Newbie questions

[ATOEtalGeek]

Well, I bought everything at GenCon. Instant collection!! We've been tearing it up and have got through 4 or 5 scenarios already, although we haven't played Timber Peak. That's on tap for this weekend. We've played enough that we've compiled a list of questions that had stumped us at some point in each of the games. So I am bringing them to the well...

If these are asked and answered somewhere on the site I apologize. I read through the Jason Hill FAQs here in the Rules section but did not find either specific answers or complete answers to these:

1. Grave weapon zombies are not supposed to count against your pool. But some grave weapons, such as "Blood Spray", "Stench of Death", "Recently Dead", etc. (those that do not have their own model) require that a token be placed under one of the standard models. This effectively takes the zombie out of your pool as there is no model to replace it. How is that handled so it doesn't short your pool?

2. For "Zombie Hunger" is the zombie obligated to try to get through a barricade or a reinforcement to get to a hero? Blocked Window I understand because there cannot even be an attempt, but it seems that barricades should work differently as the zombie will still have line of sight, etc.

3. For "Zombie Hunger" is the zombie obligated to go into a sewer to get to a hero?

4. If the zombie is not forced to move under "Zombie Hunger" what is the zombie supposed to do? Do they have the intelligence to perform as zombie player minions? Let's say, to go to the safehouse and take it over if no heroes are there? Or work on getting into the manor house if no heroes are there? One might argue that they are mindless so they just mill about – but that wouldn’t make for very interesting play.

5. Can a zombie move around a hero to avoid be caught in zombie hunger?

6. In a game with two zombie players if one of them rolls more for spawning than they have in their individual pool can the remainder of the roll be used by the other player to spawn his zombies? If not, there is a handicap there because the remainder of certain spawn rolls would be wasted.

7. In a game with two zombie players they are each limited to a max roll of 3, which means a max of 1 grave weapon zombie per player. In a single zombie player game the player could roll as many as 3 grave weapons on a spawning roll of 6. With two zombie players the most they can roll is 2 grave weapons between them, so there is a handicap there. Are they allowed to combine the remainders of their rolls for the purpose of creating a grave weapon zombie?

8. Can you search in the Junk Yard? Similar to Lumber Yard?

9. If a hero gets to draw a hero card as part of the setup (starting in the town center for example), and the card is a play immediately does he play it before the first zombie turn or does he wait until the beginning of the first hero turn?

10. Can a hero drop an item on the floor or ground and leave if for another hero to pick up? If a hero is over his carry limit (say he has 2 weapons and he draws a third), can he leave it for another hero to pick up?

11. When a hero is killed the rules say the player controlling him may draw another character to replace him. If the player, for whatever reason, decides not to draw another hero can any of the other players then draw the hero so there are always 4 heroes in the game?

12. When a hero is killed the items he had are discarded. The player is allowed to retain the event cards however. The rules say when the new hero enters he does not participate in that phase of the turn but must wait till the next full hero turn. But does the player get to play event cards in the turn that the hero died?

13. How many cards should you start with in the Hero deck? If you included all available cards the mechanic of the zombie win by discarding hero cards seems to become broken.

14. Are the Timber Peak Hero and Zombie decks intended to play on their own? Or is it intended that the base game decks be added? There seem to be a number of cards in the base decks that are not in the TP decks (several key mechanics would be eliminated if you excluded the base decks).

15. When playing with two zombie players then each are allowed to discard a card before drawing back up. If there is just one zombie player is he then allowed to discard two cards before drawing back up?

If anyone answering has a Jason Hill reference for the answer that would be awesome...otherwise we'll be happy with the concensus answer...

[Achtung Panzer]

(08-28-2013 10:13 PM)ATOEtalGeek Wrote:  1. Grave weapon zombies are not supposed to count against your pool. But some grave weapons, such as "Blood Spray", "Stench of Death", "Recently Dead", etc. (those that do not have their own model) require that a token be placed under one of the standard models. This effectively takes the zombie out of your pool as there is no model to replace it. How is that handled so it doesn't short your pool?

