As promised last time I'm going to review the eight 28mm scale Hero figures that come with Flying Frog Productions' boardgame, A Touch Of Evil and a bonus of the four Hero figures that come with the expansion set, Hero Pack One. I'll describe the background of each Hero along with their Special Abilities and stats and end with a few personal notes. Note that in a few cases I have added my own Christian names or surnames.
At the far left is Heinrich Cartwright, the Drifter. Always in the wrong place at the wrong time, Heinrich Cartwright arrived in Shadowbrook this afternoon. Drifting from town to town, he is a stranger to all. With a scruffy beard and well worn clothes, he has learned to be resourceful, making do with what is on hand. In his long life, Heinrich Cartwright has seen more than his share of death and the unspeakable horrors that haunt the world. Seen them... and defeated them!
His Special Abilities are Resourceful (when drawing an Event card he may draw two and choose which one to keep. The other is discarded) and Outsider (he starts the game at the Crossroads. He may not use his Resourceful ability at the Town Hall).
With 4 Wounds, 4 Honour and 4 Spirit he is quite a tough character but his 2 Cunning and 2 Combat do let him down.
Next to Heinrich is Inspector Jonathan Cooke. From the neighbouring "big city", Police Inspector Jonathan Cooke has come to Shadowbrook to hunt down and apprehend the men responsible for terrorising this small community. Rooted in science and fact, he believes that there is nothing that cannot be explained through investigation and logic. To him,  fear and superstition are the greatest enemies of reason.
He has only one Special Ability - Detective, which allows him to collect 1 extra Investigation token from the same source (either from the board or Pool of Investigation) except from a Fight.
Inspector Cooke has 4 Cunning and 4 Honour, 3 Wounds, 2 Combat and 1 Spirit. He is very much ATOE's version of Ichabod Crane from Sleepy Hollow. He is weak in combat but very good at collecting Investigation Tokens.
Standing second from the right is Thomas Lowrance the Courier. Since a young age, Thomas has been a traveller. A loner and a scout, he makes a living as a courier, forever on the move. With a scarred face and dead eye, Thomas has always looked out for himself above all else. Riding into town with a special delivery for one of the Elders of Shadowbrook, he finds himself wrapped up in the mysterious and deadly events that begin to unfold around him.
Thomas has two Special Abilities - Traveller (adds +2 to Movement) and Delivery (at the start of the game he may peek at the secrets of one Town Elder without revealing them).
Thomas has average stats with 3 Combat, 3 Spirit, 3 Wounds, 2 Cunning and 2 Honour. His Traveller Ability allows him to dash around the board far faster than anyone else. This can be quite advantageous. Buy him a Horse and he really move!
At the far left is Karl Meehan the Soldier. A veteran of the Revolution, Karl has witnessed horrors of war first hand. During his time in the continental army he also saw things that were beyond belief... supernatural things. With his hardened combat experience and research of the occult, Karl has become a hunter, tracking down and vanquishing the creatures of the night.
Karl has one Special Ability - Veteran (he may ignore the first Hit taken during each Fight Round (no additional benefit with Lady Hanbrook)).
Karl's stats of 5 Honour, 4 Combat, 3 Wounds, 2 Cunning and 2 Spirit make him very good in a fight. Because the figure is holding a musket I try to buy it for him from the Blacksmith's as soon as he can afford it. It adds +2 to his Combat score.
At the far left of my next set of photos is Victor Danforth the Playwright. A boastful braggart and a master thespian, the world renowned Victor Danforth expounds endlessly on his life of adventure and romantic exploits. He has learned every trick of the trade to keep up appearances while hiding the fact that he is, at heart, a cowardly soul who is afraid of his own shadow.
Victor has two Special Abilities - Creative Thinking (when rolling for Movement draw an Event card on a roll of 1 or 2 instead of just 1) and Flair for the Dramatic (as an Action, he may pay 4 Investigation to take any card with quote marks in the title from the Event discard pile (limit once per Turn)).
Victor is the least adept Hero at fighting with 1 Combat but his other stats make up for this deficiency - 4 Cunning, 4 Spirit, 3 Honour and 3 Wounds. That said, I have used him successfully on two occasions and he's never let me down yet.
Moving on to the females, first up is Anne Marie Henderson the School Teacher. Having recently arrived in Shadowbrook, Anne Marie has come to replace the last school master who disappeared quite suddenly, under mysterious circumstances. With a firm hand and compassionate spirit, she believes that only knowledge can bring the power to make the world a better place.
She has two Special Abilities - Lightweight (may not use Gun Items except the Pistol) and Knowledge is Power (gains +2 Combat for each Book Item she has).
Her stats are average with 4 Spirit, 3 Cunning, 3 Honour, 3 Wounds and 2 Combat. She performed heroically for me in one game when I teamed her up with Inspector Cooke against the Spectral Horseman in my remake of Sleepy Hollow. Thanks to an unfortunate Mystery Phase result the Showdown occurred far too early for my liking. Inspector Cooke got knocked out in Round One but Anne Marie survived and in Round Two defeated the villain thanks to her good foresight in buying two books very early in the game. They gave her +4 Combat which was enough to swing the tide in her favour.
Second from the right is Isabella Von Took the Noble Woman. Wife to one of the wealthiest statesmen in the former colonies, Isabella Von Took has led a pampered but secluded life. Used to playing politics and getting what she wants, Isabella is not above treachery and deceit when it suits her. Recently widowed, she has set out with an entourage of servants and a coach full of luggage to find her own adventure in the world.
Isabella has two Special Abilities - Manipulation (she may discard an Ally, Item or Investigation Token to prevent a Wound to herself. This may be used any number of times per Turn) and Personal Servants (she may carry one extra Item or Ally from a single Location or a one extra Town Item).
Isabella has below average stats with 3 Combat, 3 Cunning, 3 Spirit and only 2 Honour and 2 Wounds. You'd think having just 2 Wounds would make her rather fragile in Combat but her Manipulation Ability makes it very difficult to wound her, especially if she amasses a lot of Investigation Tokens.
Last in line from this group is Katarina Morgaine the Outlaw. A scoundrel and a thief, Katarina stalks the roads at night as a highway robber. Her skill with a blade and accuracy with her trusty pistol crossbow are matched only by her strong sense of honour. With a wink and a smile, she only steals from the richest of travellers who greedily horde their ill-gotten wealth.
Katarina has one excellent Special Ability - Deadly (when rolling Fight Dice, she hits on a 4, 5 or 6 instead of the normal 5 or 6).
As befits such an honourable woman she has 5 Honour. Her 4 Wounds are impressive but her 3 Cunning is average and her 2 Combat and 2 Spirit are poor. Try to equip her with a weapon or two as soon as possible and she'll serve you well in a game.
Moving on, here are the four Heroes from Hero Pack One, starting with Harlow Morgan the Inventor. A genius by all accounts, Harlow Morgan is an inventor, a craftsman and a diplomat of the highest order. On his many trips to London and Paris he has returned with not only new ideas and innovations, but legendary tales of adventure, intrigue and romance. During his last excursion to Spain, it is said that in a single night he had dinner with the royal family, was seen gallivanting with the infamous Lady Montoya, invented a new timepiece and solved the Riddle of Nardu. Not bad for a day's work.
Harlow has three Special Abilities - Genius (gains 1 Investigation at the start of each of his Hero Turns), Invention (as an Action, he may discard any two of his Items to take another Item out of the discard pile) and Quick Thinking (he may pay 2 investigation to gain +1 Fight Dice until the end of the Fight Round. This may be used multiple times per Fight).
His stats are 4 Cunning, 3 Honour, 3 Wounds and a measly 1 Combat and 1 Spirit. However, his Quick Thinking Ability can quickly rack up his Fight Dice.
The second male from this set is the Scarlet Shadow. A daring outlaw and highwayman, the Scarlet Shadow is a hero of the people and a scourge to the greedy and unjust. Stalking the roads at night, he is a wanted man in the town of Shadowbrook (as well as many other neighbouring towns no doubt). As a masked avenger, the Scarlet shadow is also a protector, hunting down the dark creatures of the night that have grown more numerous and bold of late.
The Scarlet Shadow has three Special Abilities - Secret Camp (he starts the game at any Road space. When KO'd, he is placed at the Abandoned Keep instead of the Town Hall. While at the Abandoned Keep, he may heal Wounds as an action for 1 Investigation each), Wanted (when ending his Move in a Town space, he must make a Cunning 5+ test. If failed, he must pay 1d6 Investigation. He takes 1 Wound for each investigation he cannot pay) and Shadow Move (any time he has 6 or more for Movement, he may instead move to any space).
The Scarlet Shadow is the most honourable of all the heroes with 6 Honour. 4 Combat is good, 3 Cunning and 3 Wounds are average and 2 Spirit is below average. He is a good character to play and makes a perfect partner for Katarina the Outlaw (see above).

Something Wicked is the first of the two big expansion sets and it contains quite a lot - 1 Full Colour Rulebook, 1 Expansion Game Board, 4 Unique 28mm Scale Hero Figures, 20 Card Monastery Deck, 20 Card Forgotten Island Deck, 20 Card The Inn Deck, 12 Monastery Item Cards, 4 Abandoned Keep Cards, 4 Manor Cards, 4 Olde Woods Cards, 4 Windmill Cards, 9 Lair Cards, 8 Event Cards, 12 Mystery Cards, 1 Town Item Card, 4 Curse of Stone Cards, 2 Possessed/ Crimson Hand Cards, 4 Large Hero Character Record Sheets, 4 Large Villain Record Sheets, 4 Extra Large Villain Minion Chart Cards, 1 Large Reference Card for Terrain Effects and 3 Full Colour Sheets of Die-Cut Counters. This expansion set adds the Echo Lake game board, which can be added to the right of the Shadowbrook board, doubling the size of the total game board. Echo Lake adds three new Corner Locations (Forgotten Island, The Inn and The Monastery), as well as new Dangerous Locations and paths that may be travelled.

I'll describe the four new Heroes in greater detail next time, along with photos of them. The four new Villains are the Banshee, the Gargoyle, the Bog Fiend and the Unspeakable Horror (a Cthulhu-type monster). There are a few new rules added to the game, most of which are optional. However, some of these optional rules are highly recommended, e.g.  Too Many Secrets, Exchanging Items and Allies in the Competitive Game and using the Advanced Cooperative Mystery Phase Chart (for this you roll 2d6 and consult the chart instead of rolling 1d6 and having fewer options on the original chart). For me, the best new rules of all were the solo play rules. These are split into using a single Hero or a team of Heroes (2 to 3 being the recommended number). As a solo player, these new rules made this expansion set a must have purchase. If you're a solo player you'll need this set.

The Coast is the second big expansion set and it contains the following - 1 Full Colour Rulebook, 1 Expansion Game Board, 4 Unique 28mm Scale Hero Figures, 20 Card Lighthouse Deck, 20 Card Shipwreck Deck, 20 Card Smuggler's Cove Deck, 12 Coastal Town Items, 12 Tidewater Village Encounter Cards, 7 Hauntings Cards, 8 Secrets Cards, 3 Tidewater Town Elders Cards, 4 Abandoned Keep Cards, 4 Manor Cards, 4 Olde Woods Cards, 4 Windmill Cards, 12 Lair Cards, 12 Event Cards, 22 Mystery Cards, 1 Town Item Card, 1 Drowned Dead Card, 4 Large Hero Character Record Sheets, 4 Large Villain Record Sheets, 4 Extra Large Villain Minion Charts, 1 Large Reference Card of Kraken/Haunted, 1 Extra Large Reference Card for Lost Ship and 2 Full Colour Sheets of Die-Cut Counters. This expansion features a coastline to explore. It may be added to the Shadowbrook board and sits neatly to the right of it, doubling the size of the total game board. If you also have the Echo Lake board from the Something Wicked expansion, the three boards may be used together, lining up the roads from Shadowbrook, through Echo Lake to the Coast. The Coast board adds three new Corner Locations (the Lighthouse, the Shipwreck and the Smuggler's Cove) as well as the town of Tidewater, new Dangerous Locations and a few new paths that may be travelled.

Once again, I'll describe the four new Heroes in greater detail next time, along with photos of them. The four new Villains are the Dreamweaver, the Ghost Ship, the Siren and the Sunken Seven Ghostly Horde. More new rules are introduced, all of which add to the flavour of the game. One notable feature of Tidewater is that it has its own group of Town Elders, albeit fewer in number than in Shadowbrook - three instead of six. Just like their counterparts from inland these three characters have their own Secrets and they may help or hinder the Heroes in their quest to vanquish evil. I have yet to play this expansion set but I am immensely looking forward to trying it out as I have read nothing but good reviews of it. Indeed, I have heard some say it is the best expansion set for the game. With the inclusion of ghosts and undead pirates I say, what's not to like about it? I'll play a few games using The Coast with the original set and omit the Something Wicked board but what I'm really looking forward to is playing some truly epic games using all three sets.

Hero Pack One is a much smaller expansion set and it contains the following - 1 Full Colour Rules Booklet, 4 Unique 28mm Scale Hero Figures, 4 Large Hero Character Record Sheets, 6 Event Cards, 1 Abandoned Keep Card, 1 Manor Card, 1 Olde Woods Card, 1 Windmill Card and 1 Large Villain Record Sheet. Note that the new Necromancer Villain uses the Vampire Minion Chart from the A Touch Of Evil base game.
The Hero Pack One expansion introduces four new monster hunting Heroes - Adrianna Quetado the Foreign Traveller, Harlow Morgan the Inventor, Lucy Hanbrook and the Scarlet Shadow. I reviewed these figures last time. Also included are 10 powerful Event and Location Cards, which are meant to be shuffled into their respective decks.
The new villain is the Necromancer. With total control of the Walking Dead, the Necromancer strangles the streets of Shadowbrook with an endless horde of zombie  minions and an unquenchable thirst for destruction.


I found it slightly misleading that the back cover of the game box prominently features a picture of Valeria the Eternal, a Hero from Something Wicked. For sure, you can mix and match the Heroes from all the sets but if you bought this set before Something Wicked, there is a good chance you might ask, who is that woman in the red dress and why isn't she in this set? Yes, it is only a minor criticism but it did make me wonder.
This is not a bad expansion set but it is not quite as essential as the two big expansion sets described above. Still, it does offer four more Heroes and a new villain to conquer, thus giving you more options and variety.







Hero Pack Two is very similar to Hero Pack One and contains the following - 1 Full Colour Rules Booklet, 4 Unique 28mm Scale Hero Figures, 4 Large Hero Character Record Sheets, 3 Event Cards, 3 Mystery Cards, 1 Abandoned Keep Card, 1 Manor Card, 1 Olde Woods Card, 1 Windmill Card, 1 Large Villain Record Sheet and 1 Extra Large Villain Minion Chart.
Hero Pack Two introduces four exciting new Heroes - Frederic Leon the Foreign Diplomat, Jack Fellows the Privateer, Abigail Sturn the Student of the Occult and Sara Essex the Bright Witch. I'll review these and the new Heroes from Something Wicked and The Coast in my next post. The 10 new cards should be shuffled into their respective decks.
The new Villain is the Reaper, a master of death and decay who brings withering despair to all that it touches. Casting its Dark Mark on the next unlucky victim, the Reaper harvests souls to feed its fetid hunger.

I don't have a lot to say about this expansion set. As with Hero Pack One, it comes with four new Heroes, a new Villain and an extra 10 cards. If you're a completist like me, you'll want this set but I can hardly describe either of these two small expansion sets as essential purchases. They are useful to have but if it comes down to affordability I'd recommend giving them a miss and buy either or both of the big expansion sets if you don't already have them.

Amazon UK currently has the two big expansion sets in stock. Something Wicked retails for £28.30. The Coast is slightly cheaper at £27.75. Hero Pack One and Hero Pack Two cost me about £15.00 each when I ordered them from Amazon. They are currently out of stock but I've just checked to see if they are available on eBay and they are, with both being offered for a tad over £20.00 each.

Finally, please note that all four expansion sets require that you own the original base set.

