By Jaret R. Morgan

This beginner guide assumes you already have a working knowledge of the rules of the game. It will provide you with basic tips for better play and will break down the contents of the game so that you get a clear picture of overall structure. There are also sample turns included!

Board

The main part of the map consists of Farmingdale at the center surrounded by four tracks. Farmingdale has a Town Center square (“0”) and four Town squares (“1”) that each belong to one of the unique tracks. Town Center belongs to ALL tracks. For instance, West Side, a Town square, is the #1 space on the Highway Track. Downtown is part of the Mountain Track. Keep in mind that the #1 spaces are NOT considered adjacent to each other. To move from the Mall District to Suburbia, you must go through Town Center.

The Zeds have four avenues of approach to Farmingdale. Each avenue, or track, is named for its unique geographical feature. These are: Highway, Forest, Suburbs, and Mountain. As you will see in the Event card breakdown, Zeds on the Highway and Suburbs track, as you would expect, move faster than on the Forest and Mountain track. Also take note of the Suburbs track. Because it is more populated (with two villages instead of one) it is probably the most vulnerable to an early “Brains!” card.

Take a look at the Mountain track. The Mine is VERY important but hard to hold. As has been stressed in other strategy articles, AMMO is a necessity. Being able to inflict damage on the Zeds without raising the infection level or risking losses yourself is probably the most precious ability you have in the game. You cannot run out of this valuable resource. Your best bet for securing ammunition is to barricade the Mine and have Mr. Johnson present (he has the Heavy Weapons ability). Sheriff Hunt adjacent to a civilians unit isn’t bad either because the forage roll will always be above and beyond your action allowance.

Don’t forget that terrain spaces give you a favorable < 1 shift. Don’t hesitate to use these naturally defensible spaces to your advantage. Try not to defend attacks in clear spaces.

The terrain spaces also play a negative part in the game due to Chaos markers. Zeds that end a phase in control of a named space place a Chaos marker there. Chaos markers are dangerous for several reasons:

• During a Brains! Event your Infection level increases by one for every two markers in play
• During an Outbreak, a Zeds unit will pop up on the Chaos marker closest to Farmingdale on the track indicated by the Fate draw
• Refugees who enter a Chaos space increase the Infection level by one
• The National Guard might be hindered by Chaos markers, thus prolonging the game
• Oh, to even clear a Chaos marker, your Infection level will go up by one unless you use Doc Seaver’s Purging ability or Professor Agee’s Decontamination

This means that the Suburbs and Mountain tracks are harder to clear. The Mountain track has three named spaces and the Suburbs track has FOUR named spaces!

It definitely is worth keeping the Chaos markers in play to a minimum. Once the middle of the game hits and you are starting to retreat and hold down the fort in Farmingdale, you can’t have Zeds popping up on your doorstep. Success in the game depends on TIME. The longer it takes for Zeds to show up in Town the better. If a Strength-8 Zeds marker pops up at the Gap or even the Bridge you really don’t have a lot of time to get rid of it!

Event Cards

The Event cards drive your story and you draw a new one every turn. There are 48 total cards and 13 will help you, 30 are pro-Zed, and 5 could go either way.

Favorable Cards

–Supply Room Discovered: Being in the Mall District gives you four Supply points

–Hunting Lodge Located: Being in the Gap gives you 1, 2, or 3 Ammo points

–A Hero Arrives (x2 cards): Gain a Hero for the fight

–Berserk Hero!: Favorable shifts for attacking and defending this turn for one Hero

–National Guard Helicopter Strike: Target a Zed unit for some hits

–Hospital Efficiency: No-fail healing and Infection level reduction

–Well Armed Civilians: One of your Civ units gains 1 favorable shift on fighting table until eliminated

–Army Drone Missile Strike: Target a Zed unit for some hits

–Stocked Barn Discovered: Being in the Farm gives you 1-6 Supply points

–Research Discovery: Being in the University space increases your Research level by one

–Research Materials: Being at the Nuclear Plant increases your Research level by one

–Soldiers of Fortune: All gunfire attacks get a favorable shift and consume no ammo but lose Supply points

Neutral Cards

–Vengeance!: Initiate a free attack with a favorable 2 column shift on fighting table

–Unidentified Mob Appears: Gain new Zed or VIP Survivors based on Infection level

