Review of Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse, Part 3

Zombies and the Campaign Cycle

Now we should talk about the elephant in the room: zombies and their special rules. Zombies, in the core book, have the Shoot them in the Head! special rule.  This rule states that damage for zombies only matters if you hit them in the head. Thus, when a model hits a zombie in the Shooting or Close Quarters Combat Phase, roll 1d6 instead of rolling for a Damage Total. On a roll of 5 or 6 the zombie is hit in the head and the brain is destroyed.  Remove the destroyed zombie model from the board.  As a consolation prize, if a model hits a zombie, but not in the head, the zombie instead suffers an amount of Knockback dependent on the weapon used. 

Zombies also do not have a Courage characteristic. Instead, they cause Horror. If a model that causes Horror makes contact with a model that has the Courage characteristic, roll 1d6 for each model and add Horror or Courage, respectively. If the model causing Horror has the higher number, the model with the Courage characteristic panics and mechanically may NOT use Action Points to break contact for the remainder of the turn. This is why Zombies (Horror causing models) can be so dangerous in large numbers.

What is the Campaign cycle?  Since Last Days recommends it, your first game likely will be the Encounter number 5, Scavengers (p.98) where you fight against another player and the zombies in the field. After each game, note which members of your group, if any, were taken Out of Action. Roll on the Injuries table for each unfortunate member who was taken Out of Action and apply the results accordingly. If your group Leader dies, then you must choose a new one.  Then there is the Experience section where each Character gains some Experience for taking out zombies, rival group members, surviving a mission and fulfilling an objective.  When a Character levels up, the results of their advancement is uncertain. Each level up a Character can choose to either buy a roll on the Characteristics Increase table or the Skills Increase table.  Last Days is very much a “work with what you get” game, and that fits the theme of survival during a zombie apocalypse. Then the group enters the checking supplies phase (or loot phase if you prefer). Next, the group members who were Out of Action during the game spend time recovering from their injuries, which functionally means they will be a negative influence on the group during the subsequent Zombie Attack.  Group members who were NOT put Out of Action may be assigned Jobs around the Refuge, which result in various net benefits to the group. Finally, the Zombies Attack the Refuge. This is handled by a 2d6 die roll where, as mentioned previously, Characters knocked Out of Action during the previous skirmish game, negatively influence this roll. Then the cycle starts again and you may use the Encounters Table (p.98) to determine the goals and limitations in the next skirmish combat.

The Encounters Table describes five additional types of combat encounters besides just scavenging for supplies. These encounters range from defending your Refuge, to launching an ambush against a rival group, to rescuing captured members of the group, to even escaping from a horde of hungry zombies that just don’t stop coming.  These encounters provide plenty of variation and tweaks to the rules to keep combat skirmishes interesting.

For even more survival horror fun, there is an expansion published by Osprey books called Last Days: Zombie Apocalypse: Seasons which adds more of everything and includes hunger, thirst and warmth rules.  If you want alternate zombie rules, check out the article Last Days: Evolutions in the wargaming magazine BLASTER, volume 2. You can find BLASTER as a pdf at the Wargame Vault website. In fact you can find more Last Days rules and additions in BLASTER volumes 1 and 4 as well.