Here are the remaining 12 heroes from the A Touch Of Evil game, starting with the four Heroes from the Something Wicked expansion set, then the four Heroes from The Coast expansion set and finishing with the four Heroes from Hero Pack Two.
At the far left of the photos above and below is Captain Meriwether Hawkins. A lifelong military man, Captain Hawkins saw much action in the Revolution and various civil uprisings since. A decorated Captain in the Continental Army, he is a man of reason and strategy  and has much experience with command. Having heard of this supposed supernatural "creature" terrorising the locals he has travelled to Shadowbrook to put an end to this nonsense and bring the community under some semblance of control... by force, if necessary.
Captain Hawkins has two Special Abilities -  Call To Arms (as an Action, he may pay 2 Investigation to place a Militia in any space on the board (limit of one per space). This may only be used if there are currently 4 or fewer Militia markers on the board. Limit of once per Turn) and Field Command (during his Move phase, he may pay 1 Investigation to move a Militia marker to any other space on the board. If there is a Minion there, he may discard the Militia and roll 1d6. On the roll of 3+ discard the Minion as well and gain the Minion's victory reward as though it was defeated in a fight.
Captain Hawkins has stats of 4 Honour, 3 Combat, 3 Cunning, 3 Wounds and 2 Spirit. His abilities to field and move Militia are very useful and once the Villain's lair has been revealed he should place a Militia there to aid the Heroes in the Showdown.
Standing next to Captain Hawkins is Brother Marcus Faugno. Journeying the countryside, Brother Marcus is far from home. His long pilgrimage has taken him on many adventures around the world but none quite so deadly as that which he faces now. Armed only with his faith and fortitude, Brother Marcus has at last found the destiny he has long been searching.
Bother Marcus has three Special Abilities - Faithful (he may not use Gun Items. He may use Spirit instead of Combat in a Fight), Mission (he starts the game at the Crossroads) and Strength of Spirit (he may pay 2 Investigation to cancel any Mystery card or Event (including an Event result on the Villain's Minion Chart) on the 1d6 roll of 4+. Limit once per Turn).
Brother Marcus's stats are a mixed bag with 4 Spirit, 4 Wounds, 3 Honour, 1 Combat and 1 Cunning. In the one game that I used him I sent him to the Monastery, where he stocked up on religious Items that made him extremely powerful in the Showdown. Try and boost his Spirit stat even higher. I got it up to 6, making him the best fighter in my party.
Moving on, we come to the first of the two females from this set, Eliza Spain the Witch Hunter. Recently dispatched to Shadowbrook from the Sanctum of the Moebius Malem, Eliza has come with a single purpose - to eliminate any and all supernatural activity with extreme prejudice. As per the guidelines of her Order, she has been granted full inquisitorial authority and has been decreed to use whatever means necessary to accomplish her mission. Any who might stand in her way are to be considered... acceptable losses.
Eliza has three Special Abilities - Zealot (she may take a wound to gain +2 Spirit, Cunning, Honour or Combat for a single test. Limit of once per test. This wound may be assigned to Militia), Inquisition (any time she reveals a Town Elder's Secret, she gains 4 Investigation for every Little Secret or Evil card revealed. Limit once per Turn), and Hunter (has +2 Fight Dice against any Demon, Ghost or Magik enemy).
Eliza stats are 4 Wounds, 3 Cunning, 3 Spirit, 2 Combat and 2 Honour. Having 4 Wounds means she can easily use her Zealot ability to boost her Combat in a fight. As is, she's okay but if you can equip her with weapons she becomes much stronger. I've only used her once but I managed to arm her with a dagger, a musket and a pistol for +4 Combat and she was unstoppable.
Last in line is Valeria the Eternal. Beautiful but deadly, Valeria has walked this Earth for millennia; one of the few remaining vampires of the ancient world. Once a noble princess of the legendary Kingdom of Pharoz, she now travels the world in secret, the last of a long dead civilisation. With the memory of a hundred lifetimes, Valeria is not interested in fame or fortune, only the fleeting joy found in hunting the most dangerous of prey.
Valeria has three Special Abilities - Vampire (automatically heals 1d3 Wounds at the end of a Fight Round in which she defeated an enemy (this may prevent her from being KO'd). Immune to Curses), Strength of Darkness (gains 1 Investigation each time the Shadow Track moves a step closer to Darkness) and Undead (may not use Gun Items and may not use or carry any items that are Holy or that gain a bonus against Vampires, including Town Elders).
Valeria's stats are surprisingly average with 3 for Combat, Cunning, Honour and Wounds and 2 Spirit. Will it surprise anyone to learn that Valeria is my favourite Hero? I thought not! Note how her name is a partial anagram of Vampirella. I have only used her once so far in a team up with two other females against the Vampire. I reasoned it would take a vampire to defeat a vampire and she did - she wiped the floor with him!
The first of the Heroes from The Coast is Doctor Jeremy Edwards. A physician from the neighboring city, Doctor Edwards has come to Shadowbrook on the behest of his good friend, Jonathan Cooke. "Come at once!" the letter had said. "Urgent need of your skills and wisdom for matters... supernatural." With haste he had set out in a coach at once, not fully understanding what dark and dangerous trouble lay before him. He owed the inspector a great deal for saving his life on their last adventure in Boston, and tonight he was not about to let his friend down.
Doctor Edwards has two Special Abilities - Field Medicine (he may heal Wounds from himself or any other Hero in his space for 1 Investigation each. This may be used at any time except during a Fight Round) and Autopsy (while in any Town space he may remove a dead Town Elder from the game to gain 1d6 Investigation).
Doctor Edwards has 5 Honour, 3 Cunning, 3 Wounds, 2 Combat and 2 Spirit. He is just crying out to be used alongside Inspector Cooke for the original game. His most useful ability is Field Medicine, which will be of great value to any party.
Next up is Argot Blackwell the Master Hunter. A masterful soldier, scholar of dark knowledge and hunter of all things evil, Argot Blackwell has only ever known the cold realities of a supernatural world. As a young boy in distant Europe, his family was massacred by werewolves. Only he was saved by the intervention of a valiant hunter, a drifter tracking the beasts through the mountains and dispatching the entire pack single-handed. Swearing his life to vengeance upon all foul creatures of the night, Argot honed his skills over 40 years, learning everything about the dark monsters... and how to kill them.
Argot has four Special Abilities - Gruff Outsider (he does not draw an Event card for encountering a Town space), On the Hunt for Evil (he may draw an Event card any time he defeats a Minion or does a Hit to the Villain outside of Shadowbrook), Know Thine Enemy (he may discard an Event card to gain +2 Fight Dice for one attack or to prevent a Wound to himself) and Hunter (gains +2 Fight Dice against any Ancient, Beast or Vampire enemy).
His stats are 4 Combat, 3 Cunning, 3 Wounds, 2 Honour and 2 Spirit. Argot is good at one thing and that is killing monsters. If the Villain is an Ancient, a Beast or a Vampire he's your go to Hero. I like this guy!
The first of the two females from this set is Liliana Bagget the Lost Soul. Though youthful, Liliana is an old soul who was changed forever when her entire village was wiped out by a vicious creature. Swearing an oath of vengeance, she now travels the countryside hunting that very villain that savaged everything she once held dear. Her singular focus on revenge has given her strength over the years to press on, many times closing in on the beast, only to have it slip through her grasp. At last she has tracked it down once more to the small town of Shadowbrook. No more shall die by its hands.
Liliana has three Special Abilities - Shadow of the Past (she may roll an extra Fight Dice for each Hit she does in a Fight Round), Spirited (she always uses Spirit in a fight) and Loss of Faith (she may not exchange Items or Allies with other Heroes. Training Spirit at the Church requires an Honour 6+ test for her).
Her stats are varied with 4 Honour, 3 Spirit, 3 Wounds, 2 Cunning and 1 Combat. It will certainly pay you to try and increase her Spirit stat. In this set's FAQ someone asked, "does Liliana's Shadow of the Past ability stack?" Yes, it does. Any extra Fight Dice that roll Hits cause additional extra Fight Dice to be rolled until no more Hits are rolled. This really is an awesome ability!
Finally is Maria De La Rosa the Smuggler. Maria Montoya Valencia De La Rosa was born at sea. From a long family line of noble blood and a heritage of piracy and adventure, Maria became a smuggler at the age of nine during the American Revolution, helping the colonies in their desperate struggle. Now a woman of renown, she lives a life of smuggling and treasure hunting, seeking only the thrill of the chase and the beauty of ancient relics. Her latest exploits have brought her to the rocky shores of Tidewater, the haunted coast, in search of a family heirloom lost to the ages.
Maria has only two Special Abilities - Barter (Town Items cost her 1 less Investigation to purchase (minimum of 1)) and Secret Routes (she may use any Secret Passage printed on the board for free, during her move rather than in place of her move).
Her stats are an above average 4 for Wounds, an average 3 for Combat, Cunning and Honour and a below average 2 for Spirit. If you plan on buying lots of Items then it will definitely pay you to have Maria in your party.
And so we come to Hero Pack Two, starting with Frederic Leon the Foreign Diplomat. As part of a diplomatic envoy of nobility from France, Frederic Leon has become trapped in the colonies due to the revolution in his own homeland. Back in France, to be a noble is to risk losing one's head to the guillotine. It is a safer bet to continue on in his diplomatic duties abroad, in name at least, if not in action. With his funds dwindling and his personal guard growing restless, he has arrived  in Shadowbrook only to find that this new town is even more deadly than the revolutionaries who want his head.
Frederic has three Special Abilities - Escort (while in any Town space, he may pay 2 Investigation as an Action to take a Militia marker. This Militia travels with him and may only be used by him (limit of 1). There may also be up to one Militia in the space as normal), Intrigue (he may pay 2 Investigation at any time to draw an Event card) and Diplomacy (when paying to look at a Town Elder's Secrets, he never needs to reveal them).
Frederic has 4 Cunning, 3 Honour, 3 Wounds, 2 Combat and 2 Spirit. I'm afraid that Frederic is one of the weakest Heroes in the game. His stats are below average and his abilities are not that special either.
Next up is Jack Fellows the Privateer. A sailor and a privateer by trade, Jack is a free man forging his own way in the world and fighting for what he believes in. Having spent most of his life at sea, he is no stranger to the tall tales his shipmates spin on cold and foggy nights. Of ghost ships and sea monsters, they are tales told to scare younger crewmen. But in his heart, he knows there is real fear behind these tales, and real evil beneath the briny waves of the deep.
Jack has only one Special Ability - Duelist (once per Fight Round he may re-roll all of his missed To Hit rolls).
Jack has 4 Honour and 3 for Combat, Cunning, Spirit and Wounds. Jack is a one trick pony - he excels at fighting and his one Special Ability is very useful.
Third in line is Abigail Sturn the Student of the Occult. Well read in the ancient texts and tomes of occult knowledge, Abigail's studies have led her to Shadowbrook in hopes of learning more about the supernatural, first hand. Staying at a roadside Inn near Echo Lake, she spends her days exploring the surroundings while staying up late into the night to pour over her books and new found artifacts. She will stop at nothing to unlock the secrets of the occult and will open any door, no matter where it leads.
Abigail has two Special Abilities - Occult Knowledge (she may use Cunning instead of Combat in a Fight) and Student (she gains +1 Cunning for every Book she has. She also gains an extra Wound for every Occult Item she has).
Her stats are well below average with 3 Cunning, 3 Wounds, 2 Combat, 2 Honour and 2 Spirit. However, do not dismiss her for being weak. It is well worth spending time and Investigation in buying Books and Occult Items for her. A question about her that cropped up in the FAQ asked "if Abigail has a Book that is also Keyword: Occult, does she get +1 Cunning and an extra Wound?" The answer is yes, she does. Used wisely she can end up being a real powerhouse.
And last but by no means least we come to Sara Essex the Bright Witch. Adept in the ways of Bright Magic, Sara has spent her lifetime learning to control the white auras and shimmering lights of the Tarro Wind. A student of nature, she has grown up in the rural countryside and has committed herself to preserving life and protecting the world from darkness. Sensing the evil that has crept its way into Shadowbrook, Sara has set out on a mission to save the beleaguered town and its people from a gruesome fate. But this is a challenge greater than any she has ever faced.
Sara has three Special Abilities - Strength of Light (she gains 2 investigation at the start of each of her Hero Turns (or Showdown Fight rounds). She loses 1 Investigation each time the Shadow Track moves a step closer to Darkness), Aura of Protection (she may pay 2 Investigation at any time to prevent a Wound to any Town Elder or Hero (including herself) on the 1d6 roll of 3+ (limit once per Wound)) and Witch (she may not use Guns. She gains +2 Fight Dice against Magik, Demon or Construct enemy).
Sara has 4 Honour, 4 Spirit, 3 Combat, 3 Wounds and 2 Cunning. Sara is a worthy Hero. She can stack up her Investigation tokens very quickly and use them to protect others from being wounded. She is a good all-rounder.

This brings to a close my reviews of A Touch Of Evil, a game that I have grown to love the more I play it. I do like the figures that come with the game. They are very different to what I usually use in a game but variety is never a bad thing. I know that this is one game that I will be playing for many years to come and so I consider it a very worthwhile investment.

I have no doubt that this post will please many of you as I return to reviewing 28mm scale contemporary survivors and zombies. Sadly, there are no zombies to review today (unless you count a zombie hand!) but don't worry, they'll be appearing soon. Although I have reviewed many Reaper figures in the past (civilians and zombies) I was surprised to discover that I had never reviewed any of their survivor figures. It is time to put that oversight right with a look at five of their Chronoscope range of figures.
At the far left is Bonnie, who is described as a Futuristic Heroine. I don't understand why she's described as "Futuristic" when she is clearly a Contemporary Heroine. She is very well armed with a pair of Sub-Machine Guns in her hands, a pair of Big Ass Pistols in shoulder holsters and two Sawed-Off Shotguns slung over her back. She's a seriously hard ass, ambidextrous killer who would excel at killing zombies. I love her pose, which is very animated. She is one of my all-time favourite survivor figures.
Next up is Beverley, who is correctly described as a Zombie Survivor. She is armed with a Chainsaw. She also has a big Dagger strapped to her right thigh and a Sawn-Off Pump Action Shotgun slung across her back. One little detail on this figure that is so easy to overlook is the severed zombie hand clutching the ankle of her right leg. This is another great figure made all the better by that zombie hand.
In the centre of the group is Denver, another Zombie Survivor. This young man is carrying a Double-Barreled Shotgun and dragging along a suitcase on wheels. He reminds me of Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) from the film, Zombieland, but seeing as I have a much better version of Columbus (by Studio Miniatures) I'll use him as just another Survivor. He only just fitted on a 25mm diameter slottabase. The fact that half his foot hangs over the edge doesn't bother me.

The last two figures in line were part of the original Reaper Bones Kickstarter collection and these are made of plastic instead of metal. The detail on them is not quite as sharp as on the metal versions but you'd hardly notice without close scrutiny. Some folk have complained that they have had difficulties in painting the plastic Bones figures, but I can honestly say, I painted them just as I did with my metal figures with no problem at all. I primed them with Foundry Black acrylic paint, which went on perfectly. Note that the plastic versions of these figures come with integral sculpted bases - wooden floorboards for the deputy and flagstones for Horace. The metal versions come with slottatabs and slottabases. I stuck them on flat plastic 25mm diameter bases and covered them with sand and cat litter so that they blend in with the rest of my collection.
Deputy Wayne Tisdale is shown standing in a relaxed pose with his hands on his hips. He is an unremarkable figure and I have no strong feelings about him. I painted his shirt in Foundry Sand 10 but it looks a bit too bright for me. I don't like it so I'll repaint it in Foundry Drab 12.
Last in line is Horace "Action" Jackson. He's a larger-than-life hero and so required a paint scheme that made him stand out from the crowd, hence his gold shirt (unbuttoned, of course) and purple flaired trousers. With his huge Afro hair-do, it's like he has just stepped out of a 1970's "blaxploitation" movie! He is firing a Six-Shot Snub-Nosed Revolver. I like this figure as he is one cool dude!
50005 Horace "Action" Jackson, 50153 Berkeley the Zombie Survivor, 50199 Denver the Zombie Survivor, 50210 Bonnie the Futuristic Heroine cost £5.22 each and 50267 Deputy Wayne Tisdale costs £5.10. These prices are taken from the Miniature Heroes website. I like to order my Reaper figures from this UK-based company as it saves me ordering from the USA and possibly incurring customs charges.

Today I'm going to review two very different figures - a Mantic Games Plague Demon from their Deadzone range and a Rackham Miniatures Wolfen Warrior from their Confrontation range. So why am I reviewing these very different figures in one post? Simply because I received them as gifts from my good friend and fellow blogger, Lord Siwoc aka Johnny Frandsen. I have often commented on the kindness of zombie gaming bloggers and Johnny has always been one of the good guys with his extreme generosity, both to me and others.
I know very little about Mantic's Deadzone game other than it is a sci-fi skirmish game. This is a Plague Demon type 1A from the Plague Faction. "Bloodthirsty monsters created by an alien virus, the Plague exist for one thing only – to spread their contagion as far as possible. The virus affects its hosts in a variety of ways; its earliest victims become towering hulks, filled with a steadfast will which drives their lesser kin. In its second generation, the Plague creates smaller, faster, but no less deadly monsters. The third stage infected show considerably less extreme physical changes, but they retain the ability to use technology, laying down covering fire with looted weapons while their larger brethren advance."This hulking brute stands 60mm tall. Its skin has gone and has been replaced in part with an armoured carapace. Its skull-like head looks far too small for its body but it's a demon so I suppose, anything goes. This was a five part plastic model consisting of two arms, a head, body and legs and a 40mm diameter base. It'll cost you £9.99 from the Mantic webstore and is still available to buy.
The giant werewolf is a member of the Wolfen tribe of lupine warriors from the world of Aarklash. This was the setting for Rackham's Confrontation fantasy skirmish wargame. Sadly, Rackham ceased trading in 2010. I have searched for this particular figure online but I can't find him listed anywhere. That said, he is definitely a figure from this range. He stands 58mm tall and he came in four parts - head, right arm, body and limbs and a 40mm diameter base. I drilled, pinned and glued the arm and head to the body. His weapons are very unusual but they do look extremely lethal.
Although I know so little about the games these figures were intended for I can still find uses for them in my own games. The Wolfen will fit in with my collection of werewolves for a contemporary horror game. Ditto, the Plague Demon. So, a big thank you to Johnny for sending me this wonderful pair of monsters. I very much appreciated the gesture and I'm sorry it took me so long to get round to painting them.

I recently bought these two promo figures of Kyoko from Zombicide Season 1. The pack contained Survivor and Zombivor versions of her.
Before the zombie apocalypse, Kyoko had neither choice nor freedom. She studied the way her parents wanted, married the acceptable man instead of the one she loved, and hid her empty misery behind hollow smiles. While trying to conceive her first child with her husband, the zombies descended on the world in a gory whirlwind. For Kyoko, it was a release. Her universe has crumbled and she wants to enjoy it. Nobody can tell her who to be, what to do, what to wear. Kyoko has no regrets and now can be whoever she wants. New rules, for new times!
Kyoko the Survivor is armed with a Flamethrower, which is a very rare weapon in Zombicide. It is unusual to see a Season 1 character armed with a Flamethrower because it did not appear as an option until the release of the Season 2 Toxic City Mall expansion set and even then, there is only one Flamethrower card in the whole deck of weapons and equipment. Flamethrowers are like Molotov Cocktails in that they are one of the only weapons that can kill an Abomination. Indeed, they will kill anything and everything in a single Zone. Zombivor Kyoko is armed with a Katana. Kyoko starts the game with the +1 Free Search Action Skill, which grants her a bonus Search Action per Turn but which still limits her to one Search Action per Turn.
Kyoko was originally offered as a prize for those who designed scenarios for Zombicide Season 1. The prize winning scenarios are available online in the Guillotine Games website and in the Zombicide Compendium book Volume 1. Kyoko became the official mascot for this book. I saw that someone was offering her for sale on eBay and made a bid for her. My bid was accepted and she cost me £12.00, which is a lot of money to pay for two plastic 28mm scale figures but given her rarity and the fact that Season 1 Zombicide figures often sell for £30+ I think I got a bargain. She is the only Season 1 promo figure I own, so she has pride of place in my collection.

Miss Vampirella April 2015 - Jade Starr

This month's featured Vampirella model is Jade Starr, a go-go dancer, glamour model and actress who has done a lot of work in the pornography business, appearing in nearly 30 hardcore films. She is part Cherokee and part Irish - an interesting and unusual combination. This photo was taken from a photo shoot that contains some very NSFW pics of her. She is slimmer and less busty than most Vampirella models, which is in no way meant as a criticism. I particularly like her eyes and lips. She looks so sultry in this photo. Her costume is great (it leaves little to the imagination!) apart from those hideous boots. How on earth she can even stand up in them let alone walk in them is beyond me. I think she is ravishingly beautiful and she just oozes sex appeal.

