Can you dual wield chainsaws?

April 21, 2013 Game Day Recap

In Soviet Russia, zombies kill you.

Zombicide was the big game of the day. It's fairly straightforward in theme and game play: You are survivors of the zombie apocalypse and try to remain so. Each scenario you set up has objectives but they all boil down to "move around the board and try not to die".

Present for the game:

• Al
• Mike
• Brian
• Tuna
• Anthony
• and the newest participant, Valerie

Setup

After not doing so well the first time we played a few weeks prior, some research showed that we had selected the most difficult scenario. So we went with one the internet dubbed "medium" difficulty, as it was marked with only 2 out of a possible 4 chainsaw rating.

Characters were randomly assigned. Weapons were randomly distributed. We learned that it is possible to drive a car down the street killing zombies while still swinging a machete out the window at any leftovers. What a game!

Early Turns

We started by marching down the street, getting in a car, killing some zombies. finding a few sweet weapons, and generally getting by just fine.

The photo above is just after we turned a corner and opened the door to one of the buildings. When you open the door, you get to find out how many zombies are inside. Turned out it was "a lot", which is almost always the number of zombies on the board at any time.

However, we made our way through the building thanks to the high-powered weaponry of Brian with the chainsaw (5 dice attacks!) and Valerie with her dual machine guns (6 dice!). I had an axe!

Later Turns and Death

After clearing the first large building, we had one more to go. But we had a more pressing issue: too many zombies. So the plan was to clear a path down the street, open a door to free up Al, and he would charge into the street to Molotov Cocktail (yes, I verbed that) a ton of zombies at once.

For once, the plan worked perfectly.

Al got credit for 25 kills with one move and we had a fresh supply of zombies to spawn in the second building. We opened the door, the zombies were conveniently spread out amongst the rooms instead of piled up at the door (which they would be in reality, duh.), and we charged in. Anthony and I, armed with the chainsaws were ready. And then another spawn went bad and we both joined the other side. 

Well, technically that doesn't happen in the game but I like to think that my character would try to kill as many of my ex-friend survivors as possible for letting me down.

It looked bad but the rest of the group stuck it out. The very end seemed easy in comparison as Valerie jumped into the street, shot down three final zombies, and ran for her life.

So it was a victory for everyone, as it's a cooperative game (reminds the guy who didn't actually finish)! It was satisfying victory that in no way seemed easy or 'medium'.

Food

In the middle of Zombicide, we did break for food. Al grilled up burgers and dogs. I had brought deviled eggs, Anthony brought a great pasta salad, and Valerie made brownies which we almost forgot to eat. Brian brought sour patch kids, which are among my favorites but there was a dispute later in the night about one that flew across the table during the 'closed eyes' portion of The Resistance.

The precious cargo

Drink

Al introduced us to a new drink with cherry vodka, cola, and grenadine. A bit sweet - it needs some adjustment but it was tasty. Probably will be great on a hot day. Al will hopefully do a full post on it.

Other Games

While Al was grilling, the rest of us tried the new game I picked up at Goodwill for $2: Say Anything. One player reads a question that asks about their preference, such as "In my opinion, what was the best album from the 1980's". Other players write down answers, then reveal them. The one player secretly picks their favorite answer, then everyone else bids on which answer they think will get picked. Points are scored for having your answer picked, bidding on the correct answer, and having bids on the answer you chose. Sounds more complicated that it is.

So our play through was dominated by Valerie. She scored points in every round except one. As the one person there who knew the least about everyone else, it was a truly inspiring performance. Brian scored some extra points thanks to his artwork on his answer cards (dicks were a common theme). 

But then I wasn't exactly so smart with my answers, resorting twice to "Your Mom" as an answer.

Final score board and my articulate answer card

We finished the night with several rounds of The Resistance. It was another good night for the spies, as they won all three games. Brian continued to lose. Al continued to laugh, giving himself away as a spy, and I continued to accuse everyone else as much as possible. Now that everyone has played it at least a few times, the expansion comes out next time. Maybe there are cards that will help the resistance actually win. Someone needs to take big government down!