7TV - Break Down

Building on our enjoyment of the Dr Who game last week, we set about trying out another genre using the 7TV2 rules...this time, zombies!

We used a variation of the Break Down scenario from the 7ombieTV rulebook. In a change of sides, Matt and I would this time be the bad guys, the zombie horde, whilst Mike and Wes would be using a motley collection of survivors made up from our combined collections (you may recognise a few of them).

The aim of the scenario was for the survivors to walk from their vehicle (which was out of gas) to the gas station, collect the maguffin and return it to the vehicle (the survivors would get 1vp if the collected the maguffin, and 1d6 if they returned to their vehicle). Meanwhile, the zombies would have to stop them. The objective tokens were zombie spawn points, which we could return zombies to play at by spending a plot point, but could be cleared by survivors (gaining them 1vp) if they made contact with them - preventing more zombies returning at that point.

Here's the initial set up:

Spawn points: cornfield, woods, cabin, graveyard and gas station (behind the police car)

Survivors:
Jules (Action Hero)
Stephanie from Lazytown (Angel of Justice)
Tom Baker (Crackpot Inventor)
Osgood (Investigative Academic)
Shaun 'of the Dead' (Strongarm)
Da Guvnor (Military Mind)
Daniel Craig (Tough Detective)
Doctors & Assistants (6 Bystanders)
Cops (3 City Cops)

Zombies:
Abomination (Marauding Monster)
Rage Zombies (3 Missing Links)
Shamblers (40 Zombies)

The survivors pile out of their over-crowded vehicle.

Zombies shamble towards them from the graveyard...

...and the gas station...

...and the woods...

...and the cornfield.

Stephanie from Lazytown returns from scouting (removing a spawn point)
She opens fire on the zombies in the field.

The survivors begin to march down to the gas station.

Osgood heads out alone...surely she can't achieve much by herself...

Stephanie is jumped upon by a Rage Zombie.
She fends the creature off.

The countryside is alive with the walking dead.

The police lay down a withering wall of bullets.

Shaun runs to Osgood's aid.

The Doctors take cover behind the car.

Osgood produces a grapple gun and shoots onto the cabin.
She then drops down to close the door (removes the spawn point)

She then drops two of the zombies and scoots off towards the gas station.

A lumbering form heads towards the crowd.
Nobody shoots because they don't know if it's human...(disguise kit)

Shaun struggles with an elusive Rage Zombie.

Zombies shamble in towards Osgood. 

Dodgy script editing sees the Abomination stranded in a field...

...and the ominous shape in the road turns out to be Stephanie.
Good job they didn't shoot her then?

Somehow, Osgood is still alive and closes another door
(removes another spawn point).

She then releases an experimental nerve agent, weakening the horde.

Tom Baker makes it to the graveyard to block the crypt
(another spawn point gone).

The rest of the survivors form a firing line, mowing down scores of zombies.

Shaun finally finishes off the Rage Zombie.
The route to the gas station is clear!

A bullet hits the (apparently empty) fuel tank of the crashed car.
After the SFX sequence Stephanie, a Cop and Catherine Tate lie dead.

Osgood's luck (and gadget pool) finally runs out.

Jules find himself dragged closer to two zombies and is killed.
The undead have clearly seized the initiative!

Shaun makes a heroic charge into the woods to prevent more zombies arriving.

The remaining cops are dragged down by the zombies.

And they join the horde.

Shaun's charge proves foolhardy, and he too is killed. 

A Rage Zombie fails to grab hold of Tom Baker.

Recognising a former girlfriend, Daniel Craig gets the girl...
...and shoots her in the head!

A single zombie stands between the remaining survivors and the fuel.

The Doctors and Assistants scatter as more zombies appear.

Still more emerge from the woods.

Craig and Baker finally reach their objective.

Meanwhile the survivors run into the ruined church for sanctuary

An inevitable (and inexplicable) explosion sees the roof collapse..

...leaving only one Doctor alive.

Despite the terrible casualties on both sides, we worked out the final score as...

Survivors:
Spawn Points Blocked - 4vp
Fuel collected - 1vp
2 Fast Zombies (co-stars) killed - 4vp

Zombies:
Jules (star) killed - 3vp
Stephanie from Lazytown (co-star) killed - 2vp
Shaun 'of the Dead' (co-star) killed - 2vp
Osgood (co-star( killed - 2vp

Final Score: 9 - 9

A draw!

Ultimately, it seems that taking the time to kill as many zombies as possible, stopped the survivors from achieving their primary goal, which would have won them the game. However, more zombies in combat would potentially had led to more deaths.

This was a really interesting game as early on, Matt and I felt that we were being massacred, and when the Abomination was moved off to a corner (and out of the game), we thought we'd totally lost. The zombies really struggle against ranged weapons. However, a convenient explosion and stealing the initiative saw the tables turned quite quickly, and when things got up close and personal, the zombies really came into their own, as sheer number of attacks can drag down even the toughest opponents.

Although this was a good game, I think the zombie genre needs a few changes to the game to really feel right:

• Limiting the choice of stars and co-stars (some of them don't really seem right)
• A zombie themed countdown deck - less explosions, more tripping over
• Zombie themed gadgets, perhaps even separate decks for zombies and survivors

Next time, I'll probably create the casts before the game and (depending on time) do some of the above.