Ok guys. I think I need a little help because I'm not quite sure if I'm playing the zombies right. Let me spell things out to you. I finally got my base game last week and I got to run a couple solo games to try out the mechanics (I know... there is no solo game... be a game tester and you learn how to do it with any game.) before my game night last Friday. Between my 3 solo games and the 4 games I played with the guys on Friday... the zombies got CRUSHED. I don't know if I was running the zombies wrong, or what. I ran them like the single-minded, brains moaning, walkers that I know and love.
I'll give you an example... the last scenario that we ran on Friday night (Saturday morning at this point) was the Defend the Mansion. How did the players defend it? They stayed out of it. I ended up with 14 zombies on the board chasing them around the outside of the mansion for the most part. 6 games and the zombies have gotten to eat a lot of shirt tails, lead, and wood... not an ounce of brains.
I guess my main question is how do I make it a little closer? How smart are the zombies when it comes to the games and the objectives?
Well, for this scenario I waited away from the mansion until I had a significant Horde and then during the last 3 or four turns I just at it. Some players tried luring me out but my cards ended up hurting them and sometimes killing them. My face was in devilish delight when it was my turn and I moved a totla of ten zombies into that mansion at once! Im a zombie player 100 percent and lost quite a few games but I still manage to eat some brains now and then. My only strategy,if I have one is to have your zombies on different ends of the board. Usually surround an objective and just wait for the meat to come to you. Then shamble* the other zombies over there.
One thing that cannot be said enough, especially for new ZPs: Play your cards as fast as you can. If you don't see yourself using a card within 1 - 2 turns, pitch it if possible. This may seem over aggressive, but it is very effective.
The commonly mistaken rules:
* Combat rolls. Zeds are only when a hero has a higher roll AND has doubles.
* The actions of the hero turn are done in order.
* Searching replaces moving. Move this turn? You can't search.
* The same gun can't be shot & passed to be shot again.
* Zombie Hunger only applies if the zombie is adjacent to the hero. Otherwise, they can go anywhere they want (towards the manor house).
* There is 'fight zombies' on both the zombie turn and the hero turn. (And the zombies only split up for the one on the zombie turn.)
Cards like relentless advance and shamble are great for this one.
I often wait til I have a decent horde (remember the zombies don't have to move except for zombie hunger) Waiting can make the heroes nervious because they don't know what cards you have in your hand.
There are ways to slow a heroes movement, remember if they enter a zombie space they have to stop and fight, and they can only shoot after they've moved. Placing a single zombie at the door to a building a hero is in can buy you a turn or two.
This rule probably doesn't apply to you, but this is the #1 mistake we see when people say the Zombies have no chance: Heroes roll 2 dice and PICK the highest. They do not ADD the two dice together and then compare it to the Zombie's one die.
Okay, now that that one is clear. For Defend the Manor house, the strategy I like to use is ignore all heroes. Go in a conga line directly for the manor house. They will have to jump in the way and kill themselves just to keep you out, or at least herd you into a place so that they have multiple zombies on them in one or two turns. Remember, you as Zombies have a goal, especially in Defend the Manor house and in the later GH scenarios. Don't ignore it and just go after heroes. Heroes will come to you to stop you from doing whatever you want to achieve.
Hmmmm... thanks for all of the advice. I guess I ran the zombies AI a little too single minded. I pretty much ran them like the movies and just went after the "food". I suppose a sudden rash of "smart" zombies might be fun to unleash. Altho, I just got my Growing Hunger expansion, so I think that I should be able to have lots of fun now. I'll just have to use some of your advice and make them come to me when possible. Heh heh... mill them into a horde... that just sounds cold!
Thanks for the assist! Any other little tidbits wouldn't be frowned at.
Especially if you guys have cards that you would hold and cards that you drop on sight... unless you can use them right off.
About the only card I ever hold on to is "This could be our last night on earth..." if Becky is on the board. Otherwise, maybe a couple turns at most before I pitch it.
mgstout brings up a good point.
If you can use the card ditch it, don't hang on to it waiting.
How about Fight cards? Hold those for the fights, or rotate them out?