–Flamin’ Zeds!: Zeds going through Chaos markers receive 2 > though they will suffer a hit

–Raiders Appear!: Raiders make appearance, hurting Zeds and Friendlies alike

–National Guard Arrives!: Game is either over or it continues to punish you

Unfavorable Cards

–Mountain Night Assault: Mountain Zeds increase Infection level and you get no defensive table shifts for terrain

–Highway Night Assault: Highway Zeds increase Infection level and you get no defensive table shifts for terrain

–Forest Night Assault: Forest Zeds increase Infection level and you get no defensive table shifts for terrain

–Suburbs Night Assault: Suburbs Zeds increase Infection level and you get no defensive table shifts for terrain

–Mine Explosion!: Zeds or Friendlies must retreat from the Mine and take hits; Lose Ammo or add Chaos marker

–Nuk’lr Meltdown: Zeds or Friendlies must retreat from Nuclear Plant and take hits; Infection level increase or Chaos marker add

–Toxic Zeds: If the Nuclear Plant is Zeds controlled, one Zed unit will raise the Infection level by 3 during combat

–Fast Zeds: If the Farm is Zeds controlled, one Zed unit will start moving one additional space

–Smart Zeds: If the University is Zeds controlled, one Zed unit receives 1 >

–Tough Zeds: If the Mine is Zeds controlled, one Zed unit will have a 50% chance to cancel future hits

–Wandering Zeds: Suffer a free Zeds attack on a random track

–Hidden Zeds Appear: Suffer a free Zeds attack on a random track

–Disaster At The Lab: Good chance of losing a research level and maybe a hit on Hero at the Lab

–Contamination At The Hospital: Possible Infection level increase and maybe a hit on Hero at the Hospital

–Death Trap: All Zeds attacking terrain spaces get 1 >; also suffer additional hit and attack if you would normally retreat

–A Fed Zed Ain’t A Dead Zed: Zed units in or adjacent to Villages or Towns get to flip to full strength side

–Hell’s Dinner Bells!: Zed units in or adjacent to Villages or Towns get to flip to full strength side

–Nervous Breakdown: Select a Hero in Town Center, Lab, or Hospital; Could suffer 1 or 2 hits

–Local Zeds Outbreaks: Eliminated Civilian units are replaced by Zed units

–Zeds Disease “Quickening”: Eliminated Civilian units are replaced by Zed units

–There’s No Way Out!: All Zeds attacking Terrain spaces get 1 >; also suffer additional hit and attack if you would normally retreat

–Growing Despair: Zed units in spaces 3, 2, or 1 each give a 50% chance to cause a hit to Civilian units

–Brains! (x4 cards): Turn sequence suspended; Infection level increase based on every two Chaos markers; all Zed units advance; if a Zeds unit is still adjacent to a Friendly unit, continue fighting

–Where Are They All Coming From?: Remove all Dead Zed markers and add a Zed unit to every track that has no Zeds

–What The…? There’s More!?: Remove all Dead Zed markers and add a Zed unit to every track that has no Zeds

–We Can’t Kill’em Fast Enough!: Remove all Dead Zed markers and add a Zed unit to every track that has no Zeds

–You Gotta Be Kidding!: Remove all Dead Zed markers and add a Zed unit to every track that has no Zeds

Let’s now do a quick count or summary of the “Sequence of Play Activities” on the Event cards.

I hope the summaries gave you a little more information and guidance on what is in your Events deck and what your chances are at particular results. Remember that you are always free to check your discard pile at any time!

Fate Cards

The Fate card deck is exactly balanced with 10 cards good for you and 10 cards bad! These cards add some interesting narratives to your story and can make you breathe a sigh of relief or make you want to finish pulling your hair out.

Good Fate cards give you a shot at another Hero coming into play, gaining additional actions, reducing the Infection level, increasing movement, having a Civilian Leader show up, etc.

Bad Fate cards give Zeds the gunfire ability with a Supertoxic Stench, can bring an Alpha Zed into the picture, stop Refugee movement, can collapse the bridge outside of town, cause you to lose supplies or ammo, etc.

As for track location on the Fate cards, the most common is the Forest track (25%), followed by Mountain and Suburbs (20% each). This might make up for their slower speed on the Forest and Mountain track. There is one each for where Zeds are strongest and for Player’s Choice.

