Reasons for LNOE Fans to buy IFOS Part 2: The Circus is in Town!

[LabRat]

We've covered using the IFOS Heroes on the LNOE board with the LNOE deck, so this time let's look at a few more combinations:

Stage 3 - IFOS Heroes, IFOS Board, LNOE Hero Deck
Stage 4 - IFOS Heroes, LNOE Board, IFOS Hero Deck
Stage 5 - IFOS Heroes, IFOS Board, IFOS Hero Deck

Using the IFOS Heroes on the IFOS Board would have minimal impact in terms of the game mechanics. In terms of theme though, it may be strange to have Spawning pits where the Landing Sites are - on the LNOE Board, the Spawning Pits make sense for some locations (Graveyard, Morgue) and not so much for others but can still be explained (pit beside the High School is just an entry point for an off-map actual spawning point; Farmer Sty was a serial killer and buried bodies in his Barn; can anyone take a stab as to why there are dead bodies in The Plant?). If you really want to have an explanation as to why there are Zombies coming out of the ground at the Carnival, just say that the Carnival was set up at the site of an old, massive burial ground without them knowing it.

Using the IFOS Hero Deck will require a bit of tinkering to work. Some dual-function cards will lose their second function due to the absence of Fires, Blasts, and Martian Tech in the LNOE game. The Acrobatic Dodge card becomes unusable - changing it to Just A Scratch will work, but I'm not sure if it will lead to balance issues. The Fire the Cannon card will not be usable if you don't add Cannon markers, and even so you'll be limited to only two. Any other references to a Full Martian Pack should equate to all Zombies in a space. I'm sure players can discuss how to use the IFOS cards in play; I've skimmed through the Hero deck twice and these are the only instances where there are conflicts between the two games. I've also read elsewhere that players can simply discard unusable cards and draw another in it's place, but that results in thinning the deck.

Stage 5, using the IFOS Heroes and Hero Deck on the IFOS board is what will really change the gameplay. The IFOS Heroes would be able to utilize the pickups on the IFOS Board more effectively because of the matching Hero Deck, and only Acrobatic Dodge becomes a dead card. Thematically, this also makes more sense save for the Spawning pit locations.

Now, let's recap the various stages of incorporating the IFOS Heroes into the LNOE game and check if these are applicable to the LNOE basic scenarios:

Stage 1 - LNOE Board, LNOE Hero Deck, IFOS Heroes, no Power Token mechanic
Stage 2 - LNOE Board, LNOE Hero Deck, IFOS Heroes, with Power Token mechanic
Stage 3 - IFOS Board, LNOE Hero Deck, IFOS Heroes, with Power Token mechanic
Stage 4 - LNOE Board, IFOS Hero Deck, IFOS Heroes, with Power Token mechanic
Stage 5 - IFOS Board, IFOS Hero Deck, IFOS Heroes, with Power Token mechanic

Die, Zombies, Die - This scenario will work with all of the mentioned stages, but I recommend it with Stage 2 to avoid balance issues.

Escape in the Truck - Works with Stages 1 to 3. Basically, you need the LNOE Hero Deck for this as the needed scenario search items are in there.

Burn 'Em Out - Works seamlessly with Stages 1 to 3. For Stage 4 to 5, all you need to remember is Gasoline = Kerosene and Dynamite = Bomb.

Defend the Manor - Obviously only works with Stages 1, 2 and 4. Using the Manor center board with the IFOS L-Boards looks really weird.

Save the Townsfolk - Works seamlessly with Stages 1 to 3. For Stage 4 and 5, Allies are the equivalent of Townsfolk.

I'm sorry if this all feels written abruptly, I've been quite busy lately and haven't really had the time to write more detail, but I think I've covered what's necessary.