Getting Started With: Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse

Hello and welcome to Getting Started With...

In this series, I talk about getting started with games of various kinds that you can find. And today we're going to talk about Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse!

Step One: Buy the books!

I say “buy” because people will just try to find PDFs without paying for them. While I understand that (I really do), you have to pay for things if you want people to keep making them. As such, I say buy the books.

Which books? Well, there's the core book, the Seasons expansion, and the first issue of Blaster. I say you'll want the core book and Seasons, but let me explain. You need the core book because, well, you can't really play without it. Now, since its a two player game, you could split the cost between yourself and friend. I'd suggest one of you buys the core book and the other buys Seasons. I suggest you pick up Seasons because the main game is going to get boring fast, especially if you're going to be playing it a lot. The Seasons book also gives you rules for solo play, so if you don't have someone to play with, you'll need it.

When it comes to Blaster, that's a tougher thing. The first issue (and only at the time of this writing) gives you rules for the Old West and it's obvious that the next Timeline that's coming (Age of Steel) will be using some of the same rules. I'm sure someone will argue that it's to get people to keep buying the magazines but I do think that there's another reason. It's to save space. Only so many pages, you know? Now, the other problem is that Blaster has stuff for four more games, which might be useless to you if you don't play any of them. I just play one other one, so the cost was easier to swallow, but it's up to you. Of course, I suspect that there's going to be a collection of the Timelines that have been hinted at so far (old west, medieval Europe, sci-fi, and the European conflicts of the early and mid 20^th century). Because since not everyone is willing to buy the magazine, it makes sense to sell it in one big book. Hopefully with some corrected errors.

 

Step Two: Pick Timeline

As I just mentioned, there's now modern times and the old west. However, I think you could play the game in any era already with some hand waving. No reason why you can't have a bunch of barbarians and stuff with melee weapons and maybe a bow or two. So, settle on when you want to have the game take place. Which will bring us to...

Step Three: Build your force

Once you're picked when your games are going to take place, you'll probably want to figure out the kind of team you want to play. There's only three different Leaders and each one plays differently. While you don't have to be WYSIWYG, you can think about what you'll want for the next step. If you're thinking about running a biker gang, you'll want to look for those kinds of minis. If you want to play Scout's Guide To The Apocalypse, you'll want to look for those. And if you're wanting to play the remnants of the military or police forces, you'll need minis that look like that. While I am a big fan of WYSIWYG, you don't have to be. And don't be afraid to play test with some proxies before you spend any more money.

You also have to figure out what line will carry the unusual things like bicycles, motorcycles, and horses if you're planning on using any of those. I have found horses and motorcycles (both with and without riders), I'm yet to find any of bicycles. Not that I've looked too hard, but still.

Step Four: Buy your minis (if you haven't already)

Some of you, like myself, probably have almost everything you'll need to play this game, or almost everything. I have a ton of minis I picked up because they looked cool but didn't know when or if I would ever be able to use them. Of course, I didn't have everything I needed, as I didn't have 20 zombies in the right scale. They were on my list but I never got around to them.

If you're going to be buying minis, you'll have to keep track of scale. For those of you who know about this, or already have everything you need already, feel free to move on.

When it comes to scale, there's two major ones that work for Last Days: 25mm base/28mm scale and 30mm base and scale. I use these based on the size of the bases the minis go on, as there's much more to it. In short, you've got 25/28mm standard (or “non-heroic”, 25/28mm heroic, 30mm standard, and 30mm heroic. The main difference between standard and heroic is the size of the heads, hands, and etc. Really, heroic is slightly larger than standard. For example, the standard 28mm stuff I have looks shrimpy next to my Warhammer 40k, which is 28mm heroic (mostly). I also have trouble with SpineSpur when I was getting into it because it described itself as a “32mm scale” game. I have no idea why. To add even more complexity, there's also differences between manufacturers and even models in the same line.

To summarize: pick your base size (25mm or 30mm) and keep an eye out for things labeled “heroic” and “standard/non-heroic” or not labeled at all. Once you pick that, you've got it made.

I only bring this up because I had some trouble with my Hasslefree heroes and some Reaper zombies. The zombies were comically huge compared to the heroes and it made them way easier to hit. If you don't care, that's fine. I do and I thought I would share.