Heroes

It is now time for a quick discussion of the Heroes. If you wondered about the green diamond and blue swirl icons on some of the Hero cards, the designer did mention that their purpose will be revealed in future expansions. The green diamond is mentioned on the back of the Player Aid Card, under Rule 16.3 “Historical” Set Up, as an optional game start set up as per the Top Secret Green Diamond report!

Do not forget that Heroes with two dice abilities get the result of BOTH dice when they roll doubles!

Mayor Hernandez

Unless you are about to lose the game and you are throwing all caution to the wind, Hernandez belongs in Town Center. Don’t even think about moving him. Don’t forget that his Management abilities only apply if he takes no other actions in the turn…so if he gives the stirring Speech, he can’t also use Traffic Control or Keys to the City. Having him in Town Center and Mr. Johnson also somewhere in Farmingdale pulling forage duty is nice. His Citadel ability might be your last hope when the undead horde has Farmingdale surrounded.

Sheriff Hunt

He is one of your best all-purpose heroes. He is a great fighter in hand-to-hand, can fire long range, is hard to injure and gives adjacent friendly units a free action. You can almost see Hunt racing ahead of refugees to fire on a pursuing Zeds unit and then using the free action to hurry them along their path. Perhaps you want to set him up behind a civilians unit so that he uses gunfire and then has the militia fire for a free action (a one-two punch).

Deputy Schmidt

A toned-down version of Sheriff Hunt, Schmidt is also tough and skilled in hand-to-hand and is more deadly in the Forest and Mountain tracks. Keep him on those tracks to maximize his effectiveness. Like Hunt, you will be using Schmidt as a combat hero.

Captain Piazza

Early in the game I like to send Captain Piazza against the toughest Zed unit on the map. She can fire from safe distances and has a 50% chance to evade any hand-to-hand combat. She is also fast so she is great for racing from track to track to handle Zeds. When the villages fall and Farmingdale is in trouble, stick her in a tower in Town Center. Hopefully the Mayor is there for a real nice Gunfire combo.

Mr. Johnson

However you end up with this old coot, don’t forget your Stockpiles (1 Supply, 2 Ammo)! With his Heavy Weapons and Scavenger abilities, he is a great choice for holding down the Mine. If you have the Mayor in play, he is powerful in Town also. However you use him, try not to waste time moving him from place to place. An action spent moving is NOT an action spent foraging.

Doc Seaver

Not only is he great for healing, but I believe he is your best bet for clearing Chaos markers, especially early in the game if your Research Level is low.

Professor Agee, PhD

If you want a real hope at getting the Super Weapon then she is your ticket. It is wasteful to even have Doc Seaver try. Once that Super Weapon is discovered, she is awesome at clearing out Chaos markers! The Super Weapon is very helpful in your game despite being hard to get. The Antidote makes Decontamination very nice but really is probably only worth it if you are trying to get a high end game score.

Pickles

Pickles can pull one of two main duties for you: forage or freeze up a Zeds unit. Even a Zeds mob might have problems getting by this dog as long as you aren’t rolling ones.

Counters

There isn’t much to say regarding Zed and Civilian counters. However, your initial draw/setup might have an impact on your starting strategy.

Looking at the table, if all of your 2-strength civilian units are in villages you know you are in trouble. Be prepared to fall back or try to maintain your supplies and build barricades. If you have your 4 and 3 units out and the Zed units are 4s and 5s, you might feel more brave and willing to make a stand. Just remember that it is hard to heal your militia units and the zombie horde is never-ending. A few bad event cards will find your once promising start turned around on you in no time!

So how does a Zeds marker show up in your game? Well, we all know that you start with one on each track at the beginning of the game. Here are other ways:

• Outbreaks: Not taking care of your Infection level? Don’t worry, no matter what do, you are going to have many Outbreaks! But plan for them! You know when you have one, a Zeds marker will show up on the Chaos marker closest to town on a track determined by Fate draw
• Event Cards (44-47): These nasty cards usually won’t trigger an Outbreak themselves but they do add Zed markers to all Tracks lacking Zeds BEFORE the start of the Zeds phase (so they are moving)
• Event Cards (14-15): These cards spring surprise Zed attacks on a unit but do not actually place a marker
• Event Cards (31-32): These turn eliminated Civilian markers into nasty undead
• Event Card “Unidentified Mob Appears”: This will place a Zeds marker or VIP Survivors based on Infection level

Trust me, when it rains, it POURS ZOMBIES!!! Look what the game designer himself had to say in a session with never-ending Zeds and a collapsed bridge!

