The Quarantine Blues

[Brother Tyler]

Is self-isolation getting you down? Well at least you don't live in the Imperium of Mankind. On a hive world. That is overrun with Plague Zombies.

Here's a little solo scenario you can play if you have Space Hulk (or a lot of gumption). It's still a work in progress, so I'm sure feedback from other hobbyists will help make it better.

The hive world of Demaras Tertius is gripped by terror as a mysterious pandemic sweeps through the hives. None know how it started, with rumors ranging from a virus brought by a visiting rogue trader ship to cults worshipping dark powers to experiments by less savory noble houses. The victims of the plague fall ill for several days, sometimes only hours, before they succumb to fever and die. Then they rise again to eat the flesh of the living. All the efforts of the planetary leaders to defeat the pandemic have failed and order is given for everyone to shelter in place. You are the lone survivor of a band of hivers from deep within the hive. You salvaged what you could from the corpses of your compatriots, but you are down to your pistol, one spare magazine, your combat knife, and your armour. Caught within the underhive, you must make your way through zombie-infested levels if you hope to avoid becoming one of the unliving.

This mission is designed to be played solo, with the Plague Zombies and blips performing pre-scripted actions. If you have an opponent available, this can be a two-player game.

FORCES & DEPLOYMENT

Survivor: The Survivor player has a single model at either one of the starting points indicated on the map.

Plague Zombies: The Plague Zombies start with 4 blips at the starting points indicated on the map. In addition, four unidentified contacts are placed on the spaces indicated on the map, marking them to identify that they are not Plague Zombies. The Plague Zombies will receive one reinforcement blip each turn until the Survivor crosses Danger Trigger A, after which the Plague Zombies will receive two reinforcement blips each turn. Roll 2D6 for each reinforcement blip, bringing the blip into play at the Plague Zombie entry area with that number.

Place an objective marker on each of the points indicated on the map.

SPECIAL RULES

Mindless Dead: Blips that start on the map or which enter as reinforcements are unaware and will act in a limited manner each turn. When a Plague Zombie or blip becomes Aware of the Survivor, they will act as normal. Plague Zombies and blips that are Aware should be indicated with a marker. Refer to the rules for each game system.

The Outbreak Just Started: When blips are converted, any that have a “3” are counted as having a “1.”

Don’t Make a Sound!: Any noise will alert the Plague Zombies to the Survivor’s presence. The Survivor accrues 1 Noise token each time they move more than 3 spaces or open/close a door. If the Survivor uses a weapon, 1 Noise token is accrued for each D6 die rolled To Hit. At the end of the turn, add all of the Noise tokens. Roll 1D6 for each unaware Plague Zombie or blip that is on the table. If the result is equal to or lower than the total number of Noise tokens the Survivor accrued that turn, that Plague Zombie or blip becomes aware. In addition, roll 1D6 to see if other Plague Zombies are alerted. The Plague Zombies will receive double the normal number of reinforcements the next turn if the result is less than or equal to the total number of Noise tokens the Survivor accrued that turn. The additional reinforcements will automatically enter the board at the Plague Zombie entry area that is closest to the Survivor, and they will enter the map Aware.

Shoot Them in the Head: Each time the Survivor kills a Plague Zombie, accrue a Kill token. For every three Kill tokens the Survivor accrues, the odds of the Survivor making a headshot against a Plague Zombie is improved by 1, to a maximum of +3.

Limited Ammunition: The Survivor has limited ammunition. The Survivor starts with a combat knife, an autopistol with 15 rounds, plus an autopistol reload of 15 more rounds. Each time a ranged weapon is used, expend ammunition equal to the number of shots fired. A weapon may not be used once all of its ammunition is expended unless the Survivor uses the appropriate reload.

Caches: Various caches are scattered throughout the map. A Survivor may open a cache if they are in a space adjacent to the space in which the cache is located. Roll 1D6 and consult the chart below for the result.

• Autopistol reload (full)
• Autopistol reload (2D6-1 rounds)
• Autopistol reload (1D6 rounds)
• Nothing useful
• Shotgun reload (1D6 shells)
• Shotgun with full ammunition

Unidentified Contacts: You can detect the presence of others that might not be Plague Zombies. When you get line of sight to an Unidentified Contact marker, roll 1D6 and consult the chart below for the result.

• Plague zombies devouring a corpse – convert 2 blips
• Plague zombies devouring a corpse – convert a blip
• 1 Plague zombie
• Terrified citizen – they run away
• Corpse – nothing useful
• Corpse with a cache – if result includes a weapon or reload, only has 1D6 rounds/shells

Plague Virus: If the Survivor successfully leaves the map via the Survivor exit point at the end of the game, roll a D6. If the result is less than or equal to the total number of Infected tokens they have accrued, the Survivor has been infected by the plague virus and will eventually become a Plague Zombie.

