Playing Zombie RV at Wargames Among the Warplanes

    My survivor Hank is mugged by three zombies in a back alley in a game of 'Zombie RV'

One of my friends on the Lead Adventure Forum, Bill from Dice, Doubloons & Random Musings, regularly attends an upstate New York show called Wargames Among the Warplanes. It is put on by a local group of miniature gamers at the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo, NY. I told him that I really wanted to make it up there for one of the shows. I enthusiastically support efforts to get our miniature wargaming hobby in front of the public at historical sites. I mentioned it to Jenny, and we decided to combine the show with a long weekend of hiking in the Finger Lakes region.

    Bill assists Jenny as he runs back-to-back sessions of Zombie RV on his amazing tabletop

We arrived early and met the show's main organizer, Boe, who'd requested that I bring him a copy of Surviving 'Nam (and autograph it for him...ha, ha). We looked around for about 45 minutes and then wandered over to where Bill was setting up his game of Zombie RV. I remarked that I hadn't played it in a l-o-n-g time (ever since I stopped running it for the Sunday Night Gaming group because...well, if you know, you know...ha, ha!). Jenny and I had signed up for it when we arrived, along with one other attendee. Bill gave us each two survivors (exactly how I would run it at conventions), and had us each start in our own corner of the 2'x2' board. It was supposed to be cooperative -- no survivors shooting each other -- but other than that, it was every survivor group for itself!

    Bill makes cards for his survivor characters, too, with a large picture of the figure on the back

I decided to have my two survivors, Big George and Hank, stick together and make sure they didn't get separated and overwhelmed individually by zombies. We sprinted over to the Pawn Shop, first. Big George opened the door and immediately found some useful supplies. Hank covered the rear to ensure no zombies were sneaking up on them. They moved to the shop's back door, forced it open, and were in a small back alley which had three buildings (with back doors) adjacent. Big George moved quickly (for his bulk) to the next shop, and was able to force open the back door. Once again, he found the supplies rather quickly and was ready to move on to the next location. Unfortunately, he heard Hank calling that they had company and to hurry up!

    Street level view of Bill's awesome setup: quiet now, but the zombies will show up soon!

Bill uses a similar zombie spawning method that I do. Each turn, there is a chance they will spawn on a random board edge instead of the central dumpster fire (a very cool Bad Goblin Games scatter terrain piece!). Wouldn't you know it, but three zombies showed up right in our back alley courtyard! Another was following Big George from the shop, and another group was closing in from a different alley way. My survivors decided to attack the two zombies blocking their way back to the Pawn Shop's back door. The plan was to hurry through that back to their card and skedaddle. Now, in Zombie RV, the odds are heavily weighted in favor of the survivors. On a 5-6 on 1d6, Hank and his friend would splatter the zombie they were in melee with. On a 4, they'd push it back 2d3 inches. In return, they could be hit by the zombies only on their activation and by a 6 on 1d6.

    Big George opens the Pawn Shop door, while Hank keeps an eye out for zombies in the 1st game

Bill had joked earlier, asking if he'd see the famed Mike D bad luck in rolling dice during the game. So far, things had gone smoothly, as Big George made his rolls to force open doors on his first try and found the supplies right away. Plus, we had the percentages on our side: two, big beefy survivors against a couple scrawny zombies. What could go wrong? Of course, I rolled two misses on my attacks! And then Bill rolled for the zombies. Big George was hit with a natural 6! G'ah!! I rolled my "grit" roll (to ignore the damage) and actually rolled the necessary 6! Hey, maybe Bill wouldn't see my famously bad dice rolling! Bill rolled for the other zombie to attack Hank, but it missed. Whew!

