Battle Report: Last Days, Old West - Calhoon Clan VS Jay's Baddies

 

In the Old West, the dead don’t rest easy…

Been a while since I’ve had a chance to play something and it’s going to be Last Days again. With Jay. Again. BUT! We decided to try out the Old West rules from BLASTER Volume 1.

For this game, I brought a group I call the Calhoon Clan (based on the Ferner Five, the Deadlands posse of legend). Let’s take a quick look at who we have and what they’re packing:

Nona “Cookie” Calhoon (Leader, Selfless), armed with a LeMat and knife.
Phil Calhoon, Fire Fighter, armed with an axe and revolver.
Dr. Ashleigh “Penny” Penwood, a Sawbones, with a magnum and “heavy blade.”
Running Bear, a Survivor, with a bow, tomahawk, and a spear.
Little White Dove, another Survivor, also with bow, tomahawk, and spear.
Victoria, a Gunfighter, with a pair of sixguns and knife. 

 

For Jay, he made a list with:

Selfish Leader with LeMat and Heavy Blade, Soldier with hunting rifle and spear, Goon with shotgun and heavy club, Tough Guy with revolver and club, Gang Member with a knife, and a dog. (no one had a name as he made it here after he got here.)

 

When it came to setting up the game, we decided to throw down a mix of my stuff and his, not even bothering to roll for deployment, just using the edges we were sitting closest to. I deployed with a split force, Phil, Nona, and Penny set up near a bridge in cover, while Running Bear, White Dove, and Victoria were on the board edge. Jay also split up his forces but not as far apart as mine were.

Once we had everyone on the board, we slapped down my three Reaper Zombie Miners. Jay had really good rolls early on, winning placement, first turn initiative, and the like. I was behind from the start.

As the game progressed, my forces got waylaid by zombies. Little Running Bear, White Dove, and Victoria were locked down on and off in the early game because of zombies. In addition, due to Phil blocking the bridge while trying to put down his zombie, Nona and Penwood had to slog through the water.

Meanwhile, Jay had free rein to go after the tokens and do what he wanted. He was able to get rid of his zombie problem as easily as I did but he was in better position than I was, with his crew.

Things came to a head when he decided to switch from going for the tokens to trying to take me down. I lost Victoria, then Running Bear, and then Phil. After I lost Phil, I started going after him. One of the more interesting moments was when Jay’s dog charged Penny and Nona. We had a bit of a heated debate, as he pointed out that there was no direct rule against it, and I was of the opinion that it shouldn’t be allowed because it normally isn’t in other games. We agreed to let it go in his favor but I posted in the Facebook group. I’m yet to get a large response to it. Anyway. While this did allow him to lock them up in close combat, it also prevented him from shooting them. I did manage to take out the guy who killed Phil, and two others of his crew. So, we had both lost three members and started having to roll for Breaking. He lost.

 

So, it was a slight victory for me. Could I have won in the end? Maybe. Jay’s rifleman was locking me down really hard but I did have Nona out there, with her shot tube still loaded. And, while both of our rolls were terrible at the start of the game, mine were starting to get better as the game went on. It was really anyone’s game at the end. 

And that’s where we’re at. It was a fun game and I think we really liked how it went. We did discuss some changes to the Break Tests for one-off games and we’re talking about doing a campaign in the future, after we have the rules down better. Keep your eyes out for it...

Sources Say: Blaster vol 2

Name: BLASTER, Volume 2
Produced By: BLASTER
System: Frostgrave, Ghost Archipelago, Rangers of Shadow Deep, This Is Not A Test, Gaslands, and Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse.
Genre(s): Horror, high fantasy, and post apocalypse

Well, looks like we did get another issue of Blaster this year. I was honestly worried that we wouldn't but it's a nice little surprise. The first thing you might notice is that Ash isn't the editor this time, it looks like Greg Horton is our new Overlord. This should be interesting to watch.

Shadowgrave: Cthulhu in Frostgrave/Ghost Archipelago/Rangers of Shadow Deep

The first part of this issue is ShadowGrave, rules for Lovecraftian horrors in Frostgrave, Ghost Archipelago, and Rangers of the Shadow Deep. Well, this appears to be the first part of a series for adding these in but this looks finished enough to try out the missions they've provided. Each of the games get one mission each, mostly solo ones. Since the games all use similar rules, there's a dump of them up front. Rules for losing sanity, and its effects, and the stats for Mythos monsters. The rules for sanity tests and loss are very damaging to models, so you'll want to keep that in mind if you want to do anything long term with them. It's not some minor thing. Making the rolls aren't easy and the consequences of failure are harsh, with losing all of your equipment, death, loss of actions, turning rolls of 13 into 1s, and having to be in groups or suffer penalties are all on the table. And that's naming just a few. The monsters are fairly standard for the Mythos but there's some odd ones in there. These creatures don't look easy to put down, in addition to causing the sanity rolls, so they're going to be quite the challenge for your crews and warbands.

The first scenario we have is for Frostgrave, designed for a usual game. You're going to need a idol, some wells/ponds, some mist clouds, some ghouls, and some shoggoths. This is probably going to be very damaging for the sanity of the models you're using, so good luck with that, as you're going to be bringing out a lot of ghouls and shoggoths with the right rolls. There's a random effects table, so no one is going to be safe in this game...

