Welcome all you post Halloween Ghouls and Zombies!
Today I'm posting up a review of Zombie Daze, a game produced by Frontline Games. Frontline Games can be found on the web at
www.frontline-games.com. For this report with pictures go to
www.darkagepress.com/FrontlineGames/ZombieDaze Click the After Action Report for 10-27-12. I'll post it up this weekend.
The Good:
As far as games go we all loved it and had a blast playing the game. The rules, though a bit rough around the edges, are easy to understand and follow. The game lends itself to acting out the action, as we all found ourselves doing… well except for Phill, but you know how he is. Heck he doesn't even double tap a zombie when he kills one. I'm surprised he hasn't been killed by now but that's me.
Opening the box for the first time you get the rules, several metal figures (both good guys and bad guys), laminated unit/character cards, a dry erase marker, and some odds and ends. I was a little hesitant at first because of the price, but trust me it's well worth the investment. Especially if you love Zombies, and we all know Zombie Chicks are HOT!
The game is designed so that a GM hosts the game, controls the undead, and the players called Survivors, control a single figure and work together to achieve a goal. I REALLY like this. Most miniatures games are designed so that you face off against another person. There aren't many good games out there where you're working with other people to defeat the bad guy. I would like to see some type of point system so that you could do H2H (Head to Head) games but it really isn't mandatory. Quite often, when I host games there are always an odd number of people and this suits that well. I'll control the Hot Zombie Chicks and attack the Survivors and have a good time, and the players will TRY to defeat me. The game isn't about killing your opponent; it is about overcoming obstacles and achieving objectives as a team. You could do an H2H game but the Survivor would most likely loose… sure he'd have a great time loosing but he'd still loose.
The Bad:
We had Devin Smith from Frontline Games on hand and he was able to walk us through the game. I had read a good bit of the game before he'd arrived to teach us. My issue was that the written language can be confusing. And the box set came with, what I had assumed was a different game but it turned out it was the "Core Rules". The intent was there, in the rules, but the written word didn't necessarily match the intent. I was well pleased to find out that they are in the process of coming out with Version 2, which is simply a rewrite and merging of the two rule books so that there is only one book, which will contain the Core Rules.
Don't get me wrong, my own game company holds to this concept. Core Rules work well for everyone. What it does is allow the gamer to adapt quickly to a different genre and take in the small modifications. Heck, look at GW their Sci-Fi and Fantasy rules use the same Core Rules (S, T, W, etc.) but they're modified for the genre.
As far as the Bad in game play, I found it frustrating that the Survivors basically had no chance at all in hand to hand combat. If you don't have an hand weapon you're outta luck and dead. I really had a hard time with that. You should be able to "grab" something off the street and use it as an improvised weapon. Look at all the zombie shows and movies, the heroes just grab a stop sign, a rock, or a table leg, and go to town on Them Zombies! There's no mechanic for improvised weapons and if you don't draw a Supply Card with an Hand Weapon just forget it.
The Ugly:
Well, to be frank the only Ugly in the game is the language and the fact that the game play makes you want to chuck the rest of your games off the schedule so you can play this game more often! There is a small Ugly if you consider that the game design is such that the game isn't really designed for a head to head game. I say this because the Zombies are meant to win. It even says it in the rules. I talked with the game mfg about that and suggested that they work up a way to point base the game so that it would be better suited to H2H games. I love that it is designed around a GM, makes you feel like you're wandering the city hoping to survive.
Summation:
Zombie Daze is a game that, with the V2 coming out, is a must. The game play and good times are well worth the investment.
And now for some pics and a scenario write up.
Day 37 "Low on Supplies"
We were able to playtest the up and coming scenario Day 37 "Low on Supplies". You, the survivors, are low on supplies and yep you guessed it, come across an abandoned town. You also run into one of the X-Lawmen who joins your group. Personally I didn't like him, he seemed too pushy and just hung back in the woods… I smell chicken!
Survivors: Marcus, Jack, Emily (Jack's sister), and a Lawman.
Day 37:
Marcus said I needed to keep writing in this journal. He thinks it will help us or if we die perhaps it will save the life of someone who finds it. After we finally escaped the initial virus outbreak and the nightmares from my childhood came to life we fled into the wilderness. Those first insane days, when it looked like all of humanity would be extinguished now seem like a lifetime ago. We're low on supplies and haven't seen another living person since we escaped the big city. We have run across other Zombies and at first killed them but now we avoid them so that we can conserve our ammo.
Our supplies are running low, and I'm afraid to eat wild animals. What if you can catch the disease from eating them? Both Jack and Marcus don't think it's possible, and it probably isn't… but what if they're wrong? Late yesterday we came across what I think is Lin Borough, a small town to the west, but I can't be sure. There was a fire in this area and what seems to be craters and blasts everywhere. We pasted a tank, burned and melted, yesterday. I think the military attacked this area. Road signs are there sometimes but as damaged as they are it isn't possible to be sure where we are. I can't believe it's so hard to figure out where we are. Maybe if we found a map. I'll call it Lin Borough since there may not be anyone left alive that would care. We're so very low on supplies I hope we can find something in the city, maybe enough to carry on surviving. The worst part of this all is the smell that is always in the air, it's like the whole world is rotting.
This morning Rick came out of the woods while we were studying the town. Marcus almost shot him. You're just so scared all the time when you see an actual person you think they're going to attack you. He used to be law enforcement here, I was right it is Lin Borough. He's been living out in the woods watching the town. He's been taking down straggling Zombies that wander out of the town. He says it's his job to try to retake the city and clean it up. I hope he does. There's something about him I can't seem to shake, I think he's a bit untrustworthy… perhaps I'm wrong, I hope so.
We've made a plan. We're going to split up and sneak into town. Marcus is going to the graveyard to get digging supplies, I'm going to look in the houses by the edge of town, Jack is going to the pharmacy, and Rick says he's going to the Sheriff's office for more weapons.
I can't stop shaking… we did it! We actually did it. We scavenged supplies, even though two of the zombies seemed like normal people and then turned out they were crazies, what I call zombies that seem to have retained something of their former selves. How Jack escaped I'll never know. He's scratched, bitten, and bruised but alive. Rick turned out to be as worthless as a wet paper bag. I'm glad we're leaving him behind. I hope Jack doesn't turn into a zombie, I would hate to have to kill my brother.
For now we struggle on, day to day… hoping to survive this nightmare we call home.
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June 18, 2010, 10:35:01 PM