Review: Zombie Horde by ZombieSmith

[Curryman]

This week's Screaming Alpha review examines the 20-strong zombie horde produced by relative newcomer ZombieSmith. How does this brash American product stack up against the amazing zeds coming out of the UK? Pretty darn well. Any zombie enthusiast should check out the review and its' numerous pics of the painted minis.

http://thescreamingalpha.com/2009/04/02/review-zombie-horde-by-zombiesmith/

-Curry

[Pil]

Nice review! I'm not too fond of the green skin but you said you painted it a while ago. I have the same set (well, a bit larger with the survivors/zombie pairs and the kids included), but I haven't painted them all yet. They are very nice miniatures with a bit of a comedy factor as well, which is always good when it comes to zombies I think

[AKULA]

A balanced review!

They aren't the worlds best (anatomy on some is a bit questionable), but there are some interesting poses, and cost wise they are alright for filling out the horde. 

IMHO they aren't the same league as Cold War, Hasslefree, Crocodile Games, or Griffin, but do compare favourably with Eureka, Westwind, Black Orc, Wargames Factory etc

 

[Lowtardog]

A balanced review!

They aren't the worlds best (anatomy on some is a bit questionable), but there are some interesting poses, and cost wise they are alright for filling out the horde. 

IMHO they aren't the same league as Cold War, Hasslefree, Crocodile Games, or Griffin, but do compare favourably with Eureka, Westwind, Black Orc, Wargames Factory etc

 

You forgot Studio miniatures which look great (got em at salute0 also tempted by the zing zombie ones

[AKULA]

Duh!

Very true mate - the Studio ones are most definitely topdraw - sitting on my paint table ready to paint shortly.

[Lowtardog]

Duh!

Very true mate - the Studio ones are most definitely topdraw - sitting on my paint table ready to paint shortly.

They have re-kindled my interest in zombies (along with your game ) they also fit in very well with the coldwar ones which is where I had set my mark for poses and variety. There are some nice odd ones around e.g. Crocodile, Musketeer etc but keeping them all the same stylee was my target for games (dont ask why as I dont know really).

L4Dead is almost ready as I have a boomer, hunters, smoker and Tank just need a witch...must have a witch...anyone have any ideas?

[Lowtardog]

Christ on a bike, tried to order the kingzombie figs x15 zeds = $27 whihc is pretty good but it calculated the postage at $38

[AKULA]

L4Dead is almost ready as I have a boomer, hunters, smoker and Tank just need a witch...must have a witch...anyone have any ideas?

Have been thinking about some extra ideas to play some of these, using my existing zed rules - haven't got as far as looking for figures yet....

 

[Lowtardog]

I have some ideas for DWA original rules which had random cards for spawn points

Hunter double move 10cm each e.g. running (2 action points)  +10cm each level jumped (plus one ddamge too) above ground 3 wounds anything but a kill knockes them off in combat etc. For the multi pounce /jump done using arltillery dice e.g. jump, bounce off wall (use dice to determine where they land)

Smoker is really simple line and drag (30cm total) with each 5cm a point of damage then additional attack if in contact. 1 point of damage for a kill on it or on tongue to break free

Boomer - template with attraction of zeds with a free move for D3 turns

Witch is as hunter for damage  but continues until put down auto incapacitate, survivor needs to pass fear test etc to appraoch

Tank - v tough takes lots of damge - will work out stats for hitting etc

Activation

start of game All 4 specials are able to be on table all cards are shuffled 6 hunter 2 boomer 2 smoker and 1 tank/witch

Last two only appear once in the game. Other cards are dummies or number of normal zeds.

Zed player draws cards/or moves exisitng etc zeds on table if pulls special card cannot use unless down to 3 specials or less (think versus mode) otherwise banks card for later use.

SPAWNING

Zed player uses tokens whihc he can place no closer than 20cm to survivors and not in line of site. does not reveal what it is until he has to or wants to. Until spawned counter moves 20cm per turn. (represents the survivor kniwng there is a creature (in game noise etc0 but not really what type.

I will give it a bit more thought.

On the DWA yahoo group most of the old rules are buried in the fanzine they put out.

[Curryman]

Thanks for the kind words, guys.
@Pil If I had it to do over again I would not do the green skin, but when I started this sleighride (or perhaps slayride?) I was just getting back into painting after a long hiatus. When I sat down to paint my first zeds I just reached for my old pot of GW Rotting Flesh and that was that. Now I'm sticking with it to maintain a sense of uniformity in the horde.

@Akula I think your assessment is dead on. They're definitely a cut below the best UK zombies, most especially including the excellent Studio Miniatures ones that are on my paint bench at present. Still, they're pretty decent, really.

@Lowtardog You might e-mail KingZombie about that shipping charge thing. I seem to recall reading that they were having some trouble with their shopping cart software producing wildly wrong shipping costs.

-Curry

[headzombie]

Ayup, my zombies are showing their age! Years ago when I started ZombieSmith was because the only zombies on the market were from GW and they had fantasy weapons. Now, obviously, the landscape has changed and there are some fantastic zombies out there. It certainly is a great time to be into zombie gaming!

[Curryman]

Hey, Josh, I was meaning to ask... Just when are we going to see some new zombies from you? The Quar are great, but the company's not called QuarSmith now is it?
-Curry

[headzombie]

Aw, come on now. Does Wizards of the Coast only put out wizards? 

[Lowtardog]

Hey, Josh, I was meaning to ask... Just when are we going to see some new zombies from you? The Quar are great, but the company's not called QuarSmith now is it?
-Curry

Leave them thar Quar alone, I dont mind if the name changes to that, my favourite range on the market