The next scenario is for Ghost Archipelago and is for solo play (which means I'm probably going to be giving a shot pretty soon). This one isn't as harsh as the one above but it is going to be a hard fight with some poor rolls. You're up against a fair amount of tribal warriors, some Nightgaunts, and a Spawn of the Stars if things go really, really bad. There is a way to stop it from getting worse, but good luck. This scenario also uses a slightly smaller table size, about the size of a card table, so it's perfect for me.

The last scenario is for Rangers of Shadow Deep, which I know almost nothing about, so I'll try my best here. This one is very much inspired by Dark Fantasy stories, taking place around some trees and a sheep pen. There's “Dark Goats” and “Dark Satyrs” to be dealt with, as well as some kind of rune covered stone. While I haven't picked up this game (yet) I do like the idea of this scenario better than the one they put in the last issue.

This Is Not A Test: Masters Of The Wild, Part II

Now that we're done with all of that, we're on to second part of the This Is Not A Test supplement, continuing from last issue. And, of course, I have no clue what this one talks about, as I don't play this game (yet). Where the last one had enough for me to really find stuff to talk about, this one... Doesn't. It covers alternate elites, which I'm assuming will mean something to those of you who do play the game. We've got a Beast Controller, a Beast Friend, Chimeric Shepard, and the Lesser Tribal Wildcaller. Next, it's animal skills, which can be taken in place of the ones they'd normal get. And they're pretty funny. After that we have Wastelander Creatures Tables, that adds a few monsters. I'm a fan of the Lil' Steggo and I have no idea what it does.

 

Mystic Skies: A whole new game (but it's pretty much Gaslands)

Now, we're moving on to the “New way to use your Gaslands templates and other models” part of the book. Like the Martian Racing Federation in the last issue, pretty much giving you a whole new game to play, Mystic Skies does the same thing, but completely disconnected from the world of Gaslands. This time, we're playing in a world like Arabian Nights, with flying carpets, wizards, monsters, and summoned servants, created by the minds behind Gaslands (duh) and Relicblade. So, yeah.

This game revolves around a wizard on a magic carpet (or has wings or a flying mount) on a base no larger than 50mm and a tower of some kind. For your monsters (which are going to pop up and change controllers), you'll want some monstrous beasts (owlbears and the like spring to mind), evil champions (perhaps some vampires?), evil warriors and bowmen (skeletal warriors or goblins could work), and beasts (maybe rats?). For minions, you've got elementals of varying size and power, fighters, archers, and engineers, which you've probably got laying around if you've been playing tabletop RPGs long enough (or have gotten in on any of the Reaper Bones Kickstarters) or might be able to use stuff from other miniatures games. When you're building your wizard, you're got a list of spells anyone can use that boost or summon allies and monsters (or let you boost your wizard) and you get to pick one school of magic they know. These schools give you four spells and a school bonus, leading to a lot of variety and will make you want to experiment with them until you find what works best for your style of play. Sadly, there's only one scenario to play but it shouldn't be hard to cook up something to play around with if you're really enjoying it. If I get the chance to play this one, I'll be sure to post any new scenarios I come up with.

Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse: Evolutions

The last part of this issue is something that a lot of people have been looking forward to, changing things up for your Last Days games. While I like this idea, I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get another timeline (I'm really looking forward to the sci-fi one and the World Wars one).

Now, there's a lot of rules changes for this one, as we're going to be able to use things beyond the Romero style zombies, so I strongly suggest giving this whole thing a read before you start throwing things out there. The first major change is that now your games will have a “Key Menace” to them, the most basic enemy type. For most Last Days games, these are zombies. However, now you're going to get “Evolutions” to make things a little harder, even if you're sticking with zombies. The next rule change is Behaviors, which are going to determine how these new threats act, since not every enemy is going to charge your guns like zombies. We've got Stalking enemies, who are going to dash from cover to cover while trying to get in close enough to attack, and Hunting enemies, who are going to move a little more aggressively but still try to be sneaky. There's also new Traits to make these new enemies even more dangerous, as now they themselves might explode! And that's just one of the things to worry about but is probably the most dramatic. The regenerating enemies are going to be a pain...

For our first Evolution, we're getting new types of zombies (of course) and they're taken from some of the more recent zombie media. We've got bloated and explosive zombies, spitting zombies, stalking zombies, fast zombies, and something like the good old Tyrants. Oh boy. These are probably going to be really easy to pick up, as at least one other zombie game already uses these sorts of enemies. I can easily use some of the zombies I got from the Zombiecide Walk Of The Dead to fill in for these roles. And I might just pick up some more, especially if I can find some big nasty guys. And if you're a fan of the Left 4 Dead series, I bet you've been waiting to this moment.

