Extra Spawn cards/minis and Extra Activations questions ?

[Zackspacks]

Hi all
Received this the game this week, started playing it, and very impressed ! Anyways, thought I would ask you folks some questions.

The Abomination pack comes with some extra figures and cards. I just added them into the mix, and played the tutorial, then scenario #1, which ended quite quickly and horrifically. Due to opening the huge top right building on orange / not tooling up in the centre. Despite, the fact my tactics were all wrong,( ie opening up as many doors on blue ) I am wondering if I am actually making things harder than they should be. So, I would appreciate your thoughts on:
1) Should the extra small Spawn deck be used for the scenarios ? I just shuffled it in there.
2) Should the extra tray of minis be used ? I am guessing yes, but then wondered if this stops the extra activation turn for lack of minis, and makes the game easier ?

3) Spawn Phase 3: ( Going around the board ) Extra Activation For Runner Card - a card turns up for this, but no runners are on the board. I then turn up a Runner for the next spawn zone.
i) Does this Runner get the benefit of the Extra Activation ?
ii) If I had turned up the Runner in the first spawn zone, then turned up the Extra Activation Runner Card, would the Runner have benefited ?
iii) Any new Runners turning up this turn do not benefit from the extra activation.

For the record, I was applying version (i). Rereading the rules, I am wondering if (iii) is the answer.

4) Similar question, but with regards to the 'lack of minis' activation. Each time there is a lack of minis, say Walkers, and a Walker spawn is called for, do they get an extra activation per spawn card requiring their presence on the board ?

5) The Abomination - gets torched, goes down, then in the Spawn Phase, another is called for. I think that only one is allowed on the board at once, and thus it reappears ? I then wondered if it was one per game, but doubt this ?

6) Once you discard an item from your Inventory, I think it goes on the discard pile and is lost forever ?

7) Picking up the Red/Blue/Green Cross tokens. Do these take an action to collect ? I have been playing that they take a Search action to grab, as they are supposed to be something. Not sure if this is the case though. If not, and they are autopickup, can you opt to NOT pick one up ( as it could move you into a higher danger threshold ? )

Cheers guys
Z

 

[Scorpion0x17]

Hi all
Received this the game this week, started playing it, and very impressed ! Anyways, thought I would ask you folks some questions.

The Abomination pack comes with some extra figures and cards. I just added them into the mix, and played the tutorial, then scenario #1, which ended quite quickly and horrifically. Due to opening the huge top right building on orange / not tooling up in the centre. Despite, the fact my tactics were all wrong,( ie opening up as many doors on blue ) I am wondering if I am actually making things harder than they should be. So, I would appreciate your thoughts on:
1) Should the extra small Spawn deck be used for the scenarios ? I just shuffled it in there.
2) Should the extra tray of minis be used ? I am guessing yes, but then wondered if this stops the extra activation turn for lack of minis, and makes the game easier ?

There are 4 choices:
(i) Just base game minis and card.
(ii) Base game minis + extra minis, base cards.
(iii) Base game minis, base cards + extra cards.
(iv) Base game minis + extra minis, base cards + extra cards.

If (i) is 'standard' difficulty, (ii) is 'easy', (iii) is 'expert', and (iv) is 'hard'.

3) Spawn Phase 3: ( Going around the board ) Extra Activation For Runner Card - a card turns up for this, but no runners are on the board. I then turn up a Runner for the next spawn zone.
i) Does this Runner get the benefit of the Extra Activation ?
ii) If I had turned up the Runner in the first spawn zone, then turned up the Extra Activation Runner Card, would the Runner have benefited ?
iii) Any new Runners turning up this turn do not benefit from the extra activation.

For the record, I was applying version (i). Rereading the rules, I am wondering if (iii) is the answer.

(ii) is the answer.

4) Similar question, but with regards to the 'lack of minis' activation. Each time there is a lack of minis, say Walkers, and a Walker spawn is called for, do they get an extra activation per spawn card requiring their presence on the board ?

Yes.

5) The Abomination - gets torched, goes down, then in the Spawn Phase, another is called for. I think that only one is allowed on the board at once, and thus it reappears ? I then wondered if it was one per game, but doubt this ?

The way I read the rules on this is '1 on the board at any one time', not 1 per game.

6) Once you discard an item from your Inventory, I think it goes on the discard pile and is lost forever ?

Some play that once the equipment deck runs out, you re-shuffle the equipment discard pile.

7) Picking up the Red/Blue/Green Cross tokens. Do these take an action to collect ? I have been playing that they take a Search action to grab, as they are supposed to be something. Not sure if this is the case though. If not, and they are autopickup, can you opt to NOT pick one up ( as it could move you into a higher danger threshold ? )

This one's easy because it is in the rulebook! It takes an action to collect an objective token.

(apart from the last one, and the Abomination question, I think, these are all 'imo', because they are not covered explicitly in the rules - if you wish, add a post to my Questions for Guillotine Games thread...)

