Wild West Zombies

Tales of the Unexpected:
"Thar's ghouls in tham thar hills."

by Paul Grace

A Wild West Fantasy

Wild West skirmishing seems to be benefiting from a renaissance since the arrival of Mark Copplestone's excellent Guernsey Foundry figures (see reviews in back issues of LW) and Bryan Ansell's 'Rules With No Name'.

For many, myself included, our picture of the Wild West has been painted more by film directors like John Ford, Howard Hawkes or Sergio Leone than from the history books. The story of the real West is less 'heroic' although just as exciting and well worth researching. If your scenarios are inspired by the former i.e. Hollywood make-believe, then why not take the fantasy one step further and bring on the zombies ( a la George A. Romero's 'Night of the Living Dead' and 'Dawn of the Dead').… I cannot claim the original credit (blame?) for this idea - Shortly after producing the first draft for this article I chanced upon an advert for a set of role playing rules called 'The Weird West', although I have not seen a copy, I believe that undead gunfighters are catered for. [Yep! But my Dog Soldiers sorted them out!]

Zombies make ideal solitaire opponents as their movements and reactions are easily programmed. The basic zombie figure, dressed in rags, armed only with an improvised club, will fit into most periods from ancient to modern. A collection of thirty to forty generic zombies represents a relatively inexpensive and flexible source for a variety of skirmish games.

Here are just a few possibilities:

    The victims of the 'Black Death' start to rise from their plague pits - how would your seventeenth century militiaman handle the problem?
    A platoon of WW2 Germans find more than just partisans in the forests of Transylvania.
    In Vietnam, the use of chemical defoliants like Agent Orange have created mutations that rise up against a small undermanned US supply base.
    Seven samurai find themselves in a peasant village occupied by unpleasant evil spirits - sharpen your katanas gentlemen!

Below are my zombie solitaire amendments to Bryan Ansell's Rules With No Name (RWNN). The key amendment is that only head shots will destroy a zombie. They can easily be adapted for Kevin White's Western Gunfight Rules published in LW114 or Mitru Costea's Cowboy rules republished in L.W.114. - Although any 'card driven' skirmish rules can be adapted. Card Driven systems require each figure having a character card, a set of character type cards (e.g. gunman, citizen etc.) and a joker. The order of play is determined by drawing cards from this pack. When the joker is turned up, the pack is reshuffled. I've also included a scenario - the soloist plays the human side against the programmed zombies.

Have fun.

Zombies Out West: Amendments to 'The Rules With No Name' and other Wild West Skirmish Rules

More Wild West Zombies

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