Next up, we have robots. That's right, now we're getting into Terminator territory, which you can do using Cyber Reavers from Reaper (they make them in Bones, just so you know) or whatever else you've got laying around. Maybe some Shield Drones? We've got robots armed with “blasters” (yeah, I saw what you guys did there and shook my head), Infiltrators that are “legally distinct from but closely resemble” the aforementioned Terminators, heavily armed and armored Prosecutors, Nano-Slayers that are clearly some T-1000s, and the big-bosses, Hunter Killers. Yeah, this is Terminator. And I am okay with that. I just don't know how I'm going to find enough models for this...

And that's it, folks. All in all, this is another solid bit of work. You've got some new rules for three different games that adds in the “fun” that is the Cthulhu Mythos, the conclusion of the beast rules for This Is Not A Test, a fun little wizard game that you can play with a friend, and some neat stuff for Last Days. I don't know it's as useful as the last issue but it's a nice boost of everything. And I think the addition of the Mystic Skies game is the part that's probably going to help it sell, as the templates needed are free online.

Battle Report: Last Days - The Screw You Gang VS Jay's Crew

Are you ready for some zombies? Because I finally got a real game of Last Days in, with another person, and boy was it wild. Buckle up!

The Crews:

For this game, I brought my Screw You Gang: (which was featured in my first solo game).

Velma (Leader) armed with a chainsaw and magnum

Daphne (Survivalist) armed with a SAW and a knife

Fred (Tough Guy) armed with a semi-auto and heavy blade

Shaggy (Tough Guy) armed with a pump action shotgun and heavy club

Scary Doo (Dog)

 

And Jay's Crew:

I don't completely remember what all he had, but I do remember that his boss had a shotgun, Sarge was a Sarge character with a High Powered Rifle, he also had a Dog, two Gang Members he called the Safety Twins (one of with had a shotgun), and one other guy. Sorry, but he didn't email me his list.

 

Set-Up and Deployment:

For this game, Jay brought a lot of terrain and I provided a little bit. We had two building that we could enter and set them up across from each other with a bunch of barricades and vehicles in between them, as well as my little pond.

With that done, we put the Salvage Tokens out like you're suppose to, with one ending up in the house.

After that, I we did deployment. I know, we kind of messed that up. So, I set up in cover, as I didn't want to get shot off the board in the first turn. I, once again, split up with Daphne and Fred behind the diner and Shaggy, Velma, and Scary behind the APC. Jay deployed his group with Sarge and this boss behind the house and the rest of his force kind of spread out along the edge, mostly in view.

Once we got set up, we then put out the zombies. We learned something with that, let me tell you.

 

The Game:

During the first Menace Phase, Jay was getting stared down by the zombies. They didn't reach him right away but he had to focus on them right quick. Meanwhile, I won initiative and chose to be the Aggressor. I started slowly moving my group up to the diner and around the APC, and Jay started moving into the house and towards some of the Salvage Tokens. After that, Jay took some potshots at some zombies while I decided to hold off of firing.

During the next Menace phase, Jay gets swarmed. He gets a few from Noise Tokens and the ones that are already out there are getting in his face. I won initiative again (I'll keep doing this through out the game) and again chose to be the Aggressor. I start having Daphne climb up the diner, Fred comes out from behind the diner, Shaggy, Velma, and Scary come out into the open. Meanwhile, Jay has gotten Sarge up into the attic of the house and continues to zip around, moving his dog in front of the diner. During the shooting phase, I find out Sarge is armed with a high powered rifle. I mean, find out the fun way...

 

After this, things get a little hazy, so you'll have to bear with me. Sarge takes out Shaggy, in one shot, and goes Locked And Loaded later. Velma ends up taking out Sarge with her Magnum, ending that threat. Most of Jay's crew is stuck not far from his deployment zone, trying to break off from the zombies, and collects a Salvage Token. Jay's dog engages Fred and takes out a bite. Next turn, Fred rolls a 6 for damage and makes him into dog meat.

What changed the whole game was Daphne. She gets up to the roof of the diner and gets close to the edge. And then starts the hail of bullets. With her position and the terrain, she's got almost the whole board locked down. Jay now had to work around her and I was able to press him. Fred got taken out, as did Scary. For Jay, I took out two of his other goons and it was getting hard for him to do anything. He lost his Salvage Token because I took out the guy who was carrying it, right by the board edge. His leader had to kick a zombie off of him and then fell back into the house. While Daphne could see him, I decided to give him a break and agreed that he couldn't be shot.

And then we got to the Break rolls... 

 

Results:

With both of us down by three members, and him having one more than I, it was really close. But, he Broke and I didn't. I ended up winning and collecting all of the tokens. Thankfully, this was just a one-off game so it won't matter in the long run. It was really a chance to learn about the game.

 

What did we learn? Well, we weren't putting out enough Noise Tokens, and as such, there weren't nearly enough zombies. One thing that made a huge difference was us screwing up the climbing rules. In most of the other games I've played, your models can “hang out” between turns and complete a climb as long as it takes. If we had been doing everything right, I wouldn't have been able to get on top of the diner. However, I'm going to be making some ladders... There were a few other minor things (forgetting when to roll Courage/Horror checks, etc) but we did a pretty good job of getting the rules down.