By now I am fully immersed in Zombicide. I have just finished painting the boxed set of 6 Ultimate Survivors that was part of my recent Season 3 package. Expect a review of them very soon. I have also finished painting 20 Toxic Zombies from the Season 2 Toxic City Mall expansion set and I have another 20 on my painting table right now. What has really rekindled my passion for this superb board-game is that I have began playing it again after a two year absence. I am working my way through the Season 1 scenarios, including those from the Zombicide Compendium volume 1. One thing I have always meant to do is to post a Zombicide batrep. This will happen very soon (next post, hopefully!) and should appeal to newbies and veterans alike. It will be rules heavy as I show how the game plays and so will be similar in style to my ATZ batreps. I just need to finish editing the photos and then do the write-up, both of which are very time consuming.

Studio Miniatures have just launched a new Kickstarter project called Medieval Mayhem. Here's the blurb describing it -"ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A KINGDOM RULED BY A WISE AND POWERFUL KING...well actually it was run by a large uncaring corporation, filled with children celebrating birthdays, adults just trying not to go crazy and staffed by slackers, stoners and students!
Medieval World Funfair and Theme Park to give it is full name was regarded by it's employees as the worst place in the world to work BUT that was before the Zombie Apocalypse!!!
Our aim is to release a new expansion range for our popular Z-Clipz zombie range with four new Survivors then add to this first wave with further Stretch Goals and Free Miniatures along with Downloadable Colour Artwork and Resin Scenery/Terrain Items.Although these new miniatures are medieval themed they are still fully compatible with our existing modern zombies and survivors, so even if you want to mix them together for some modern madness or fight it out old school, either way you are going to love....Medieval Mayhem!
So don your helmet, take up your sword and mount thy trusty steed....it's time to get Medieval on their asses!!!"
You can check it out here -  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/687110463/medieval-mayhem-28mm-knights-versus-zombies-miniat
The figures are very heavily influenced by the film, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Although I do love pretty much everything that Studio Miniatures have produced, I will not be backing this project. I simply can't afford it, plus there are too many figures in this range which do not appeal to me. However, I thought it worth mentioning in case it tickles your fancy.

It is no secret that Zombicide is my favourite board-game and for a long time now I have wanted to post a batrep for the game. With the recent release of Zombicide Season 3, my passion for this game has been greatly rekindled. The scenario I have chosen to play comes from the Zombicide Compendium volume 1 and is C19 A Little Setback. If you don't have this book you can download the scenario from the Guillotine Games website here - http://zombicide.com/dl/Mission_C19.pdf
This is described as an Easy Mission for two Survivors and can be played solo (as I did) or with two players. As such, this is an ideal scenario to play first and is more of a challenge than the introductory tutorial scenario in the Season 1 rulebook. The two Survivors I chose were Chuck and Fred, both Season 2 promo figures. I deliberately chose these two because they complement each other very well and because of their likenesses to Ed (Nick Frost) and Shaun (Simon Pegg) from the classic zombie film, Shaun of the Dead. For me,they were obvious partners. Fred/Shaun would be far too sensible to get trapped in the toilets but it is just the kind of mishap that would befall Chuck/Ed.
INTRODUCTION
"We had the key. We were close to the generator. Why did I have to use the damn toilet? Splitting up is rarely a good choice, especially when there are only two of you, but it is a relatively safe part of town. Now I am trapped and cornered with the only key to the generator room, which was the whole point of coming out here. We need that generator. Better solve this quickly before the others learn about our stupid mistake, or they are going to laugh at us for years!"
The photo above shows the initial set up of the board. I have numbered the two Zombie Spawn Zones 1 and 2 to remind myself which one spawns first in each turn. To help aid my notes on movement I designate the top of the board where the two Zombie Spawn Zones are as North. At the far left of the three game boards are my three card decks, which from top to bottom are Wounded cards, Equipment cards and Zombie cards. My two Survivor ID Cards sit directly in front of me. The Skull token on Chuck's ID Card indicates that he will act first when I start playing. At the top of the photo are my two boxes of fully painted Season 1 Zombie figures.
FRED. First Action. Move North one Zone. A Move Action is limited to one Zone at a time.
Second Action. Move North one Zone.
Third Action. Move East one Zone.
ZOMBIES. The Zombie Turn is split into three Phases - Attack, Move and Spawn. There are no Zombies in either of the Zones that the Survivors occupy so I ignore the Attack phase. The three Walkers in the diner can hear Chuck but can't reach him because the door to the toilets is locked. In Zombicide, all closed doors are considered to be locked, and Zombies cannot open a locked door. So they are unable to Move this Turn.
Spawn Zone 1. I turn over the top card from the Zombies deck. Each card is divided into four coloured sections which correspond to the Danger Levels found on the Survivor ID Cards (Blue, Yellow, Orange and Red). The Danger Level chosen on the Zombie card equals the most elevated Danger Level among any active Survivors. Chuck and Fred are both in the Blue Danger Level, so this is the choice I must make. As a result I spawn one Walker.
Spawn Zone 2. This also results in one Walker spawning.
TURN 2.
CHUCK. First Action. Make noise.
Second Action. Make noise.
Third action. Search. This time Chuck finds Glass Bottles. He stows them away in reserve.
This is Chuck's ID Card and shows he has a Crowbar and a Shotgun in his hands and the Glass Bottles are held in reserve. Glass Bottles are useful to find because if he also finds Gasoline he can combine the two Items to make a Molotov Cocktail, the best Zombie killing weapon in the game.
FRED. First Action. Move East one Zone. This brings him into the Zone with the female Walker.
Second Action. Melee Combat with his Fire Axe, which uses 1 die to hit and which wounds on a roll of 4+. He rolls a 6, as represented by the Molotov Cocktail symbol on the Zombicide dice. A Fire Axe causes 2 Wounds, which is more than enough to kill a Walker who only has 1 Wound. The Fire Axe is silent when used in melee so he does not generate a Noise token.
Third Action. Move South one Zone.
ZOMBIES. The Walker from Spawn Point 1 moves East one Zone.  Although he can't see or hear Fred, he is attracted by the Noise made by Chuck and so moves towards it.
Spawn Zone 1. One Walker is spawned.
Spawn Zone 2. Once again, one Walker is spawned.
TURN 3.
CHUCK. First Action. Opens door. Chuck uses his Crowbar to unlock and open the door. A crowbar does not generate a Noise token when used to open a door.
Second Action. Ranged Combat with his Shotgun. A Shotgun has two dice to hit and an accuracy rating of 4+. Unfortunately for Chuck I rolled double 1 and so both shots missed. Bummer! No matter how many dice you roll to fire a weapon you only ever generate one Noise token per Action.
Third Action. Ranged Combat with Shotgun. This time Chuck rolls a 4 and a 6, resulting in two hits and two kills. A Shotgun causes 2 Wounds per hit, which will kill any Walker, Runner or Fatty. He generates a second Noise token.
Fourth Action. Ranged Combat with Shotgun. Chuck fires at the female Walker and scores a miss with the 1 (as represented by the zombie head symbol on the die) and a hit with the 4. The Walker dies in a spray of blood and gore. He now generates his third Noise token.
If you were wondering how come Chuck suddenly got a fourth Action check out his ID Card above. A survivor gains 1 Experience Point for every Walker, Runner or Fatty killed. Chuck started the game with 5 Experience Points. When he killed those two walkers in his third Action he gained two Experience Points which moved his Danger Level tracker into the Yellow Level. As soon as a Survivor advances to the next highest Level he automatically gains a new Skill, which in this case (and every other case for Survivors' Yellow Levels) is a +1 Action. This meant that Chuck could use this extra Action to fire again. Cool, huh? The downside to advancing to a new level is that when Zombies spawn they now spawn on the Yellow Level instead of the Blue Level. This means more Zombies can spawn per Turn.
FRED. First Action. Move South one Zone.
Second Action. Move East one Zone, bringing him inside the diner.
 Third Action. Search. Fred finds a Rifle. This is a good weapon to find. Although not as lethal as the Shotgun (only does 1 Wound) and only rolls 1 die to hit, it is more accurate (hits on 3+) and has much greater range (1-3 Zones).
 ZOMBIES. The three Walkers move one Zone each towards the Noise coming from the diner.
Spawn Zone 1. The effects of Chuck reaching Yellow Level are immediately felt as three Walkers spawn from this Zone.
Spawn Zone 2. Only one Walker is spawned.
TURN 4.
CHUCK. First Action. Search. Chuck finds a Pistol, which is nowhere near as good as his Shotgun, so he stows it in reserve.
Second Action. Moves South one Zone. This brings him into the diner along with Fred. As a consequence, the first objective, Reunion, has been achieved. I should have took a photo of their reunion but I forgot. Sorry.
Third Action. Moves West one Zone.
Fourth Action. Ranged Combat with Shotgun. He shoots at the Walker in the adjacent Zone and scores a 3 and a 6, which is a miss and a hit. The Walker is killed and a Noise token is generated.
CHUCK. First Action. Search. Fred finds a stash of Canned Food, which he places in reserve on his ID Card.
Second Action. Moves West one Zone.
Third Action. Moves North one Zone. He could have fired at the Walker standing on Spawn Zone 2 but I chose to move instead as I wanted my two heroes to reach the generator room as soon as possible. It was a calculated risk on my part but was it the right one?
ZOMBIES. The six Walkers close in on the two Survivors. The Walker from Spawn Zone 2 advances into the same Zone as Fred, eager to feast on him.
Spawn Zone 1. Uh, oh! Two Runners spawn. This is not good news.
Spawn Zone 2. Three Walkers spawn. Suddenly the board is filling with Zombies. With the game finely balanced on a knife edge I shall bring Part 1 of this batrep to a close.

TURN 5.
CHUCK. First Action. Move North one Zone. This brings him in contact with the Walker who was threatening Fred.

Second Action. Melee Combat with his Crowbar. A Crowbar uses 1 die to hit, hits on a 4+ and does 1 Wound. Chuck only scored a 3, so he misses with his first attack. A Crowbar does not generate a Noise token when used in combat.
Third Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. This time Chuck succeeds by rolling a 5. The 1 Wound he causes is enough to kill the Walker.
Fourth Action. Ranged Combat with Shotgun. Chuck rolls 2 dice looking for results of 4+. He scores 1 hit, a 6, as represented by the Molotov Cocktail symbol, and a miss with the 3. He kills one of the three Walkers in the adjacent Zone and generates a Noise token.
FRED. First Action. Ranged Fire with Rifle. A Rifle only uses 1 die to hit but hits on a 3+. It has a range of 1-3 Zones and it causes 1 Wound. Fred rolls a 4, which is a hit and causes 2 kills. HUH?! How can that be? Two kills with one shot? Surely not? Read on and all will be explained. Fred has the Skill, Reaper: Combat. He uses this Skill when assigning hits while resolving a Combat Action (Melee or Ranged). One of these hits can freely kill an additional Zombie in the same Zone. Only a single additional Zombie can be killed per Action when using this Skill. How cool is that? By the way, if you're looking for this Skill in the Season 1 rulebook, don't. It isn't there. It appears in the Season 2 book, Prison Breakout and the Season 3 book, Rue Morgue.
Second Action. Move North one Zone.
Third Action. Ranged Fire with Rifle. He rolls a 3, which is just enough to hit the female Walker shambling towards him. She drops down dead with a bullet to the head.
ZOMBIES. The three Walkers move one Zone towards Fred, whilst the two Runners move two Zones towards Fred. Remember that Runners get two Actions per Turn, so they were able to move twice this Turn.
 Spawn Zone 1. Three Walkers spawn.
Spawn Zone 2. I draw the top card from the Zombies deck and my heart sinks as I see I have just spawned four Walkers in the same Zone as Fred. What a time to draw that card!
This is very bad news for our heroes! Can they possibly survive with so many Zombies closing in on them?
TURN 6.
CHUCK. First Action. Move North one Zone into Zombie Spawn Zone 2. If you're wondering why he didn't just stay put and shoot the Zombies next to Fred there is a nasty little rule that Zombicide uses, called Target Priority. The shooting Survivor does not choose freely the targets he hits with successful Ranged Combat rolls. Hits are assigned in this order -
1. to Survivors (except for the shooter)
2. to Walkers
3. to Fatties or Abominations (player's choice)
4. to Runners
The hits are assigned until all targets of the lower degree of priority have been eliminated. I know that some players hate this rule and ignore it but I'm okay with it because it forces players to think tactically. If Chuck had fired he would have had to kill Fred before he could kill the Walkers and there was no way that I'd do that. So, Melee Combat it is then.
CHUCK. Second Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. Needing a 4+ to hit, Chuck rolls a 4 and kills a Walker. He's off to a good start.
Third Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. Sadly, this time he rolls a 2 and misses.
Fourth Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. He redeems himself by rolling a 5 and killing one of the two female Walkers in the Zombie Spawn Zone.
FRED. First Action. Melee Combat with Fire Axe. The Fire Axe uses 1 die, requiring a roll of 4+ to hit and each hit causes 2 Wounds. Fred rolls well with a 6 and kills the two remaining Walkers in this Zone with his one hit thanks to his Reaper: Combat Skill.
Second Action. Ranged Combat with Rifle. He rolls a 1, which is a clear miss. He generates one Noise token.
Third Action. Ranged Combat with Rifle. This time he scores a hit with his roll of 5. I really wanted to kill the two Runners first but because of the Target Priority rule, Fred must eliminate the Walkers first. Still, he does kill two of them because of his Reaper: Combat Skill. He generates a second Noise token, which is just out of shot.
ZOMBIES. The Walker and two Runners move into Zombie Spawn Zone 2 alongside Chuck and Fred. For the Runners' second Action, they attack and cause 2 Wounds. Note that Zombies do not roll to hit - they automatically hit with each attack they make. However, I can allocate their Wounds as I see fit.
The logical and sensible thing to do is to apply one Wound to each Survivor otherwise it'd be game over, so this is what I do. Whenever a Zombie causes a Wound, it also grabs one Item from the Survivor and replaces it with a Wound card. I get to choose which Item Chuck loses, and I pick his Pistol. Now Chuck can only carry four Items instead of five because his Wound card takes up one space on his ID Card.
Fred loses his Canned Food and replaces it with a Wound card. In Zombicide, all Survivors start with two Wounds. Once they receive their second Wound they are killed and removed from the game, unless you decide to bring them back as a Zombivor. I won't be doing that in this game if the worst comes to the worst. As it stands, our two heroes are in a very perilous situation. If either of them receives a second Wound the mission ends in failure.
The remaining three Walkers close in on Chuck and Fred.
Spawn Zone 1. Another four Walkers spawn.
Spawn Zone 2. Two Walkers spawn. Thank goodness the Walkers spawned in that order!
TURN 7.
CHUCK. First Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. In Melee Combat, Survivors can freely choose which targets they attack, so Chuck takes a swing at one of the two Runners. He misses with his roll of 3.
Second Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. Better luck this time! Chuck hits with a roll of 5 and kills the Runner. Runners only have 1 Wound and so are relatively easy to kill.
Third Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar and another wild swing that misses.
Fourth Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. Chuck scores a lethal blow to the head of the second Runner with a roll of 6. That should make life a lot easier for our heroes.
FRED. First Action. Melee Combat with Fire Axe. Fred also rolls a 6 and once again, thanks to his Reaper: Combat Skill, he kills two Walkers.
These two kills earn Fred two more Experience Points, taking him into the Yellow Level. He immediately gains the +1 Action Skill, giving him 4 Actions per Turn.
Second Action. Melee Combat with Fire Axe. He rolls very badly with a score of 1, as indicated by the Zombie head symbol shown on the dice. It's an obvious miss.
Third Action. Melee Combat with Fire Axe. Bloody hell! Another miss! Come on, Fred! Get your act together!
Fourth Action. Melee Combat with Fire Axe. Yes! He rolls a 6 and kills the plucky Walker. Thank God he gained that fourth Action!
ZOMBIES. Seven Walkers advance one Zone as they have Chuck and Fred in their sights.
Spawn Zone 1. One female Walker spawns.
Spawn Zone 2. One Runner spawns. Not bad! That could have been a lot worse.
TURN 8.
CHUCK. First Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. He rolls a 2 and misses.
Second Action. Melee Combat with Crowbar. Chuck rolls a 5 and kills the newly arrived Runner.
Third Action. Ranged Combat with Shotgun. Chuck fires into the adjacent Zone, containing three Walkers, hoping to whittle them down. He rolls a 3 and a 4, meaning one miss and one kill. He generates a Noise token.
Fourth Action. Moves West one Zone. At first glance this seems like a foolhardy Action but trust me, it is a brilliant play. Firstly, it gets him out of that dangerous Zombie Spawn Zone and secondly... well, read on.
FRED. First Action. Ranged Combat with Rifle. Hang on, I hear you say. Won't this mean he'll have to shoot Chuck first because of the Target Priority rule? Ordinarily, yes, he would. But here's the clever part of Chuck's Move. Chuck has the Skill, Low Profile, meaning he can't be targeted by allied Ranged Attacks and he can't be hit by car attacks. He is ignored when shooting in or driving through a Zone he is standing in. However, weapons that kill everything in the targeted Zone, like the Molotov Cocktail, will still kill him. So Fred rolls a 6 with his shot and kills both Walkers courtesy of his Reaper: Combat Skill. You can see now why these two Survivors complement each other so well. Fred generates a Noise token. Please note, the Low Profile Skill does not appear in the Season 1 rulebook. It appears in the Season 2 book, Prison Breakout and the Season 3 book, Rue Morgue.
Second Action. Moves West one Zone to stand alongside Chuck.
Third Action. Ranged Combat with Rifle. A roll of 5 hits and kills two more Walkers. He generates a Noise token.
Fourth Action. Ranged Combat with Rifle. Fred ends a brilliant Turn with another hit and two more kills. My God, I love that Reaper: Combat Skill! He generates another Noise token.
ZOMBIES. Incredibly, there is now just one Walker left on the board! She moves one Zone East to stand in the Zone adjacent to Chuck and Fred.
Spawn Zone 1. Just a single Walker spawns. Cool!
Spawn Zone 2. Three Walkers spawn but it doesn't really matter. They are behind Chuck and Fred and are unlikely to catch them.
TURN 9.
CHUCK. First Action. Ranged Combat with Shotgun. Chuck scores one miss with his roll of 2 but a hit with his roll of 4 and he kills the female Walker standing in his way. He generates a Noise token.
Second Action. Moves West one Zone.
Third Action. Moves South one Zone, bringing him outside the generator room.
Fourth Action. Opens door to the generator room with his key. Only Chuck could open this door because he holds the key for it. Whenever a door to a building is opened for the first time, Zombies are spawned inside in the same manner as their Spawn Zones. You must draw a Zombies card for each room in the building. As the generator room is only a one room building I only draw one card for it and it turns out to be two Runners.
FRED. First Action. Moves West one Zone.
Second Action. Moves South one Zone to stand outside the generator room.
Third Action. Ranged Combat with Rifle. Fred fires through the open door and kills both Runners with his excellent roll of 6 and of course, his awesome Reaper: Combat Skill. He generates a Noise token.
Fourth Action. Moves East one Zone, placing him inside the generator room.
ZOMBIES. Four Walkers shuffle a bit closer to Chuck. One of them can see him and the others can hear him.
Spawn Zone 1. Four Walkers spawn.
Spawn Zone 2. A solitary Walker spawns.
TURN 10.
CHUCK. First Action. Moves South one Zone.
Second Action. Moves West one Zone.
Third Action. Moves West one Zone.
Fourth Action. Moves North Zone and reaches the Exit Zone.
FRED. First Action. Takes the Red Objective and gains 5 Experience Points. This is enough to advance him to the Orange Danger Level on his ID Card. At the Orange level he can chose one of two Skills. I decide upon +1 Free Combat Action. Of course, this also means that Zombies will now spawn at the Orange Level. Yikes!
Second Action. Moves East one Zone to just outside the generator room.
Third Action. Moves South one Zone.
Fourth Action. Moves West one Zone.
ZOMBIES. Five Walkers move towards Chuck. Although they couldn't see him they could hear him. Survivors make Noise even if they do nothing. Chuck is closer to them than Fred so they are drawn towards him. Note that I don't place Noise tokens for the Survivors but I am always aware of this rule.
Another four Walkers close in on Chuck but they are far too far away to be able to do anything.
Spawn Zone 1. Three Runners spawn. At this point in the game it's no big deal.
Spawn Zone 2. Two Fatties spawn. Each Fatty comes into play accompanied by two Walkers, making them quite a threat. It was great to see the Fatties make an appearance in the game but they have arrived too late to do anything.
TURN 11.
CHUCK. First Action. Exit board.
FRED. First Action. Moves East one Zone.
Second Action. Moves North one Zone into the Exit Zone.
Third Action. Exit board. Game over. Mission accomplished.
CONCLUSION.
That was just so much fun to play. What an incredibly exciting and tense game it was! I absolutely loved it! I was so pleased it ended well for Chuck and Fred because I honestly did not think they would make it. When the two Runners wounded them and they were stuck on Zombie Spawn Point 2, I really did fear the worst. The fact that they survived was truly epic and made for some great story telling. I must admit that starting off with Low Profile and Reaper: Combat Skills greatly aided them and was an awesome combination for the pair.
I hope this batrep gives you a good insight into how Zombicide plays, as well as a flavour of how much fun it can be. Trust me, I plan on posting lots more Zombicide batreps. Thanks for reading.