VICTORY

The Survivor player wins if the Survivor escapes the map at the Survivor exit point without becoming infected. Any other result is a loss.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• 1 Survivor mini (I'm using an old Space Marine Scout with bolt pistol and close combat weapon, but you can use any similarly armed model such as a ganger from Necromunda, an Astra Militarum trooper with a laspistol and close combat weapon, etc.).
• A bunch of zombie miniatures (20+, the more, the better). If you don't have Games Workshop zombie miniatures, and 25-32mm zombie miniatures from other manufacturers/games (such as Zombicide) should work just fine. Alternately, you can just use some sort of markers or standees for the zombies.
• 15x Tokens or markers to keep track of ammunition.
• 8x Tokens or markers to keep track of ammunition (just in case you find a shotgun).
• 6x Tokens or markers to keep track of noise.
• 20x Tokens or markers to identify Plague Zombies or blips that are unaware.
• 9x Tokens or markers to keep track of the number of Plague Zombies you kill.
• 4x Tokens or markers to keep track of pistol reloads.
• 4x Tokens or markers to keep track of shotgun reloads.
• 2x Cards, 1 for if you have a chainsword, 1 for if you have a shotgun.

You don't need all of the tokens/markers. You could easily just keep notes on a sheet of paper. I'm working on a tracker like the Mission Status Display in Space Hulk to remove the need for all of the tokens/markers. I'll make that available for download once I get it ready.

The map is pretty big, so it's in the HIDDEN tags.

Hidden Content

I'm assuming that anyone playing this has 3rd/4th edition Space Hulk and is familiar with the rules, so all I'll present below are the differences that apply here. I'm working on a full rulebook for this, but that's taking some time to do.

If it's not mentioned here, assume that it works exactly as it's described in the Space Hulk rules.

• The Survivor can search a cache for 1 AP. (I really should add this to the Reference Sheet.)
• Blips do have facing. I use the small circle on the blip as the direction indicator. This is important because Unaware blips have to be able to draw line of sight to the Survivor in order to become Aware.
• Plague Zombies and blips that are Unaware become Aware if they can draw line of sight to the Survivor or if a noise check makes them aware of the Survivor.
• Blips don't lurk outside a Plague Zombie Entry Area. They move onto the board for 1 AP (and may continue moving or take other actions if they have more APs).
• If the Survivor wins in Close Assault, the Plague Zombie isn't killed unless the Survivor player rolled at least one 6 (getting into Close Assault with Plague Zombies isn't a good idea unless you know what you're doing).

Here's the reference sheet with the APs and attack data:

Hidden Content

You should be able to play with everything above. If there's anything I missed, or if anything is screwed up, please let me know so that I can fix it above and in the Rulebook/Scenario Book.

Happy Zombie Hunting!

[Lysimachus]

Looks like great fun!!!

 

A few questions (if these are covered in Space Hulk, ignore me! I have played it but was quite a while ago!)

 

What is difference in actions between Unaware and Aware? (Assuming random direction for Unaware, as directly as possible towards Survivor for Aware?)

 

What difference does making a headshot make?

 

Chainsword is mentioned several times, but no way to get one? Should this be an alternative to a shotgun in a cache?

 

What are Infected tokens and how do you get them?

[Brother Tyler]

Unaware Zombies/blips are just wandering around, whereas aware Zombies/blips know that the Survivor is there and are actively chasing after them. The difference in game terms is that unaware move slower than aware (otherwise I had to come up with random movement decisions and stuff that would bog down game play).

 

I think this is something I changed while composing all of that. Originally, if you "killed" a Zombie it had a chance to get back up [if you didn't get it in the head]. I simplified all of that in two ways. First, I made the chance of killing a Zombie lower (generally 6+, but a couple of weapons are better). Second, by representing the Survivor figuring out that you have to get them in the head, and calming down enough to do that, by the Shoot Them in the Head rule. Thematically, the Survivor will shoot for the body, with the occasional shot to the head. As they figure out that getting them in the head is what it takes to kill them, the Survivor will adjust their aim. In time, they can get the Plague Zombies in the head almost every time. My concern here is that I made the progression too rapid, but that's what playtesting is for.

 

Yes, the chainsword was originally one of the cache results. This will end up being a mini-campaign, though, so I moved it to later. Also, I wanted this scenario, the first, to focus on the desperation of the situation and the ammunition shortage, so I adjusted the caches to pistols and ammunition (or the occasional nothing).

 

D'oh! Infected tokens are something I wrote into the rulebook and forgot weren't on the scenario sheet.

 

A Plague Zombie only kills a Survivor if they win the Close Assault and roll a 6. If they don't roll a 6, the Survivor gets an Infected token. I'll probably move that over to the status board so that you just move a single token on a track (just like the noise tokens and the kill tokens).

[Brother Tyler]

Also, an extension of this will be guidelines to play the game using Kill Team, Necromunda, and Warhammer 40,000 rules. But I also plan actual mini-campaigns for those systems, too, all in the "Hive of the Dead" series.