I had invited a group of friends over last Friday night to have a birthday game. As there were going to be nine of us crowded around the table I needed to devise a game that was fun, easy to pick up and one that had some twists here and there.

Heroes v Zombies seemed the obvious choice. So I went about writing some simple rules as after all they are wargamers! Here is what I came up with:

Sequence of play

1. Simultaneous HERO movement. Players have 1 minute to move their figures. Any not moved in this time do not move.
2. Shooting.
3. Zombie movement.
4. Close Combat.

Movement:

6 inches for all heroes. Zombies move 4 inches towards the nearest enemy.

Shooting:

Shooting range 12”. Figures within 1” are considered in close combat and cannot shoot .Roll one D10. Heroes add +2. A score of 1 to 3 is a miss, 5-7 they are pushed back that number of inches, on an 8-10 you have hit them in the head and they are removed from play.

Searching for zombies:

Each poker chip is a potential zombie horde. When adjacent roll a D10 and that number of zombies appear. In this case only, a “0” counts as zero and not a ten.

Close Combat

Heroes and their minions fight first. If the zombie is still alive and still in combat, they fight back needing +7. Each other zombie in close combat adds one to their die.

Hero Powers:

1. Heal one minion.
2. Heal yourself.
3. Roll two D10 v arch enemy and choose the highest.

Victory points:

You receive one victory point for each zombie you killed and 50 points if you kill your arch enemy. You lose ten points for any other hero or their minions that you kill. Host reserves the right to award additional points for any selfless or heroic act (for example saving another hero).

Each group of heroes had an arch-enemy on the table:

• Tarzan V German Explorers
• Batman V Joker
• Darth Vader V Obi-wan Kenobi
• Splinter V Shredder

Obi-Wan and his mates.

Darth Vader and the boys

Batman and the gang from Gotham,

The Joker

Tarzan and friends

German explorers

Shredder and his dastardly followers

Splinter and the TMNT’s

Ships need to be aware of the floating spectacle case!

Batman seizes the German U-Boat.

The Jokers Minions advance

Splinter and minions search for more zombies.

Gamers being gamers tried to kill their arch enemy, restore his health with their hero and then kill him again for another 50 pts! This was allowed because of the creativity!

Joker and Batman slog it out in the docklands.

Tarzan is down!

So is the Joker.

Ninja Turtle was no match for six zombies!

Shredder and Slinter’s gangs fight it out leaving only one Bebop standing.

The U-boat changed hands several times.

All-in-all it was a great night followed by a supper fit for a Guru, and copious quantities of liquid refreshment throughout the night.

Thanks guys you made my 35th birthday (second time around) a memorable one.