Two weeks ago I was contacted by my good friend and fellow blogger, Clint from Anything But a One! He wanted to know if I'd like a couple of 28mm scale figures to paint and review? They were produced by East Street Games for their upcoming zombie apocalypse tabletop skirmish game, Bullets and Brains. How could I refuse? I'm always happy to receive free gifts and even more happy to help a friend out. So here are the two figures that I received.
Apparently, East Street Games will be producing their figures in two forms - human and zombie. I think this is a great idea. The Survivor that Clint sent me was of an aged gent dressed in a hospital gown, socks and slippers. He is totally unarmed and seems to me, to be totally unsuited and unprepared to survive a zombie apocalypse. He is pointing with his left arm, possibly at a group of zombies heading his way. I do believe he is my first hospital patient figure who is not a zombie!
The Zombie version graphically shows how he died. His left arm has been ripped off, leaving him to bleed to death, assuming he didn't die of a heart attack from shock. A number of disgusting looking boils have erupted over his body. Finally, he has been shot in a diagonal line from his right hip to his left shoulder.
I like these two figures and if the rest of the range is as good as these two I shall definitely buy them all. Sadly, I can't give you any price details just yet as they are still in production. Also, I do not know when this range will be going on general sale but as soon as I know I will inform you.

"The world evolved and so did we. We learned in a couple of months what a soldier might need years to learn. The lives we had, the people we were, are all gone, and we have accepted that. We are survivors and we are here to bring the future."
Of all the products I got with my Zombicide Season 3parcel, Ultimate Survivors #1 was the set I was most looking forward to receiving. Why? Because it takes your Zombicide Survivors to a whole new level, making them much stronger and preparing them for campaign play instead of one-off games. I really want to run a Zombicide campaign and the new rules provided with this set will help accomplish that goal.
The biggest change between normal Survivors and Ultimate Survivors is that Ultimate Survivors now start all games with two Skills at the Blue Danger Level instead of one. This will make a big difference and greatly improve their survival chances. The six figures that come with this set are upgraded versions of the six Survivors found in the original boxed set of Zombicide - Amy, Doug, Josh, Ned, Phil and Wanda. I am very pleased that Guillotine Games chose these six to be their first Ultimate Survivors because they have been around the longest, plus, I have a soft spot for them due to me using them more than any other Survivors. Let's take a look at them.
First up is Amy the Goth Girl. Amy was a Goth girl who hated everything from mindless consumerism to the pointlessness of daily existence. The world Amy despised so much has crumbled, but from it comes the promise of a fresh start and simpler times. Desperate zombie battles have sparked a will to live in Amy, but she still doesn't feel comfortable without some white foundation on.
Amy is very well armed with a Katana and Sawn-Off Shotgun in her hands and a .44 Magnum Revolver and Hand Axe tucked in her ammo belt. Her first Blue level Skill is +1 Free Move Action, which is self-explanatory. To this she adds the very useful Medic Skill. Once per Turn, she can freely remove one Wounded card from herself or any other Survivor standing in the same Zone as her.
In the centre of this trio is Doug the Office Guy. Four hour commutes, twelve hour days, uncooperative colleagues and unappreciative bosses are a thing of the past for Doug. Sure, dealing with zombies is a little stressful, but frankly, quite a pleasant change from the daily grind. An Uzi in each hand helps in dealing with troublesome ex-colleagues and ex-bosses, most of whom Doug is pretty sure were already zombies before any of this anyway.
Doug is still armed with his twin Uzi Sub-Machine Guns and he has a Pistol in a holster on his right hip. He starts the game with the Matching Set Skill. When he performs a Search Action and draws a weapon card with the Dual symbol, he can immediately take a second card of the same type from the Equipment deck. Shuffle the deck afterward. His second starting Skill is Hoard. This Skill allows him to carry one extra Equipment card in reserve. I guess that explains his big backpack and coat of many pockets.
Last in line is Josh the Street Thug. Josh grew up poor in a tough neighbourhood. Surviving day to day was all he could do before the zombies. Now there's no more law and no one can tell him what to do. Josh finds his street smarts in high demand by other survivors. Respect, worth more than all the money in the world is his reward now.
Josh is armed with a pair of Pistols, just as he was in normal Survivor mode. However, I decided to gold plate the Pistols to convert them into the Evil Twins, which could be found in a Pimpmobile car in Season 1. Note that although the Evil Twins are two Pistols, they only take up one space on a Survivor's ID Card. It seemed appropriate that Josh would find them and want to keep them. Josh begins with the Slippery Skill, which allows him to move through a Zone containing Zombies without penalty. To this, he adds the Jump Skill. He can use this Skill once per Activation to Move two Zones into a Zone which he has Line of Sight. Movement Skills, like Slippery, are ignored but Move penalties, like having Zombies in the starting Zone do apply. When Jumping, he ignores all Survivors, Zombies, barricades and holes in the intervening Zone. Any other obstacle, such as rubble, prevents the use of this Skill.
Crazy Ned knew it. He knew THIS would happen. THIS was THEIR fault, but NOBODY ever listened. Ned has been preparing for years; collecting food and weapons, building a bunker, all to survive THIS. Unfortunately for Ned, he's lost his bunker key, so until he finds it he's going to need every survival skill he's got. And probably other people. Crap!
Ned has kept his Sniper Rifle and Frying Pan from being a normal Survivor but has replaced his Baseball Bat with a Pistol. I did wonder why he still has the Frying Pan, which is next to useless, but then I noticed that in the Equipment Deck found in the Angry Neighbors expansion there is an Item called The Holy Pan, which can only be used by Survivors who reach the Red Danger Level and it's a truly awesome weapon. Perhaps, this is what Ned has found. It would explain a lot. Ned's first Blue Level Skill is +1 Free Search Action, which is self-explanatory but he can still only Search once per Turn. His second starting Skill is Scavenger, which complements his first Skill extremely well as it allows him to Search any Zone on the board, and not just indoor rooms. That really is a fantastic Skill to have!
Moving on, we come to Phil the Cop. Phil is a policeman through and through, even though there isn't really a police force any more. He still wears his uniform, keeps his issued sidearm and sees it as his duty to protect civilians; at least, those that are still human. Being a cop keeps him sane, if a bit of a stick in the mud.
Phil is now armed to the teeth. He still retains his service Pistol and Shotgun but has added a Knife, a Machete, a second Pistol and a second Shotgun to his arsenal. This is rather anomalous as a Survivor can only carry five Items (six if they have the Hoard Skill, which Phil doesn't) and here we have Phil with six weapons. He begins the game with the Starts With a Shotgun Skill, which is self-explanatory. His second Blue Level Skill is Lifesaver. He can use this Skill once during each of his Activations. Select a Zone containing at least one Zombie at Range 1 from your Lifesaver. Choose Survivors in the selected Zone to be dragged to the Lifesaver's Zone without penalty. This is not a Move Action. A Survivor can choose not to be rescued if his Controller so decides. Both Zones need to share a clear path. A Survivor can't cross barricades, fences, closed doors, holes or walls. Lifesaver can't be used by a Survivor in a car, helicopter or observation tower, nor can it be used to drag a Survivor from a car, helicopter or observation tower.
Finally, is Wanda the Waitress. Wanda served burgers and beer at the local drive-in. The zombie apocalypse hasn't changed her routine much; she still has to dodge grabby hands, scoot around on rollerskates and firmly reject inappropriate advances. The new chainsaw is a perk though!
As you'd expect, Wanda has kept her trusty Chainsaw but has swapped her Sawn-Off Shotgun for a Pistol. Her first Blue Level Skill is 2 Zones per Move Action, which allows her to Move one or two Zones per Move Action. Entering a Zone containing one or more Zombies ends her Move. For her second Blue Level Skill she gains Bloodlust: Melee. She can spend one Action to Move up to two Zones to a Zone containing at least one Zombie. She then gains one free Melee Action.
There is one other important component to this set and that is a deck of Experience cards. Playing in Experience mode allows Survivors to earn Experience cards. These work just like Skills and enhance the Survivors' abilities. Equipment and experience points still reset between games but Experience cards remain from one game to the next, until the Survivor is definitively eliminated (or discarded). A Survivor earns an Experience card of the player's choice each time he reaches a Danger Level he never reached before, including previous games. The selected Experience card counts as a Skill and is immediately active. A Survivor can hoard an unlimited amount of Experience cards during his lifespan but may have only a single copy of each. Experience cards stack with other game effects. A weapon's Accuracy number can never be brought below 2+. If you use the Resurrection rules, a Survivor keeps his Experience cards when he turns into a Zombivor. The Zombivor can earn additional Experience cards.
To give you an idea of what the Experience cards are like most list a specific weapon and a Skill that can be used with that weapon. For example, there are three cards listing .44 Magnum but they each provide a different Skill - +1 Die: Ranged, +1 Free Ranged Action and +1 to Dice Roll: Ranged. So, they are like Skills but are specific to just one weapon. There is an obvious downside to these Experience cards and that is they only apply if your Survivor is armed with the weapon listed on the card. They are great if you start with or quickly find the weapon you have the bonus Skill for but otherwise are no good at all. This has obviously been done for play balance.
Full rules for using Ultimate Survivors are provided with this set, along with the deck of 110 Experience cards, the six 28mm scale figures and their ID Cards. Zombivor versions of the figures are not included but their Zombivor stats are provided on the back of the ID Cards. If you include Zombivors in your games then just use their normal Zombivor figure when an Ultimate Survivor is resurrected.
One point occurred to me about this set. The rules do not state when a Survivor becomes an Ultimate Survivor. That would suggest it is up to the players to decide. I'd suggest that your Survivor has to survive at least one game before he can even be considered to be an Ultimate Survivor. You may feel that Ultimate Survivors are too powerful but remember, these are optional rules and you don't have to use them. Also, these rules are meant to be used for campaign play. If you only play one-off games you don't need them.
Personally, I love this set and I can't wait to try out these six awesome characters in a few games or more. For veteran Zombicide players, this set is highly recommended. For the casual gamer or newbie, it is not an essential purchase. If you missed out on this set from the Kickstarter launch, I'm sure it will go on general sale in the near future. Just be patient.

Impact Miniatures are a company who make 28mm scale resin figures, including a range of Chibi Adventurers who are very compatible with the figures used in Super Dungeon Explore. You can find them here - http://www.impactminiatures.com/index.php?option=chibi
The skeleton is listed as CA-SKEL Chibi Skeleton on the Impact Minis website and costs £3.49. I bought four of them to help supplement my SDE Skeletons.
He is very lightly armoured with just a helmet and shoulder guards, which I have painted rusty and ancient looking.
He is armed with only a rusty sword.
I have no game stats for him yet. A rulebook for using these figures called Chibi World will be coming out later this year. I can't wait to get my hands on it as I know the author, Steve Gilbert, very well and I know that writing it has been a labour of love for him. You could use this figure as a Bonehead or Rattle Bone in SDE.
The zombie is listed as CA-ZOMB Chibi Zombie on the Impact Minis website and he also costs £3.49. Once again, I bought four of them.
The zombies are unarmoured and carry a wooden club. I have deliberately kept my gore effects to a minimum on these figures.
As yet there no game stats for zombies in SDE but they will be making an appearance as an expansion set for The Forgotten King, which is available now.
Given my love of all things undead I simply had to add these delightfully cute figures to my collection. I never thought I'd ever describe a skeleton or a zombie as being cute!

I have a few more 28mm scale Impact Miniatures Chibi figures to review, which this time consists of three Pumpkinheads and four Giant Pumpkins.
The Pumpkinheads to the left and right of my photos are listed as CA-PUMP on the Impact Miniatures' website and the cost £3.49 each. I bought two. In the centre of the group is the Pumpkinhead General who is listed as CA-PMPA. He is slightly dearer at £4.19.
The Pumpkinhead General is the same sculpt as the ordinary Pumpkinheads but he comes with extras - a cloak, top hat and pet crow, which have to be glued in place. I used superglue, which worked fine.
The Pumpkinheads are unarmed but no doubt they will have some special power. I do not have any game stats for them yet, but I suspect that will change when Chibi World, the Impact Miniatures' RPG, is released.
It is just the way they have been photographed but the fire within their heads seems to be glowing with a white hot intensity. That is just the effect I was hoping for.
The Giant Pumpkins can be found in the Impact Elfball Sideline Figures range. All four can be bought for £11.69 and their reference code is EO-PMP4.
From left to right we have Looking Up, Side Look, Big Grin and Single Tooth.
Individually, they cost £4.54 each, except for Looking Up who is £5.93. I have no idea why he should be more expensive than the others. Clearly, you'd be better off buying the set of four.
I bought these figures after seeing one of the Spawn Points from my Von Drakk Manor expansion set for Super Dungeon Explore. It was a spooky animated tree holding a Halloween pumpkin aloft. As soon as I saw these Impact figures I made a connection. These will fit in perfectly as Minions of Von Drakk, no doubt brought to life by the Coven Witches of Glauerdoom.

My final (for now) review of Impact Miniatures' range of 28mm scale Chibi figures focuses on one of their larger figures - the demonic Pit Lord.
You can find him in the Chibi Adventurers section of Impact Miniatures' webstore as CA-PITF Pit Lord. He costs £12.57 but he is huge! Compared to GW prices for a similar sized monster that is a bargain. He stands 65mm tall from the bottom of his hooves to the tips of his horns and he has a wingspan of 90mm.
He was beautifully sculpted by Juan Miguel Lopez Barea and he comes in 8 parts - body, head, left hand with sword, right hand with half the flaming whip, the second half of the flaming whip, two wings and a 48mm diameter base. Please note that as with all Impact Minis' bases that come with their figures, the slottabases are plain and untextured. However, Impact do sell textured bases with a dungeon floor pattern on them with both a slot in them and without the slot. They come in two diameters - 24mm and 48mm. The Pit Lord does not come with a slottatab under his hooven feet so I pinned and glued him onto a textured base that did not have a slot in it.
The figure fit together extremely well. I used superglue to stick him and it worked just fine. I added a small bit of Milliput to the join between the two halves of the whip just to strengthen it a tad. Please note that he is made of Trollcast resin, as are the majority of Impact's figures. I feared that his fiery whip might easily snap but actually, it is quite springy and providing you take good care of your figures he should last a lifetime. Incidentally, I store all of my Chibi figures in foam-lined cases made by KR Multicases.
I like demons a lot and the main reason that I bought this particular one was to use him as a substitute Dungeon Boss for Starfire the Dragon in Super Dungeon Explore. Yes, he does have a big head and big eyes (all four of them!) but I would certainly use him in other fantasy games like AD&D or Warhammer (a Chaos Khorne Demon) if I still played them.

