line) D6
Recreational grounds (park, swimming pool, forest, etc. Define recreational grounds before the game) D3+1
Residence (home, house, apartment or floor of a flat) D3+1
Store, office or other corporate building (including industry) D3
Possible homeless shelter (e.g. drain pipe or under a bridge), very small or oddball building D3-1
Ruin D3-2

Civilian fighters

If a natural six is rolled on any die (including on a D3) then one of the civilians dares to fight back (for example, if you enter a home and you roll a natural "6" you have 4 persons, one of which is a fighter).

Roll a D8 on the following table to determine the quality and equipment of the civilian

D8 result Quality and equipment of the civilian
1-3 The civilian is of green quality and armed with a knife or club
4-5 The civilian is of average quality and armed with a knife or club
6 The civilian is of average quality and armed with a medium pistol
7 The civilian is of average quality and armed with a shotgun
8 The civilian counts as a gang leader of average quality armed with a heavy pistol and a knife or club

The civilian moves as an individual with the rest of the civilians.

It may choose to join a gang but then it has to stay with that gang for the rest of the game.

If the civilian is a gang leader it may be joined by other fighting civilians to form a gang of their own.

Once the civilians in a building are revealed the buildings cannot produce any more civilians until all the buildings have been entered at least once.

Once all the buildings have been searched the table is 'reset' and the Slasher can start searching buildings again. This is to keep the game going, especially if you have few buildings

Winning the game

The Slasher wins the game outright if he kills all the opposing gangs, not counting any fighting civilians unless they joined the gang.

The gang player wins if they take out the Slasher before he kills 10 civilians.

Gangers don't count toward this score, fighting civilians do unless they join a gang (including a gang lead by a fighting civilian gang leader).

Scenario 2: The trap

The corporate security forces have set up a trap for the Slasher on the upper floor of a tall building. The Slasher fell for it, and now the forces have surrounded the building and trapped the Slasher inside.

The Forces

The Slasher is on his own. The corporate security forces are composed of four squads: two close quarters squads and two heavy support squads. The squads are composed as follows:

Squad A: Corporate cop close quarters squad
1. cop leader, average, ablative armour, machine pistol, club. 27pts
2. cop subleader, average, ablative armour, machine pistol, club. 23pts
3. cop, average, ablative armour, machine pistol, club. 20pts
4. cop, average, ablative armour, autoshotgun, club. 19pts
5. cop, average, ablative armour, autoshotgun, club. 19pts
Total: 108pts

Squad B: Corporate cop close quarters squad
1. cop leader, average, ablative armour, machine pistol, club. 27pts
2. cop subleader, average, ablative armour, machine pistol, club. 23pts
3. cop, average, ablative armour, machine pistol, club. 20pts
4. cop, average, ablative armour, autoshotgun, club. 19pts
5. cop, average, ablative armour, autoshotgun, club. 19pts
Total: 108pts

Squad C: Corporate cop heavy support squad
1. cop leader, veteran, ablative armour, machine gun, club. 56pts
2. cop subleader, veteran, ablative armour, autocannon, club. 52pts
3. cop, veteran, ablative armour, heavy laser (counts as recoilless rifle), club. 33pts
Total: 141pts

Squad D: Corporate cop heavy support squad
1. cop leader, veteran, ablative armour, machine gun, club. 56pts
2. cop subleader, veteran, ablative armour, autocannon, club. 52pts
3. cop, veteran, ablative armour, heavy laser (counts as recoilless rifle), club. 33pts
Total: 141pts

The Setup

The game takes places in a tall building with at least two floors (preferably more). The Corporate security forces have set up a perimeter within 30cm of the edges of the building. This perimeter counts as the table edge and any models moving outside the perimeter count as slain and may no longer take part in the game.

The Slasher deploys his model first anywhere on the top floor or the roof of the building (if both are possible the Slasher may choose). The Corporate player may then deploy his squads anywhere outside the building but within the perimeter.

The close quarter squads (A and B) have the primary task of taking out the Slasher. The heavy support squads (C and D) have a strict support role and may not enter the building. They may fire on the Slasher inside the building if they can see him, as long as he is not in combat.

Winning The Game

The winner is the player with any models alive at the end of the game! Though the Slasher is outnumbered point-wise he has the advantage that the cops can get split up, and that they can't run very far because of the perimeter.

However, if the Slasher kills more than his own points cost worth before being defeated you can be sure that the head of this operation (i.e.: you) will be severely reprimanded!

0018 Trooper Leader. Handgun. Cigar. Peaked fatigue cap Modelling a Slasher

If you want to play the game straight away the best models to use as a Slasher are the EM4 Savages. Some simple weapon removals could make them fit the job perfectly.

If you're a horror nut like me though you may want to model your own favourite Slasher.

I based my first Slasher model on Jason Vorhees from the Friday The 13th series. As a base figure I took the trooper leader with fatigue cap. I repositioned his right arm and replaced his pistol with a sword from my parts box.

I cut off his head and gave him the mask from a savage model. I wanted him to be bald, so I sculpted the back of his head myself.

I drybrushed his outfit in a dirty blue and washed it with brown ink for extra dirt. I painted his leather bits very dark brown and his mask light khaki. I painted the metal bits in gun metal and dulled them (especially the blade) with thinned down black and brown paints.

I made his skin extra dark with brown ink, and gave him hair on his arms with thinned down black paint. It didn't turn out as a perfect match and in hindsight the road hero would probably have been a better base figure, but the idea comes across.

My second Slasher was based on Michael Meijers from the Halloween movies. I used the trooper leader with fatigue cap as a base figure again, but I wanted him to wear a jump-suit so I cut off the head, arms, holster and pouch.

I filed away the belt and kneepads and gave him a different waist and legs with putty. Then I attached arms from the Trooper Command arms set (a medkit arm without the medkit and a pointing arm without the finger), filling any gaps. I gave him a knife from my parts box. I also looked for the most emotionless spare head I had lying around, drilled holes in the eyes and attached it to the body. Then I modelled on a new haircut and a neck.

When he was done I undercoated him black and drybrushed him in grey, followed by a brown wash for a dirty look. I painted the head white and the hair and boots brown.

I painted the buttons and knife silver and added some blood.

In the end I think he looks decent but unfortunately his head is too big, so maybe I'll give it another shot in the future. Rules-wise he won't differ from my other Slasher model much but I like to have a model of him anyway.


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