Sunday 8th September - Zombie Redux (...Redux)

Hi all,

Apologies for the cancellation of the previous game. We have a new date for the running of the Zombie Kriegsspiel. Sunday 8th September

Sign up on the doodle link here:   http://doodle.com/y6vcnmt3fngku8xh

As always, early responses are appreciated - the sooner you response, the better I can plan!


As with the last running, we'll be attempting to get through two games in a day, each of which will run somewhere in the region of 2-3 hours. Personally I enjoyed the opportunity for a half-time post-mortem (quite literally in some cases!), as it meant I actually got to eat a sit-down lunch. More importantly however, it gives those who helped me umpire the first game the opportunity to play in the second game, and vice-versa, if they wish.

For those who weren't present last time, a brief introduction to how the game worked:

The game was set in a school (not in any way based upon my old school...). Each of the players represented the leader of a school clique; the Bullies, the Nerds, the Jocks, the Foreign Exchange Students and so on. The main aim for the players was to survive the Zombie infestation with as many of their clique going un-devoured as possible until the helicopter arrived to rescue them. In addition, each group was given secondary aims, achievement of which was also taken into account when deciding a winner. These were usually subtle ways that their group could 'improve' the school or take petty vengeance on another clique. For example, two groups were racing to reach the school hamster, but one group intended to rescue it, whilst the other planned to flush it down the bogs.

In each classroom that the players entered, they were presented with a list of items that they found in that room. These ranged anywhere from the mundane, such as textbooks, to the antique hunting rifle which the geography teacher kept above his classroom door. They could make use of whatever they found in the classrooms, and carry a limited store of weapons with them for fighting Zombies.

Aside from the Zombies, the main threat to the players was the teachers (definitely not in any way based upon any of my old teachers...) who were inexplicably immune to the Zombies. Suggestions that this is the result of form of kinship have gone unconfirmed. These continued to roam the school heedless of the threat to the students, confiscating their weapons, pelting them with basketballs and generally making a nuisance of themselves.

The main aim, in designing the game, was to build in as much opportunity for player creativity as possible. If they wanted to leave all the gas on in the Chemistry lab, and light a match, then we tried to game for it. In one game that meant half the school was on fire by the time the helicopter arrived.

This time out, I'm looking to make a few under-the-hood tweaks, but the main difference will be a new scenario. At a bare minimum, I can promise you a different school map and some new secondary objectives for the different cliques. However, I've got a vague hope of basing this game in a completely different social setting, with completely different participating groups. We'll see if inspiration hits and I can come up with something. Even if not, you won't be playing exactly the same game as last time!

So, once again, please sign up for the Doodle, take a look at the forum thread for the previous game, linked below, and if anyone has any suggested tweaks from the last game, or has an idea for the setting of the forthcoming game, please feel free to let me know!

https://kriegsspiel.forumotion.net/t341-uk-september-2012-k-spiel

Hi all,

Just a reminder that Zombie Kriegsspiel is going ahead on Sunday 8th September. If anyone is intending to come along, but hasn't signed up yet, please do sign up via the doodle link: http://doodle.com/y6vcnmt3fngku8xh

As always, clarity on the numbers involved helps with a smoother game.

Much appreciated!

Phil

Looks like we have 9 or 10 for this one on Sunday.

Are you covering beverages, Diggers?

Martin

I very much enjoyed the zombies game yesterday - good and fast updates that gave us a chance to explore the school while trying to dodge roaming mobs of zombies - or worse, Mr Giteau (who was kind enough to disarm one or two teams of studients while they were under zombie attack!
 
I did notice that despite the best of intentions nobody actually enforced the 'frozen in terror' rules which meant that even with the quick turns we had I gathered that both games were brought to a halt when we ran out of time, rather than when the designer intended.

The processing system was elegant and fast, and I enjoyed there being the coded system for the combats.

Although I do agree that in most cases the 'unlucky' results would have casualties on both sides rather than only the humans falling - as Phil house-ruled on the day.

Yes, another couple of excellent games.  In the first we had the Prefects, the Truants, the Rebels and the Japanese Exchange Students.  Sadly, less than half of the students got away in the rescue helicopter.  But on the plus side, a third of the school was burnt down  .
 
The second game featured the Jocks, the Bullies, the Cheerleaders and the Nerds.  Surprisingly the Nerds went into an early lead in terms of killed zombies, being re-named the ‘Death or Glory Nerds’.  But quality will out, and they were eventually overtaken by a couple of the other cliques, notably the Bullies.  There was much skulduggery from the Cheerleaders, who suggested working with the Nerds, but then managed to destroy their special science project, an object of hatred ever since chemicals had been spilled on a much-loved prom dress.  The Jocks recreated Custer’s Last Stand in one of the playgrounds, all but their leader being annihilated in an epic zombie encounter lasting several minutes.  By the end of the game there were heaps of dead zombies everywhere, and the various cliques all earned a we'll-deserved place on the helicopter.
 
Mr Giteau, the officious deputy head, is a great character.  Applying school rules, regardless of circumstances.  I think one of the cliques did away with him in one of the games.  I cannot remember who, but all credit to them!
 
Like Justin I thought the laptop-based combat resolution was very slick, and would like to use something similar in our Wolf’s Lair game in 2014.
 
Martin (J)

Martin wrote:Mr Giteau, the officious deputy head, is a great character. Applying school rules, regardless of circumstances. I think one of the cliques did away with him in one of the games. I cannot remember who, but all credit to them!

*dons my Cluedo hat*

It was the Bullies... in the corridor outside the Art Room... with the steel bars!

Khryses wrote:It was the Bullies... in the corridor outside the Art Room... with the steel bars!

Well-played, Megan.