Fighting Table

Get to know your Fighting Table. See that One Third and One Half column? No matter how well you roll, you are retreating if you are the attacker. You have to roll at least an 8 on the Equal To column for the defender to retreat. As an attacker, you still suffer losses even on the Triple column with a roll as high as a 5 or 6! The table slightly favors the defender. If you are attacking, make sure the odds are right!

Gameplay

Ok, enough talk, let’s start a game! Use the following game turns to get more comfortable with how the game works. Follow along with your copy of the game.

Setup

• I rolled a 10 for Supplies and a depressing 1 for Ammo
• I place the Infection and Research markers on the board in their 0 boxes
• The Player Actions marker also starts in its 0 box with its “can Speech” side up
• I place the villagers in their respective spaces on the tracks
• I place the following Zeds units:
  • Mountain: 8-strength
  • Suburbs: 5-strength
  • Forest: 6-strength
  • Highway: 6-strength
• I place the Civilian units as follows:
  • Lefty’s Pass: 3-strength
  • East Irek: 2-strength
  • Beauxville: 2-strength
  • St. Thomas: 2-strength
  • Ingeburg: 4-strength
  • Town Center: 2- and 3-strength
• Due to low Ammo I select Mr. Johnson as my first Hero, increasing my supplies by 1 and my ammo by 2
• My next three Heroes, chosen at random, are Sheriff Hunt, Pickles, and Doc Seaver
• I shuffle the Fate deck and construct the Event deck as directed in 3.12-3.14

Initial Thoughts

Starting with 1 ammo is enough to make me jump off the bridge near town. Some tough Zombie units have started play, particularly on the Mountain track. The Suburbs are in bad shape with 2 of the weakest units defending it. I might be able to hold off the Zeds on the Highway track.

Because of the low Ammo roll, I decided not to risk chance and selected Mr. Johnson right off the start even though I usually pick Sheriff Hunt. I ended up with the other great forager in Pickles. But with the toughest Zed unit on the Mountain track I am starting to think that the Mine is not worth rushing towards. Maybe I should keep Mr. Johnson in town and use Pickles to bark at undead? That leaves me with only 1 combat Hero to handle matters. What if I send Pickles out to the 8-strength Zeds unit to try and freeze it in place and follow up with Mr. Johnson to try and fortify the Mine space? No, that is too risky. Not enough time and it is always risky to string friendly units along a track, especially staring down at the strongest Zeds unit. It could tear through several friendly units like a hot knife through butter. In the first 16 cards there are 2 Brains! cards. Hopefully they are not near the top of the deck.

Let’s see what the first Event brings us.

Suburbs Night Assault (#6)

1. Refugee Phase: 0
* There are no refugees on the map yet anyway. All the villagers are still making their stand.
2. Outbreak: 10+
* We are at level 0 so we are ok here.
3. Consume Supplies: No
* Still have a nice full load of supplies.
4. Zeds: Suburbs x2
* The 5-strength Suburbs Zeds unit marches into space 7 but then marches AGAIN into East Irek!* This Sequence of Play has an asterisk. ALWAYS read the Event card description at the bottom before beginning the marked phase. The instructions could take place before, during, or after normal phase resolution.* Remember, anytime a Zeds unit enters a space with any non-Refugees, hand-to-hand fighting is sure to come!* This particular card will, on the Suburbs track, increase my Infection level by 2 instead of 1 for Hand-to-Hand attacks and I get no combat terrain shifts for friendly units.* Increase Infection level from 0 to 2. It is strength 5 attacking strength 2. This is on the DOUBLE column. Normally I could shift it to GREATER THAN because it is a terrain, or named, space, but this particular Event card prevents that on this track.* I roll two dice for 4 and 3. Reading a 7 on the DOUBLE column results in “1/3”. The first number is for the attacker and we apply the Zeds hits first. They take 1 hit so they get a 1 Dead Zeds marker placed on them.* The Civilian unit suffered 3 hits and because their result is in red they must retreat. Three hits almost eliminate the unit. Flip it to its reduced strength side AND place a Casualties marker on it. Retreat them to the University. They were also “released” when the Zeds unit first entered their space so they are no longer turned 180 degrees.* Now the Zeds “Control” the space. Time for the villagers to FLEE! They are flipped to their Refugee side and join the militia in the University space. If they are caught by the Zeds again they are devoured!

