Joseph had the game and had dutifully painted all the minis. He decided to be the zombie player and we picked the “Escape in the Truck” scenario. We had to get keys, gasoline, fill the truck up and escape with at least two surviving heroes before dawn.
Steve got Father Joseph. Phil got Detective Rachelle Winters who comes with a gun that Phill opined was “just ok” but he wanted the shotgun, anyway the police station was in the game so that’s where Rachelle started. Amanda got Jake Cartwright the drifter. I got Billy, the sheriffs son, and started on the truck with some dynamite. Yes, dynamite, way cool. Only, no Zippo lighter
A quick set up and we were off. Joseph immediately played a surprise attack card that had 9 zombies shambling toward us quick smart and the suprise one in the police station! Detective Winters managed to hold the zombie off and then shot it in the head with her “just ok” gun. Billy made a dash for the post office (we had the “free search” counters in play so I could move and search). Searching he found, guess what? keys! Father Joseph dashed from the church to the Antique Shop and found some dynamite and Jake rummaged in the gas station and found a torch.
Round 2 and the zombies close in a little on every one, one gets a burst of speed and takes on Father Joseph in the Antique Shop and another begins suspiciously ambling toward the truck. It probably liked the smell of the tyres. Father Joseph comes away from the encounter with some nasty bite marks and then suddenly “There’s too many of them…” and 5 more zombies spawn from their pits. At this point I realise that, hay I can’t lock doors to keep the zombies out, they come through the walls. That sucks. And I rolled a 1 for movement, the zombies were reaching for Billy and grabbing his jacket. Jake, rummaging in the petrol station and muttering under his breath about the damn Sherrif’s Brat, managed to find some…ta da..petrol. Detective Winters fires wildly with her gun and makes more holes in the wall.
Round 3 and the lights go out in the Post Office, freaking Billy out. Fortunately there are no insanity rules. The zombies all begin closing on the truck while the heroes run ahead of them with the same destination in mind.
Round 5 and the zombies have blocked Jakes path. Meanwhile Father Joseph valiantly holds the nearer zombies back as Billy fumbles with the keys and detective Winters starts blasting, more accurately, from the back of the truck. Jake manages to dodge the zombies with a burst of speed and begins filling the tank.
Round 6 the zombies have climbed onto the truck. Father Joseph just hurles himself on board as Billy hits the gas. Three zombies on the flat bed are given the old heave ho as the truck runs down two more and disappears into the first light of dawn.
What a fun game! I know we got very lucky finding gas and keys so quickly but a good intro to the game. It s fun, its fast, there is some strategy but a lot of contingency.
Lets go again, we all exclaimed, so we picked the “Burn em Out!” scenario, again with Joseph taking on the role of zombies. The second game actually took close to two hours. At the end it was nearly dawn, three heroes had died so one more would make it a win for the zombies. One of the characters was “Feeling kind of funny” so it didn’t bode well. On the other hand we only had to burn one more pit. It was a real cliff hanger.
Some hilights from earlier included the encounter with the beauty queen, now zombie hero, and the quater back. “Oh god Amanda no”, “Come to me my darling, I only want to eat your brains”, “Hell no!”, hatchet rises and falls over a sorry scene.
In the aircraft hanger the Sheriff and Nurse Becky hung out as a formidable fighting team, finding flair guns and using them well trying to get the last can of petrol. Of course at one point they stopped searching for a bit because “This could be our last night on Earth…”.
Sam, the chef from the diner had some dynamite to use on the second last spawning pit in the hospital but a fair crowd of zombies stood in his way. I had the quarterback with him and realised how the quarterback special ability to move/attack/keep moving could work. “Easy” I said “I’ll just roll a 6.” and, as it is written so it shall be, I rolled a 6. the quarterback dashed back and forth between Sam’s square and the next in the hospital, taking out zombies with base ball bat and hatchet as he went. Only one zombie left but it ate the quarterback brains, a sad ending and our third hero down. Sam was able to get to the pit though and douse it. So I re-entered play as Kenny.
So, there we were, One nest left in the Diner, the Sheriff and Nurse Becky fighting back to back had just found a can of gas, one of the heroes hiding in the corn field and feeling kind o funny, and Kenny cleaning up in the grocery store, isle 7. The zombies were closing in, the sun was coming up. Sam ran out and took on a horde of zombies heading for the diner. The Sheriff and nurse Becky got separated, and Beckky made a lunge for the diner but must have tripped at the doorway. Kenny dashed across town and grabbed the dynamite, hurling himself into the dinner just as more zombies spawned. There was a desperate struggle involving jumper leads and an earth shattering boom as the last spawn pit was taken out just in time.
Oh my god, they didn’t kill Kenny! Phew.
Danny
Reposted from boardgame geek