Survivors Rules
Playing Survivors
This game requires a battlefield around 3ft by 3ft, or something with a similar area and each game lasts for 6 rounds. The game can be played with two players, each controlling a band of up to 10 characters, with a horde of up to 40 zombies that are alternately controlled by the players. Alternatively the game can be played with one band of survivors and the zombies either being controlled by a second player or governed by some rules for their actions.
Unreliable Weapons
Any time a player makes an attack, if every dice they roll fails to hit they must check to see if the weapon has become useless - either running out of ammo, jamming, or breaking. They roll a D6, on a roll of 1 the weapon is unusable for the remainder of the game.
Zombies
The world of survivors is overrun with the walking dead, and there are several rules that govern their actions on the battlefield. The threat of zombie attacks increases over time and careless actions from a player can see them being surrounded and overwhelmed quickly. The standard way to play Survivors is detailed below, where both players control their own warband and the zombies, rules for 1 player vs zombies are given in a separate section.
Disturbance Rolls
At the end of every survivor model's activation the controlling player will make a number of Disturbance Rolls. A disturbance roll is a d6 that must roll higher than the current round number. Players make 1 disturbance roll for each of the following:
- Making an Advance action.
- Making an Attack action.
- Being within 6 inches of a single zombie or zombie entry point during their activation
- Being within 6 inches of more than one zombie.
As you can see it is hard to avoid making a disturbance so actions should be chosen carefully.
Zombie Models
Zombie models work a lot like any other model, having attributes, performing actions, etc. However they activate under specific circumstances detailed below, and have no owning player. Any time a model attacks a zombie the opposing player makes the defence and counter rolls.
The zombies have their own entry points, some scattered around the table edge, while others are placed on the battlefield, at building doorways and so on. Zombies are deployed at these entry points as explained below.
Zombies have the following profile:
| Model | Cmd | Mov | Skl | Def | Tgh | HP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zombie | x | 3" | 5+ | 5+ | 5 | 1 |
Zombies have the following weapon:
| Weapon | Rng | Att | Dmg | Prc |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zombie Attack | 1" | 2 | 3 | 0 |
Zombie Activity Events
For each failed disturbance roll a player makes, the opposing player must activate a zombie of their choice, within 12 inches of the model that caused the disturbance. They may choose whichever zombie models they wish but not the same zombie twice for any zombie activity event. If there are more failed disturbance rolls than zombies within 12 inches they must place a new zombie within 3 inches of any zombie entry point they choose. They then activate one of their own models as normal if they have any remaining with command points.
If a player activates a zombie it performs a Move action then an Attack action following these guidelines in order:
- If the zombie is able to move within 1 inch of a non-zombie model it must do so towards the nearest valid model.
- If the Zombie cannot reach to within 1 inch of a non-zombie model it moves its full movement and must finish closer to the nearest non-zombie model it has line-of-sight to. Though it does not need to move directly towards that model.
- If a zombie can attack a model it does so, if there are multiple valid targets the model that caused the disturbance takes priority, otherwise the controlling player can choose.
- Zombies cannot climb, making raised areas some of the safest places to be, just be careful not to get trapped.
Zombie Surge
At the start of each round the player that won initiative rolls a d6 and consults the zombie surge table:
| Dice Roll | Result |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | Players in initiative order place one new zombie within 3 inches of a zombie entry point of their choice. |
| 4-5 | Players in initiative order activate any zombie that is not within 12 inches of any model and move it as normal. Each zombie may only activate in this way once. |
| 6 | Players in initiative order place new zombies within 3 inches of a zombie entry point of their choice until they have placed 2 each. |
Resources
One of the main goals of every scenario, beyond survival, is for each group to locate essential resources. These potential resources are represented by Search objectives.
As players secure these objectives they will collect a number of Supplies, these should be marked with a die or other token on the model that is carrying them. They can be passed to a friendly model within 1 inch at the end of an activation if there are no zombies within 6 inches. A model can carry 3 supplies maximum.
A Search objective requires the securing model to be within 1 inch, with no enemy or zombie models within 6 inches. Instead of rolling to secure the objective the player rolls 2D6 and consults the search table below. Once a Search objective has been secured it is marked as looted, from this point onwards it may be secured again but with only a single d6 roll on the table. If it secured a second time it is automatically removed.
| Roll | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | Nothing Left - Remove the Objective. |
| 2 | Zombie! - Place a new zombie within 3 inches of the model and more than 1 inch away from any other survivor. If this is not possible the zombie is not placed. Remove the objective. |
| 3-5 | Nothing Found - The objective remains unsecured. |
| 6-8 | Basic Supplies - The objective is secured, the model gains 1 supplies. |
| 9-11 | Good Supplies - The objective is secured, the model gains 2 supplies. |
| 12 | Cache - The objective remains unsecured, the model gains 2 supplies. |
Retreat
Unlike most wargames, standing to fight in Survivors is generally a bad tactic, the only goal is to get what you need and get away. At any point in the game, any member of your group may retreat from the battlefield. To do so they must get within 6 inches of one of your entry points, at which point they are moved back to reserve. They may not be redeployed but do not count as casualties and no gathered resources are lost. Once a player has at least 3 models retreat the other player can choose to end the game at the end of the current round, and the aftermath can be determined according to the mission being played.
Special Rules
| Rule | Effect |
|---|---|
| Bad Idea | When using this weapon the player counts as failing 3 disturbance rolls at the end of their activation, regardless of other actions they may have taken. In addition, the other player can select zombies up to 18 inches away this Zombie Activity Event. |
| Fire | Zombies that take a hit from this weapon only counter the damage on a 6+. |
| Loud | When using this weapon the player must make an additional disturbance roll at the end of it's activation. |
| Rare | You may include only 1 instance of this weapon in your group. |
| Reliable | This weapon does not need to test to see if it becomes unusable. |
| Reload | After this weapon has been used the model must take another Attack action with no effect to be able to use the weapon again. |
| Risky | When using this weapon to attack Zombies, if the weapon fails an unreliable roll the Zombie target makes an immediate Attack against this model. |
| Silent | When using this weapon the player does not make a disturbance roll for this attack. |