The Rage Sets in ... (A fan-based zombie expansion)
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MERCS – So I've been reading Patient Zero and am really enjoying the book. Basically it involves a secret government agency trying to stop a terrorist plot to release a bio-engineered zombie plague on the world. Reading it got me to thinking about zombies in games and if there was anything that came close to recreating the feeling of the book. Unfortunately there's not really a game that caught my interest that does this in the way I want. There are plenty of good Weird War II games around and you can find zombies in just about every game system, but none of them have that 28 Days Later raging zombie which create a better challenge.
Couple that with the fact that I recently got a great deal on some fantastic zombies from studiominiatures.com as well as some neat modern zombies from the Chronoscope range, I really want a fun game to use them in.
After thinking about it and trying a few different things, I decided to modify the rules for an existing game to make what I wanted to do work. I chose to go with MERCS because I find the system to be fun and some of the mechanics can be used to represent zombies being shot up but not yet dead.
Using a variation on the Black Ops theme of the FCC I developed two different ways to incorporate zombies into your games of MERCS. The first is to use them as a team vs. another player, and the second is to add a random element to your game.
Zombie Master
Using this variation the zombie player picks (5) zombies for each MERC on their opponent's team. You can only ever have (5) of any type of zombie except Zombie Walkers which are unlimited. The game is played as normal with the zombies having access to their Personal Abilities.
Notes:
• Zombies can never Overwatch
• Zombies can not Snap to Cover
• Not "Dead" Yet – When a zombie loses it's last wound roll a D10 on a 7+ it remains with 1 Blood
• MERCS killed by a zombie return to the game as a Zombie Walker
Zombie Apocalypse
Using this variation the zombies are uncontrolled and lose access to their personal abilities. For every MERC on the table include 2-5 zombies. Zombies roll for initiative just like players. Players alternate activating zombies. Zombies must move towards the closest non-zombie model in LOS, if no model is in LOS roll a D10 and move the zombie in the direction of the tip of the dice.
Notes:
• Everytime a shot is fired move all zombies 1 card towards the shooter
• MERCS killed by a zombie return to the game as a Zombie Walker
• Not "Dead" Yet – When a zombie loses it's last wound roll a D10 on a 7+ it remains with 1 Blood
I mocked up some card for the variations on zombies that I could think of and they are available here.
This is in no way endorsed by the makers of MERCS and should be viewed as a parody. MERCS and the MERCS logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owner.