 

While I do like winning, it was a very close game. If I hadn't taken out Sarge as quickly as I did, I would have been screwed. If I had rolled poorly with my Noise Tokens, I could have been easily swarmed by zombies. If Jay had rolled better in the Shooting phases, he wouldn't have been as slowed down and able to get more tokens. Until the last turn or two, it really felt like it could have gone either way. 

Jay and I have agreed to try playing some more one-off games before starting a campaign. And after that campaign, we might run a Seasons campaign. So, stay tuned.

 

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?

Sources Say: Blaster, Volume 01

Name: Blaster, Volume #1

Produced By: Blaster Magazine

System: Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse, This Is Not A Test, Relicblade, Gaslands, Rangers of Shadow Deep

Genre(s): Fantasy, Post Apocalypse, Wild West, Science Fiction

I'm sure you've probably seen this mentioned here and there and are wondering what this is all about. As it says, Blaster is an anthology gaming magazine for a variety of independent wargames, most produced by Osprey Games. Now, I don't play every game in this collection but I will do my best to review the whole thing. I'm also thinking about picking some of these up now. Let's get started, shall we?

 

Gaslands: Martian Racing Federation

The setting of Gaslands is the dystopian nightmare earth, ruled by the Martians. Who are Earth colonists. And it's something that I feel a lot of people miss or ignore (I'm guilty of this). What this little expansion does is start exploring just how different life on Mars is.

While in normal games of Gaslands, you're driving around a rustbucket vehicle, loaded down with guns and explosive gasoline, trying to eliminate the competition; things on Mars aren't nearly as... Combative. The MRF is a complete 180 for the game. No guns, no explosions, no real violence at all, really. It's about winning the race pure and simple.

As such, there's a lot of changes. So far, there's only two types of vehicles: the Falcon class and the Buzzard class. The difference between them isn't very much. Since you can only have one vehicle in these games, you'll have to figure out if you want the better vehicle or have more points for Perks.

There's also new Sponsors, that can only be used in Martian games. Miskin and Rutherford return with their Martian companies, and we get Lexicorp and Yikker Hydros. Picking a Sponsor gives you a special thing, just like in normal games but you don't have to deal with the lists of Perks, as everyone has access to the same small set of them.

Now, for the major changes, you have a reduced set of phases each turn. Just planning, moving, and the different version of the Hazard phase.

The planning phase is what makes this game unique. Instead of choosing a movement template each turn, you can map out up to six templates (including slides and spins) before each turn. Each one has to be unique (can't use a template twice in the same turn, like the Long Straight, for example) and some of them will automatically end your move. You write down what you're going to use and then wait until the next phase.

The movement phase is just like the normal one, with each player going in order and moving their vehicle. You don't even roll skid dice.

The final part of the turn is where you deal with G forces. Instead of hazards, you have Gs. It's a little more... Okay, a lot more complicated and I'm going to need to really play this out a lot to get the hang of it.

Once you're ready to play, there's only two scenarios in this game thus far: a rehash of Death Race and a daring Canyon Run. I'm hoping that, if Blaster continues, we're going to get more of them and hopefully some more vehicles as well.

In the end, I feel like this is a really good idea but it needs more. I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the rules because of the way they're written. If I get the chance to get into it, I'm thinking about making some nifty vehicles for it, as it would be a nice little breather from or sequel to an ongoing Gaslands campaign.

 

Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse: Timelines (Wild West)

This is the second half of why I bought this book. I like me some zombies and I like me some Wild West stuff. Sadly, I don't have a ton of Wild West minis (yet) so I can't really sit down to play this with someone else right now. With that said, let's dig in, shall we?

Right at the start, it's said that this is the first in a series of supplements for Last Days. After this, we're going to get an “Age of Sword” thing, some far future stuff, and a World Wars thing. Count me in for all of that. Nothing better than killing Nazi zombies, is there?

The first real changes we're seeing is the Refuges. Some of the ones from the core book and Seasons transfer completely or only with a few modifications but, some have to be removed (there's no malls in the old west, amigo). So that means we get a few more to make up for the lost ones. They're very much old west staples that make sense.

Next up, we have new characters. While the leaders don't have to change, some of the other people we have to add to your group do. Not only because some don't make sense in the period but also because there's some that do. You know, your gunfighters, trackers, and cavalrymen.

After people, we have equipment. And, boy howdy, is it great. Since you all know I'm a big fan of Deadlands, I was very pleased to see the LeMat turn up at the top of the list. There's repeating rifles, bayonets, and tomahawks. There's some more stuff that fits with the period and some other stuff that seems to be a bit of a set up for later expansions. Those would clearly the spears and javelins, plus one or two others. While they could be seen in the old west, I get the sense that they're there for the Age Of Sword timeline.

After that, it's just updates for the Salvage Tables and the new stats for everything above. Well, almost everything. There's a few things missing and that's irritating.

All in all, this is quite possibly my favorite section of this book and was the other half of why I bought it. While I don't have enough minis to run this (yet), I'm really looking forward to playing some games with it. Maybe a solo game of the Ferner Five? I like that idea...

 

Relicblade: Lotus Guilds of the Twilight Seat

Alright, our first section that I know nothing about. I'll try my best to parse it out for you but, I'm going to suggest that you get a full review by someone who knows about the system.