The weapon is an addition to the zombie and is lost once the zombie returns to the pool. The 14 model rule still applies so you don't lose a zombie but just tool-up one up until it is 'killed'

2. For "Zombie Hunger" is the zombie obligated to try to get through a barricade or a reinforcement to get to a hero? Blocked Window I understand because there cannot even be an attempt, but it seems that barricades should work differently as the zombie will still have line of sight, etc.

Yes, ZH applies unless there is another hero also adjacent in which case the Zombie player chooses.

3. For "Zombie Hunger" is the zombie obligated to go into a sewer to get to a hero?

Yes, unless there is another hero also adjacent in which case the Zombie player chooses.

4. If the zombie is not forced to move under "Zombie Hunger" what is the zombie supposed to do? Do they have the intelligence to perform as zombie player minions? Let's say, to go to the safehouse and take it over if no heroes are there? Or work on getting into the manor house if no heroes are there? One might argue that they are mindless so they just mill about – but that wouldn’t make for very interesting play.

Zombies are controlled by the Zombie player and can be moved to block doors, occupy key positions etc e.g. the truck in Escape In The Truck. This doesn't suggest intelligence - think of the scene in TWD Series 2 where Shane is trying to get medical supplies for Carl - there are zombies in the way, just milling around.

5. Can a zombie move around a hero to avoid be caught in zombie hunger?

Yes, if they are and stay out of the adjacent square. Zombies may not leave a square they share with a hero

6. In a game with two zombie players if one of them rolls more for spawning than they have in their individual pool can the remainder of the roll be used by the other player to spawn his zombies? If not, there is a handicap there because the remainder of certain spawn rolls would be wasted.

Never played with 2 zombie players and recommend that you don't.

7. In a game with two zombie players they are each limited to a max roll of 3, which means a max of 1 grave weapon zombie per player. In a single zombie player game the player could roll as many as 3 grave weapons on a spawning roll of 6. With two zombie players the most they can roll is 2 grave weapons between them, so there is a handicap there. Are they allowed to combine the remainders of their rolls for the purpose of creating a grave weapon zombie?

Never played with 2 zombie players and recommend that you don't.

8. Can you search in the Junk Yard? Similar to Lumber Yard?

Haven't got the boards in front of me.

9. If a hero gets to draw a hero card as part of the setup (starting in the town center for example), and the card is a play immediately does he play it before the first zombie turn or does he wait until the beginning of the first hero turn?

Play immediately, before zombie turn

10. Can a hero drop an item on the floor or ground and leave if for another hero to pick up? If a hero is over his carry limit (say he has 2 weapons and he draws a third), can he leave it for another hero to pick up?

No - normally a voluntarily dropped item is discarded - the exception being scenario-specific search items such as gas cannisters. Heroes can exchange items in the same square of course.

11. When a hero is killed the rules say the player controlling him may draw another character to replace him. If the player, for whatever reason, decides not to draw another hero can any of the other players then draw the hero so there are always 4 heroes in the game?

I don't believe so. There must always be 4 heroes in play - normally 1 per hero player or two each for two players. If there are 3 players, one must control 2 heroes and killed heroes are replaced immediately.

12. When a hero is killed the items he had are discarded. The player is allowed to retain the event cards however. The rules say when the new hero enters he does not participate in that phase of the turn but must wait till the next full hero turn. But does the player get to play event cards in the turn that the hero died?

Yes, Event cards are pooled by the heroe player(s). A hero killed in the Hero player's turn can be activated. I think any heroes killed in the zombie turn are placed (and replaced with a zombie hero) but cannot be activated until the Hero player's turn

13. How many cards should you start with in the Hero deck? If you included all available cards the mechanic of the zombie win by discarding hero cards seems to become broken.

As many as you have or select out any cards from expansions you don't want in that scenario - it's up to you. But always with the base game cards.

14. Are the Timber Peak Hero and Zombie decks intended to play on their own? Or is it intended that the base game decks be added? There seem to be a number of cards in the base decks that are not in the TP decks (several key mechanics would be eliminated if you excluded the base decks).