* The Zeds just gained control of a village. That’s a Chaos marker! East Irek is in turmoil!

5. Actions: 2
* Move the Actions marker to the “2” space.* What in the world can I do with a lousy two Actions? Uggggh. Civilian units can only move up to 2 spaces and cannot stack except with Refugees. If I had more actions I could possibly juggle another Civilians unit (not Beauxville’s as they are not released yet) with the fleeing units from East Irek AND move the Refugees. But with only two Actions all I can do is hope that the Suburbs track sees no movement next turn. Moving Doc Seaver all the way over to #4 and then removing the Casualties marker on the next Action is practically meaningless. The 5-strength Zeds marker, upon moving again, will still be fighting at TRIPLE odds and will surely destroy them. I just don’t see that as a good use of two Actions. My only other thought would be moving Sheriff Hunt to prepare for action on a future turn. Because he is “Tough” he might be able to hold off a Brains! advance.* Let’s move the East Irek refugees one space to #4. Maybe I can salvage one thing from that horrible attack.* I want to forage with Mr. Johnson. I roll both dice for 4 resulting in not a darn thing.

Smart Zeds (#12)

1. Refugee Phase: 1
* Move East Irek’s Refugee marker to Beauxville. Remember that there is no stacking limit for Villagers/Refugees.
2. Outbreak: 7+
* Still no problems here. Not yet anyway.
3. Consume Supplies: Yes
* My Supplies go from 11 to 10.
4. Zeds: Suburbs x2
* Are you kidding me? Move the Zeds unit on East Irek to the University. Those poor people! They just retreated to the University to make their last stand!* Now we interrupt our movement to handle the fight here. Increase the Infection level from 2 to 3. Every hand-to-hand combat will increase that Infection level.* The odds, 5-1, starts on the TRIPLE column. The University space lets me shift it down to DOUBLE. I roll two dice and get 9. The result is “0/3”. The Zeds suffer no hits and the people in the University are butchered! But at least they are not gone permanently. Place the Civilians marker, on their reduced side, in the HOSPITAL on the map.* The Zeds control another named space! That’s another Chaos marker! The Suburbs are a mess of undead and fires.* Finish the second part of their movement by placing them on the #4 space. If I hadn’t moved those Refugees on my first turn, they would have been devoured and removed from play! Note that I never placed a Chaos marker on #7 or this #4 space. Only named spaces controlled by a Zeds unit gets this marker. Picture the blank spaces as desolate enough to not have roaming bands of undead giving you trouble.
5. Actions: 4
* Move the player actions token up to 4.* Let’s move the Refugees again, to the Bridge. If the Suburbs track advances again and they cause the Civilians in Beauxville to retreat, these Refugees will get eaten. Remember that they only run by themselves when they first flip from Villagers to Refugees. When they are Refugees they are VERY vulnerable.* I don’t think the odds warrant me spending two actions to send Doc Seaver to the Hospital and then attempt healing. With my research level low, I require a 6 to heal the single unit there anyway. I’ve had it with running! Move Sheriff Hunt to the Bridge!* Our third action is going to be a Long Range gunfire attack from Hunt against the Zeds in #4. Deduct 1 ammo from our amount to bring it down to 2. With gunfire you use the Gunfire Attack FV row at the top of the Fighting Table. Sheriff Hunt is a strength 5 but suffers a < 1 penalty due to Long Range. He will fire on the 4 column. If I can get the Zeds flipped to their reduced side, the militia in Beauxville might have a chance. I roll a 7. I follow 7 across and get the result “2/2”. With gunfire you do not suffer losses so ignore the first 2 and only apply the hits to the Zeds. With two additional hits the Zeds unit gets flipped to their reduced side of strength 3 with no Dead Zed marker. Zed units have a total of six steps so whenever they suffer a total of three hits they get flipped. Three more hits and this unit is gone. But was this enough?* Should I fire again with Sheriff Hunt? Did you read the Smart Zeds Event description? The University space is indeed Zeds controlled. If I do not eliminate them, they will always get a favorable 1 > on their attacks. This would nullify the natural defense of Beauxville. I think I will fire again! I decrease my ammo from 2 to 1. I then roll a 10 and when I look under the 4 column I see that the Zeds unit suffers 3 hits! They are gone! Throw the unit back into your cup/container.* Sheriff Hunt, using his Leadership ability, can now either move the Refugees into the Suburbs of Farmingdale or convince the people in Beauxville to forage for him. Let’s try hunting down some ammo. I roll a 6 and my ammo goes back up to 2. What luck! And there are no Smart Zeds around! Whew!

