by Al Butler
One of my all-time favorite cooperative board games to play with my guild mates is Zombicide by Guillotine Games. We have run through countless sessions, all of which were entertaining, tense, but most of all fun. Seriously who could not enjoy the dark sociopathic vision of a roller skating waitress named Wanda, gliding up to a pack of zombies and hacking them to bits with a chainsaw? A bit ridiculous to be sure but that is just the kind of thing that happens in this game more often than not. The popularity of this title with our group brings it back to the table time and time again. Hell Zombicide was in all three of our top five lists of 2013, number one on mine.
So it is no surprise that one of the expansions for Zombicide, named; Toxic City Mall, made its way into my collection through a Kickstarter campaign. This add on game can be played with either the original Zombicide or with the other expansion which is also a standalone title Prison Outbreak. (Which as you all know has Berserker zombies). TCM introduces a bevy of new items, rules and of course the green toxic zombies themselves hence the title. There is a lot going on with this expansion, so I have to limit myself to pointing out those particular items that really make a difference in game play, and leave off copying all the rules down. You can download a copy of the Toxic City Mall rules *here* which will give you a better understanding of some of the mechanics.
Well the first big game changer is obviously the introduction of Toxic Zombies. These green monsters give off mucus like spray (my words) when killed and thus it is best to either shoot them at a distance with ranged weapons or, have a Gas Mask (yup new item) which makes you immune to the deadly effect. Some of the new survivors which were included in the set, have an immunity skill that can be chosen at the appropriate experience level. Toxic Abominations are particularly nasty in that they cause all regular zombies in their zone to become infected each turn.
I already mentioned Gas masks as new equipment that the players can search for and use, but here are a couple more, Assault rifles “AR-15 pimped out”; .44 Mag pistols which do 2 damage and blasts Fatties; Laser pointers, when added to certain weapons increase accuracy i.e. +1 to die rolls, and Hollow Point bullets that increase damage +1. I can see a player wielding two .44 Mag pistols with hollow point rounds, and laser sights firing away at an Abomination right now. Oh yeah there is also a wee FLAMETHROWER you can pick up as well.
Having some of these in a survivor’s inventory is essential to your survival in TCM as this expansion can make a game go south really, really, fast. Don’t start thinking that because you have the flamethrower that you are simply going to waltz through a scenario like Arnold Swarzenegger in Terminator. No sir, the game is balanced enough that each play and every decision matters right to the end, you might have great gear, but this isn’t World of Warcraft, and the zombies just don’t stop coming.
Another cool part of the expansion is the "Ultra Red" mode gameplay and its unique equipment.
Ultra Red mode allows Survivors to gain experience beyond the red danger level and to get additional skills. They also get to use Ultra Red weapons which are so powerful only red level survivors can equip them. These cards are shuffled into the deck and must be searched for. Ultra Red play works like this:
“When your Survivor reaches the Red Level, put the experience tracker to “0” and add any experience points gained past the minimum required to hit the Red Level. Your Survivor is still on the Red Level and keeps his Skills. Count additional experience points as usual and gain unselected Skills upon reaching Danger Levels again. When all the Survivor’s Skills have been selected, choose a Skill among any Zombicide Skills (except those featuring brackets, such as Start with [Equipment], for example) upon reaching Orange and then Red Level.”
So your Survivor has the potential to be a “super survivor” which I daresay you may need on some of the larger scenarios.
The last thing I would like to highlight is the introduction of what the game describes as Zombivors. These are Survivors who have fallen to the undead and have returned only to fight alongside their old human friends. Zombivors are much tougher than mere humans as such they take five full hits to kill rather than the two for their counterparts. When a player dies he/she can be resurrected as a Zombivor on the next player's turn. The new Zombie keeps all experience and equipment they had prior to becoming a pile of rotten flesh and get to choose new skills. Their miniature is replaced on the board with their Zombivor mini (which are all so much cooler looking) and the game moves on. Hmmm so in reality you could during a very long and epic game become an Ultra Red Zombivor!!!!
This past weekend I solo play tested scenario one from the rulebook which incorporated the original Zombicide and TCM. I wanted to get a feel of the mechanics before our next game day and see how they worked. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised. The Toxics ramped up the tension right out of the gate as I tried to find my way across the board. I spent a good amount of time searching rooms for gear trying to get decent ranged attack weapons. As it turns out I didn’t search long enough for, about a half hour later, my little band of four was completely over run and destroyed. Every flip of the card and roll of the dice kept me on edge wondering what was coming next, and I had so much fun I wanted to start all over again. Sadly my wife let me know I had big boy responsibilities and it was time to put my toys away.
Overall TCM is an awesome expansion to an already epic game line. If you have not already added it to your list of "need to haves" I suggest strongly that you take a close look at this one. Hopefully come next game day we will get to go on a toxic zombie killing rampage as a group, I know the guild will love the twists that these green blighters bring to the game.
Cheers
AL
*note: We have not received nor do we anticipate receiving any compensation for our endorsement of the game mentioned in this post. The opinions and views expressed are our own and not influenced by outside parties in any way. If you wish for to send us money by all means we’ll take it, however we will fully disclose such in writing and then say and do what we want anyway. Thanks.