Exiting through the Pawn Shop's back door, Hank & George move on to the next building in the alley

On my next turn, I had a decision to make. Attack the zombies with my first action and then run away with my second or just bolt and run. I figured that if we stuck around, the other zombies coming would swarm us on their turn. Fight or run? They would get an attack as we turned our back, but remember -- they hit only on 6's. Big George and Hank decided to run. Bill rolled his attack on Big George: another 6! I tried to repeat my successful Grit roll and failed. Bill rolled for damage. On a 1-3 the survivor suffered a wound but no other adverse effect. On a 5-6, they were wounded knocked down, and on a 6 they were dead. Guess what?? Bill rolled yet another six! Big George became a Happy Meal for a tiny girl zombie in pink bunny slippers! Bill then rolled for the zombie getting his free strike at Hank as he turned to run. Another 6 -- Bill's third in a row (not counting the one last turn). Of course, I failed Hank's grit roll (which was his special ability, succeeding on a 5-6 instead of just 6). Bill then rolled for damage. Does anyone even doubt what Bill rolled next? Yup, his fourth 6 in a row! Just in case you're counting, that is a 1 in more than a thousand chance!!

    Each turn more zombies spawns in a randomly rolled location at Wargames Among the Warplanes

Bill felt so bad about it, he ruled as GM that the zombie had actually missed (nudge, nudge, wink, wink), and Hank was able to move his two actions away. Facing superhuman, 6-rolling zombies, Hank had no choice but to abandon poor Big George to be a big gorge for the victorious zombies. Well, that went south in a hurry! Of the three players, I was the only one to have a survivor die. And guess who was carrying on my supplies? Big George, of course! So, I could rename myself Big Loser after that game! 

    Slowly, inexorably, the zombies begin to surround & close in on three groups of survivors

As always, Zombie RV plays quickly. Bill suggested we play another round. Jenny and I were game. We took a quick break to watch one of the warbirds take off on the museum's C-47 Skytrain cargo planes in D-Day colors take off on the runway. Then, we were back at it for another game on Bill's amazing looking tabletop. I kept Hank, but drew Bobby -- a muscle shirt wearing character with a pistol and a Molotov cocktail in his pocket! I switched spots to enter on Jenny's corner, as she'd move to another one as well, for a change of scenery. 

    Hank & Big George decided to attack the zombies blocking their escape back through the Pawn Shop

Seeing how sticking together didn't work last time, Hank told his new partner to investigate the Donut Shop while he checked out the building they had parked near. Hank forced open the back door and dashed around, pulling a tarp off a suspicious looking lump at the end of the one of the aisles. He was shocked to find another survivor in a nurse's scrubs aiming a pistol at him. "Whoa, whoa!" he said, throwing up his hands. "I'm one of the good guys." She lowered her pistol, and said her name was Sandra, and she'd been hiding in the store for several hours waiting for the zombies outside to wander off. Hand helped her up and asked her to follow him, they'd meet up with his friend Bobby. 

Horde of zombies give chase to a survivor who tries to use the terrain to elude them

Bobby was just exiting the Donut Shop with a sack stuffed with what looked like "Long Johns" or "Bismarcks" -- cream-filled donuts. "Bobby, meet Sandra," Hand smiled. Through a mouthful of donut, Bobby said his hello. The three chuckled, and then froze in place. The unmistakable moaning of zombies preceded four of the undead -- one a huge, nasty-looking one -- rounding the corner and catching sight of them from very short distance. 

    In Game 2, Hank pulls up in his upgraded ride with a new partner, Bobby

Bobby tied the sack of donuts to his belt and pulled out his Zippo lighter. Producing a bottle with a cloth fuse, he lit it and tossed the Molotov Cocktail straight at the nasty zombie. There was an immediate WHOOSH! of flame and the monstrous zombie was engulfed. The puddle of liquid spread to where the two neighboring zombies were shuffling, but they continued to move forward. "You ain't gettin' my donuts, you bastards!" Bobby called, and then shifted position to where the zombies would have to come through the flames to get him. That seemed to work, as two more fell, their clothes and bodies catching fire rapidly. Bobby laughed. "Did you see that, Hank? First time I actually pitch one of those things and I get three strikes!" He looked back where the zombies were writhing on the asphalt, no longer moving forward.

    Hank checks out the Game Store, looking for supplies or something useful to scavenge

"Four," Hank smiled, pointing at the fourth zombie, who also entered the pool of fire and went down, burning. "Now, check out that last building and Sandra and I will guard your rear." Bobby pulled out his pistol and ran towards the final building in the back alley they'd planned to check out. Meanwhile, Sandra and Hank pointed out to each other clusters of zombies approaching from two sides -- drawn by the explosion of the Molotov cocktail. They took up positions and began firing with their pistols. After the success of the Molotov, the pistols seemed to have no effect on the zombies. I rolled miss after miss, counting at least six rolls in a row that were no higher than a "3." I was reminded of what I tell my friends in our Sunday Night Gaming club: "I don't have bad luck, I just have very streaky Good Luck and Bad Luck."