Looking at the board, I am kind of torn now on having Doc Seaver head out to restore order in the Suburbs (I have plenty of supplies for that!) or send Pickles to the mine.

Brains! (#41)

There is no normal Sequence of Play now. Follow the instructions!

1. We have two Chaos markers in play. Add 1 to our Infection level (now 4).

2. Advance every Zeds unit one space. The 3 Zed units left in play are still on their START spaces. Each moves to their respective #7 spaces.

Well Armed Civilians* (#23)

The title of the card is marked with an asterisk so I follow the instructions right away. I get to place a Well Armed marker on any Civilians unit. We could put it on the unit in Ingeburg to make them really tough! Or we could try to make the unit in St. Thomas a little tougher. Looking at the card I see that the Zeds in the Forest are going to advance. So yes, let’s put the marker on the unit in St. Thomas and hope that the militia in Ingeburg can hold their own.
1. Refugee Phase: 0
* The Refugees from East Irek must wait outside Town a little longer.
2. Outbreak: No
* Still ok here!
3. Consume Supplies: Yes
* Flip our supplies marker from +10 to its normal side and place it on space 9.
4. Zeds: Forest
* Move the Zeds unit to space #6. They pose a real threat now to the citizens of St. Thomas.
5. Actions: 3
* Move our actions marker to the 3 space.* Let’s have the militia in Ingeburg open fire. They have strength 4. Deduct 1 from our ammo to bring it back down to 1. I roll 7 so I cause 2 hits to that Zeds unit. Place a 2 Dead Zeds marker on it.* I can’t really afford to move Pickles or Doc. I need ammunition!! Mr. Johnson forages and gets 8 so I get 1 ammo point! Increase our ammo from 1 to 2.* I have Mr. Johnson forage again. I roll 8. Since it is doubles I get the result of both dice and that would be +2 to our supplies. Bring that total back up to 11.* Sheriff Hunt now will move the Refugees into Suburbia.

Toxic Zeds (#10)

1. Refugee Phase: 1
* My villagers from East Irek finally make it to Town Center. Hmmm, that will raise the Infection level by 1 so it is now at 5. Now I can either Equip them and send them back out into the fight or Protect them. You better bet on me arming them and kicking them back out the door! I only have one Civilians unit in the hospital so I can use my two replenish actions for this procedure on the same unit. The Civilians unit pops back into Town Center at FULL STRENGTH. That Refugees marker is removed from the game
2. Outbreak: 5+
* My run of luck has ended! The Infection track is at 5 so there IS an outbreak!

• i. First, decrease the Infection level by 5. Now it is back at 0.
• ii. Make a Fate Draw. I draw “Drastic Times, Drastic Measures”. This is a good card. I can use it decrease the Infection level by 5 by spending an ammo point. You can almost hear the screams of infected people who don’t want to die as they are gunned down. I get to hold on to this card. Look at the Track location above the title. It says where Zeds are WEAKEST.
• iii. Draw a Zeds unit from the cup. I pick a strength 6 unit. The WEAKEST track is obviously the Suburbs. This unit is placed on the Chaos marker CLOSEST to Town Center. This is the University. Looks like Hunt has more work to do!

