And With The Tabletop Zombies & Monsters

[BanzaiCat]

It does look interesting, but the map is a little too busy - it looks like someone threw up on it. I think that's what bugged me most about it.

VP games are pretty cool, but they're damned expensive for what you get. Swing States 2012 has some nice components in the boxed version, but I'm still not sure I should have paid $35 for it.

[Arctic Blast]

You know, I think I still have the 1st Edition of Dawn of the Zeds around here somewhere...yes, indeed I do. I played it once, but it was so long ago that I really don't remember anything about it.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll re-read the rules and give it a run.

[BanzaiCat]

Yeah, go for it. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on it.

I just bought Space Marine: Death Angel today after some of the guys here were talking about it - I'd already had my eye on it, but afterwards I really had to have that game. Same for DotZ, I imagine.

[Nefaro]

Yeah, go for it. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on it.

I just bought Space Marine: Death Angel today after some of the guys here were talking about it - I'd already had my eye on it, but afterwards I really had to have that game. Same for DotZ, I imagine.

I've been curious about Death Angel, too, but for some reason the look of the cards kinda threw me off.  It didn't look all that involved. 

So I recently picked up Marvel Legendary for a new card game.  It seems somewhat popular for solitaire play, but it's pretty pricey.  In the middle of my first game, I can see why it's fairly popular since the mechanics aren't difficult at all yet you get to build your deck as you play.  So it cuts out any LCG/CCG type of pre-game preparation which is nice.  It's not all that confrontational in a multi-player game; it's based on gaining points so more like a trick-taking game instead of an LCG/CCG. 

[Arctic Blast]

Yeah, go for it. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on it.

I just bought Space Marine: Death Angel today after some of the guys here were talking about it - I'd already had my eye on it, but afterwards I really had to have that game. Same for DotZ, I imagine.

Okay, I busted this out today to distract myself from the wait for the results of a math trade I'm involved in. I have the 'Hey, we have cool ideas but zero budget!' 1st Edition version that came in a bag and had horrendous components, so no photos.

I had forgotten how nasty this game can get! Basically, there are 4 separate tracks leading to the center of town. Each round, you draw one of the Event cards for that round. It gives you a certain number of Refugee movement points, then the chances of an Outbreak (throw down some more zombies on one of the tracks), then zombie mob movement. It also limits how many Action Points you get. then you start the next round.

Basically, it turns into spending your dwindling actions on all of the things you want to use. It costs points to move units. It costs points AND supplies to build barricades (which make a spot easier to defend). It costs precious ammo to attack from range, otherwise it's hand to hand (which increases the Infection rate, and leads to a greater chance of more zombies spawning). It costs actions to forage for more supplies...or to advance the research track towards getting better weapons and maybe a cure...or to heal destroyed civilian units in order to put new militia teams out on the board. You want to do everything, but you can't. And there are other choices. Sure, having more units on the board gives you deeper defenses, but it also increases the rate at which you chew through the supplies. So maybe a threadbare defense might be able to hold...maybe? Every time a Refugee unit reaches Town center, you can park them in a refugee camp (which gives you a 'better' win if you survive), OR spend them to beef up a damaged Civilians unit.

I started off doing well. Two tracks were cleared of zombies, things were rolling along...and then the Infections hit again...and again...and again. And I kept drawing awful events, turning one of the zombie mobs toxic, and another one hard to hit. A group of civilian raiders spawned and began marching inexorably towards town center. They fight zombies they encounter (YAY!), but also Civilians, Heroes and Refugees (GODDAMMIT!). They laid waste to my defenses. I ran out of Supplies, meaning no more research or healing or Barricades. The zombies made it into town center, which is an immediate loss. I want to play again now.  ;D

Incidentally, if you end up liking Death Angel, the expansions are decent but some are certainly better than others.

Tyranid adds a ton of new types of Tyranids to the enemy stacks. Good if you want some variety added to your Space Hulk.
Marine Pack adds a couple of new tandems of Space Marines, as well as a few other bits. Solid add-on.
Mission Pack adds a new scenario or two, and a few other added environment cards and other things. This would probably be Choice #2 for me after Tyranids.
Deathwing adds a completely new set of Marine tandems. This is probably the least interesting of the bunch.

[BanzaiCat]

That sounds really interesting. Actually, it sounds a lot like Zulus on the Ramparts - at least from the 'track' approach the enemies use. I have Zulus on my iPad and think it's the most supremely frustrating game - my rolls never go right.

Anyway, that tears it - I'll have to put ZotR on my list, but hopefully it will go down in price eventually.

[Arctic Blast]

That sounds really interesting. Actually, it sounds a lot like Zulus on the Ramparts - at least from the 'track' approach the enemies use. I have Zulus on my iPad and think it's the most supremely frustrating game - my rolls never go right.

Anyway, that tears it - I'll have to put ZotR on my list, but hopefully it will go down in price eventually.

I believe both games are part of the States of Siege series, so it's no surprise that they're similar. And now I find myself thinking about getting Zulus on the Ramparts. Ack! This discussion has backfired on me!  :D