    Meanwhile, Bobby hits the jackpot finding two boxes of cream-filled 'Long John' donuts

Slowly, the zombies closed in on them. Panicked, Sandra darting away, one of the zombies following her. The other three zombies encircled Hank, who was slashing away with his machete and somehow holding them off. Sandra felt guilty, and ran back and tried to smash one of the zombies attacking him in the back of the head with her pistol. It distracted it enough that Hank's machete sliced its head off entirely. For good measure, he embedded it in the forehead of another zombie, that dropped to the ground. They heard gunfire as Bobby ran towards them. "I got the supplies -- let's go!" 

    'Bobby, meet Sandra' Hank introduces the terrified nurse he'd found hiding in the Game Store

Well, here I was again. Two survivors with a zombie in contact with each of them. Run, or fight? More zombies were steaming towards Hank's group, though. They would likely get overwhelmed if they stayed to fight. Surely, Bill couldn't roll two 6's again on Hank and Sandra if they sprinted for their vehicle? What are the odds? Yeah, yeah, I know the odds! I decided to move Sandra first. Bill rolled and missed -- she got away! Now, Hank. Bill rolled -- not a six!! Ha, ha -- my luck is truly streaky! The trio were able to outrace the zombies to their vehicle, turn the ignition, and peel out. That was close...!

    After dispatching zombies with his Molotov cocktail, Bobby moves on to investigate the 3rd store

I thanked Bill for running the game and giving me an opportunity to play Zombie RV, again. At times, the game seems "Easy" -- ordinary zombies hit survivors only on a 6. However, the rules lean heavily into the knowledge that sometimes players are going to roll badly. Jenny lost one of her survivors in the second game. So, neither mission was a cake, er, Donut walk. Each time, somebody didn't make it back to base. I had a lot of fun, especially in the second game. If you haven't played Zombie RV, feel free to click on this link which brings up all of my posts for ZRV. Scroll back and read some battle reports. For a free set of rules from David Bezio of Grey Area Games, it is a lot of fun! If it looks interesting, maybe also download the Campaign expansion I created with the author's input. They're also available free on RRB Minis & More's website. 

    Meanwhile, zombies are closing in on Sandra & Hank from several directions

It was great to meet Bill, finally. We have been reading and commenting on each other's wargaming blogs for more than a year. He's a great guy with lots of creative ideas. One that I am going to steal from him is to paint up zombie dogs as "Fast Zombies" for Zombie RV. I love the way he decorates the interiors of his buildings, too. Hopefully, you were able to get a taste of that from my photos. Expect more updates in the next few days, as I am home from our Finger Lakes & Wargames Among the Warplanes trip!

    After initially fleeing, Sandra feels guilty & returns to help out Hank, who is surrounded

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 185

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 75

    His drought of rolling 1, 2, or 3 over, Hank dispatches two zombies with his machete!

 

    Thanks to one of my posts, Lead Adventure Forum members are now keeping tabs on meetups!

Photos from Zombie RV at Buckeye Game Fest

Coop and Big Bass battle zombies in one of my games of Zombie RV at Buckeye Game Fest 2025

I realize that Zombie RV is not a historical miniatures game, of course. However, since the HMGS Great Lakes mission at Buckeye Game Fest 2025 was to entice board gamers to try out a miniatures game or two, I thought Zombie RV would be a perfect fit. I imagine the board game Zombiecide is still popular in the board gaming community, and figured many would see it as an easy jump from cardboard to fully 3-dimensional miniatures battle. Plus, my trailer park looks really nice when all set up. And a nice looking table is a key part of recruiting players to your game, I've found over the years.