 

[Droganis]

Scorp has it right, although to be more explicit on 3:
In order, resolve cards. an extra activation of one type when none is on the board is a cause for joys for the survivors, for nothing happens! If those minis had just spawned from a previous card, they're on the board, so benefit. If they spawn AFTER that card, they missed out (lucky survivors again)

Hope you're enjoying your zombie slaying!

 

[Jimmy35]

Just to make sure I am playing it correctly, when the Fatty Extra Activations card comes out, only the Fatty's go, and thus actually splits them up from their bodyguard?

 

[Droganis]

Just to make sure I am playing it correctly, when the Fatty Extra Activations card comes out, only the Fatty's go, and thus actually splits them up from their bodyguard?

Correct.

Huh. Need to write more. Ok, then... I wonder if they'll add in more 2 damage ranged weapons? Right now it's just the shotgun (and Ma's) so the bodyguard zombies aren't all that effective for screening said fatty...

 

[Niranth]

Right now it's just the shotgun (and Ma's) so the bodyguard zombies aren't all that effective for screening said fatty...

I'm not following you.

 

[Droganis]

I'm not following you.

Zombies in front of a fatty soak bullets from ranged combat, but not melee. So, other than stopping shotgun bullets form killing off the fatties, the walkers are just there to be extra... zombies, for lack of a better term. As opposed to if using ranged weapons to kill fatties was more normal, then the walkers would be better actual meat shields.

 

[Niranth]

I didn't think of them as bodyguards - I've thought of them as a group of four walkers, just one was extra hungry and the other didn't get out of the way fast enough.

 

[Zackspacks]

Thanks Scorp and Dragonis, that makes it clear. I will add the 'IMO' questions to your thread too. This does of course make two aspects of the game, potentially quite critical
a) Order in which you draw cards to populate a building
b) Order in which you draw spawn cards in phase 3
Learning to card count the yellow deck will help too !
Cheers
Z

 

[DBC]

There are 4 choices:
(i) Just base game minis and card.
(ii) Base game minis + extra minis, base cards.
(iii) Base game minis, base cards + extra cards.
(iv) Base game minis + extra minis, base cards + extra cards.

If (i) is 'standard' difficulty, (ii) is 'easy', (iii) is 'expert', and (iv) is 'hard'.

While the extra cards makes walkers appear in larger numbers, they also dillute the deck in regards to extra activations, sewer movement and runner/fatty/abomination spawns.
Are the extra walkers really adding that much to the difficulty?

 

[Scorpion0x17]

While the extra cards makes walkers appear in larger numbers, they also dillute the deck in regards to extra activations, sewer movement and runner/fatty/abomination spawns.
Are the extra walkers really adding that much to the difficulty?

tbh, I haven't run the numbers, or played often enough with the different variations, to be absolutely sure, and was going more off what others who have played the different variations more than me have said, and from that, it seems that with the extra cards, but not the extra minis, you end up drawing a higher percentage of walker spawns, so walkers run out quicker, and it's that that tends to kill you, from what's been said.

YMMV.

 

[DBC]

Yes, running out of walkers seems to be what could potentially increase the difficulty.
I just worry that the extra cards dillute the deck for all the other nasty situations that can normally arrive, making the game actually more easy. After all, walkers are the first ones to fall when under fire.
But there are a lot of variables in the game and it will probably take a long time before a concensus is reached. I was just surprised to find only walkers in the deck and no information from the designers about how to implement the cards (as far as I know...).

 

[Scorpion0x17]

I was just surprised to find only walkers in the deck and no information from the designers about how to implement the cards (as far as I know...).

There's nothing specific on how to use them, however, during the Kickstarter campaign they were described as being "Walk of the Dead. Classic Romero-esque Horror!" - I think the implication there being that one can use them as a stand-alone zombie spawn deck, so that you only ever get walkers spawning.

(which is an option I think I forgot to mention when I answered the OPs questions)

 

[Zackspacks]

Scorp has it right, although to be more explicit on 3:
In order, resolve cards. an extra activation of one type when none is on the board is a cause for joys for the survivors, for nothing happens! If those minis had just spawned from a previous card, they're on the board, so benefit. If they spawn AFTER that card, they missed out (lucky survivors again)

Hope you're enjoying your zombie slaying!

Guys, although I have been doing this, is this an official rule, or just something people are generally agreeing on ? I am wondering if the extra activation during the building population phase has actually been thought through ? Cheers, Z

 

[Jimmy35]

The rules state to point at a room then populate it, one by one, if the card says 'All runner get an extra activation' and there are no runners at the time that card is drawn, it is ignored.

Myself, I typically place cards on all the rooms moving clockwise from the door I opened, then I grab the mini tray and start filling them in, room by room, with extra activations taking place at the time I get to the room with the card.

 

[Scorpion0x17]

The rules state to point at a room then populate it, one by one...

That (in bold) for me is the key part - you point to a room, you populate it, then you move on to the next room. And the extra activation cards apply to all zombies of the given type, that are on the board, whether they appeared two seconds ago, two turns ago, or whenever, if they're on the board, they're on the board, and they get 'reactivated'.

 

[Jimmy35]

Thanks for the better words Scorp, it was too early in the morning and my words weren't working properly yet

 

[Zackspacks]

Cheers guys, much appreciated