Toxic Zombies were introduced to Guillotine Games' Zombicide game in the Season 2 expansion set, Toxic City Mall. Toxic Zombies differ from standard Zombies in a number of ways. First, upon elimination, a Toxic Zombie inflicts 1 Wound on its assailants if they are both in the same Zone. This is a free attack called Toxic Blood Spray. Ranged attacks from outside the Zone do not cause this effect. Toxic Zombies exist in all types - Abominations, Fatties, Runners and Walkers. They have the same characteristics and get the same targeting priority as their counterparts but are removed first in Ranged Combat and car attacks. Toxic Fatties come with an escort of two toxic Walkers. Toxic Zombies do not benefit from the extra activation cards of other Zombie types. Eliminating a Toxic Zombie with a car does not cause a Toxic Blood Spray.
The Toxic Abomination at the left of the photos is the figure that you get in Toxic City Mall. He is wearing nothing more than a pair of underpants, a pair of fluffy rabbit slippers (!) and a spotted handkerchief tied around his head.The Toxic Abomination has an additional game effect - all Standard Zombies standing in its Zone at the end of the Zombies' Phase become Toxic Zombies. Replace their miniatures with matching Toxic Zombie miniatures. If there aren't enough Toxic Zombie miniatures, any remaining Zombies are simply not replaced. Replacing Standard Zombies with Toxic Zombies does not generate a new activation for the Toxic Zombies. Remember that this effect only applies to Standard Zombies. Other Zombie types are not affected.
The Toxic Abomination at the right is a conversion. I turned his underpants into shorts and his slippers into trainers with modelling putty. I also made him bald-headed. I acquired him by sending away for just about everything in the Zombicide Season 2 Kickstarter project. Amongst the goodies I received were three extra Abominations - one Standard, one Toxic and one Berserker. There are a few scenarios that require more than one Abomination be used, but thankfully, these are very rare. A Toxic Abomination can act once per Turn, has 3 Wounds and rewards the Survivor who kills it with 5 Experience Points.
Finally, I'd like to mention how I painted these figures. Normally, I paint my figures using Foundry paints. But for these I also used the Army Painter Zombicide paint sets - Zombie Core Paint Set and Toxic/Prison Paint Set Expansion. I first used Zombie Skin with a wash of Zombie Shader, which perfectly matched the colour scheme of the Toxic Zombies' skin tones in the rulebook. The spikes were painted with Dirt Spatter, followed by Boney Spikes then Brain-matter Beige. The boils were painted with Toxic Boils and highlighted with a 50/50 mix of Toxic Boils and Brain-matter Beige. The rims of the eyes and mouths were painted first with Dead Black, followed by Foundry White 33C for the whites of the eyes and teeth. These paints are quite thick and they give good coverage. I am very impressed with them. I know I will use Zombie Flesh the most and was wondering what to do when it runs out. Unfortunately, these paints can't be bought separately at the time of writing and I don't want to buy another boxed set just to replace one colour. Fortunately I discovered that Foundry Boneyard 9B is a perfect match for the Warpaints' Zombie Flesh. Sorted!

Miss Vampirella May 2015 - Julie Strain

This month's Vampirella model is Julie Strain, model, actress and just about anything else you can think of. Julie Strain is a one woman industry! From the age of 28 she has been merchandised on everything from a Zippo lighter to an interactive CD-ROM. Carefully orchestrated and planned, originally by Julie, but now by Julie in tandem with her husband, publisher, producer and co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kevin Eastman. Together, they have made Julie the "Queen of All Media".
As a genuine cult heroine, her series of action/adventure and fantasy films have earned her a huge fan base. Julie has been featured on television, in music videos and she is found on calendars, posters, greeting cards, coffee mugs, dolls, watches and countless trading cards.
Her various skills include baseball, basketball, bodybuilding, cycling, horsemanship, jet skiing,  martial arts, modern dance, motorcycling, racing cars, roller skating, singing, track and field events, volleyball, water skiing and weaponry. All in all, an impressive career for a woman who had to sleep in her truck when she first arrived in Hollywood and who admits to being a "painfully thin, ugly duckling" in high school. It is a wonder that she has time to fit everything in!
One thing she did fit in, though, were quite a few covers for the Vampirella Monthly series.
Harris Publishing knew they were on to a hot item with Julie, and they even gave her her own Julie Strain Special comic book, featured her heavily on the Vampirella website and modeled a Vampirella Action Figure on her! And, yes, I do have that action figure in my collection of Vampirella memorabilia.
She is wearing the same costume that Arban Ornelas (Miss February) wore, so my criticisms of it still apply. The waistband is far too high on her hips, which means the gold bat logo is too high. It should be at crotch level. I must admit, I do admire her pluck for wearing such a revealing costume.

The big hobby news for me this month was the arrival of The Forgotten King expansion set for Super Dungeon Explore. YAY! It seems like I have been waiting ages for this but that's not true. It was delivered a couple of days ago so I haven't had time to fully assess it but first impressions are highly favourable. The first thing I noticed was that the box is smaller than the Super Dungeon Explore box and it opens normally with a lid, unlike SDE, which had a hinged opening. However, upon opening the box I discovered that it contains a lot more than the basic set did. Whoopee!
Unlike SDE, which came with one rulebook, TFK comes with five books. In the top row from left to right is a 4 page catalogue of Soda Pop games, with Ninja All Stars featuring prominently on the front cover. In the centre is the Explorer's Handbook, a 24 page book of background info on the world of Crystalia. I can't wait to read this book as I love background fluff. At the far right is a set of Quick Start Rules, designed to teach newcomers the basic rules of the game.
In the bottom row are the two main rulebooks. SDE can now be played two ways - in Arcade Mode or in Classic Mode. Arcade Mode is something new and this 44 page rulebook allows players to play the game solo or collectively against the Consul whose actions are determined by cards. Heroes still use their Classic Mode stat cards but all monsters have different stat cards to their Classic Mode counterparts. Effectively they have fewer stats and they do not roll dice. Their stats are a fixed value to make game-play run smoother.
The Classic Mode rulebook runs to 36 pages and will be most familiar to those of you who have already played SDE with the first edition rules. New rules have been added and a few things have changed but if you are at all familiar with old-style SDE then you should find Classic Mode very easy to grasp.
Here are the various decks of cards included in the game and a set of 16 dice. The dice have not changed from first edition. Red dice are better than blue dice and green dice are the best of all.
Two sheets of counters printed on thick card come with the game. Most are spell effects and not that many will be used in a typical game.
The game comes with six double-sided gaming tiles. On the side shown in the photo above are the tiles for the Fae Woods, which are the realm of the Forgotten King. The thick black lines are walls that block movement and line of sight.
On the reverse of the Fae Woods tiles are the tiles for an Overgrown Castle. TFK tiles are slightly smaller than the old SDE tiles but they still measure 12 squares by 12 but have less of a border. They also have more features on them. Note that the Adventure Tracker from the basic SDE set has now been relegated to the dustbin.
And finally, here are the set's 58 miniatures, with the heroes, pets and treasure chests moulded in grey plastic and the monsters, creeps and spawn points in green plastic. Incidentally, the Forgotten King himself is the third figure from the left in the back row. The figures do come pre-assembled and the level of detail and sculpting has improved over the earlier SDE figures.
I'll be spending a lot of time reading and re-reading the new rulebooks and playing some practice games to familiarise myself with the new rules and rule changes. However, much as I want to get the figures painted as soon as possible, they will be taking a back seat because I want to concentrate on reducing my mountain of unpainted Zombicide figures. It may be quite a while before I review any TFK figures.

Speaking of Zombicide, I have finished painting my second batch of 20 Toxic Zombies. I am well on the way to finishing another 14 Toxic Zombies as well as 6 Season 3 Survivors and Zombivors (three of each). Next month sees the launch of the Zombicide: Black Plague project. This project has me drooling at the mouth in anticipation. I'll be backing it big time. It takes Zombicide back to medieval times where magic exists and brave heroes do battle against evil necromancers, zombies (of course) and an assortment of fantasy creatures and monsters. There is already an expansion set in the works called Wulfsburg. This set introduces, werewolves, wolves and zombie wolves to the game. Oh, yes! Bring it on!
Whilst on the subject of Zombicide, let me tell you that I'll be devoting all of June to it on my blog. Expect to see more reviews of my Toxic Zombies as well as the biggest batrep I have ever published, as I go back to the very start of the zombie apocalypse and discover how the original six Zombicide Survivors from Season 1 meet for the first time. It is truly epic. It took me 16 hours to play over a period of three days and I took over 360 photos of the action. What fun it was. Zombicide rocks!

My first Zombicide batrep, A Little Setback, (see here for part 1 and here for part 2) was such a success that I simply had to do a follow up. This time around I wanted to concentrate solely on Season 1 and in particular, I wanted to showcase a scenario that featured the original six Survivors - Amy, Doug, Josh, Ned, Phil and Wanda. I could have chosen a scenario from the Season 1 rulebook but didn't. Instead, I chose a scenario from the Zombicide Compendium volume 1 - C23 Day Zero. You can download it for free from here - http://zombicide.com/dl/Mission_C23.pdf This scenario grabbed my attention the first time I read it and I knew immediately it was a scenario I wanted to play. So what makes it so special? Quite simply, as the name suggests, it takes us right back to the very start of the zombie apocalypse and it shows the first time our six heroes meet and work together as a group. I have used these six Survivors in more games of Zombicide than any others and as such, I have grown very close to them. They are very much my default Survivors when it comes to playing Zombicide. Their first escapade together just had to be immortalised in words and photos. Normally, when I post a batrep, it is very rules heavy. But for this batrep, I knew that approach would quickly  become boring and repetitive. Besides which, Zombicide is a very easy game to play and I covered all the basics in my first batrep. So, for this batrep I am taking a more narrative approach. I will add a few game play notes where appropriate. These will take the form of captions to the photos. Finally, for me, the following applies. First up, the six Survivors have met before and know each other passingly. None are close friends. Secondly, the scenario takes place early in the morning of the outbreak and the zombie apocalypse has been escalating for the past few hours.
INTRODUCTION
"The day it all began.It started like any other - Doug, an office worker at his desk; Amy, a goth Girl making breakfast; Phil, a cop interrogating Josh, a young thug; Ned, a nut job tugging feverishly on a locked door and me, Wanda, getting ready to serve burgers. Even when every radio and television in sight began blaring out the news, it still almost didn't penetrate the mundane routine. Only the first distant sounds of gunfire and screams gave us a precious few minutes of warning. We gathered, we prepared, still disbelieving even as the first few trickled in. We killed them, refusing to yield our homes, but soon the trickle became a flood. We couldn't defend. There was no resisting any more... only survival and zombicide. I should have grabbed my toothbrush!"
The photo above shows the initial set up of the board. There are four Zombie Spawn Points, one on each edge of the board. 1 is North, 2 is East, 3 is South and 4 is West. The upper four tiles are from left to right, 4E, 1C, 5D and 6B. The lower four tiles are from left to right, 1B, 5B, 5C and 7B.
OBJECTIVE
Escape through the Exit Zone on tile 1B with at least one Survivor at the Red Danger Level. Any Survivor at the Red Danger Level may escape through this Zone at the end of his Turn, as long as there are no Zombies in that Zone. This is an unusual objective as it requires all six Survivors to kill a hell of a lot of Zombies in order to win. As such, it meant that the scenario would take many Turns to complete. This was going to be the toughest challenge I had ever faced as a Zombicide player. How many will survive to continue the zombicide?
Here is another view of the game board showing it as it appears in the Compendium.
SPECIAL RULES
Place the Survivors where they were when it all began. 
1. Place Doug at his desk in the large office room on tile 4E.
2. Place Amy in the kitchen of her apartment on tile 1B.
3 and 4. Place Phil and Josh next to the green dumpster on tile 5B.
5. Place Ned outside his bunker on tile 7B.
6. Place Wanda in the diner on tile 6B.
Do not spawn Zombies in buildings the Survivors start in.
You are doing just fine. Each Objective gives 5 experience points to the Survivor who takes it. There are four red Objectives, one blue Objective and one green Objective.
A pimpmobile! The pimpmobile can be searched only once. It contains either Ma's Shotgun or Evil Twins (draw randomly). The pimpmobile can be driven.
A police car! You can Search the police car more than once. Draw cards until you find a weapon. Discard the other cards. The Aaahh! card triggers the appearance of a Walker as usual and interrupts the Search. The police car can be driven.
Ned's bunker. The blue and green Objectives are inside Ned's bunker behind the blue door, which only opens with Ned's key. The blue Objective is his arsenal and the green one is a reusable med-kit! Too bad that Ned has lost the key, and you have no way to get in. No, the key is not located anywhere on the board either. What a sad day!
Just before play began I randomly equipped the Survivors with the six starting weapons. Amy got a Frying Pan, Doug a Fire Axe and Josh a Crowbar.
Ned and Phil also received a Pan. Phil also has a Pistol because he has the Skill, Starts with a Pistol. Very handy! Wanda acquired a Pistol.
TURN 1
AMY. The young Goth girl, Amy, had picked up a frying pan from her kitchen. She knew it was a very poor weapon but it was better than nothing. She sang softly as she walked through her bedroom, ignoring the unmade bed, into her living room.
"Hey now, hey now, now, sing this corrosion."
The lyrics were by Andrew Eldritch, lead singer of the Sisters of Mercy, a group whom she adored. The song, "This Corrosion", was an oldie, released way back in 1987 before she was even born. It was the last tracked she'd played on her hi-fi last night and was still stuck in her memory.
Her eyes were drawn to a katana in its gloss black scabbard that hung on one wall. "Oh, yes. Come to momma," she purred as she grabbed it from its mount and withdrew the razor sharp blade with her free hand.
DOUG. Doug had arrived very early at his office and was grateful that he was the only person in the building. He resented his co-workers but he put up with them. They considered him a grumpy old git and a loner. That was fine by Doug. He refused to socialise or hang out with any of them. A bunch of jerks, the lot of them! Much as he disliked his fellow office workers he held his bosses in even greater contempt. He was certain he had been overlooked for promotion on more than one occasion, even though he had far more experience than the person chosen. Assholes!
Hoping to find something useful in the office all he could find was a flashlight.
"Worth keeping," he said as he slipped it into a trouser pocket.
He walked next door into the conference room and noticed a hip flask of single malt Bourbon lying under the large oval table next to the manager's chair. He knew that his manager was more than partial to a drop of spirits. In fact, he was a closet alcoholic. Perhaps he had dropped it without knowing. It was full and his boss certainly would not discard it willingly. Ah, well, his loss was Doug's gain. He secreted the slim flask in his back pocket. He liked a wee dram himself.

JOSH. "Something's coming. Something bad," the teenage tearaway said to Phil the cop. The cop was initially suspicious of Josh openly carrying a crowbar but Josh had persuaded him his intentions were not criminal. Josh had a grudging respect for the policeman. Phil had always treated him fairly, unlike most other cops.
"Listen to those screams and gunfire," he urged. "They're getting closer. We need to get armed."
"You're right, kid," Phil nodded in agreement. It went against all his training as a cop but he'd heard the reports over his car radio all morning. Too many officers were reporting, "man down, back up required!" Plus, his own partner had been bitten by feral junkie a couple of hours ago and was still in hospital. His partner had shot and killed the junkie. Phil had a nasty suspicion that the junkie was already dead. The word "Zombie" sprung to mind but he kept his suspicions to himself.
"Go open the trunk of the car," he said. "There's a stash of weapons I was taking back to the precinct station in there. Pick what you want."
Josh nodded once and ran to where the police car was parked. The trunk was not locked and he quickly popped it open. His eyes lit up at the small arsenal stowed away. The 12 Gauge pump-action shotgun lying on top of the other weapons would suit him fine. He checked it was loaded. It was.
"Cool!" he said, smiling.
NED. Ned knew this day was coming. For years he had anticipated a disaster just like the one unfolding this morning. A lot of folks thought he was crazy but he knew differently. The signs were there for anyone with the insight to see. Sadly, most folk were blissfully unaware. Well, they could die in ignorance, he thought. He had a plan and it was time to set it in motion. He rushed to his fortified stronghold, cunningly disguised as an empty building in the city centre. Naturally, the secure entrance was locked but that didn't matter because he had the keys. Didn't he? He was certain he had them. Apparently not. He searched all his pockets and pouches. He even took his shoes off and checked them out. But it was all in vain. His keys were missing and he had no idea where they could be. It was so goddamned frustrating!
He angrily stormed away. Turning a corner, he spotted a youngster looking in the trunk of a police car. He thought he recognised the youth. Joe was his name. No, it was Josh, he suddenly remembered.
"Hey, son, what do you think you're doing?" he asked as he closed the distance between them.
"Stocking up on weapons to kill the walking dead," was Josh's disarmingly honest reply.
"You know about them?" the bearded tramp asked.
"Hell, yeah!" Josh answered. "Go ahead. Pick one. Phil says it's okay."
"A machete," said Ned as he took the hefty blade. "This'll do some damage!"
PHIL. It was at this point that Phil joined them. "Morning, Ned. Are you going to join us?" he asked.
"Reckon so," Ned replied. "You're going to need all the help you can get, officer. The world's about to end. Mark my words."
Ominously, Phil and Josh were not inclined to disagree with him.
Phil's regulation 9mm pistol felt reassuring at his side in its holster but he wanted a firearm with greater accuracy and range. He chose the 7.62mm hunting rifle from the collection of weapons.
WANDA. Normally, Wanda worked the late shift at her local diner but today it was her turn to do the morning shift. Not that she minded but she was surprised to find she was the first to arrive. Her chef/manager should have been here first to open the place up. The lazy fat bastard is probably still in bed fast asleep, she thought. She'd switched on the radio and TV in the diner as soon as she'd entered the building. News reports were coming in thick and fast of violent outbreaks occurring across the city. There was even wild speculation that the dead were coming back to life and attacking the living. That couldn't be right, could it? Just to be on the save side she grabbed the sawed-off shotgun that was hidden under the counter next to the cash register. She still had her 9mm Glock pistol that she'd brought to work. It was for personal protection only, as she'd met too many crazy people in her line of work. Some folk just wouldn't take no for an answer. It paid to be prepared.
She sauntered into the restroom and decided that if a crisis was coming it would be wise to stock up on essentials. To her, that meant wet wipes and tampons. She stuffed a packet of each into her apron pocket.
ZOMBIES. At first they arrived in a trickle. One male Walker from the north...
...a female walker from the south...
...and a male and female Walker from the west.
TURN 2

Amy is unlucky when she searches her apartment.