    My trailer park setup for BGF 2025 with charcter cards & noise tokens ready at the bottom

Still, neither of the games I ran (Friday night and Saturday morning) went off completely full. I had four players Friday and five on Saturday. Zombie RV scales very easily, though. In the base game, a solo player controls four survivors battling hordes of zombies, which are run by the game's A.I. I've scaled it up to six players controlling two survivors each and it moves fast, providing a tension-filled, thrilling game. So, it was no problem to adjust to less than six players.

    Jackie fires her pistol at several zombies who are pursuing her in one of my ZRV games

In the scenario, the survivors have come upon a trailer park where they spot no movement from a distance. They decide to risk exploring the trailer park because they are short on supplies. Their goal is to scavenge a certain number of supplies. I set that number to equal the number of survivors in the game. Each trailer or building on the tabletop has supplies in it. Survivors can keep searching until they find it, and then it is depleted. 

    "Woops!" While Woody is searching, a spawn roll brings zombies out of a back room into his trailer

A complication is that the "spawn points" (I used two in each game) are random and inside the trailers. Once a building has been searched, though, it can no longer spawn zombies. Instead, they appear in the treeline on the board edge closest to that building. Yes, that means you could move into a building and suddenly have zombies spawn there at the end of the turn! Surprisingly, that happened only once over the course of both games. Woody, that survivor, immediately fled the trailer and decided to look for easier pickings...ha, ha!

    Look at the top of the picture & you can see Coop in the water tower watching over the trailer park

Both games saw the players collecting the necessary number of scavenge tokens. On Friday, they lost poor Coop to a horde of zombies when the survivors were fleeing the field back to their vehicles. I let the players arrive in 1-3 vehicles, which they position in contact with a board edge. Their survivors must exit by one of the vehicles. It does not necessarily have to be the one they arrived on -- just any of their three vehicles. When Coop went down, he and Big Bass had been living dangerously, battling zombies in hand to hand. Coop began the game climbing the ladder to the water tower, firing away at zombies until his rifle jammed. With a horde of zombies waiting for him at the bottom of the ladder (only Fast Zombies & Nasty Zombies can climb, I ruled), he decided to take a risky exit. He leapt from the platform, landing on the wooden outhouse behind one of the container buildings. I told the player to roll a "Quickness (Dexterity) Check," and to roll HIGH. Wouldn't you know it, but she rolled a six on 1d6. High enough, I said!

    Zombies spawn from one of the many doors in my Shanty Town Souk from MBA

In the Saturday game, Mophius was the one swarmed over by zombies and taken down. His partner, Jackie, was in contact with a Fast Zombie at the end of the game, but I ruled that she would have been able to break contact and flee off-table safely. So, each group lost one of their survivors to the ravenous zombie hordes, and might have lost more on Saturday if I played it out to the bitter end. I think the mobile and random spawn points makes for a much more challenging and interesting game. I will likely continue to find a way to use that mechanism in future games. For the trailer park, there were 12 buildings. I simply numbered then 1 to 6 with two different colors of dice (dividing the park into 2'x3' sections, in essence). The players would roll for which trailer spawned the zombies on each half of the board, and how many.

    Things are looking desperate as a horde of zombies trail Big Bass & Coop fleeing back to the vehicles

Everyone seemed to have a good time playing Zombie RV. Nearly all of my players were new to the game, so it was fun to introduce folks to these simple, fast-play rules. I saw a number of players using their phones to scan the QR code I had on my game sign to go to the page on Wargame Vault where you can download them for free. Author David Bezio of Grey Area Games wrote a winner with these rules. I even have written an unofficial campaign supplement that is on RRB Minis & More's website for download, for those interested.

    Sadly, Coop did not make it...wounded, knocked down, and surrounded by a hungry horde!

So, what's on my painting table, now? I have another five U.S. soldiers from the Big Red One in Vietnam in the flocking stages. My first five Viet Cong are next -- probably about halfway done. And a fourth set of five U.S. soldiers is about halfway through. I'm also working on touching up some terrain that I am taking up to Drums at the Rapids next weekend to sell in the flea market there. This includes stone temple ruins pieces, two wooden, provincial gladiator arenas, and other miscellaneous stuff. And yes, that arena comment means I am indeed selling my 28mm gladiators, which you can see here and here. These are nicely painted, so if you're in the area and interested, feel free to show up and snag as many of them as you want. I am selling them $6 each or two for $10. They are excellently sculpted gladiators by Crusader Miniatures, and would look fine augmenting any collection, I think!

