Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Post-Apocalyptic Tales => Topic started by: Hammers on May 17, 2018, 11:47:24 AM
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I have for a long time nurtured a wish to create a smallish zombie game. I have a couple of survivor teams and I am eager to paint a few bikers from my lead pile. My question is whats the effective way to put together a cheap but reasonably good zombie hoard outnumbering the survivors about 10 to 1?
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Studio Miniatures plastics are great and cheap, don’t be fooled by limited poses as with imaginative painting you can still get loads of variety e.g;
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6D73UyVY7fk/Uyxw5Qt9FvI/AAAAAAAAADs/icDaJsDKkWQ/s1600/image002.jpg)
All the same Torso/legs.
The Wargames Factory (now Warlord?) Zombies and ‘Vixens’ are also nice but a bit more expensive now. Best to e-bay them I think.
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I second Studio Miniatures.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3rbl2ywVqpA/UXoSyQGtJgI/AAAAAAAAAdw/b7f85QxkauE/s1600/studiozombiesprue1.png)
http://ultravanillasmurf.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=Studio+miniatures (http://ultravanillasmurf.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=Studio+miniatures)
Comparison photograph
(https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_8Y-CRyFQd8/WXuxd2UuzdI/AAAAAAAACis/DtKuzaROJ2AZHqrXWceP5gnqAVDHYyMNwCLcBGAs/s1600/zombie-compare.png)
TWD, Studio Miniatures, Crooked Dice, Warlord/Wargames Factory, TWD and TWD.
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Thanks fellas. What about Zombicide? Do the match Studio? Are they 28mm?
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Zombicide are a bit taller and slimmer than studio, IMO they don’t mix exceptionally well with other minis. They’re also a bit cartoonish in their style which again isn’t to all tastes. Still nice, though, and a good cheap horde.
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We have had a load of fun with Zombicide and in the right hands the figure paint up really nicely. Check the web for various painted versions. They actually are more realistic in proportion than most 28mm models - so are a bit slim compared to standard heroic metal 28mm stuff. They are on thiner bases than most gamers use as well, so that can make then shorter in comparison on the table.
P.S. The game itself is actually good as well. Maybe not the deepest game play but for a night of fairly simple Zombi killing with some tactics, it works great. It's co-op as well as you are all against the game which works well for groups. You can also make it harder or easier with house rules. ;)
Black Plague (their fantasy/medieval version) is IMO so far the best game. I'm just finishing painting mine now. :)
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I like the rules and figures from mantics The walking dead. Not so expansive, but the figures are very nice. Some times you can pick up special offers. Sometimes people sell their stuff, because the big Hype is over.
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I mainly use the Wargames Factory (now Warlord Games) Zombies that I bought at a wargames show flea market backed up by a couple of boxes of Zombicide more generic looking zombies. I also bought the Project Z game and one expansion in a sale to provide survivors. Somtimes Warlord sells off individual sprues at half price.
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=109038.msg1363326#msg1363326 (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=109038.msg1363326#msg1363326)
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=108601.msg1356921#msg1356921 (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=108601.msg1356921#msg1356921)
As for rules I use Akulas rules (modified).
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As for rules I use Akulas rules (modified).
These rules are always worth a look. But we’re to find?
The rules from warlord are also free, I thing. As PDF on their side
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These rules are always worth a look. But we’re to find?
The rules from warlord are also free, I thing. As PDF on their side
PM me your email and I'll send them to you.
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In addition to Studio Miniatures the Hasslefree survivors are very nice. I have the old Wargames Factory male zombies (lumpy but cheap) and the female zombies (pretty good actually). I also have a load of Studio Miniatures metal zombie miniatures which are fun and not badly priced if you pick up a bulk 'unit'.
Em4 and Forlorn Hope have some decent survivor types too in the Future Wars range (Grenadier) which are pretty cheap. I think they're older Copplestone sculpts. Forlorn Hope seems to do all his stuff on ebay now.
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I'll just note that the Wargames Factory zombies are not merely reprinted at a higher price by Warlord Games. The latter made some changes to the sprue that gives the zombies more pose variety (I kick myself for buying a bunch of the earlier ones published by WGF).