AMY. Amy was going to search behind her sofa to see if anything useful was there when a groaning noise from behind put her on full alert. She spun around and noticed two things that surprised her. First, her front door was wide open. She was sure she had locked it last night. Secondly, and more importantly, there was a stranger standing in her lounge. He had pallid skin, eyes that showed too much white and a gaping wound in his right arm that was still dripping blood.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" she hissed angrily. "Get out!"
The stranger ignored her command and swiftly approached her with both arms outstretched.
Amy reacted without thinking. She thrust her katana into the stranger's stomach. It didn't faze him one iota. He just groaned and reached out to grab her.
"No way!" the young Goth screamed. She took one step backwards, pulling the blade free and swung it at neck height. The katana sliced through flesh and bone with amazing ease. As the stranger's head parted his body Amy was surprised at how little blood there was.
"Oh, my God!" she cried. "The news was right. The dead really are coming back to life! This is just so fucking amazing!"
DOUG. The 40-year old office worker continued his search of the conference room, checking under chairs and the table and opening drawers. He found a bag of rice and incredibly, a can of gasoline. He ignored the rice but took the gasoline.
Satisfied that he'd found all that was worth finding he exited the conference room and walked along the rear corridors to the side exit.
JOSH. The teenager continued to rummage around in the trunk of the police car. He discovered a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun, which he took.
"Now this is more my style," he said. "Can I keep this instead of the pump action?"
"You can take whatever you want," Phil replied. "Do you still want the pump action?"
"Nah, not really," Josh answered. "Here. You can have it."
"Alright!" Phil gratefully took the proffered firearm. Now he felt confident to take on any threat.
NED. Ned decided he'd like some firepower as well, so he took a 7.62mm rifle, identical to Phil's from the trunk of the police car.
"Let's see if this works," he mused as he moved away from Josh and Phil to the junction leading south to his stronghold. A lone female zombie glared at him and emitted a loud growl. He raised the rifle to his shoulder and carefully took aim. BLAM! One fatal shot to the forehead of the Walker was all the proof Ned needed that he'd chose wisely. He would keep the rifle.
PHIL."Stay here," Phil said to Josh. "There are lights on in the diner. I'm going to check it out."
He walked along the street and entered the diner. The place looked deserted.
"Hey, anyone here?" he called out.
WANDA."Is that you, Phil?" Wanda replied. She emerged from the restroom, relieved to see a friendly face. Phil was one of her regular customers and an all-round nice guy.
"Have you heard the news?" she asked as moved back behind the counter. "Is it true that the dead are coming back to life?"
"I fear it is," Phil replied solemnly. "I see you're armed. That's good."
"I am, and ooh, look what I've found," she said cheerily, as she held up a handful of spare ammo clips that she'd just found. They were secreted beneath the counter but now she put them away in her apron pouch.
ZOMBIES. The two Walkers from the west and the one from the north shuffled closer to Josh and Ned.
They were joined by three more Walkers who arrived from the north, east and south.
TURN 3
AMY. Amy continued to search her apartment for more weapons. There was an old chest that she kept in her lounge. She unlocked it and smiled once more. Inside was a double-barreled 12 Gauge sawed-off shotgun and a small box of shotgun cartridges. She took them both.
She crossed the room to the open front door and glanced outside. Two zombie Walkers stood in the road glaring balefully at her. They growled in unison and raised their arms to grab her. Amy fired both barrels at point blank range, turning their heads into a red mist. She stepped outside and reloaded her sawed-off shotgun. "What a morning this is turning out to be," she muttered.
DOUG. There were a pair of large metal cupboards next to the exit door in the lobby that Doug now occupied. He opened one and found another fire axe inside, which he ignored, plus an empty glass bottle. An idea flashed in his brain. If he poured the gasoline into the bottle he could make a Molotov Cocktail. That could prove to be very useful, he thought. He finished off his handiwork by shoving a piece of rag into the opening of the bottle.
The exit door was locked but he soon solved that problem by smashing the lock with his fire axe. As he stepped outside he saw the young Goth Girl, Amy, who lived in the apartment across the street. The fact that she held a katana in one hand and a sawed-off shotgun in the other didn't faze him at all.
"Good morning, Amy!" he said cheerfully.
"Morning, Mr. Michaels," Amy replied.
"Please, call me Doug," the office worker insisted.
"Okay, ...Doug," Amy responded hesitantly. "Have you seen any zombies yet? I've just killed three in the past couple of minutes."
"Really?" Doug looked at her with renewed respect. He couldn't imagine her killing anyone. "No, not personally. Just what I saw on the news and I'm still not sure it's true."
"Oh, it is!" Amy said earnestly. "It's very true!"
JOSH. Josh moved away from the police car in a westerly direction until he came to the junction that led north. What appeared to be a blood-soaked office worker saw him and quickened his pace. He was clearly one of the walking dead. Josh pointed his sawed-off shotgun at the Walker and pulled both triggers. The 12 gauge shot caught the Walker full in the face. He hit the ground with a wet slap and did not get back up. Josh nonchalantly walked back to the police car and reloaded his sawed-off.
NED. Another Walker had taken the place of the one Ned had killed a few seconds ago. Ned sighted down the rifle's barrel and gently pulled the trigger. The bullet missed the zombie's head by a few inches. Ned calmly exhaled and aimed again. The Walker was a lot closer now. This time Ned did not miss. The back of the Walker's head exploded in a spray of blood, bone fragments and brain matter.
Ned walked back to the police car and greeted Josh with a nod. The youngster said nothing but smiled back at him.
PHIL. "You wouldn't happen to have any more ammo stashed away behind there?" Phil asked.
"I'm not sure," Wanda replied. "Why don't you come and see?"
Phil joined the young waitress behind the counter and immediately spotted a familiar looking box. As he opened it he saw it was full of shotgun cartridges.
"Sorted!" he said with a grin as he pocketed the spare ammo. "I'll just be outside if you need me."
As soon as he exited the diner he saw a bedraggled female heading towards him. Blood covered her hands, mouth and chin.
"Stop right there!" he ordered.
The Walker ignored his request and made a dash to grab him. She only covered a few yards before Phil opened fire with his pump-action shotgun. The blast lifted the Walker off her feet as it hit her full in the face, killing her instantly.

The dreaded Aaahh! card crops again when Wanda does her Search Action.

WANDA. Wanda was about to follow Phil outside when she decided to give the dining area one last search. A noise from beneath one of the corner tables made her suspicious.
"Hello," she called out. To her utter amazement a scruffy-looking teenager crawled out from beneath the table and stood up. His clothes were torn and he was covered in fresh blood. One look at him was all it needed to convince Wanda that the dead were returning to life. Her right hand shook as she pointed her double-barreled sawed-off shotgun at the youth. He lunged at the firearm, twisting it to one side when she pulled the triggers. The noise was deafening and her nose was filled with the stench of cordite. She only had the briefest moment to realise that she'd missed.
The Walker snapped his jaws as he tried to bite her face. Wanda pulled back just in time. She still held her Glock pistol in her left hand. She jammed the pistol barrel under the chin of the zombie and pulled the trigger. The top of the Walker's skull exploded in a welter of gore that hit the ceiling. As the dead teenager fell to the floor, Wanda sobbed in relief that she was still alive. That had been too close for comfort!
ZOMBIES. A bowler-hatted Walker slowly moved closer to the T-junction where he'd seen Josh.

Amazingly, I only spawned 1 Walker this Turn. Lucky me!

TURN 4.
AMY. Amy noticed that another Walker was approaching her apartment. She strode purposefully towards him and when she was just a few feet away from him she pointed her sawed-off shotgun at his head and pulled both triggers. The killing was brutal but efficient. She walked back along the street to meet up with Doug again. She recognised a few other people further along the street and noticed that everyone was carrying weapons.

Holy crap! An Abomination this early in the game! This is not good!

DOUG. Doug walked along the street towards the parked police car but stopped when he reached the back door of a general store. He knocked on the door and tried the handle. It was locked. Curiosity got the better of him and with one swing of his fire axe he smashed the lock. The door swung open to reveal a small office that had been trashed beyond belief. It looked like it had been hit by a tornado as debris littered the floor. In the centre of the room stood a lone female Walker. Unbeknownst to Doug, the Walker was not alone in the building. To her left in the frozen food department was a male Walker. Whilst at the far left of the store in the shop itself was a creature from the very bowels of Hell - a zombie Abomination!
"Hey, guys," Doug called out. "I think you should come and check this out!"

Josh uses his Slippery Skill to sneak past the female Walker.

JOSH. "Hey, what's up?" Josh asked Doug as he joined him outside the store.
"We've got company inside," Doug replied, "of the undead variety."
"No problem, man" Josh reassured him. "I'll just slip in and check the place out."
Amazingly, the Walker never even noticed the youth as he silently tip-toed past her into the storage room. It was a knack he had of slipping past people unnoticed.
NED."Good morning, Doug," the bearded tramp said as he came to stand beside the frustrated looking office worker. "You got a problem?"
"I sure have," Doug replied as he pointed to the open door of the store with his fire axe.
"Aha, I see!" Ned offered. He calmly shot and killed the female Walker staring back at him from the ruined office. "Problem solved!"
Doug chuckled as Ned turned away.
"Hmm, more of the buggers, huh?" Ned muttered to himself as he saw the Walker wearing the bowler hat approaching him. At that range it should have been an easy kill but Ned's aim was just a fraction off. He hit the Walker in the left shoulder, which did nothing to slow him down.
PHIL. Phil jogged back along the street to join the growing band of humans gathered outside the rear entrance to the general store. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Zombie trouble," Doug replied.
WANDA. Wanda was a skilled roller-skater and she always wore her roller-skates to work. She swiftly exited the diner and skated along the street to join the others. "Hi, everyone," she said, sounding more cheerful than she felt. Amy, Doug, Ned and Phil offered their own greetings. They were all regulars at her diner and were on first name terms with her.
"Have we got another zombie here?" she asked as she suddenly noticed the Walker wearing the bowler hat.
"Yeah, I winged him," Ned replied. "I was just about to finish him off."
"Don't worry," Wanda said as she raised her sawed-off. "I've  got him!"
This time her hand did not shake and her aim was true. The Walker fell to the ground minus the top half his head. The bowler hat was shredded.

Wanda advances to Yellow Level and gains +1 Action.

Wanda had noticed that the trunk of the police car was wide open when she passed it. There seemed to be lots of weapons still inside, so she decided to take a closer look.
ZOMBIES. The Walker from the frozen food department ambled into the office. Ignoring Josh, he headed straight for the exit. Following on behind him, the Abomination shuffled into the frozen food department and emitted a blood-bloodcurdling roar. It sent shivers down the spines of the six humans who heard it.

TURN 4
ZOMBIES. Nine zombies responded to the cry of the Abomination. One Walker came from the north, two Runners from the east, three Walkers from the south and another three Walkers from the west.
TURN 5
AMY. "Hi, Wanda," Amy said as she greeted her waitress friend. "Hell of a morning, huh?"
"Tell me about it," Wanda grimaced, remembering her close brush with death in the diner. "Hey, there's some cool weapons in here. Wanna have a look?"
"Sure," said Amy as she moved closer to the trunk of the police car. "What have we got?"
"Oh, my God!" the young Goth exclaimed as she picked out a chainsaw. "Will you look at this!"
"Oh, Amy, that is a thing of beauty," Wanda beamed. "I've often dreamed about owning one of them. can I have it, please? Pretty please!"
"Sure, here you go," Amy said as she handed the chainsaw over to Wanda. "I like my katana anyway."

Josh takes the first of two Objectives from the store and advances to Yellow Level.

JOSH. The young street thug tried to keep as quiet as possible to avoid attracting the attention of the Walker in the office next door but something had alerted the zombie to his presence. The Walker growled and moved towards the store room with his undead eyes fixated on the teenager. Josh reacted in an instant and fired his double-barreled sawed-off shotgun from the hip. The shot from the first barrel hit the zombie square in the chest but the second shot was far more lethal and blew the top of the Walker's head off.
There was almost nothing that interested Josh in the storeroom. He was hoping to find another weapon or maybe some spare ammo but he was out of luck. Instead he picked up a glass bottle and stashed it in one of the pockets of his combat pants.

Phil makes good use of his Matching Set Skill to acquire a pair of SMGs

DOUG. The middle-aged office worker adjusted his glasses as he approached Amy and Wanda at the back of the police car.
"Doug, how nice to see you," Wanda said with a smile. "Have you come to tool up as well?"
"This is your one stop shopping venue for weaponry," Amy added, "and for one day only, it's all free."
"Good morning, Wanda," Doug replied as he nodded at both women. "Let's see what you've got."
"Now this has just made my day," he enthused as he pulled out a pair of 9mm Uzi sub-machine guns. "Thank you, Lord!"
NED. Ned the drifter was having mixed results with his newly acquired 7.62mm hunting rifle. 
It took him threeshots to kill a pair of zombie Runners. He hit with his first shot, missed completely with his second and hit with the third. Still, they were fast moving targets and to get two head shots out of three at that range was good going.
PHIL. Phil took a short walk north to confront an African/American male slowly approaching him. From a distance he looked perfectly normal but close up the signs were all there - he was one of the walking dead. Phil cranked his shotgun and shot the Walker in the head.
He turned round and headed back to join up with Doug and Ned at the rear entrance to the general store.
"Another zombie?" Ned asked.
"Yeah," Phil replied. "At first I thought he was an ordinary civilian but he wasn't."
WANDA. The blonde-haired young waitress carefully considered the weapons still stashed away in the trunk of the police car. She tucked her sawed-off shotgun in the waistband of her apron and replaced it with a 12 gauge pump-action shotgun. It was heavier but it would take less reloading.
"Okay, guys, I'm going to head back to the diner now," she said. "Anyone want to join me?"
"Yeah, sure. I'll come with you," Amy replied as she watched Wanda skate away and re-enter the diner.
ZOMBIES. The Abomination lumbered out of the store's frozen food department into the trashed office to stand at the open doorway leading outside. As one, the survivors who saw him gasped in amazement and alarm. This was the stuff of nightmares. It shouldn't even exist!

The first Zombie Spawn card yields an unusual result. The Yellow option would affect two Tiles.

 Two Walkers clawed their way out of a manhole at the back of the diner.
 Whilst two more Walkers emerged from a manhole at the front of the general store.
 Elsewhere, four Walkers arrived from the east and two more came from the south.
Three more Walkers arrived from the west, not far behind another three. The horde was slowly growing.
TURN 6
AMY. Amy followed Wanda into the diner and stopped in the kitchen. She briefly looked around, noting that Wanda was next door in the staff restroom.
DOUG."What in God's creation are you?" Doug asked of no one in particular as he fully took in the monster looming over him just a few feet away.
"Don't just stand there, man. Kill it!" Ned pleaded in a panic-stricken voice.
"Holy Mary, mother of God!" Phil murmured from behind them.
Doug swapped one of his Uzis with his Molotov Cocktail and deftly lit the rag with a Zippo lighter. With all his might he hurled the flaming bottle at the Abomination. He was delighted to see it shatter against the monster's toughened and boney hide, covering it in liquid fire. The Abomination was engulfed in flames from the waist upwards and roared in pain. It staggered backwards clawing at its face. That only made things worse as it tore strips of flesh away. Its knees suddenly gave way and it crumpled to the ground, writhing in agony. It only took a few seconds for it to die but for the four humans who witnessed its death those seconds felt like minutes.

The death of the Abomination easily takes Doug into the Yellow Level.

The smell of burning flesh made Doug gag as he entered the store and examined his handiwork. The Abomination lay unmoving and still burning. He swallowed once and concentrated hard on not throwing up.
"Fuck me!" Josh exclaimed. "You fucking killed it! That was so fucking incredible!"
"Fuckin' A!" Doug replied. Bad language didn't bother him. He often swore at his co-workers. The office resembled a bombsite before he had thrown the Molotov. Now it looked even worse. It was highly unlikely that he'd find anything of use amongst the debris and rubble but today was his lucky day. Half buried under a chunk of plaster was a pistol. He pulled it free and recognised it as a 9mm M92 Beretta S8.
 He tucked it behind the belt of his trousers at his back as he stepped outside into the fresh air.
JOSH. The teenage tearaway was convinced there was still something worth finding in the store room. He had missed the metal strongbox tucked away in one corner on his first sweep of the room. But now he had seen it he wanted to know what was inside it. He prized it open with his crowbar and was delighted that his instincts were right. Inside was a 12 Gauge double-barreled sawed-off shotgun, almost identical to the one in his hand.
"I'm having you," he said as he removed it from its place of concealment. Now with a sawed-off shotgun in each hand he walked out of the storeroom, into the office, then outside, moving away from Doug, Ned and Phil towards six Walkers.
NED. Ned cautiously stepped into the demolished office of the general store, glancing suspiciously at the corpse of the Abomination. He half expected it to stand up but it didn't. He shivered involuntarily as he moved deeper inside and entered the frozen food department. He was sure he'd find something useful in here.

Ned takes the second Objective from the store and advances to Yellow Level. The scope fitted to his rifle meant he could target ANY zombie at range, ignoring the usual targeting priority.