The section begins with some lore and background information, which is good for someone like me who knows next to nothing about it. It talks about elves, which are usually “meh” for me in fantasy but, I'm getting a Warhammer 40k Eldar vibe from what they're saying. It's not an exact parallel, as it's much more a fan from perfection than debauchery, however I think I like that better.

With the history out of the way, we move on to talking about the Lotus Guilds and how they work. There's a brief description of two Guilds but I'm getting the sense that there's going to be more down the road. It mentions that four of them founded the place and there have been several more than have appeared since.

After that, there's this interesting thing about Lotus Bladesong. Again, since I don't play this game, I don't really understand what it does all that well, but it sounds cool.

This section ends with a mission called The Enchantress' Gate, which revolves around some “standing stones” and a treasure. It looks cool, I guess?

I'm sorry I'm not able to really get into this one but I hope it makes sense for those of you who do enjoy it.

 

This Is Not A Test: Masters Of The Wild

This is one of those games that's on my list to pick up. I keep forgetting about it. A few years back, a friend of mine came over and showed me the PDF. I do like me some post apocalyptic violence and this game was one of the best when it first came out. Sadly, the only core book I can find from the publisher is $50 and that's not easy to justify at the moment. However, in the future, I'll probably be biting the bullet.

This section is about creating a whole new faction, or so it seems to me. You have Beastmasters to use to build a force around, and they sound a hell of a lot like post apocalyptic Druids or Rangers, with lots of little animal buddies to protect them and wipe out their enemies.

There's a few different types of these radioactive druids. The first of which is “Master Chimeric Shepard.” This seems to be really involved with mutants and has to mutate their crew.

Next we have the “Elder Willcaller” which seems to have a more naturalistic, shamanistic way of looking at things. It looks like their special ability is to be able to summon a friendly monster on to the table for a game.

The nest part is about how to include the various critters from the game into a group. I don't know much about them but they sound cool. However, you better make sure you have all of the supplements, as there's four or five mentioned at the top of this section.

If I wasn't already interested in this game, I think this would push me over the edge. Just from the little bits of stuff I can see, I like how wacky yet serious all of this stuff sounds. I don't know how the game plays but I'll have to give it a try. 

 

Rangers of Shadow Deep: Rangers of the Watchtower

As you might have noticed, I'm not a huge fan of fantasy. I used to be but, I got burned out. I picked Frostgrave because it was a used copy and I have a ton of fantasy minis from the first Bones Kickstarter. So, I don't think I'm going to be picking up Rangers of Shadow Deep. Maybe if someone really wants to play it, I might be talked into it.

This section is just two scenarios, based around the Lord of the Rings and the encouters with the Ring Wraiths. If you have some LotR minis, this might be a fun thing to play. Or if you want recreate the feeling of that setting with minis from your own collection.

The first scenario is about a lone wizard having to leave word to his companions while escaping the wraiths. Depending on how well this goes, the next scenario can be easy or hard.

The second scenario is about Frodo and Strider, along with the other hobbits, rolling up to find the wizard and getting jumped by the Ring Wraiths. Let's not beat around the bush here, that's what these are suppose to be.

All in all, I think this is probably the weakest of the collection. It's just a “hey, remember this thing? Want to act it out yourself?” And that doesn't really engage me. That said, if you're a huge fan of this game and LotR, this might be worth it to you. You'll have to be the judge.

 

In conclusion, I think this idea of Blaster is a good one. You have content for a bunch of different games by their creators to help keep them, and their games, afloat. That's not a bad thing. One of the hardest things for indie gaming is keeping the game fresh in people's minds and getting them to spend money on them. Unlike bigger companies, who have a marketing team to help people learn about their products, independent creators have to do all of the work themselves. Something like this, where they can work together to provide fun for a lot of different people is solid. Even you look at what I've said, two out of the three games presented here that I don't already play piqued my interest (or helped me remember they existed) by being in this magazine.

I hope this thing keeps coming, maybe quarterly, and they not only keep up with the games already done here, but expand with more content for other games. I wish them the best of luck and strongly advise you to pick this up on DriveThruRPG if you haven't already and only play one of these.

Battle Report: Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse - Solo game #1

Welcome to my first Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse battle report and my first battle report in a very, very long time. Hopefully I remember how to do this...

Forces:

For this game, I ended up picking my HassleFree minis “closely resemble but are legally distinct” Scooby Doo group. Originally released by in 2012 (if I remember correctly), these are the “post apocalyptic” versions they made. Sadly, I wasn't able to get the Scooby mini and ended up with the minigun version of Daphne. I also really want to track down a Mystery Machine...

Ahem. The forces. Due to the rules, I ended up making a Selfish force, as follows-

Fred (tough guy, neutral) armed with semi-auto pistol and a heavy blade

Daphne (survivalist, selfish) armed with a SAW and a knife.

Velma (leader, selfish) armed with a chainsaw and magnum pistol.

Scary Doo (dog, neutral)

Shaggy (tough guy, neutral) armed with a pump-action shotgun and a heavy club

Their Refuge is a Mall. Since I don't have to worry about competing against another player, I can spend all my Scavenge Points on Perks and just have some fun.

