WW1 zombies - part 5 gathering items

In preparation for the game I have gone through my lead pile and hobby supplies and come up with the following:

Almost a complete infantry section of late war British infantry. I should have a full section, but some seemed to have been separated from the collection somewhere. Still, given casualty rates for the war, this is in keeping.

 The secton includes an NCO, Lewis gunner and loader and some riflemen. I also have an officer if I feel like including one.

 I have plenty enough of the Mantic Games zombies, so they are squared away.

I have one WW1 pilot figure on foot, scenarios for the use o.

 I uncovered some resin sand bags that can bet used, as well as some barbed wire enplacements, which although were intended for 20mm, they will fit in perfectly.

I also have enough coffee stirers and match sticks that I can try making some duck boards to see if I can make some worth using in a game.

 My stock of unsued kitty litter will be perfect for making some rubble, so I should be able to knock plenty of rubble up as scenery.

The figures I already have should give me a chance to play a game whilst I make some scenery, so I can play test some ideas and develop this plan further.

WW1 zombie game - part 4 the background

I really want to come up with a good background for this game idea.

I don't really want to go down the occult ritural path for why there are zombies, rather choosing to go down the 'when science goes wrong' path. Having said that, the occult path allows for the need to search for more clues to progress the story/campaign.

Maybe a starting point is a gas attack on some trenches that turns the victims into zombies.

 Another idea is a flame thrower has been altered to spew chemicals over victims and zombies are the bi-product of such a weapon.

A variety of weapons were used to deploy gas: grenades, artillery and cylinders were all used to deliver gas to the battlefield.

For me this seems like a more believable way for zombies to be created.

If I want the Germans to make up the majority of the initial zombies, I can use changing wind direction as a reason their gas weapons back fired instead of Allied zombies being in the majority to start off with.

WW1 zombie game - part 3, the game

 Rather than play the game as simple trench warfare type of thing, I feel a WW1 Zombie setting would probably have to be scenario driven with clues as to what created the zombies and how to defeat them being he ultimate goal.

The type of scenarios that spring to mind right away are:

• a basic 'hold the line' until releaved. This is simply a watch and shoot kind of game for X number of turns.

• a patrol. Maybe to search for clues, or to kill off zombies in the area. In campaign games, this could have some benefit for the next game.

• a trench raid; used to scavenge supplies, find clues or learn more about what is happening.

• a seek and destroy: with enough clues to point the lads to a particular point a seek and destroy can be used to further the story plot and set up future games.

• rescue; go and rescue someone that can help in the future. I have a pilot figure to try this game out, but a tank and tank crew would be great fun, as I want a tank. 

• Raid; the enemy has a gun park firing shells of zombie gas, and the section must conduct a raid further in to enemy held land to put the guns out of action.Would need a bit more work on the idea, but could be used if I purchase some enemy trench mortars or artillery.  This is but one idea for a Raid game.

• Protect:  the reverse of the raid, this has the section protecting some assests until they have either completed their job or can be withdrawn. Again an excuse to buy some artillery and or support weapons.

• Escort: take person /team X from A - B and ensure they are not killed along the way.

• Escape: like the escort mission, but with only the section needing to traverse the playing area to safety.

 Scenarios based on furthering the story and the background should be included too.



The rules will be combination of rules from Chain Reaction, ATZ and NUTS! as needed. Judging by a post on TMP by Ed from THW, there could even be a WW1 game in the making, so that would be greatly welcomed.

I would be interested to hear others thoughts, ideas and suggestions on the topic.

WW1 zombie game - part 2, the figures

Continuing on with the WWW1 idea, I will now take a look as some figures for the game.

The Mantic Games zombies are my obvious choice. They are generic enough to use for any game, meaning the ones I have can be used for any setting, and as no one that I know of actually makes 28mm WWW1 figures, let alone zombies, I have to use what is available to me.

Then I could add some not quite zombies: zombies that move fast and can use weapons. Maybe they are soldiers that didn't fully turn.

The film "Sucker Punch" has a WW1 scene with zombie like Germans:

 I could use some WW1 Germans with gas masks to represent these, painting the lenses on the masks red to give them that supernatural look. If I had some talent (read as "any talent") I could try and make the tubes on the masks to complete the effect. My thinking is that the masks are needed to give quantities of the gas to the horrors so that they can function, thus why they have the masks on.


 I probably wouldn't need more than an infantry section to use for my heroes in the game, maybe some support weapons, and just because I really really want one, a tank.

I have some late war British figures... I have found some of them and need to dig the rest up so I can play test a game.

Trenchworx make an excellent Mark V British tank that by using magnets can be a male or female type, so this would probably be my tank of choice:

Even if I can't use the tank for what it is intended for, I can always play a scenario where the tank has broken down and the crew needs rescuing.

So figure wise I am looking at a section of British infantry with maybe some support figures and extras for scenarios, the zombies and some Germans in gas masks. As I have the British and zombies already I should be able to get a game going with minimal effort.

WW1 zombie game - part 1, the Planning

I have been in a bit of a zombie wargame doldrums of late. I have been struggling to find the time to actually play, and I want to do something a bit different.

As such, I am thinking of testing some different zombie settings to see if a) the setting will work with zombies, and b) if it will spark some kind of interest.

The first idea I am toying with is Weird WW1.

This setting will see the zombies created due to some gas, as gas was used a lot during WW1. I am thinking that 1917 or 1918 would be a good starting point for the game.

For figures I have some of the Great War Miniatures late war British already, and with the zombies I have all I really need to do is some more painting and creating scenery.

Whilst I would love to have a trench network to play on, I am thinking a zombie setting for WW1 might also take place out side of the trenches, as zombies are not that likely to need trenches for protection. Yes, the outbreak would occur in the trenches, but I see it spreading to all areas, such as in the image below:

 

 As such I am thinking some ruins, shell holes, muddy areas (zombies are not the only enemy, but nature can be too), duck boards, dead trees and plenty of rubble would be a good start. The use of toy stuffing as fog can also make the game a bit more atmospheric, either as fog or gas.

The mud and the tree idea is inspired by this iconic photo:

 and this for ruins:

 A copmany called Dark Ops makes some scenery for (I think) Frostgrave, but they are gothic enough to fit in with my concept nicely:

Portals for a ruined church ground:

 And ruins:

Dark Ops Portals 

Dark Ops Ruins 

 For ruins bit cheaper, Blotz make some nice items too:

Blotz 28mm ruins

 The Dark Ops portals are £10.00 for 6, so I think they will be a great start to the scenery, and they I will supplement them with the Blotz ruins as they start from £2.50 each.

And of course I will need plenty of rubble:

 This article on making trees is useful - I will just make the trunks like they have and I should be good to go:

Making trees


I like the idea of the mist / fog on the table... in my head it works, but I would need to try it out to see if it looks cheesy or not.
I won't be going to the expense of using a fog machine like in the following photo, but it does look cool: