Zombie Vixens!

...in which I give a realistic look at Wargames Factory's "new" zombie girls, know as Zombie Vixens!
http://wargamesfactory.com/webstore/dark-futures/zombie-vixens

One gripe I have heard in a couple of places is that they are Barbies.  I have a daughter, and 2 sisters, who have 3 daughters between, and one of the daughters has a daughter.  All have or had Barbies.  These figures ain't Barbies.  They are nowhere so developed, nor do they have ultra-tiny waists, incredibly long legs and gigantic heads.  They are all pretty well formed females.

First, let me explain how my zombies are painted.  They are primed in the cheapest grey primer I can get. They get skin painted in Reaper Pro Paint Ghoul grey.  Any exposed bones and teeth are painted in Ceramcoat Ivory.  Clothes are block painted.  Then they are washed with undiluted Windsor Newton Nut Brown ink.  When dry, the eyes are painted a soft yellow. They are dull-coated because the ink is shiny. I have over 100 zombies, and that's how they are all painted.

Why?  Zombies could be replaced in any game with coins, markers, what have you.  They are the mindless enemy; they are all the same, and want only one thing: to tear apart living humans apart, and Braaaiinns!

Now, on to pictures of the creatures themselves.

Here are the first six from the front.  We have the torso (and this head resembles Andrea from The Walking Dead) Suzy Homemaker, the cheerleader, the party girl, the executive, and the waitress.

And from the rear.
And more girls.

Here we have the bridesmaid, the surfer, the crawler, the crawler upright, the slip girl, and the jogger.

The crawler and the crawler upright are the same torso.
And here's the last torso, the one-footed girl.

Now you get 12 torsos per sprue, more heads than you can use, and lots of arms, and partial arms.

What do I like about these figures?  First, of course, the price.  They are well cast, and designed.  You can do a bit of difference by changing the arms and heads, like the following 2 photos.

Their poses are quite dynamic, and the faces are really good.  They come with 10 25mm bases per sprue, so you have to choose who you want to use.  They are not slotted bases.  You glue the feet to the base.  Patience.  The arms are quite thin.  I don't know how they will stand up to hard use.  Some of the arms and torsos and tiny joining areas.  There are a couple of purses (both the same) and 2 arms with shopping bags, and 2 with briefcases.

What don't I like about these figures?  The poses are so dynamic that it is difficult to make 3 figures different enough.  Since the minimum offer is 3 sprues, it could lead to problems.The evening dressed girl can only be a bridesmaid.  Why else would 3 girls be wearing the same strapless gown (lots of fun to watch catching the bouquet!).  By the by, that's why mine have that unflattering color of gown  The girl in the suit has limited applicable arms.

The surfer can be done as a girl in panties and bra; just don't use the arm with the floatie attached.  I would have preferred to have them made like the male zombies that were released a while back; with separate torsos and lower trunks.  I don't like the large bases, necessitated by the wide stance.  I have to use expensive Litko flexible steel bases to add them to my magnetic bases (all of my zombies are mounted on 3/4" washers).

So, overall, what do I think?  They are a good bargain at the price, but limited in their application.  Because I have so many zombies, I can disperse them in the crowd, so their sameness won't be apparent.  And with the same dress, different arms and heads, the bridesmaids can hunt like a pack!

TRUDY FINDS A CRIB!

It's been too long since I updated the former Miss Holly Wood's adventures.  So I decided that a romp in the countryside to find a safe house would be now Miss Trudy Holmes' new goal.

Seems she remembers an old desanctified mission way out on a dirt road, and hoped it was still available.
She and Myron drove the VW microbus and H2 close to the location, but out of earshot, and hopped out and walked up the road.

After their initial move of 8" up the road, Myron advised Trudy that they had zombies off to their left.

Turn 1: Humans 3, Zombies 1

Trudy and Myron move another 8" up the road, and Trudy takes a shot at the nearest zombie, and kills it.  The other zombies follow the humans.

The gunfire draws no zombies.  Since this is a rural area, they only appear on a die roll of "6".

Turn 2: Humans 1, Zombies 6

Trudy remembers that the mission had a stout gate, and heads in it's direction.  The zombies stall.

Turn 3: Humans 3, Zombies 1

Trudy moves to the gate and finds it locked.

Myron noticed an open window to their right, so they move to it, having been only 2" from the gate at the start of their activation.

The zombies have lost sight of the humans, so they continue towards the sound of gunfire.

Turn 4: Humans 5, Zombies 2

Trudy sends Myron through the window first, since he is only Rep 4, but can activate on Trudy's Rep of 5.  I decided that the building would have 2 sections in the main room, so they scan the main room and see no zombies nor humans.

The zombies continue on their current path.

Turn 5: Humans 2, Zombies 1

Trudy moves to the second section of the building, and sees no one and no zombies.

Myron searches the first section, and comes up with a set of house keys.  (no vehicles in this game, so keys need to be for something else.)

The zombies are confused, seeing no humans and hearing no gunfire.

Turn 6: Humans 1, Zombies 4

The zombies move to the sound of voices.

Trudy searchs her section and finds nothing.  Myron moves into the courtyard and sees another door.

Turn 7: Humans 4, Zombies 4

Trudy moves to back up Myron.  Myron moves to the door, finds it unlocked, and pulls it open.  The room is empty.

The zombies move to the window where they heard voices, but sense no one.

Turn 8: Humans 3, Zombies 5

Myron sees a ladder in the room and Trudy sends him up it while she searches the room and finds a crossbow!  When Myron reaches the top of the ladder, he sees 2 zombies and fires!  The one he hits doesn't even notice the bullet from his puny SMG, and he and the other one cahrge him.  Myron ties one zombie and kills the other in melee.

Firing attracts no new zombies.

Turn 9: Humans 2, Zombies 1

Trudy searches the visible courtyard and finds food!  Myron melees the remaining zombie, and kills him.  The 3 zombies in the road, maddened by the gunfire attack the gate.  Since it was so stout, and barred from the inside, I gave it a DV of 4.  The zombies would roll 1d6 each, and each success would lower the DV by 1.  They get one success, lowering the DV of the gate to 3.

(Myron and the zombie bodies are not on the roof.  It was more convenient to put them there.)

Turn 10:  Humans 2, Zombies 5
Trudy turns the corner in the courtyard, and sees a girl pointing a pistol.  Trudy adds her 2d6 for Charisma to her 5 for Rep.  The girl is a Rep 4 Ganger.  She is beaten by only one success, so she joins Trudy's gang only for the duration of the mission.  (So much for Charisma!)

Myron moves to the roof and finds it empty.

Turn 11: Humans 4, Zombies 2

Trudy searches this little section of courtyard and finds another Food.

Myron moves to the edge of the roof, and kills 2 of the zombies attempting to break down the gate.

Trudy sends the girl to watch the gate, in case the zombies break through.

The one remaing zombie claws at the gate, to no effect.

Turn 12:  Humeans 1, Zombies 6

Trudy fast moves to the gate, and has Myron throw her the keys.  She intends to investigate a building that Myron has seen to the rear of the mission.  The girl opens the gate on Turdy's command , and there's a zombie.  Both Trudy and the girl take an In Sight, and pass.  Trudy fires her semi-automatic rifle, and rolls two "1's".  Click, click, out of ammo.  The girl fires her BA pistol, and misses.

All this firing attracts no zombies.

Turn 13:  Humans 1, Zombies 3

There are no zombies.

Trudy backs up and reloads.  The girl fires and misses.

Myron fires and kills the zombie.

Once again, the gunfire attracts no zombies.

Turn 14: Humans 1, Zombies 3

There are no zombies.

Trudy and the girl move out of the gate, and come face-to-face with Charles Many, Rep 3 Survivor with a bolt-action rifle.  Trudy suceeds so well, even though she loses 2d6 for different philosophies, that Charles joins up.

Turn 15: Humans 6, Zombies 1

No zombies

Turn 16: Humans 5, Zombies 2

Trudy's group moves toward the building.

Turn 17:  Humans 5, Zombies 6

Trudy tells the girls to try the door.  It's locked, but Trudy's key fits the door.  Trudy and the girl enter the room to find a single zombie.  Trudy passes 2d6, the girl 1d6, and the zombie, 1d6 on the Zombie Surprise test.  Trudy fires and kills the zombie.

Trudy's fire attracts one zombie, in the woods to the left of the building.

Turn 18: Humans 6, Zombies 1

The zombie in the woods moves towards Charles, the only human he can see.

Turn 19: Humans 3, Zombies 1

Trudy searches the room and finds even more food!  Myron moves to the ladder to get down from the roof.  Charles fires at the zombie in the wood, and misses.  The zombie charges, and Charles kills him in melee.

Turn 19: Humans 2, Zombies 3

There are no zombies.  Trudy and the girls move into the back room, and face 2 Survivors, both male, a Rep 4 with an SMG, and a Rep 5 with a bolt-action rifle.  Trudy passes 1 more D6, so they join for the duration if the mission, but the mission is acheived, so they and the girl leave.

After the battle:  Trudy has gained her safe house, not to mention 3 supplies of food and a crossbow.  She has gained a gang member.  Myron advanced his Rep to 5, and gains the attribute Empathy. 

Keeping it together:  Trudy scored 6 successes.  Myron scored 3, and Charles scored none.  So everyone is fat and happy, and Trudy's group has increased to 3.

HOLLY FINDS A NEW FRIEND AND CHANGES HER NAME!

After losing her gang, Holly Wood decided to attempt to add some members, and find a better weapon.  She remembered an old, abandoned industrial area in the country, and drove her H2 near, and left it concealed, taking her keys and her pistol with her.

But Holly is no fool.



Turn 1:  Humans 4, Zombies 5

There are already 3 zombies creeping around the site, so Holly turns to the first building to the right and finds Obie, survivor, Rep 3, with a bolt-action rifle facing her.  Holly with her Rep5, ends up with 3 dice, 6, 2, 1 for 2 successes on the Meet & Greet table, and Obie with 1 die, a 6, for no successes.  Overwhelmed, he joins her gang.





Turn 2: Humans 2, Zombies 6

Holly and Obie search the room, and find Meds.

Turn 3: Humans 6, Zombies 4

The zombies advance, but are no danger yet.

Turn 4: Humans 3, Zombies 6

Holly and Obie move to the other room and meet Myron Frey, ganger, Rep 4, with a sub-machine gun.

After a long discussion, he joins the gang, too.  4 rounds of Meet & Greet, before it was decided in Holly's favor.

Turn 5: Humans 4, Zombies 3

They search the room and come up with a Luxury, and unopened bottle of Old Granddad.  Zombies amble.

Turn 6: Humans 4, Zombies 3

Holly leads the group out the front door, and fast moves, but the zombies catch up.

One charges Holly, who snapfires, hits, but has no effect.  Impact 1 pistol.  Holly takes him out by cracking his skull open with the pistol butt.

They ignore Myron (maybe it's the balaclava!) and another charges Obie, who snapfires, and misses!

Obie goes down, Out Of the Fight to the zombie!



All the firing bring 2 more zombies.

Turn 7: Humans 5, Zombies 3

Holly, being Holly, yells "Leave him!", and she and Myron sprint towards the VW Microbus behind the building.

A zombie charges Myron, who snapfires and misses with his SMG, but tears the zombie apart with his bare hands, 3 successes to the zombies none.  2 more zombies are attracted by the firing.

The zombies will feed on Obie for 2 turns.

Turn 8: Humans 4, Zombies 1

Holly opens the door of the microbus to find Bud Kravitz, Rep 5, with a semi-automatic rifle, and a sunglassed guy, also called Hollywood, Rep 3, with an assault rifle.  They are former soldiers, who are now gangers.  The Meet & Greet goes 5 rounds, before Holly gets them to join her for today only.

She offers to trade her pistol and the bottle of Old Grandad for the assault rifle.  Bud refuses.

Holly counters with the bottle of Old Granddad for the semi-auto rifle.  Bud can live with that, and the trade is made.  Bud takes the assault rifle from Hollywood for himself, leaving Hollywood unarmed,

Turn 9: Humans 6, Zombies 4

Zombie appears in the alley, and Bud and Hollywood see him, pass their In Sights, and fire, taking him out.  This causes 2 more zombies to be attracted.

Turn 10: Humans 1, Zombies 2

Holly sends Bud and Hollywood up the alley to their right, with a story that that's where she found the Old Granddad, and there might be more.  Meanwhile she and Myron get into the microbus, and find the keys in the ignition, start it up, and back up to get a way to drive it out.  This attracts 5 more zombies.



Turn 11: Humans 1, Zombies 5

Holly moves forward and runs over the first 2 zombies.  Bud and Hollywood run back towards where the vehicle was.

Turn 12:  Humans 1, Zombies 2

Zombies attack the front of the microbus, and get run over for their trouble.  Holly being Holly, is leaving Bud and Hollywood behind!

More zombies file down the alleyway, and Bud takes an In Sight, snapfires, and OD's one and knocks another down.





Holly moves 8" into the road, running over anothe zombie.  She makes all her tests.  Note that the microbus is accelerating very slowly.  I drove one in the '60's, and they're not too quick off the line.

The shooting and the motor produce another 4 zombies.

Turn 13: Humans 3, Zombies 5

Holly move 10" down the road.  Bud and Hollywood try to cross behind the buildings and catch them at the next turn.

Turn 14: Humans 3, Zombies 2

Holly moves the van forward, but she and Myron are both charged by zombies.  Both snapfirs ineffectively.  Holly dispatches hers in melee, but Myron and his zombie swat at one another to no avail.

Bud and Hollywood are charged by zombies.  Bud fires, taking 2 down.  Hollywood beats his in melee.

6 new zombies are attracted by all the firepower and the microbus' engine.

Turn 15:  Humans 1, Zombies 4

Holly moves 14".  Bud is stopped by an InSight agianst more zombies, snapfires and takes one down.

No new zombies are attracted.

Turn 16: Humans 3, Zombies 5

Holly guns the microbus, and gets out of town.  Bud and Hollywood decide to hightail it out directly across the board.

After the battle:

Holly and Myron search the back of the microbus and the trailer, and find a shotgun and a rifle.  Holly now has 2 rifles, a semi-auto rifle, a pistol, a shotgun, meds and an H2.  However, her encounter with another Hollywood, and her (probably) growing notoriety for leaving people to be eaten by zombies, and ditching one-day companions, have made her give her looks and name a second thought.

So, she decided to go back to her real name, Trudy Holmes, and change her look from bad-ass punk to tough pseudo-military type. (Actually, with all the weapons, I needed to use a different figure, but, hey, it sounds good!)

So here is the new gang, leader Trudy Holmes and follower, Myron Frey.





HOLLY WOOD NEEDS GAS!

You may remember that Holly and her gang managed to hot-wire a Hummer 2, one of America's top gas guzzlers.  Holly looked with alarm at the rapidly descending gas gauge, and announced "Hey guys, we need gas.  Any ideas?"

Sven spoke up. "There's a little gas station not far from here that might have some left.  It's back in the country, and old style."

"Show us the way, if you think you can find it!"

The H2 growls down the country road, and a gas station comes into view.

Turn 1:
7 zombies were on the board, and the H2 generated 3 more.

Turn 2: Humans 1, Zombies 2
The zombies shamble in 6".
Holly takes one out, Sven hits but  his Impact 1 machine pistol has no effect, and Al knocks one down!
All this firing generates 2 new zombies.

Turn 3: Humans 3, Zombies 2
Holly OD's another zombie, as does Sven.  Al misses.
A zombie charges Al, who snap fires, misses, and is OOF in melee.
A zombie charges Holly, who misses, but OD's him in melee.

Turn 4: Humans 4, Zombies 3
Holly splits her shots on 2 zombies, ODing one, and missing the other.  She then moves around the H2, takes an In Sight on the zombie that is so interested in Al, fires and hits him twice to no effect, charges him and OD's him.
Al moves forward and around the front of the H2, takes an In Sight, purs 2 bullets into a zombie to no effect!

A zombie charges Holly, who fires, hitting him once to no effect.  She takes him out in melee.
3 zombies charge Al, who OD's one, but the other 2 take Al OOF.

All this shooting generates 1 zombie.

Turn 5: Humans 3, Zombies 6
Holly moves around the H2, takes an In Sight on the zombies around Al, fires and missed, jumps in the H2, and fails to start it.


Turn 6:  Humans 3, Zombies 2
Holly jumps out the right side of the H2, and heads to the roadhouse.  More zombies move to Al and Sven.
Holly, showing her true ganger spirit, leaves them to their fate.

Turn 7:  Humans 2, Zombies 4
The door is locked, so Holly goes through the window, and comes face to face with Alf Landon, a Rep 4 survivor with a semi-automatic rifle.  They decide to join forces just to get out of this trouble.  The zombies feast on Al and Sven, but just for 1 activation.

Turn 8:  Humans 5, Zombies 3
Holly and Alf search the room and find a can of gas.
The zombies mill about.

 Turn 9:  Humans 4, Zombies 5
Holly and Alf enter the back room to find it empty of people.

Turn 10: Humans 2, Zombies 3
The zombies see no humans and hear no shots, so they mill about.
Holly and Alf search the back room and find a flash-bang grenade, which Alf takes.

Turn 11:  Humans 4, Zombies 1
Holly and Alf go out the back door to the shed and open the door.  There is a military man, Rep 3 with a semi-automatic rifle.  He decides to tag along until they get out of this mess.
The directionless zombies mill about.

Turn 12: Humans 6, Zombies1
In a boring repeat, the zombies mill about.

Turn 13:  Humans 3, Zombies 2
They search the hut and find nada.
Guess what the zombies do.

Turn 14: Humans 2, Zombies 6
Holly and team go to the other hut and pull the door open to find 2 zombies!  Zombie surprise!  Holly and Alf both beat the zombies, so Alf offs his, and Holly fires, puts 2 slugs into hers to no effect, and offs it in melee.

Turn 15: Humans 2, Zombies 5
They search the hut and find nothing.

Turn 16: Humans 4, Zombies 5
Holly fast moves to the van.

In the remaining two turns, Holly jumps in the van, starts it, and the guys go their separate ways.

Holly got no advancement, though she completed her mission successfully, killed zombies and didn't go OOF.  It's very plain that she needs to get a better weapon.  She has a bolt-action rifle, but that's pretty slow against zombies.  Her pistol just doesn't have the power to take out zombies in any kind of dependable way.
So far, in 2 adventures, Holly hasn't met a single ganger, and though she's a Rep 5 and overawes survivors and military so far, she hasn't go anyone to join.

Her new goals:  Get a new gang.  Get a better weapon.  Ditch the H2, or better still, barter it off for a better weapon.