For the next part of this, let's talk about where to get minis. There's a bunch of different companies and games. I'm going to skip Games Workshop, as you'll either have these models already, and if you don't, they're about the worst option financially.

Reaper Miniatures:

I've been buying Reaper minis for years and have a ton of them thanks to their Bones Kickstarters. Now, if you want a super cheap option for a crew, you can probably just order a bunch of Bones and have at. While I do like Bones, I don't use them for minis games, simply because they're a little wonky and don't always have bases. That said, they're great for D&D and the like, when you have a grid mat.

If you're wanting to play a sci-fi or modern (or even old west) game of Last Days, you want to look up the Chronoscope line, which is roughly 30mm heroic scale. I suggest searching for the following keywords: Hero, Heroine, Zombie, Zombies, Survivor, and Biker. These are where I've found the best minis for this game. They have a “survivor” series inspired by the first Zombieland film, a collection of minis inspired by SuckerPunch, a super hero series, and so on. If you're wanting old west minis, they have the license for Savage Worlds, which includes the classic Deadlands setting. There's also a “Gunslingers and Cowboys” boxed set of ten minis which should be more than enough for one player, maybe even two.

When it comes to zombies, there's only three sets of three minis each that really work for modern: Zombie Strippers, Zombies: Doctor, Nurse, and Patient, and Urban Zombies. Watch out for that last one, as they're over sized for 30mm. There's also five or size single zombies, so you can have some variety as you get to the 20 you need. Just make sure they aren't armed.

West Wind Productions:

While I do like the ideas these guys put out, I've only bought one set of minis from them and found them lacking. However, if you want to make a biker gang, and have people on motorcycles, the stuff from Road Kill has that. It also has nuns with chainsaws. If you can find them. The ones I have are a little bit bigger than my Reaper stuff, so the mins are roughly on that scale, no matter what the packaging says.

Hasslefree:

I only have eight of these minis, but they are good quality. All of their minis are 25mm non-heroic. They have a huge line of “closely resemble but are legally distinct” things from all sorts of media. They also have a huge line of zombies. However, they have a serious supply problem. And if you order something from them, you could be waiting for months for your product. If you find a third party that's still carrying them, I would suggest picking them up if they have what you want. However, as a lot of third parties started dropping them, it might be hard to get what you want.

Zombiecide:

I remember seeing this when it was a Kickstarter and thought about getting into it. I didn't have the funds and I don't know if I really need another game that I'll play once a year. I'm pleasantly surprised to see it's still going and has a ton of stuff for it. If you're looking to get into both Last Days and Zombiecide, this isn't a bad idea. You can find stuff for this game easily online, including stuff for cheap if you don't mind used. As the minis are 25/28mm scale, you'll be able to use them with just about everything else on this list. I bought Walk Of The Dead number one and was pleased with the quality and price of the minis. While there's not a lot of variety (you get three of each mini), it doesn't really matter when they're zombies.

The Walking Dead:

I remember getting into the Walking Dead comics right before the Governor was introduced and gave up on it just before Neegan. By then, TWD had taken over everything, including gaming. While I don't have any of these minis, I have heard they're okay. Plus, they have units on horseback. 

Step Five: Play some simple games

Trust me when I say that I know the temptation to just start going with all the toys you've got in the books. And I know how easy it is to make mistakes and fall into bad habits because of it. I strongly believe in play testing before you sit down to play a full game, especially with someone else. You can test out the models you want to use, how the equipment and weapons will work, and how often you're going to be able to kill those zombies. Break all the rules and test each character that remotely appeals to you, so you can work out the list you want to play. Do some random rolls on tables, see what pops up. Since Seasons adds in solo games, you can go through a whole campaign by yourself and have some fun with it. Just take the time to learn the rules.

Step Six: Buy the terrain

If you've read the books, or my reviews, you've seen that there's a bunch of different refuges and that there's a mission that requires you to have them. So, you need to track down some buildings to use for that. You might have some already but you'll need several more. There's several companies that make some you can use, but you need to make sure that you can put stuff inside of them, as required. If you're coming to this game from fantasy gaming or even sci-fi gaming, you'll need some other terrain. Dumpsters, trash cans, barrels, rubble, barricades, fences, and all that stuff. You'll also want a lot of this stuff, so guns aren't overpowered.

And there you go. Those are all the steps I think you should take to get started with Last Days. What do you think?