He was right. First he stuffed his pockets with frozen rashers of bacon. He absolutely loved a bacon sandwich. His second find was totally unexpected and not the kind of thing anyone would expect to find amongst frozen food. It was a scope-sight for a rifle. What's more, it fitted his hunting rifle just perfectly. Now he had the perfect weapon for killing zombies from afar.
He felt far happier when he walked back into the office.
PHIL. The young police patrolman was not happy with his choice of weapons so he reorganised them. The 9mm pistol went back in his holster. The frying pan remained tucked into the back of his belt. He wasn't sure why he had it but he'd keep it for now. All of his ammo was kept in his belt pouches. That just left his rifle and shotgun. He held them in his hands unsure which one to pick. Ah, sod it, he thought, I'll use them both.
He too, had noticed the two groups of Walkers approaching from the west. It felt strange firing a rifle one-handed and he was not at all surprised when his first shot missed.
However, his second shot was unerringly accurate and it hit a female Walker smack between the eyes, killing her instantly.
WANDA. Wanda fired up her chainsaw and used it to open the locked exit door. She only had the keys to the front door. Her dozy, inept manager kept the only keys to the diner's rear door. Two Walkers faced her outside but she gave them no time at all to react. She swung the chainsaw as high as she could in a sweeping arc that decapitated both Walkers at once.
She was laughing as she roller-skated down the street towards a garishly coloured convertible. She was amazed at how easily killing zombies made her happy. It shouldn't but it did.
ZOMBIES. The noise made by the six survivors attracted more and more zombies. The trickle of new arrivals was growing steadily and the sixteen Walkers already close by slowly advanced hoping to feast on the flesh of the warm-blooded humans.
Another nine Walkers joined the sixteen in small groups. Three from the north, one from the east, three from the south and two from the west.
TURN 7
AMY. Amy moved out of the kitchen of the diner and exited the building through the rear door that Wanda had demolished with her chainsaw. She trotted along the street to catch up with the waitress who was closely inspecting an open topped car that she did not recognise.
"Who does this belong to?" Amy asked.
"A local pimp," Wanda answered with a sneer. "The guy's a total asshole!"
DOUG. Doug walked alongside the parked police car to confront a trio of Walkers who were getting too close for comfort. He had selected the short burst option on his twin Uzis to conserve ammo. He knew it was so easy to empty the ammo clip in a second or two on full automatic. Despite the recoil from firing both sub-machine guns simultaneously his aim was incredibly accurate. All three Walkers dropped down with fatal head wounds.
He checked out what was left of the weapons in the police car's trunk. He could have taken a baseball bat or a machete but he was happy enough with what he had so he left them alone. He headed back to Ned and Phil.
JOSH. The teenage street thug stood his ground as a pair of Walkers, one male, one female, advanced on him. Their pace seemed to quicken the closer they got to him. He waited until they were a few yards away before raising one of his two sawed-off shotguns and pulling both triggers. The shot disintegrated the head of the male Walker.
The female Walker got even closer. From the amount of blood on her hands and around her mouth it looked like she had fed only recently. There was no way that Josh was going to let her feast on him. He raised his second sawed-off shotgun and blasted the Walker in the face. He liked the feel of having a pair of sawed-offs in his hands. The only downside to them was that they needed reloading each time he fired them. He ejected the empty cartridges and replaced them with new ones.
NED. From inside the store's office, Ned could see all the way along the street leading north. Three Walkers had suddenly hove into view. He raised his sniper rifle and took careful aim.
His first two shots were clean kills. He missed with his third shot but redeemed himself with his fourth shot and with that the zombie threat was eliminated.
PHIL. The patrolman had the same idea as Ned - eliminate the approaching Walkers before they got too close. He also had three Walkers in sight. They were too far away to hit with his shotgun but well within range of his hunting rifle. He killed a teenage Walker with his first shot.
His second shot went too wide but he corrected his mistake with his third shot and he killed a young female Walker.
WANDA."So the car belongs to an asshole, huh?" Amy mused. "It would serve him right if someone stole it. Get in. I'll drive."
Wanda chuckled as she climbed over the side of the car into the front passenger seat. With her roller-skates on there was no way she could drive. As she settled down she noticed something nestling between the two front seats. It was a weapon, but a most unusual one. Someone had fixed a machete to a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun. On the handle was the inscription, "Ma's Shotgun." She wondered who Ma was. It certainly wasn't the pimp who owned the car.
"Hey, Amy," she called, "do you want this?"
"Too right I do!" Amy replied as she tucked her sawed-off shotgun at her left side behind her studded belt. She correctly guessed that Wanda must have wanted to repay the favour of her letting the waitress take the chainsaw that Amy had found earlier. "This is way cooler than my sawed-off. Thanks, Wanda."
ZOMBIES. Fifteen Walkers shuffled relentlessly forward to close in on the four male survivors. They were joined by four Walkers from the north, two Walkers from the east, two Runners from the south and a Fatty and two Walkers from the west.
TURN 8
AMY. Goth Girl Amy climbed into the driver's seat of the pimpmobile and deftly hot-wired the ignition. An ex-boyfriend had taught her that useful trick.
"Let's rock and roll!" she roared as she pressed one foot hard on the accelerator. The car lurched forward, quickly gaining momentum.

A car kills any zombie with one Wound on the roll of 4+. Incredibly, Amy scored 4 successes!

Amy took the corner at speed and deliberately drove the pimpmobile at the four Walkers blocking the road. By a piece of amazing good fortune she hit and knocked down all four zombies. With a sickening crunch the wheels crushed the skulls of the Walkers. Amy hit the brakes and skidded to a halt. She and Wanda spun round in their seats and looked on in awe at the carnage behind them.
"Holy shit!" Amy exclaimed, climbing out of the car. "I got them all!"
"How did you do that?" Wanda asked incredulously. "I've never seen anything like that before. That was just amazing!"
"Pure luck," Amy replied honestly.

Amy's 4 kills advances her to Yellow Level.

DOUG. Doug caught up with Josh who was facing three Walkers.
"I thought you might need a hand, kid," he said, stepping closer to the undead trio.
"Go for it," Josh replied, happy to have Doug's company, but more importantly, the extra firepower.
Just as before, Doug fired two short bursts from his twin Uzis, and killed all three Walkers.

The dice gods redress the balance by giving Doug 6 misses to make up for Amy's 4 hits.

Two more Walkers were just a short distance behind the three he'd just slain. He moved closer to them, confident he would wipe them out. To his utter amazement he missed with every shot.
JOSH."Un-fucking-believable!" Josh taunted as he came to stand alongside the crestfallen office worker. "This is how you do it!"
He fired both sawed-off shotguns at once and blasted the two Walkers in the head.
NED. The drifter exited the general store and came to a stop next to Phil.
"There's more of them coming all the time, Ned," Phil remarked. "Wanna give me a hand to thin their numbers?"
"Only too happy to oblige, Phil," Ned responded. A 7.62mm bullet from his sniper rifle blew a large hole in the back of the skull of the nearest Walker.
He fired again but caught his target in the shoulder. The Walker gave no indication that he had been wounded. Ned concentrated even harder on his third shot. Success! He hit the Walker in his left eye and blew his brains out.
PHIL."That was some good shooting," Phil acknowledged. He raised his own hunting rifle and permanently put down a male Walker.
"Get that last one," Ned urged. Phil duly obliged with another neat head-shot, killing a female Walker.

Phil advances to Yellow Level courtesy of that second kill.

A lone female Walker further away than the four Ned and Phil had just killed was the only zombie left in sight. It was a difficult shot to take at this range but Phil was more than up to the task. He shot the Walker in the forehead and splattered her brains over the road.
WANDA."I want to check out that store, Amy," Wanda announced as she climbed out of the pimpmobile.
"Fine. You go ahead," Amy replied. "I'll catch up with you later. Stay safe."
Wanda skated past Ned and Phil into the smouldering wreckage of the store's office. She shivered as she saw the still burning corpse of the Abomination. She did not want to know what it was or who it was. She quickly moved through the frozen food department into the main store. Acting on instinct, she searched behind the counter and was rewarded by finding a box of ammo that was full of shotgun cartridges. What a lucky find, she thought. She only just managed to squeeze the ammo box into her apron pouch, which was now full.
The main entrance into the store was locked. The key could be anywhere and she wasn't going to waste her time looking for it. She fired up her chainsaw and demolished the lock. The door swung open, letting in a welcoming waft of fresh air. She breathed in deeply, savouring the moment.
 ZOMBIES. Seven Walkers ambled closer to Ned and Phil. They were joined by two Runners.
Meanwhile a Fatty and two Walkers moved much closer to Doug and Josh. Three newly arrived Walkers followed them. Elsewhere, a lone Runner sprinted into view from the north; three more Walkers joined the small horde approaching Ned and Phil and a single Walker arrived from the south.
TURN 9

AMY."Let's see what you can do," Amy said to herself as she slowly walked towards a zombie Runner. Ma's Shotgun bucked in her hand with the recoil from both barrels firing at once. However, Amy had enough control of the unique weapon and one blast shredded the head of the Runner.
She reloaded as she walked back to where Ned and Phil were standing. Seeing a small horde of zombies approaching, and knowing that Ned and Phil had her back, she advanced to within a few yards of the horde and raised Ma's Shotgun. She fired both barrels and whooped with joy when she saw two Walkers fall down with fatal wounds to the head.
DOUG. Doug knew he had to redeem himself in front of Josh after his embarrassing miss earlier. He fired two short bursts from his Uzis and killed the female Walker accompanying the Fatty.
He shifted his aim to the male Walker and scored another killing blow, even though most of the bursts missed. He sighed in relief, then grinned at Josh. Josh nodded once and smiled back.
"I'm going back into the office, Josh," he said, "The Fatty's all yours."
"Gee, thanks," Josh replied unenthusiastically.
Doug opened the second locker in the lobby. He had not searched it before and he was curious to know if it contained anything useful. It did. Inside was a selection of canned food and a small jerrycan full of gasoline. Having seen what a Molotov Cocktail could do to an Abomination he wanted the gasoline. The canned food would also be useful if the world was really going to hell but there was no way he could carry them all. He made a quick decision and discarded his pistol to make room for the jerrycan of gasoline.
JOSH. The Fatty loomed large as it slowly advanced on the teen but Josh was ready for it. He waited until the monster was just a yard away and shot it in the head with one of his two sawed-off shotguns. The Fatty's head exploded in a welter of gore.
Two Walkers were closely following the Fatty. Josh put a stop to their advance by jogging up to them and dispatching them with both barrels from his second sawed-off. He moved back to where the headless Fatty lay.
NED. Ned was aware that the greatest threat facing him and his friends were the two Runners lurking just behind a trio of Walkers. He took great care to get the leading Runner's head in his sights before pulling the trigger. It was a clean kill.
He shifted his aim to the second Runner and took it out with another head-shot.
His third shot killed one of the three Walkers.
"Wanna go four for four?" Phil asked.
"Absolutely" Ned replied confidently. He had every right to feel confident as his fourth shot blew a 7.62mm sized hole through the skull of a second Walker.
PHIL."Finish them off, Phil," Ned urged with a grin to the patrolman.
Phil said nothing. Actions meant more than words. He easily killed the nearest Walker with a head-shot from his hunting rifle.
The only threat remaining on the street were two Walkers much further away. His first shot at them missed. He adjusted his aim and this time killed a female Walker.
"A full house!" he called out as he shot and killed the last Walker in sight.
"Heh, I can't argue with that," Ned said approvingly.
WANDA. As Wanda exited the store she spotted a lone Walker standing at the junction leading up to her diner. "Easy meat," she said as she skated speedily towards him. She brought her chainsaw down on the top of the Walkers skull and sliced the head in two. She deftly skated around the Walker as it fell to the ground and she skated back the way she had come.
ZOMBIES. Just three Walkers remained and they turned round the corner between the side of the store and Ned's bunker to face Amy, Ned and Phil. Two Runners suddenly appeared behind them. Further afield, two Walkers arrived in the neighbourhood from the north, four Walkers arrived from the south and another Runner came speeding in from the west.

TURN 10
AMY. Amy jogged back to the pimpmobile to deal with the zombie threat from the north. Two Walkers were not much of a threat but they still needed putting down. Two blasts from Ma's Shotgun put an end to the Walkers' advance and their undead existence. She reloaded the combination shotgun/machete as she headed back to the T-junction.
DOUG. "Did you find anything useful in there?" Josh asked when he saw Doug coming back out of the office block.
"A can of gasoline," Doug replied as he brandished the jerrycan aloft. "I figure we could make another Molotov if we found some more empty bottles."
"No problem, dude," Josh announced as he pulled out the glass bottle he had found earlier. "Look what I've got."
"Well, we're sorted now," Doug said, grinning happily. A Molotov was an extremely useful weapon to have in their arsenal. "We just have to decide who gets it."
"Can I, please?" Josh pleaded. "I'll keep it safe, I promise."
"Hey, why not?" Doug was feeling in a generous mood. He handed the jerrycan over to the teen and watched him pour the liquid into the empty bottle and stuff a handkerchief in the top.
"Walker approaching!" Josh shouted in warning.
"No worries," Doug replied, "I've got her."
Two short bursts from his 9mm Uzi sub-machine guns obliterated the Walker's face and she crumpled to the ground where she lay still.

This new kill took Doug into the Orange Level. He was the first to reach it. Life would get a lot harder now for the heroes with more zombies than ever arriving every Turn. Doug gained the +1 Free Combat Action Skill.

JOSH. The street thug was now feeling part of a team and not a loner anymore. He respected Doug for letting him make and keep the Molotov. He made a silent promise not to let Doug or any of the others down. But first there was a zombie Runner to kill. He advanced  a few yards and shot the Runner in the head from almost point blank range. As he walked back to the T-junction to hook up with Amy he reloaded his empty sawed-off shotgun.
NED. Ned walked a short distance to stand alongside Phil's parked police car. A pair of Runners in the distance were sprinting towards him. He killed them both with two shots from his sniper rifle.

Ned also advances to Orange Level and just like Doug, gains the +1 Free Combat Action Skill.

He shifted his aim to one of the three Walkers just a short distance away. His first shot went too wide but his second shot hit a male Walker in the bridge of his nose, killing him instantly.
PHIL. Once again, Phil joined the bearded drifter to help thin the zombie threat. His first rifle shot was also a miss but he quickly corrected his mistake and his second shot was bang on target and killed a male teenage Walker.
He cleared the street of zombies with his third shot as he killed a female Walker with an accurate head shot. The neighbourhood was now clear.
WANDA. Well, not quite clear. Four Walkers remained at the corner of the general store just out of sight of Ned and Phil but not Wanda. With her chainsaw roaring she skated past them cutting and slicing from behind. Wanda was rapidly becoming a master at wielding the chainsaw. Three Walkers dropped to the ground as their heads parted their bodies.
With just one female Walker remaining Wanda deftly removed the top of her skull to expose the Walker's brain pan. She pirouetted and sped back the way she'd come.
ZOMBIES. Six Walkers had approached the neighbourhood through the sewer system. Two emerged from a manhole at the back entrance of the diner, whilst two more had crawled out of a manhole positioned underneath the parked pimpmobile. It was a struggle but they eventually made it out onto the street.
Two more Walkers clambered out of a manhole at the front of the general store, very close to Wanda.

All Fatties got an extra Turn during this Spawning Phase.

Two Fatties followed by four Walkers arrived from the west side. Five more Walkers arrived at the opposite end of the street.
TURN 11
 AMY. Amy watched the two Walkers crawl out from the manhole beneath the pimpmobile. She waited until they stood up before blowing their heads off with two shots from Ma's Shotgun.
She turned round and entered the office of the general store, hoping, but not expecting, to find something useful. Underneath a large piece of plasterboard, hidden from view, was a chainsaw.
"Hmm, Wanda seems to like chainsaws," she mused. "Let's see how it compares to my katana."
She sheathed her katana and took the chainsaw. It felt strange in her hand as she carried it outside.
DOUG. Doug stepped forward to confront five Walkers closing in on him. Two bursts from his twin Uzis took out three of them. This was an excellent start.
He shifted his aim to the remaining two and watched the back of their heads explode as another hail of bullets found their mark.
JOSH. "Look what I found," Amy beamed to the teen as she held up her chainsaw. "Cool, huh?"
"How come I missed that?" Josh wondered aloud. "I'm going back in there."
He walked back into general store and whilst he failed to find any more weapons, he did find plenty of canned food. He stuffed as many of them as he could in his pockets before stepping back outside.
"Successful?" Amy enquired.
"Sort of," Josh admitted. "I stocked up on food."
"Food's good," Amy acknowledged. "Gotta have food."
NED."Phil, if I take out those four Walkers back there, will you get the two Fatties?" Ned asked as he aimed his 7.62mm sniper's rifle.
"I can certainly try," Phil replied.
Ned's shooting was astonishingly accurate. He killed all four Walkers in quick succession.
PHIL. Phil slung his rifle over one shoulder and cranked a shell into his pump action shotgun as he closed in on the two zombie Fatties. Two shots, two kills. It was all over in the blink of an eye. He walked back to where Ned stood. His friend nodded in approval.
WANDA. Unlike Amy, Wanda did not wait for the two Walkers who had just emerged from a manhole to regain their feet. She attacked whilst they were disoriented and struggling to stand up. They had no defence against her deadly chainsaw and she swiftly beheaded them.
ZOMBIES. The two Walkers who had climbed out of the manhole at the back of  the diner were joined by three more Walkers. Two Runners came sprinting in from the east, whilst four Walkers from the south and four Walkers from the west made up the new arrivals.
TURN 12
AMY. The teenage Goth Girl walked the short distance back to the pimpmobile and pointed Ma's Shotgun in the direction of a couple of Walkers. The combi-weapon roared loudly as it spat death from both barrels. The two Walkers were knocked off their feet by the force of the blasts. They did not get back up. Amy briefly considered charging into the other three Walkers to test out her chainsaw but she didn't feel confident enough so she sensibly backed off and reloaded her sawed-off shotgun.
"They're yours, Josh," she said as she rejoined him at the T-junction.
DOUG. The disgruntled office worker walked a few paces forward and let rip with both Uzis. Two Walkers from a group of four were flung backwards with fatal head shots.
The two remaining Walkers suffered the same fate as Doug's controlled short bursts caught them in the head as well.
JOSH. Josh knew he had four chances to kill the three Walkers before he'd have to reload. If he didn't kill them all he knew that he could outrun them but he silently prayed it wouldn't come to that. In quick succession he fired both barrels of both sawed-off shotguns. He sighed with relief when he saw all three Walkers drop dead. He moved back to the T-junction to rejoin Amy and see how Ned and Phil were getting on.
NED. Ned's shooting had been exemplary up till now. His kill ratio was well up. He was full of confidence when he aimed his sniper's rifle at the head of one of two Runners. He pulled the trigger, fully expecting the Runner to die. But his shot missed. He tried again. And missed again. Four times he fired at the Runner and four times he missed.
"Goddammit!" he screamed in frustration. "What is wrong with me?"
PHIL. "It's not easy hitting a small target moving that fast at that range," Phil reminded the older man, trying to comfort him. He fired his own rifle once and was rewarded with a clean kill.
"That makes me feel a lot better," Ned grumbled as he watched the policeman dispatch the second Runner with apparent ease.
"Don't fret it," Phil said consolingly. "These things happen."
WANDA. The diner waitress rollerskated to within touching distance of a pair of Walkers. The noise of her chainsaw had alerted them to her presence and they frantically attempted to grab her. Wanda was ready for them. First she cut their hands off, then she cut their heads off.
She moved next to the remaining pair. Swinging her chainsaw she sliced one Walker's head in half before thrusting the spinning blades into the face of the last Walker.
"This is getting too easy," she opined as she skated away from the crossroad.

A wide angle photo just to remind you where everyone is on the board.

