Some good news for the future

I mentioned last month that I was going to go do some gaming in Phoenix. That went really well. I got the chance to meet some new gamers and play some fun games of Starship Troopers.

Now the same fellow and I are beginning to plan for our next gaming day. What's on the menu? Why the zombie game evolved from Starship Troopers of course, Apocalypse-Z.
I have already begun making a zombie army list. This will give me an idea of what I need to get painted, though the odds of me getting even a fraction of it painted in time are slim to none. But incase you missed it, playing with unpainted models is fine with me, and after our previous games, I noticed that these fellows don't care much either.

So on to the baddies...
After reading through the differant zombie types in the book I find myself leaning more towards the standard Zombie Hordes (normal classic type Zeds) then the more special types. Though I do really like the Bile Zombies and Plague Zombies.

Bile Zombies are good as they give the hordes a bit of ranged combat. Not really fitting with what I consider Zombie Lore. But a needed asset in a war based setting (as a opposed to a survivalist based setting, such as All Things Zombie). Though the range of only 6" doesn't mean a whole lot when compared to the 24" range of most of the guns carried by the humans.

Plague Zombies on the other hand are really just regular zombies that have increased odds of infecting humans that come into contact with them. So these lend well to the classic feel I am trying to stick with.

Now there is one major exception to my theme list. The zombies have a leader model called an Overlord. These are the original scientists who worked on both the drug that caused the zombie outbreak and also tried to make a cure. After testing the cure on themselves they became super zombies. They have loads of mental and physical mutations. They can control other zombies around them and can even summon more zombies to help. With this guy I am a little confused. You are allowed a maximum of one of these per army, I get that. But what I don't understand is if you HAVE to have one in your force. They are listed as "Rarity: 1 per army". Anyways, I have opted to include one, so I am covered if he is required. He doesn't really fit with the theme I have, but it might be nice to have a powerhouse figure lurking in the shadows.

Other figures I thought to include, but didn't.
There are a select few zombies that retain enough of their minds to still use weapons. These are Soldier Zombies and Zombie Super Soldier. First off are the Soldier Zombies. I sort of like the idea of zombies with guns... but have a couple problems with the unit. Reason one I didn't include them is they didn't fit my theme. But the bigger reason is the weapons they carry. For whatever reason these soldiers didn't die with any rifles. They all carry pistols (except the "NCO" who has a shotgun). This to me seems odd. And well the pistols only have a 10" range. Compared to the Bile Zombies who have a shorter range, but much more deadly attack for 3 points cheaper... yeah give me the Bile Zombies please.

The Zombie Super Soldier now, here is a figure I love. He is straight out of the Resident Evil games. A huge zombie monster with the options for a Rocket Launcher or a Chain gun (by the way, he is allowed to have both at the same time but can only fire one or the other each turn). Unlike the Zombie Soldiers this one interests me just due to my love of the Resident Evil games. I am thinking of ways to make this figure for my collection. I may start shopping around for figures once I have settled into the new house.

The other zombie types didn't do much for me, though some are kinda interesting.
The hounds, monkeys, and bats... well I see where they have places in the wargame aspect of the game. I am just not that interested in them. There is also a Zombie Beast, this is for zombifiying larger animals (bears, rhinos, etc). I could see some fun in this, but with the options for the Overlord, Super Soldier, and Abomination I don't think it is really needed.
Now the Zombie Abomination, here is another video game classic. Dude shakes... dude screams... dude's chest and back explode with monsterous limbs. Usually a mid level boss character. Here it makes a great enforcer type baddie. I would certainly think about including one of these someday... after I have my Super Soldier that is.

Anyways, after my ramblings there... here is my list (note that this is a "work in progress" list and is subject to change when something else catches my fancy).

6 x Zombie Hordes of 20 zombies each = 1200 points
2 x Bile Zombie units of 10 zombies each = 240 points
3 x Plague Zombie units of 10 zombies each = 360
1 Zombie Overlord with Acid Blood, Agile, Bile Spit, Crushing Attacks, Extra Attacks x2, Nimble, Pounce, Powerful Attacks, Quick, Tough, Call Of the Flesh, and Command Undead = 200 points
Total = 1200 + 240 + 200 + 360 = 2000

This ranks up as sort of a minimal list, there are just enough Zombie Hordes to allow the units of Bile and Plague zombies. But all the units are expanded to maximum size. The Overlord on the other hand is rather over the top. I went all out and spent all his allowed points on mutation upgrades. This makes him incredible in close combat, but very expensive. Ten percent of the army total in a single model... but then again he is way less then half the cost if the human army fields a Abrams tank (570 points).
I might go back and do some fiddling (truth is, I know I will fiddle with it) and try to work some Brute Zombies into the hordes (Brutes are normal zombes that get 2 attacks instead of 1 and get two hit points instead of 1 but cost 20 points each rather then 10 points each).