Mission -

Set-Up/Terrain:

As per the rules laid out in the book, I used a few vehicles to create a group of car wrecks in the middle of a crossroads, using some cars and trucks I've picked up. I then put down some ruins, barricades, barrels, and some other bits. I didn't use any difficult terrain because I didn't want to have one more thing I'd forget while playing. And I felt like I had more than enough terrain on the table.

After that, I set up five zombies in the middle of the board (using some Torn from SpineSpur so I could tell them apart from the ones that would be spawning). After that, I set up my own survivors, splitting up the group just like they do in the old show. Fred and Daphne to one side; Velma, Shaggy, and “Scary Doo” off to the other. I didn't want to have too much distance between the two groups, but I also knew that it was better to make sure that one wouldn't be sending zombies after the other.

The last part of the set up was the other group of zombies. When you're playing solo, you place zombies equal to the level of the group you're playing. so you're going to be dealing with more and more as the campaign advances. That's going to be fun... Not. These zombies replace the other player's group in missions.

The Game:

The first turn was pretty mellow, the zombies advanced towards the survivors. I was a little worried that I'd get swamped right away, but I far enough back to have the distance I needed. I then moved my forces forward, getting Scary up front and engaged. That was the whole point of him. He could move ahead of everyone else and doesn't suffer from a penalty when engaged by a group. Since most of the group was lugging several pieces of Heavy gear, I had to be careful. I made sure to position everyone else carefully, so they could open up on different zombies.

Which is what they did. While my dice were good most of the game, they weren't doing great at the start. I got in some hits and took out one or two. Those dropped the Supply Tokens I needed. I sent out Shaggy and Fred to grab them, as Velma was already moving slowly and Scary couldn't. That was fine, it allowed me to keep them mobile and have them cover the ones with the Tokens. 

After the second turn saw a few more zombies pop up on my rear. Between the Chainsaw and SAW, plus having Scary Doo, I was generating a few Noise Tokens. Since the closest board edge was behind me, that meant that I ended up with quite the little group coming up from the rear. However, I was able to clear off the zombies I had started with without too much trouble. I did have to shuffle the Tokens around, to keep things moving.

As the game went on, Scary was always in the fray. Since dogs don't take penalties for taking on multiple enemies, I kept him moving towards every fight he could. Velma kept getting caught in combat because of how slow she was moving. While she was able to cut down zombies with ease, she would have another one jump into a fight. Daphne had something of a similar problem. The SAW was great at cutting down zombies from a distance but was generating just enough zombies to hamper the other half of the team. I also had to make sure that Shaggy and Fred opened fire first, as Selfish models target the zombie closest to them, so I could work on thinning the ranks. Scary was really the MVP of this game. When I would get a group of zombies built up, he was always there. Sure, he didn't have the greatest CQC stat nor did he have a bonus to the Lobo rolls but I'll be damned if he didn't take down more than anyone else. It's a shame I can't level him up because he deserves it. Fred did alright, mostly doing cover for Daphne and hauling around a Supply Token. Shaggy was also good at moving and recovering things. And, when he was in combat, he used his axe very effectively.

I was really lucky with the End Phase events rolls. Only twice did have a car alarm go off and had one Supply Token get back up as a zombie. I did stop rolling it during the last two turns because I was getting a little frustrated and wanted to get on with my night! Besides, I knew that was soon as I was about to finish, I'd get something really bad...

As things started to wind down, I only had two zombies left. One was about to be surrounded by Velma, Shaggy, and Scary; and the other would have easily been gunned down by Fred and Daphne. So, I called the game there. I also said that I eliminated all of the zombies and got to collect all of the Supply Tokens. Hey, my board, my rules. I only had to fudge one other roll, because it wasn't quite cocked but I needed anything besides the 1 I rolled.

What I learned from playing this game:

Oh boy, there were a lot of missed rules and things I read incorrectly the first time. And I made several mistakes at first. I had the zombies with Supply Tokens moving at full speed at first, which was mixed. It meant that I didn't have to work as hard to get them. I also messed up and thought they were Heavy 1, not Heavy 2. I also had Shaggy hauling two them around for a while. Oops. I also couldn't find the rule about car alarms (page numbers are really nice, people) so I just said it was like a Noise Maker item, since I could find that easily.

That's one thing I can't stress enough: This book needs to be cleaned up, badly. You have to jump from page to page to page to find the cost, stats, and then special rules for equipment and models and etc. There's also a huge problem with things having several different names in different parts of the books. I'm already working on reference sheets I'm going to type up and print out.

The Post Game Results:

When everything was said and done, I made out like a bandit. Everyone that could gained a level. I got some okay rolls for my loot. I did end up with three Hunting Rifles. I didn't get the minigun (it'll happen, I know it will).

I didn't have to modify my rolls too much when it came to leveling everyone up. I had Velma roll on the Characteristics table, as I really want to get her some AP, but she got another point of CQC. Which is absolutely fine. I had everyone else roll of skill tables. Shaggy got Heavy Lifter, which gave me a chuckle. Daphne got Quick Load, which was another thing that was pretty good. And Fred got Gear Head. So... Yeah, the dice really loved me this time around. Maybe it was the blessing of Scooby Doo? I don't know.