    More zombies spawn from a trailer, pouring out of one of the doorways

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 143
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 70 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 19
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 22

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 54
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 57

    Jimmy fights off a Nasty Zombie (brick base) on the porch of my newest trailer before fleeing

    A group of survivors sneak around the trailer park hoping to stay out of sight of the zombies

    Coop ensconced in the water tower with his rifle...what could possibly go wrong...??

    Another good shot of Big Bass & Coop heroically holding off the zombies in melee

 

Sarissa MDF Trailer...Modified (& Some Scatter)

    MDF Trailer from Sarissa Precision modified with corrugated siding and large 3-D printed deck

It has been about 2 1/2 years since I finished a heavily-modified Sarissa Precision MDF trailer. Finally, the second one I had purchased at the same time is completed! I modified this one a bit, too -- but not nearly as much as the first -- which you can see here in this post. The first one was meant to represent a survivalist's repaired and reinforced trailer. Individual panels of metal had been "bolted" on, as well as metal bars over the windows. Instead, this new trailer was meant to look like one surfaced with corrugated siding material -- just aged and abandoned. 

    I prefer the plastic patterned material I used over the model's original scored or incised detail

The corrugated material I used for both models is textured plastic. This time, I ended up having to buy it online because the local craft store had stopped carrying it. I prefer corrugated plastic over the incised MDF it comes with because it looks more three dimensional. This time, I also took a big shortcut. Instead of cutting and gluing on individual pieces of the corrugated material, I did each of the four sides as one sheet. Before I constructed the trailer, I took the MDF sides of it and placed them over the plastic material,  tracing its outline, windows and all. I cut it out with a hobby knife and checked to make sure it was as exact a fit as possible. This would end up working out VERY well, and I finished this trailer in less than half the time it took to do the survivalist's one back in 2022. 

    Close up of the L-shaped plastic material I used to "cap" the four corners of the building

Once the corrugated sides were cut and ready, I glued all the MDF pieces of the trailer's model together with Aleene's Tacky Glue. The model goes together very easily, as do most Sarissa Precision kits. I then let it dry overnight. The next day, I epoxied the corrugated plastic onto the four outer sides. It looks better, but you could still see a noticeable gap where each face of the trailer ends and its neighbor on the next side begins. I wanted to cover this up. So, I cut small pieces of "L-shaped" styrene that you can buy from a model train shop to "cap" those seams. This gives it a much smoother appearance. It was tricky for the curved section, requiring about four pieces per edge, instead of one cap for the square ended half of the trailer.

    A look at the MDF roof which I left "as is," except for adding small MDF pieces to cover open slots

At this point, most of the construction was done. I let it dry overnight again. The next morning, I primed the whole structure. Knowing that I was going to paint the exterior siding a dun yellow color, I used a "Camo Sand" spray acrylic paint primer that I had purchased at Menards. Being a lighter color, it would required fewer coats to paint over than if I had primed it black like I usually do for terrain.

    A look at the light green interior & wooden floors - I chose to paint rather than paper both this time

I started the painting by "wet brushing" (think dry brush where you don't wipe off as much paint) my dun yellow color  over the ridged corrugated plastic material. Next, I did a straw yellow colored highlight as a dry brush. I painted the window trim and doors a medium green. It ended up needing two coats to really cover the doors, but not so much with the windows. Finally, I dirtied it up the exterior here and there with splotches and streaks of an Autumn Brown color. At this point, the exterior was done except for the black wash, which would come once the interior was also ready.

    Close up of the interior showing my "hillbilly decor" - posters made from Google Images

The interior I did in a very light green. It also took two coats to smoothly and evenly cover the walls. I did mess up here and there and I had to repaint sections of the medium green in a few places. By using a flat square brush, though, I was able to do a better and more controlled job than I would have with a round one. I need to remember to use the square brush more when I want a large area to be covered smoothly. The floor was next. I decided I would actually use the scored surface incised on the model and not cover it with scrap booking paper like I have for most other trailers. I painted on a dark brown base coat. This was followed by a Camo Brown wet brush. Finally, I did a light highlight of khaki. 