TP can be played alone (I prefer to do that) but can also be incorporated into any other scenarios. You'll find that all LNoE components and rules (using the dot system in GH) can be intergrated as you wish. The Survivor heroes should only be used in TP scenarios and obviously not with their originals.

15. When playing with two zombie players then each are allowed to discard a card before drawing back up. If there is just one zombie player is he then allowed to discard two cards before drawing back up?

No, one discard card only, though he can also play cards if he wishes.

If anyone answering has a Jason Hill reference for the answer that would be awesome...otherwise we'll be happy with the concensus answer...

Sorry, I haven't got the time right now to provide references and I stand to be corrected if I've got anything wrong. This forum will see you right.

[ATOEtalGeek]

(08-29-2013 09:13 AM)Achtung Panzer Wrote:  1. Grave weapon zombies are not supposed to count against your pool. But some grave weapons, such as "Blood Spray", "Stench of Death", "Recently Dead", etc. (those that do not have their own model) require that a token be placed under one of the standard models. This effectively takes the zombie out of your pool as there is no model to replace it. How is that handled so it doesn't short your pool?

The weapon is an addition to the zombie and is lost once the zombie returns to the pool. The 14 model rule still applies so you don't lose a zombie but just tool-up one up until it is 'killed'

I'm sorry on this one - I got it wrong - grave weapon zombies DO count against your pool.

(08-29-2013 09:13 AM)Achtung Panzer Wrote:  4. If the zombie is not forced to move under "Zombie Hunger" what is the zombie supposed to do? Do they have the intelligence to perform as zombie player minions? Let's say, to go to the safehouse and take it over if no heroes are there? Or work on getting into the manor house if no heroes are there? One might argue that they are mindless so they just mill about – but that wouldn’t make for very interesting play.

Zombies are controlled by the Zombie player and can be moved to block doors, occupy key positions etc e.g. the truck in Escape In The Truck. This doesn't suggest intelligence - think of the scene in TWD Series 2 where Shane is trying to get medical supplies for Carl - there are zombies in the way, just milling around.

Your answer on this one helps me alot. I can see it now - that zombies are always exactly where you don't want them to be. It's the zombie player's responsiblity to get them there. Thanks!!


Thank you for your help Achtung Panzer!

[mqstout]

6: You don't take from the other ZP's pool. Small handicaps are all over. 1d6 has a better chance of rolling over your number of zombies than 2d6 usually to get to spawn (due to 2d6's curve toward 7). You can toss TWO (one per player) total zombie cards per turn to cycle through the deck instead of one. And so on. I do generally recommend keeping with 1 ZP unless you're doing 1 on 1 or 6 total players. With 4 total players, I still do 1 ZP and 3 HP, with one player doubling up -- but I use Always ZH/Always Respawn as if it were its own player [which is standard in Timer Peak].

8: Any area that is walled off, is named, and has a number for random selection is a building and can be searched in (unless otherwise specified, which I don't think there is). I believe the junkyard has a number assigned and is completely walled off, but I'd have to look.

9: Play immediately. Sometimes this is house-ruled however. Note, there are also detailed questions about starting the game with Scenario Search items. Browse the forums for those discussions (which have split opinions).

10: No, but he doesn't have to drop it until the end of his activation. If he's in the same a space as another hero already, they can trade before dropping.

11: AP's answer is slightly wrong here on technicalities, but why would he NOT draw a new hero? That's just being dumb. (Technicality [which changed in Timber Peak]: In most scenarios, if one player controls multiple heroes, one that dies below the "nightfall" marker on the turn track does not get replaced unless it's his last hero he controls. This is a handicap for being able to coordinate heroes better when you control more than one. In TP, and some scenarios, always ZH/always respawn are "dot" rules.)

13: Also a discussion in many threads. Many/most of us choose 'all of them we have', but there are plenty who "build" decks otherwise.

For references, please look at SamuraiTrev's thread where he's compiled all of them.