ZOMBIES. Yet again, the six Survivors had cleared the neighbourhood of all zombies. But zombies were a relentless foe. They just kept on coming and coming and coming. In no time at all fourteen more had arrived to threaten Amy, Doug, Josh, Ned, Phil and Wanda. Four Walkers arrived from the north and four more from the east. From the south came three Runners, joined by another three from the west. 
TURN 13
AMY."They just keep on coming," Amy said with a sigh. She walked up to a group of four Walkers and killed two of them with two resounding hits from Ma's Shotgun.
"I'm reloading," she called out. "Josh, can you take over?"
Amy quickly retreated before the remaining two Walkers could attack her.
DOUG. Runners were an even bigger threat than Walkers and Doug wanted to kill these three newcomers before they could cause any mischief. With short controlled bursts from his twin Uzis he killed two of them.
He fired six more bullets at the remaining Runner, which was just as well, as only one of them hit. Still, it was a hit to the head and the Runner dropped down dead.
JOSH."I've got you covered, Amy," Josh said as he swapped places with the Goth Girl. He fired both sawed-off shotguns at the two remaining Walkers from very close range and made mincemeat of them from the neck upwards. He rejoined Amy at the T-junction and took his time reloading his weapons.
"Thanks, Josh" Amy responded. "Nice kills."
NED. "Come on, Ned," Phil said encouragingly. "You can do it. I know you can."
Ned's confidence had taken a battering with those four misses in a row. But he knew Phil was right. He had to keep on trying. He gently squeezed the trigger of his sniper's rifle and breathed a huge sigh of relief as he watched a Walker fall dead from his shot.
"Attaboy!" Phil whooped. "now get the next one."
Ned's heart fell as he missed his second shot. And his third shot.
"Please, not again," he moaned. Either by luck or grim determination his fourth shot found the mark and hit a Walker right between the eyes.
PHIL. Phil fired at a female Walker and was surprised to see his shot whiz past her head.
"I hope my missing isn't contagious," Ned joked.
"Nah, it was just a blip," Phil answered full of confidence. His second shot proved it was just a blip. A female Walker measured her length on the ground as she dropped down dead.
 Phil's third shot was just as deadly. He killed the last of the four Walkers.
WANDA. Once more, Wanda skated up to the crossroads to deal with the newly arrived zombie threat. Her hit and run tactics were working a treat but she knew it would be foolish to get too cocky. That was when things inevitably went pear-shaped. Her first chainsaw attack bisected a Runner's head in half from the eye line upwards.
This seemed to anger the other two Runners and they lunged at her but Wanda was prepared. She spun her chainsaw in tight circles that cut both Runners in the arms, necks and heads. Blood sprayed everywhere as she cut them apart. Killing with a chainsaw was bloody and messy.
"I need a shower," she moaned as she skated back to the safety of the general store.
ZOMBIES. The tide of zombies kept on coming. From the north came a Fatty chef with two Walkers. From the east came two Runners. From the south came four Walkers and from the west came two more Runners.
TURN 14
AMY."Oh, you've got yourself a chainsaw now, huh?" Doug remarked as Amy jogged past him. He didn't hear her reply as she suddenly fired up the noisy machine and made a beeline for two zombie Runners.
Amy was more than a little apprehensive about using the chainsaw as a weapon but at the same time she was curious to know how effective it was. If it was no good she'd drop it and carry on using her katana. Her first three swings of the chainsaw wounded the two Runners but failed to kill them. But she was a quick learner and with a vicious sweep she decapitated both Runners.
"Alright!" she shouted in glee. "We're gonna have some fun, baby!"

Killing the 2 Runners advanced Amy to the Orange Level. She chose the +1 Free Combat Action as her new Skill.

She walked back to Doug and wiped the blood from her face with the back of her hand. Doug did not comment. He merely grimaced.
JOSH. The street thug walked back up the street to deal with the threat posed by a Fatty and two Walkers. The two Walkers were easily killed with a shot each from one of his sawed-off shotguns. But he knew the Fatty would not go down so easily. Fortunately, he had just the solution. Earlier, he had found two 12 Gauge Dragon's Breath cartridges. He had successfully used one against a Fatty he had previously met. These specially manufactured cartridges ignited upon impact, hence their name, Dragon's Breath. They were highly illegal and very rare but Josh was well aware of them and knew just what they could do.
"Burn in Hell, you fat bastard!" he jeered as he shot the obese zombie in the upper chest and neck. The Fatty writhed in agony as it fell to the ground with its upper body and head wreathed in flames.

Josh advances to Orange Level and gains the 1 Re-roll per Turn Skill.

Josh sauntered back to the T-junction and reloaded both sawed-offs with normal 12 gauge shotgun cartridges.
PHIL."Do you want to take these two out, Ned?" Phil asked as he raised his hunting rifle to take aim at one of two Runners who had just appeared.
"I'll pass, if you don't mind," Ned replied wearily.
"Okey dokey," Phil said, not in the least bit put off. He was on the top of his game and he achieved fatal head shots on both Runners.

Phil advances to Orange Level. He gains the +1 to Dice Roll: Ranged Skill, making it even easier for him to shoot zombies.

He turned and smiled at Ned.
"Don't get too smug," the bearded drifter cautioned.
WANDA. "Here we go again," Wanda sang as she remembered the old Ray Charles song. Her roller skates sped her on her way to an encounter with four Walkers. They reacted far too slowly and three heads toppled from three bodies in rapid succession.
She skated past them to deal with the last Walker. The chainsaw struck him just under the right side of his jaw and effortlessly sawed through his head to emerge above his left ear in a spray of blood.

Wanda was the last of the six Survivors to reach Orange Level. She chose the +1 to Dice Roll: Melee Skill.

"Dammit, I really do need a shower!" she complained. "Next time I'm using the shotgun."
She slowly skated back to the front of the general store with mixed emotions - happy to have killed four more zombies but extremely unhappy at her bloodied appearance.
 ZOMBIES. Three Runners sped into the neighbourhood from the north.
 A large group of six Walkers arrived from the east...

All Walkers got an extra Turn in this Zombie Spawn Phase

...along with four more from the south.

TURN 15
AMY. Amy saw three Runners arriving from the north and moved quickly to intercept them. She fired both triggers of Ma's Shotgun and practically beheaded two of them in the twin blasts.
"Josh, take over," she called. "I'm reloading."
JOSH. The remaining Runner tried to follow Amy as she swiftly retreated but Josh had advanced to block his way. He pointed one of his sawed-off at the zombie's head and shredded it to mulch with a lethal slug shot.
NED. "There are too many zeds for me to take out," Phil announced. "Care to join the party?"
"I'll try my best," Ned responded without much confidence. His sniper's rifle barked four times and he only missed once. Three kills out of four shots was a good score and more importantly, boosted Ned's fragile confidence.
PHIL. "Nicely done, Ned," Phil responded, pleased to see his friend back on form. His own shooting equaled Ned's - three kills out of four shots. The street was now clear of zombies.
WANDA. Wanda knew she could take out four Walkers with her chainsaw but it was so messy and she was sick of getting sprayed with blood and goodness knows what else. So she switched off the chainsaw and swapped it with her Remington 12 Gauge pump-action shotgun. Four times she cranked a cartridge into the breach, four times she fired and four times she killed a Walker.
"Now that was much better," she declared, happy not to have any more blood splash on her.
DOUG. With no zombies arriving from the west, Doug had nothing to do. He took a short breather, knowing this was just the calm before the storm. The zombies would be back soon.
ZOMBIES. The neighbourhood was clear of zombies but not for long. Two Walkers arrived from the north and three more from the east. Three Fatties along with three pairs of Walkers scrambled out of three separate manholes. Yet another Fatty and two Walkers shuffled in from the west side of the city.
TURN 16
AMY. As Amy watched a Fatty and two Walkers climb out of a manhole situated between her and Doug she contemplated which weapon to use to kill them - Ma's Shotgun or the chainsaw. She decided that the chainsaw would get the job done quicker and more efficiently. She charged at the Fatty with her chainsaw held high and deftly removed his head from his shoulders. A swift reverse swing beheaded a male Walker who was having trouble keeping his guts in his stomach.
That just a left a female Walker and she put up no resistance as Amy's chainsaw bit into the zombie's neck and beheaded her as well.
DOUG. The office worker was also facing a Fatty and two Walkers. He sprayed them with gunfire from his twin Uzi sub-machine guns. The 9mm bullets killed the two Walkers but barely scratched the Fatty. It was time for a change of tactics.
Doug replaced one of his Uzis with the fire axe he had stuffed behind his belt at his right side.
"Kiss my axe!" he roared as he swung the weapon in an overhead arc that struck the Fatty partly in the forehead and partly on the top of its head. It was a struggle to pull the axe free but by planting one foot on the prone Fatty's chest, Doug managed it.
JOSH. The teenager returned to the scene of many of his zombie kills - alongside the parked pimpmobile. Two shots from one of his pair of sawed-off shotguns wiped out a male and a female Walker who had only just arrived.
He saw the threat that was waiting for him at the rear entrance to the diner - a Fatty and two Walkers. He no longer had any Dragon's Breath ammo left to deal with the Fatty but he'd deal with that problem later. He moved closer to the two Walkers who appeared to be protecting the Fatty, even though he knew that couldn't be the case. He fired both barrels of his second sawed-off and hit the Walkers in the head, killing them easily.
NED. Three Walkers were slowly approaching Ned and Phil. Ned was hoping he could kill all three before they got much closer but only two of his four shots found their mark.
PHIL. Phil's confidence was far higher than Ned's and he was certain he could take down the third Walker with just one shot. But he missed. Not once but twice. He was able to save face when his third shot drilled a hole through the male Walker's forehead.
"Third time lucky," he said, sighing with relief.
WANDA. Once again, Wanda stood her ground and let her pump-action shotgun do the talking for her. She fired three times and scored fatal head shots on two Walkers and a Fatty who had just emerged from a manhole a few yards away.
ZOMBIES. Josh gulped in alarm as the bowler-hatted Fatty advanced on him and was swiftly joined by three Runners who seemed to have appeared from nowhere.
 Off to the east, five Walkers arrived, their eyes all fixed on Ned and Phil.
Wanda watched in dismay as two Fatties and four Walkers hove into sight off to her left. They weren't an immediate threat but they would need dealing with.
Doug was suddenly threatened by the arrival of three more Runners.
TURN 17
DOUG. Doug slotted his fire axe back behind his belt and swapped it with his second Uzi sub-machine gun. The Runners were almost within touching distance when he opened fire with both Uzis. One Runner crashed to the ground with a bullet in the brain.
Doug sprayed the other two Runners with bullets and hit them both in the head. He knew he had been very lucky and had come so close to death. It was a sobering thought as he retreated from the three corpses.

Josh uses his Slippery Skill to get away from the four zombies.

JOSH. The teenager was amazed when the zombies didn't try to grab him as he stepped back. He raised his twin sawed-off shotguns and blasted the three Runners.
"Amy, I need help here," he shouted as he moved further away from the Fatty and reloaded his sawed-off shotguns. "I've got a Fatty on the rampage."
AMY. "I've got your back, Josh," Amy proclaimed as she jogged past him and pointed Ma's Shotgun at the Fatty's head. The blast hit the zombie full in the face. His bloated body hit the ground with a resounding thump.
"Thanks, Amy," Josh said as he finished reloading and was joined at the T-junction by the young Goth Girl.
"We look out for each other," Amy said, reloading her own weapon. "We have to."
NED. In Ned's mind he seemed to be missing more often than he hit with his sniper's rifle. He thought that fitting the scope-sight to his rifle would make shooting a lot easier but that didn't seem to be the case. With five new Walkers arriving he would not have believed that he'd kill four of them with four shots... but that is exactly what he did. That was just the boost to his confidence that he needed.
"Great shooting," Phil complimented him. "You've got your mojo back."
"That I have," Ned said grinning happily.
PHIL. Phil easily killed the remaining Walker from the group of five with a well placed head shot.
"Hey, guys!" Wanda shouted. "I could do with some help here. It's raining zombies!"
"I'm on it, Wanda," Phil responded. He stepped forward and looked to his right. The problem was immediately apparent. Four Walkers shielding a pair of Fatties were shuffling slowly up the street. All six were looking at him. He raised his 7.62mm hunting rifle to his right shoulder and took a second to aim before pulling the trigger. His first shot was lethally accurate and a female Walker dropped down dead, closely followed by a male Walker as his second shot also found the target.
"Thanks, Phil," Wanda shouted back, "That's a huge help. I'll take it from here."
"Good luck!" Phil urged, hoping she was as confident as she sounded.
WANDA. He need not have worried. Wanda was on top form as she fired up her chainsaw and skated into action. The greatest threat were the two Fatties, so she attacked them first. Blood, brain and bone sprayed in a wide arc as she sliced off the top of the Fatties' heads. To Wanda's dismay it seemed like most of the gore hit her.
"Your turn next," she snarled angrily as she closed in on the two Walkers. She decapitated them with confident ease and skated back to the safety of the store front.
ZOMBIES. With the amount of noise the six survivors were making it was inevitable that they would attract the attention of another Abomination. The monstrous zombie who arrived from the north side of the city was joined by six Walkers from the east side, two Runners from the south side and two more Walkers from the west side.
TURN 18
AMY. "Fuck me!" Amy screamed in horror. "What the fuck is that?"
She hadn't seen the first Abomination arrive. She only saw its smouldering corpse in the general store after it had been killed. This was a totally new kind of horror to her. She was rooted to the spot.
JOSH. "It some kind of abomination," Josh replied, "but don't worry about it. I know what to do."
"Josh, for God's sake, be careful!" Amy cried in alarm as he moved closer to the hideous thing.
"Watch this," Josh said, chancing a quick glance back at the clearly scared teenage Goth Girl. He stuffed one of his sawed-off shotguns behind his belt and pulled out his Molotov Cocktail from a deep pocket in his combat pants. He lit the end of the handkerchief sticking out of the bottle top and waited a second for the flames to properly take.
"Frying tonight!" he yelled as he flung the bottle at the Abomination. The Molotov exploded in a mighty whoosh of flames against the huge monster's toughened chest. It bellowed in pain and let out a loud scream that sounded otherworldly and unnatural. It fell on its back and continued screaming as the flames quickly consumed its body.
As Josh walked back to Amy she ran at him and flung her arms around him. He was taken aback at her obvious show of affection but also pleased as punch. He wished this moment could last forever.
DOUG. Doug only had to deal with two Walkers and this he did with consummate ease. His twin Uzis spat lead and the Walkers dropped down with a 9mm sized hole in their foreheads and a much bigger hole in the back of their skulls where the bullets had exited.
Acting purely on a whim, Doug decided to take a quick time out to have a look in Amy's apartment. The front door stood wide open and so he stepped inside.
The only item he found that interested him was a flashlight. Although he already had one, he figured he could give the second flashlight to one of the other survivors, most probably Ned or Phil.
NED. Once again, Ned was having mixed luck with his shooting. He fired his sniper's rifle four times and killed three Walkers with his first three shots but failed to hit anything with his fourth shot.
PHIL. Phil moved in close to finish off the three remaining Walkers from the group of six. At this range his Remington 12 Gauge pump-action shotgun was a better choice than his hunting rifle. Just like Ned, he also killed three Walkers with four shots. His third shot was the one that missed, or rather it hit but failed to kill.

It had to happen sometime. Wanda rolls 5 misses with her chainsaw.

WANDA. Wanda skated up to intercept a pair of Runners. They were far quicker and far more agile than any other zombies she had faced so far. Her first flurry of blows failed to cause any significant damage.

With rolls of 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, Wanda should have only scored one kill but thanks to her +1 to Dice Roll: Melee Skill the 4 was boosted to a 5 and so she scored two kills. Go Wanda, go!

"You are not getting the better of me!" she roared in defiance as her chainsaw struck flesh and bone and horizontally sliced the first Runner's head in two. The second Runner foolishly grabbed her chainsaw and instantly lost his fingers.
"Serve you fucking right!" Wanda shouted in anger as she thrust the chainsaw at the Runner's face. It went straight through his head and out the back in a spray of blood and bone fragments. Rather than pull the chainsaw free she just cut upward through the head and freed it that way.
ZOMBIES. Six Walkers advanced on Amy and Josh at a faster pace than normal. Something had riled them. Perhaps it was the death of the Abomination. Or perhaps they were especially hungry.

During this Zombie Spawn Phase, all Walkers gained an extra Turn.

Three more Walkers moving equally as fast advanced on Phil. At the opposite end of the street one Runner ran towards Doug.
TURN 19
AMY."Leave these to me, Josh," Amy said as she confronted six Walkers. She first whittled them down by shooting and killing two of them with her Ma's Shotgun combi-weapon.
Four Walkers became two as she charged at them with her chainsaw whirring. Blood flew in the air as she sliced their heads off.
Spinning and slashing with a berserker-like fury, she swiftly dispatched the remaining two Walkers.
"Impressive," Josh said, full of admiration as Amy walked back to him. She bowed her head and smiled.
DOUG. With only one Runner to deal with, Doug thought, this is too easy. He could of killed the zombie with a single short burst from one of his twin Uzis but he had gotten so used to firing both at once. The Runner died in a hail of bullets. Doug walked back to the T-junction where Amy and Josh were.
JOSH. "I'm just going to pop back into the store," Josh told Amy as he walked away from her and back into the ruined office of the general store. He did find something but it was not what he was hoping to find. A male Walker suddenly rushed him. Josh barely had time to raise one of his sawed-off shotguns before the Walker was on him, grabbing his upper arms. The teenager rammed his sawed-off under the Walker's jaw and pulled both triggers. The blast blew the top of the Walker's skull off. He released his grip on the teenager as he crumpled to the debris-strewn floor. Shaken and angry, Josh turned round and stepped back outside.
NED. "Are you okay, kid?" Ned asked as he watched Josh exit the store.
"I'm fine," Josh lied.
Ned walked over to the clearly frightened youth and put a comforting hand on Josh's shoulder.
He entered the store and saw the fresh corpse. He quickly put two and two together and correctly surmised what had happened. Whilst there he gave the room a quick search. He seemed to have a knack of finding stuff that other people had missed. This time he found a box of ammunition that was compatible with his sniper's rifle. He stuffed it into one of his coat pockets and exited the store.
PHIL. The young police patrolman fired his pump-action shotgun three times at a trio of Walkers. They all died from fatal head wounds in quick succession. Phil headed back to team up with Amy, Doug, Josh and Ned.
 ZOMBIES. Three Runners came hurtling down the street towards the group of four survivors.
 Another two Runners sprinted towards Phil.

Note that all Runners got an extra Turn during the Zombie Spawn Phase. It was just bad luck that I spawned three groups of Runners!

Finally, two Runners charged at Wanda.