    The clear plastic skylights included in the kit are a nice touch, which I showed off with scatter leaves

With all the coloring done, by and large, it was time for the black wash. Here is where I screwed up the most, I feel. Rather than using a wide, flat, square brush, I used a round one, again. This gives the black wash a very irregular streaky appearance. You would think I would learn after having just noticed how much easier the interior was doing it with a square-tip brush! I ended up having to go back over it and re-apply a light green dry brush to tone down the streaks and darkness of the wash. It was simply too dirty looking!

On the outside, I remember to use a flat wide brush and it ended up looking MUCH better. I was amazed at how much quicker this trailer had gone than the first one. I still had the roof to do, though. I wet brushed the dun yellow that I had used on the trailer, and then used a khaki highlight because it seemed much darker.  Looking at it, I decided I didn't like the unused slots in the roof. There are six open narrow rectangular slots that MDF tabs from the trailer are supposed to fit into. However, the way I put together the trailer (did I make a mistake?), only two of them had corresponding tabs. So, I covered up the other four with spare MDF pieces that I had from other kits to look like hatches or mechanical stuff.

    I used brown splotches and a black wash to "dirty up" the trailer and make it look weathered

I painted both the spare pieces and the area around the two skylights Iron Wind Metals Steel. I highlighted them Pewter, to give it a more 3-D look as the detail was incised onto the MDF, not raised. The kit includes two clear acrylic pieces that I would epoxy onto the underside of the roof for the glass (or plexiglass) skylights. However, I would not affix those until after I had done any clear coating -- I didn't want them to "fog." At this point, I was mostly done with the trailer. 

Now it was time to add the other obvious modification I made to the Sarissa kit. I added a big, 3-D printed, wooden deck I bought from Bad Goblin Games to the long side of the trailer with the door. I wanted to wait until the entire exterior was finished before I glued the deck down, though. Otherwise, painting the exterior portions under the deck would have been a pain! Luckily, the Bad Gobin deck was just about the correct height for the Sarissa trailer. It probably should have been a tad shorter, but I wasn't going to try to saw off exactly the same amount from the eight posts holding up the deck. I primed the deck black, did a Camo Brown wet brush, and Khaki highlight. I also gave it a black wash. 

    Less than a week after being finished, the trailer was used in one of my games of Zombie RV

Now it was time for the posters! When I save an image online for a poster or sign, and then go to print it out for a model, I usually make it in three sizes -- the one I think is right, as well as one slightly bigger and another smaller. I also save my unused posters and signs. So, I dug this folder out and looked through it. I was able to find enough "hillbilly decorations" to put onto the open wall spaces of the interior. I also glued on a No Trespassing sign of sorts on the back of the trailer, too. I thought about putting gluing down some scatter on deck -- chairs, etc. However, I decided to leave them unattached and just sit them on the deck. I picked out four chairs from the one of the Mantic Games scatter boxes (Abandoned Office?) and painted them up. Those are the ones you see in the pictures, above.

    5 pieces of 3-D printed scatter from A Critical Hit and one MDF Outhouse I finished recently

All that was left was the flocking, which I did with my usual method. I painted the base (underneath the deck was the hardest) with a mix of brown paint and white glue. Then I poured in Woodland Scenics Fine Brown Ballast. Once it had dried, I added Blended Turf. Next I added irregularly splotches of Blended Green. For this building, I also added more tufts than I usually do to make it look weedy and overgrown. Finally, I used my tiny bag of leaves that I had bought at ATC 2025 and placed some on the clear plexiglass skylights and in the corners of the deck with white glue. It was done, once again, in about half the time the other Sarissa trailer had taken me. 

    More easy to get onto the tabletop scatter from A Critical Hit -- two 3-D printed picnic tables

I made my deadline, too, as I wanted to use this trailer in Sunday's game of Zombie RV: Unemployed? In Greenville..??. I now have an acceptable looking trailer park with six trailers and at least another half dozen buildings that don't look out of place alongside them. As I finished up the trailer, I was also hurrying up to finish some more modern scatter that have sat in my closet for a year or longer. 