Since I ended up with a good stash of Scavenge Points, I had Fred build a Fenced-Off Garden, so I could get some more Salvage Points as the game advanced. I had everyone else go on Guard duty so I didn't have to worry about a Zombie Attack. Well, also most everyone... Since I had enough points, I decided that the Gang needed someone to help carry things and kill zombies. Who? Well, you'll have to find out next time!

Sources Say: Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse: Seasons

Name: Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse: Seasons

Produced By: Osprey Games

System: Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse

Genre(s): Zombies

Since I've already reviewed Last Days:Zombie Apocalypse, let's take a look at this first expansion. But, before we get to that, I need to go over some stuff I forgot in my review. So, I guess you can think of this as an expansion of my review.

The big one is the Refuge. I was going to talk about it but it totally slipped my mind as I was finishing up the review. As I mentioned, you have a refuge. This limits how many models you can have in a group. They also have some innate special abilities and others the group can build later. Picking a Refuge is really important when you get started, but you can move to a new one if you want during a campaign. However, you'll leave all of your expansions behind. Another thing that I forgot to mention is that your group will be attacked in between games. It's a simple dice roll, modified by the amount of people you have injured, how many are on guard, and some of the stuff the Refuge has in it. Fail the roll and you're forced to move to another, leaving everything behind.

I also forgot some stuff about the missions and the campaign. As I mentioned, the goal of the missions is to get as many of the Salvage Tokens as you can. When you get back to the Refuge after the mission, you convert these Tokens into Scavenge Points as well as equipment, based yet again on a random roll. You use the points to get more characters, expand and improved your Refuge, and whatever else.

So, let's get to what Seasons does:

The first thing is that it gives you a bunch of new status effects you're going to need to keep track of during the four seasons of the year. Things like Hunger, Thirst, and Sickness. As the seasons change, you'll need to keep track of different ones, and roll to see what ones might come up during the transitional periods. How your group deals shortages of the supplies they need depends on what alignment the leader is. Selfish leaders are going to look over themselves and their cronies, Selfless leaders are going to look after everyone else first, and Trained leaders can do... Well, whatever they feel like.

One of the more interesting things is now you can roll for the weather during a mission. There's also a new mission for each of the seasons, which is really nice to see. They don't do a whole lot but they are a welcome addition.

With these new missions and status effects, there's some new Scavenge tables for the few new bits of equipment and other stuff you need to manage those status effects.

After all of that, there's finally a new update and additions to the basic rules. The first big thing is that there's new characters to add to your groups. There's one Selfish, one Selfless, and one Trained. There's also two new Neutral characters, one of which is horses. And they do make sense.

There's some new equipment, including motorcycles and bicycles. You can also give your leader one piece of “rare” equipment, including the aforementioned cycles. And a chainsaw. Now, you can finally have a group led by Ash from the Evil Dead. Because you know you want to.

And now we get the real good stuff: Rules for solo and co-op play. First, I want to talk about solo play.

The execution is... Off, I feel. I feel this way because your characters aren't completely under your control. Everything else is fine but, this doesn't sit well with me. It all depends on what alignment the character is. Selfish look out for themselves, shooting and attacking zombie closest to them and always shooting. Selfless characters are going to look out for everyone else first and themselves last. Trained are going to... Do whatever works best. Honestly, this book makes the case that you should play with a Trained group to be successful. And given the limitations on weapons and the expensive characters, this really sucks. Unlike a normal game, where more numbers are a mixed bag, having a smaller number of characters can be a very big liability in solo play. They say you should have 30-40 zombies ready to go, instead of the normal 20. Sure, you can argue that it should be okay with a smaller group, but there's this new table to roll on during the End Phase. One of the effects is you get a D3 zombies instead of one when you roll for noise. I'd like to see a small force survive that. One series of bad rolls and your entire group gets wiped out.

Co-op play introduces three new missions you can use. And they're complex. One of them has both zombies and bandits to deal with. Both of which activate during the Menace Phase. How's that for complicated? If I ever run that one, they'll be controlled by a third player. Because fuck that noise.

While I have complained about this stuff, it is really good to see and I do think it's a good idea. Since we're still dealing with a pandemic here, I can't really play this game with anyone else. But, I can play the all of this with by myself. I'll be able to go through a campaign and really get a good feel for the game. I'm also looking forward to playing with some people are being able to have a game where we don't try to kill each other. I do with there were more co-op missions, but I'll take what I can get.

As much as it might seem like I don't like this book, I really do. The stuff they've added is great, especially for keeping people playing. I look forward to seeing what else will come out for this game.

Let's Review: Last Days - Zombie Apocalypse

What is it?:

Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse is a 30mm post apocalyptic skirmish game published by Osprey Games. It is designed for two players each running a gang of survivors and trying to avoid or eliminate zombies.

The setting:

The setting of Last Days is intentionally left vague and up to the people playing. I don't know if people think it's good or bad, but I think it's nice. Especially since you're probably going to be playing with a nerd bag who wants to argue about the “reality” of zombies. Yes, I can be that nerd bag...