I know you said you are interested in working out your own rules but it never hurts to draw inspiration from existing designs. Mantic's take on The Walking Dead is wonderful for PvP gaming (in my opinion, good but not great for solo and co-op gaming). Osprey will soon be publishing Ash Barker's zombie-centric rule set, Last Days (https://www.amazon.com/Last-Days-Zombie-Apocalypse-Survival/dp/1472826698/). The great advantage to Ash's game is that one only needs about 20 zombies to play, which in no way lessens the tension. If you go with something like this, you can spend a bit more on getting more distinctive zeds.
Good luck!
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Mantic have a couple of different options. The aforementioned Walking dead game is excellent, as are the miniatures. But there are also fantasy zombies under their kings of War range and sci fi zombies in their Deadzone range that are cheap, decent hard plastic models. The fantasy ones in particular are more or less naked apart from a few rags so would fit in ok amongst modern stuff.
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The 'new' warlord zombies are really good - not truly multipart, but enough so not to get any glaring duplicates from a box. A while ago it seemed like eBay was awash with folks clearing out Project Z stuff pretty cheaply and that seems to have kept prices down a bit.
On the rules front, I really wasn't taken with Project Z. Having played a game of Studio Miniature's forthcoming Turf War Z the rules have potential but the rule book really needed better editing as it's often difficult to find details. Still it plays reasonably well, and would have been better if I had printed off the QRS. All Things Zombie is pretty comprehensive but I just don't like the Two Hour Wargames reaction system although your mileage might vary.
The free rule set Dead Walk Again always appealed, although I never played it.
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I am playing some TWD:AOW, the zombie AI (snigger) is better than some computer opposition on old games.
I had so many issues with the Project Z rules (the paper work in the box set I bought at Salute on release is rubbish and I printed out three versions of pdf with varying typos and errors that make it too much effort) . The only high point was Warlord's customer service which was excellent - replacement cards that were not scrambled arrived next day. Wonderful.
If you can find it, Crooked Dice's 7ombieTV (based on first edition 7TV) is worth a look. Karl might even have some (or even do a second edition?).
No More Room In Hell (Iron Ivan games) reads well, just never played it. More like an action RPG.
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On miniatures I'd just watch ebay for bargains. Most of the zombie ranges fit within human variation so there aren't any glaring giants as long as you're a little careful. Some of the Bob Olley Reaper range are pushing 40mm for example. Studio Miniatures and Dead Walk Again are decent metals and most of the plastics out there are good for bulking out hordes.
Rules wise I like the 7ombieTV if you can get it. Project Z suffers from being printed on the cheapest thinnest paper they could get. Turf War Z is destroyed by the complete lack of an editor making it a confusing mess with half the rules referred to not being in the volume.
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We started with Zombicide and have never really moved on - other than to different versions. It's a board game with mini's but scratched the itch of Zombie games without major efforts - other than painting the toys.
The full co-op nature appeals as well as it's a different feel than most Vs. games which is nice.
With that all the other Zombie games kind of passed me by...
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ATZ batreps (particularly Vampifan’s, Colgar6’s, and ‘Nobody666’s Game Mayhem blogs) are what started me down the path to zombie gaming. I’ve got loads of painted models and spent a decent amount of money getting a printed copy of the rules but I’ll be damned if I could ever get my head around them :( they just don’t ‘gel’ with me, after countless reads, tutorial videos, etc.
I like Zombicide but more Black Plague so I prefer to keep them seperate.
I’ve had most success with Akula’s rules and All Flesh Must be Eaten (the RPG).
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When I needed some cowboy zombies (in 15 MM) I couldn't find where any were available, so I just converted regular cowboy figures by scuffing the clothes, making jagged tears and painting the skin a nice zombie dead gray-brown, and was very pleased. So basically I feel many non-zombie figures can be used with a little roughing up and a proper zombie paining scheme. Sorry this isn't a better picture, but gives an idea.
(http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh235/terry37photos/Cowboy/UndeadCowboys_zps24122406.jpg) (http://s257.photobucket.com/user/terry37photos/media/Cowboy/UndeadCowboys_zps24122406.jpg.html)
Terry
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7TV has zombies in there the Post APoc set coming to kickstarter in October which will have more variety in. It won't be released until January 2019 ish is the projected ship date for the kickstarter backers.
You can pick up normal 7TV for free off the Crooked Dice website and there are some free player guides such as Scooby Doo which has more profiles in but the Paranormal Exterminator guide has zombie profiles and other monsters in. But once you have the free rules you can just buy the card packs as the rules are on the cards themselves.
The production values are really nice though.