3. Consume Supplies: Yes
* We are now down to 10.
4. Zeds: Highway x2
* The Zeds attack Ingeburg! Increase the Infection level due to Hand-to-Hand combat. It is back to 1. These Civilians are now released.* It is 6-4 so they fight on the GREATER THAN column. Since I am defending in Ingeburg I shift them onto the EQUAL TO column. I roll 5 and so the Zeds unit gets flipped to its reduced side with 1 Dead Zed marker. They retreat back to #7 since their fight result was in red. The Ingeburg Civilians suffer a Casualties marker.* But they advance again! Increase Infection level to 2.* They are now the underdog, fighting at LESS THAN. I still get a column shift for defending in a terrain space so I roll on the ONE HALF column. I roll 3 and the undead are destroyed! Put their rotting backside back into the cup.
5. Actions: 3
* Move your actions marker to the #3 space.* Move Hunt to #4 in the Suburbs.* Let’s fire on those undead! Deduct 1 ammo, now down to 1. I am adjacent so no Long Range penalty. I am firing on the 5 column. I roll 11! That’s a full 3 hits and will flip that Zed marker to its reduced side.* Ok, let’s put some barricades down in St. Thomas. With the well-armed Civilians there, this should be a stable fighting position for a while. Decrease supplies from 10 to 8 and put a barricades marker in St. Thomas. Instead of < 1 for defense, I now get a < 2 for the space. Also remember that you can only keep 1 barricades marker in play for each track.* Sheriff Hunt is going to have the Civilian marker in Beauxville forage for us. I roll a 5 and so my supplies are back up to 9.* It is the end of the Action phase and the Nuclear Plant space is NOT Zeds controlled. There are no toxic zombies!

I really need to get those Chaos markers cleared off the board. The longer they stay, the more chances of Zeds popping into play closer than you would like! They also help increase that Infection level.

Don’t hate me for sending those poor refugees back out into the fight. This game is hard enough without trying to save everyone. You just can’t! Sometimes you have to let people die!

I was really hamstrung from the beginning in this game with such a poor ammo roll. That’s life.

Getting barricades down early on a track in the beginning can help get you some time. Hopefully I won’t have to worry about the Forest for a while. I need to get one down for Ingeburg and I need to take care of that valuable strength 4 Civilian unit!

The most important advice? BE FLEXIBLE! Every game is different! Let’s continue…

A Hero Arrives (#9)

1. Refugee Phase: 2
* Nothing to move here.
2. Outbreak: No
* I’m loving it!
3. Consume Supplies: 4+
* I do indeed have 4 or more full-strength Civilian units. Let’s decrease our Supplies from 9 to 8.
4. Zeds: Suburbs and Forest
* Let’s start with the Suburbs. The reduced strength Zeds attack Hunt. Increase the Infection level to 3. Notice Hunt is NOT in a terrain space. Try not to ever get in this situation! Yes, I hoped I could finish that unit off with gunfire, but that is life. The good news is that I am risking this with a Hero unit that is “Tough”, skilled in “Martial Arts”, and the Zeds are indeed only strength 3 right now. I roll on the LESS THAN column and get 11! Yuck. But because Hunt is skilled in Martial Arts, I am allowed a re-roll. I roll again and get 6. The result is a “3/1” so the Zeds are gone! But now Hunt is hurt! But he is Tough so let’s roll again and get 4. He avoids the hit!* Ok, let’s go to the Forest. We have another Hand-to-Hand attack there so increase the Infection level to 4. Normally we would have to roll on the TRIPLE column, but the Barricades give us a < 2 shift and these are Well-Armed Civilians so they get another < 1 shift so we are back on the EQUAL TO column! OH NO! I roll a 12! That is a “0/3” result. The Civilian marker is flipped to its reduced side and a Casualties marker is placed on it. Retreat them back to the Farm. The Villagers are now released and flipped to their Refugees side. They also go to the Farm. The Barricades marker STAYS there for now. They are only cleared off the board when the Zeds marker advances past it. I could still rush in to save this valuable marker if I am able. But a Chaos marker is placed as this is the end of the Zeds phase.
5. Actions: 3
* Ok, I get a new Hero! Hmmm, I think I want to get working on that Super Weapon. I’ve been fairly lucky in keep Zeds away (though the Forest needs attention) so I am hoping Hunt alone can work on things. So let’s select Professor Agee. I put her marker down in Town Center.* Let’s move the Refugees one space closer to town and put them on #3.* Put Agee in the Lab* Move Hunt to Town Center. My plan is to move Seaver out immediately in the Suburbs if no Zeds appear so he can clear a Chaos marker or two. Hunt will be my back up for the Forest track. Since Hunt is back in Town, let’s have him direct a Civilians unit to do something for us. Let’s forage. I roll a 4 so I get 1 Supply. Move the Supply marker up to 9.