One of my all-time favorite cooperative board games to play with my guild mates is Zombicide by Guillotine Games. We have run through countless sessions, all of which were entertaining, tense, but most of all fun. Seriously who could not enjoy the dark sociopathic vision of a roller skating waitress named Wanda, gliding up to a pack of zombies and hacking them to bits with a chainsaw? A bit ridiculous to be sure but that is just the kind of thing that happens in this game more often than not. The popularity of this title with our group brings it back to the table time and time again. Hell Zombicide was in all three of our top five lists of 2013, number one on mine.
So it is no surprise that one of the expansions for Zombicide, named; Toxic City Mall, made its way into my collection through a Kickstarter campaign. This add on game can be played with either the original Zombicide or with the other expansion which is also a standalone title Prison Outbreak. (Which as you all know has Berserker zombies). TCM introduces a bevy of new items, rules and of course the green toxic zombies themselves hence the title. There is a lot going on with this expansion, so I have to limit myself to pointing out those particular items that really make a difference in game play, and leave off copying all the rules down. You can download a copy of the Toxic City Mall rules *here* which will give you a better understanding of some of the mechanics.
Well the first big game changer is obviously the introduction of Toxic Zombies. These green monsters give off mucus like spray (my words) when killed and thus it is best to either shoot them at a distance with ranged weapons or, have a Gas Mask (yup new item) which makes you immune to the deadly effect. Some of the new survivors which were included in the set, have an immunity skill that can be chosen at the appropriate experience level. Toxic Abominations are particularly nasty in that they cause all regular zombies in their zone to become infected each turn.
I already mentioned Gas masks as new equipment that the players can search for and use, but here are a couple more, Assault rifles “AR-15 pimped out”; .44 Mag pistols which do 2 damage and blasts Fatties; Laser pointers, when added to certain weapons increase accuracy i.e. +1 to die rolls, and Hollow Point bullets that increase damage +1. I can see a player wielding two .44 Mag pistols with hollow point rounds, and laser sights firing away at an Abomination right now. Oh yeah there is also a wee FLAMETHROWER you can pick up as well.
Having some of these in a survivor’s inventory is essential to your survival in TCM as this expansion can make a game go south really, really, fast. Don’t start thinking that because you have the flamethrower that you are simply going to waltz through a scenario like Arnold Swarzenegger in Terminator. No sir, the game is balanced enough that each play and every decision matters right to the end, you might have great gear, but this isn’t World of Warcraft, and the zombies just don’t stop coming.
Another cool part of the expansion is the "Ultra Red" mode gameplay and its unique equipment.
 |
| This does everything. |
Ultra Red mode allows Survivors to gain experience beyond the red danger level and to get additional skills. They also get to use Ultra Red weapons which are so powerful only red level survivors can equip them. These cards are shuffled into the deck and must be searched for. Ultra Red play works like this:
“When your Survivor reaches the Red Level, put the experience tracker to “0” and add any experience points gained past the minimum required to hit the Red Level. Your Survivor is still on the Red Level and keeps his Skills. Count additional experience points as usual and gain unselected Skills upon reaching Danger Levels again. When all the Survivor’s Skills have been selected, choose a Skill among any Zombicide Skills (except those featuring brackets, such as Start with [Equipment], for example) upon reaching Orange and then Red Level.”
So your Survivor has the potential to be a “super survivor” which I daresay you may need on some of the larger scenarios.
The last thing I would like to highlight is the introduction of what the game describes as Zombivors. These are Survivors who have fallen to the undead and have returned only to fight alongside their old human friends. Zombivors are much tougher than mere humans as such they take five full hits to kill rather than the two for their counterparts. When a player dies he/she can be resurrected as a Zombivor on the next player's turn. The new Zombie keeps all experience and equipment they had prior to becoming a pile of rotten flesh and get to choose new skills. Their miniature is replaced on the board with their Zombivor mini (which are all so much cooler looking) and the game moves on. Hmmm so in reality you could during a very long and epic game become an Ultra Red Zombivor!!!!
This past weekend I solo play tested scenario one from the rulebook which incorporated the original Zombicide and TCM. I wanted to get a feel of the mechanics before our next game day and see how they worked. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised. The Toxics ramped up the tension right out of the gate as I tried to find my way across the board. I spent a good amount of time searching rooms for gear trying to get decent ranged attack weapons. As it turns out I didn’t search long enough for, about a half hour later, my little band of four was completely over run and destroyed. Every flip of the card and roll of the dice kept me on edge wondering what was coming next, and I had so much fun I wanted to start all over again. Sadly my wife let me know I had big boy responsibilities and it was time to put my toys away.
 |
| Me getting my ass kicked. |
Overall TCM is an awesome expansion to an already epic game line. If you have not already added it to your list of "need to haves" I suggest strongly that you take a close look at this one. Hopefully come next game day we will get to go on a toxic zombie killing rampage as a group, I know the guild will love the twists that these green blighters bring to the game.
Cheers
AL
*note: We have not received nor do we anticipate receiving any compensation for our endorsement of the game mentioned in this post. The opinions and views expressed are our own and not influenced by outside parties in any way. If you wish for to send us money by all means we’ll take it, however we will fully disclose such in writing and then say and do what we want anyway. Thanks.
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