Personally, I'm going with the World War Z (novel, not film) version of the zombies when I'm designing groups.

The system:

The system is a very simple one, requiring only one (sometimes two) d6s. Models have several stats which are used for combat, mostly. I'll get into the other stuff in a bit.

Models can engage in ranged combat and melee combat, rolling to “meet or beat” either a number or the enemy roll. Damage is also rolled, with stats adding to it. There is a bit of math required when it comes to taking damage. One stat a model has is Endurance. When a model takes damage, you divide the damage by the Endurance and then take that much actual damage. I have to say that I'm not a fan of this because I am terrible at math and this is going to screw me up more than anything else. A minor complaint, sure, but I still wanted to express it.

When it comes to building your group of survivors, you first pick your leader and their “morality.” You choose between Selfless, Trained, and Selfish, with the point cost and complexity of changes increasing with each one. The morality of your Leader effects what kinds of survivors you can take, as they also have these moralities (there's also Neutral survivors). For the most part, you can take up to 50% Neutral and 25% from another morality, with the rest coming from your Leader's morality.

This is important, as most of the smart folks and healers are Selfless. Police and military are (of course) Trained. Gang members and cronies are Selfish, as are survivalists. If you want to go gun heavy and elite, your best bet is Trained. If you want to have a balanced force, Selfless is the way to go. If you want a horde to fight the zombies, as well as be the bad guy in some scenarios, then you're a Selfish bastard.

As you're buying your group, you need to equip them. You only get to have a few really good guns (unless you're Trained) and a few other pieces of equipment. Since you only get so many points, you have to be very careful with what you pick.

One other thing you need to do is pick your Refuge. Now, they want you to do it after you pick your leader, but I find it's best to do after you've figured out your group. As the refuge can only hold so many models, you should probably know how many you want to take before you pick it. In addition to the model limit, each refuge gives you some things for campaigns. We'll get to those.

When it comes to playing the game, you have several sequences. Now, there's a few interesting things here. In most skirmish games I've played, each model moves, shoots, fights, etc and then you move to the next model. Having each phase handle each model the way they have it set up is new to me. One thing that is familiar is that there's alternating model activation.

The first one is where the zombies get to turn up and act. You see, zombies aren't controlled by one player, they're there to screw both players up. They go after whoever is closer, so you can have the other player make the rolls when one is trying to chomp on your face. One thing is that zombies are pretty scary and may make it so you're going to be stuck trying to fight them off than run away.

Next, you get to preform your basic actions. Moving, climbing, running, etc. You can also ready a run to pop off when someone gets close.

Then you have the shooting phase. Now, when you roll initiative, you get to choose it you want to move and fight first or if you want to shoot first. If you're rolling with a lot of guns, you probably want to be shooting first. Because shooting is usually very effective in the zombie apocalypse... However, if a model or a zombie was able to lock you in close combat, you're going to be doing that and not shoot. Shooting also makes noise that has a chance to attract zombies to you.

Then you get to the fighting. This is where the other guy gets to go first, from that initiative roll earlier. They pick a fight, do their rolls, and then the other player picks a fight and does all their stuff. This continues until the fights are done.

The game ends when one group has been eliminated, all the Salvage tokens have been picked up, or one group breaks and runs. There's no turn limit, but the longer you play, the more zombies you'll have to deal with. While they cap it at 20 zombies, that's a lot of zombies.

And that's pretty much it for the basics.

Now, there's only six missions and some of them require special terrain. These missions are pretty basic; fighting the other player, looting, defending your refuge, etc. Since you randomly roll these, it's going to get old really quick. Plus, the game is centered around the campaigns, so you'll want to keep playing to get the good gear.

Want a chainsaw? Better hope you get it in Salvage. Lusting for a minigun? Hope you roll well. Armor, gun sights, better weapons and guns, and a lot of other things are locked away behind campaigns and salvage and random rolls. As you might imagine, I'm not exactly happy about this. In a mission, if one player breaks, the other player collects all of the Salvage tokens left on the board. So, if you have a series of bad games, you're going to fall way behind the other player. It looks okay, but I always get concerned when there's large disparities between the winners and losers of games in campaigns. I'm not a huge fan of seeing a bunch of gear I'd really like to use... But, I have to hope and pray that I get the One Lucky Roll that gives it to me. Yeah, no thanks. I'm fine with having to pay out the ass for some really good stuff, but having it locked behind a wall is just teasing me. Might as well have not included it, I think. The worst part is that some of these are classic zombie killing weapons. I don't know what the thought process was here. Honestly, this should have been left for the expansion set.

Is it worth it?:

Yes.

However... I do think that $30 is a lot to ask for what you get. Yes, it is a hardbound book and very high quality. But, there's not a lot to it. If there were more missions, maybe some sample groups you could just pick up and use, or really just ANYTHING more, I wouldn't be saying this.

All of that said, the PDF is probably your best option for a new copy. While I do have issues with the game, it's probably one of the best, well balanced (in terms of how the game plays) Bring Your Own Minis game involving zombies. If you've got the minis, you'll get a lot of use for it.