You Gotta Be Kidding! (#47)

1. Refugee Phase: 2
* I move the St. Thomas Refugees to the #2 space. Note that this does not mean I can move them 2 spaces! It only means, during this phase, I can move up to 2 Refugee markers 1 space.
2. Outbreak: No
* Out of these four special Event cards, 3 of them say No and one of them says 10+.
3. Consume Supplies: 3+
* Yep, that puts us down to 8.
4. Zeds: All Tracks
* Ok, at the beginning of the Zeds phase, we remove ALL DEAD ZED markers. We have none now. Then we draw for tracks that do not have a Zed on them. This would be for the Highway and the Suburbs. I draw a 5-strength unit for both tracks and put them on the Start space. Remember, Zeds get placed on Chaos markers during Outbreaks, not these cards.* Now, time to move. The Highway Zeds go to #7, the Mountain Zeds go to the Mine, the Suburbs Zeds go to #7 (there goes my plan for Doc Seaver), and the Forest Zeds attack!* Move the Infection level to 5. Remove that Barricades marker. The Zeds start on the TRIPLE column. The Well-Armed Civilians are fighting in a Named space (the Farm) for < 1 and of course they are Well-Armed for another < 1. This puts the column I’m rolling under at GREATER THAN. I roll 6 and that is a “2/2” result, the last result on that column that makes the Zeds retreat. Put a 2 Dead Zeds marker on them and remove that Civilians marker and put them in the hospital (reduced side). The undead did not get the Farm, but the militia sure did buy it! Make sure you put the Well-Armed marker away; that does not go to the hospital with them.
5. Actions: 3
* Send Hunt to the Farm. He’s gonna hold that Farm for us!* Let’s do some research! I roll two dice for Prof. Agee due to her Bioengineering ability. I get a 5. I get to move the Research marker one space over to number 2. It does not cost me any Supply points as we are still early in our Research. It won’t cost us anything until level 3.* Should I forage for Ammo? Should I have Hunt fire, spending our last Ammo point? Should I spend an Ammo point to reduce our Infection level? The Civilians in Lefty’s Pass sure would like a Barricades marker (or maybe even run)! What do I do? I’m going to go the way of the indecisive leader that gets people killed and have Pickles forage for us: 10, so that is 1 Ammo, giving us 2 Ammo points.* Go ahead and play our Fate Card, Drastic Times, Drastic Measures, at a cost of 1 Ammo point. Note that this does not cost us an Action to play. Some cards will specifically say “…as an Action…” whenever doing something costs you a valuable Action. Our Infection level is back at zero.

Should I have been more aggressive with my Hero pick? I’m kind of weak on the combat side. Schmidt or Piazza would have helped more than Agee. But Agee can get us that Super Weapon and a higher result at the end of game (provided I even make it there). Should I have saved the Drastic Times card for when I can spare more ammunition? Am I going to regret not building a Barricades in the Farm, Ingeburg, or Lefty’s Pass? Probably. But that is the name of the game!

Yeah, This Game Is Hard…

If you feel alone in the world with nothing but losses to show for your efforts, take a look at other players and their anguish from game reports they have posted on Boardgamegeek:

Summary

I hope the sample turns helped your understanding of how a game is played. If you have not done so already I STRONGLY recommend you download the FAQ and Clarifications document from either the Victory Point Games website or Boardgamegeek. There is lots of good information and strategy there.

Don’t get frustrated. This game is HARD. But the more you play and the more you get familiar with the cards and text, the easier it will get. Just think of all the little things that might have helped you that fell by the wayside because you forgot about that Hero’s ability or the benefit on the Fate card that you forgot you were holding? And hey, nothing helps if the dice Gods are not in your corner.

I want to thank Hermann Luttmann for such a fantastic nail-biter of a solitaire game, Alan Emrich at Victory Point Games for making this happen, and everyone else involved in art, graphics design, writing, production and playtesting!

Good luck and happy hunting!

— Jaret R. Morgan

Very special thanks to Hermann Luttmann for helping me to get this guide finished!