    I bought these from A Critical Hit in 2024 and they've sat in my closet for a year...oops!

The two picnic tables and crates of tomatoes and salt were purchased at Cincycon 2024 from A Critical Hit. It is crazy that 3-D printed pieces that took so little time to get ready for the tabletop just languished in there for a year. For the picnic tables, I simply did a Camo Brown wet brush and Khaki dry brush. That was followed up with a black wash and they were ready (other than a clear matte spray). The crates took a couple more steps. I did the same thing to the wooden slats, but them painted the metal bands Iron Wind Steel. I picked out the bolts with Bronze and then did a black wash over the crate part, but not the produce. I left the salt alone. After clear coating it, I brushed on a clear gloss over the tomatoes.
 

    I *believe* this MDF outhouse is from Sarissa, but am unsure - it has sat unpainted for even longer!

So, if I'm embarrassed that the A Critical Hit pieces sat for so long, I should be mortified by this outhouse. It came with one of my kits -- I believe from Sarissa Precission. Not sure, though, as it has been so long. I assembled it long ago (before I even moved into my new house), and even primed it black. And there it sat, forgotten, but clearly visible on the shelf of my closet containing my unpainted or unassembled terrain and scatter. Literally, all I had to do was a Camo Brown wet brush, Khaki dry brush, and black wash, and it was finally for the tabletop!

    Look! Proof the Outhouse finally made it into a game, as 2 zombies feel an urgent need to "go..."!

What's next? Yesterday, I finished my Colonial Marines from Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps. I photographed them tonight, and you will likely see a post on them tomorrow. I've begun working on the 3-D printed ruins and turn marker that I bought at DayCon 2025 from Sword & Scabbard Games. What about miniatures, you may ask? Well, I think the time has arrived. After finishing this blog post, I plan on sorting through my 28m Vietnam and getting started on my first squad of U.S. Army troopers! The Vietnam project is finally underway!!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 119
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 54 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 19

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 50

Unemployed..? In Greenville?? Zombie Road Trip Part 2

    Earle and Jimmy pause for a moment as zombies seem to be everywhere in the trailer park!

 

 Unemployed...? In Greenville? - Zombie Road Trip: Part 2

The convoy of survivors had nearly made it to the Indiana state line when they decided they would be better off stopping somewhere to scavenge for more supplies. Near Greenville, they spotted a quiet looking trailer park. No signs of zombies were anywhere, and no people could be seen moving about. This seemed to be their best chance to find some food, gas, medicine, or even weapons. The convoy sent eight ahead in two RVs to investigate and explore, while the rest remained with the other vehicles. The recon group split up, with four approaching from each of the long sides of the trailer park. Things were still quiet, so they exited their vehicles and began to sneak forward.

    A look at my 4'x3' trailer park board complete with half a dozen trailers and a water tower

For this game, I had four players, each controlling two survivors. I was using a 4'x3' board with a dozen buildings in two rows, separated by a dirt road going down the center of the trailer park. A water tower loomed over the center of the board on one edge. Instead of fixed spawning points, as is typical in a game of Zombie RV, I had 12 potential places (each building) for new creatures to spawn each turn. Dividing the trailer park into two halves roughly on line with the water tower, the players would roll a d6 for the which building would be the spawn point on each half of the board. Then they would roll for how many. That way, threats would be coming from both sides of the board, and the players could not "know" where new ones would appear. If a building had already been searched when rolled, the zombies would instead come from the treeline nearest the building. And yes, the zombies could spawn in a building a survivor was currently inside and searching (but not yet found anything). That never happened, though, but fairly quickly, the zombies seemed to be everywhere on the board!

    Players could place their vehicle starting point along any board edge, including along the tree lines

All 12 buildings could potentially have supplies, but the player's mission was to get eight supplies and then get back to their vehicles and escape. I also gave them a chance for each cache of supplies to also include a weapon or extra ammo, if they rolled that. Joel's characters (Earle and Jimmy) teamed up with Mike W's (Reef and C.J.). They began in the center of the side of the board opposite the water tower. Keith's characters (Junior and Roman), with their companions Mike S's Coop and Daisy, began in the shadow of the water tower. Each group of four split into teams of two and sought out a building to investigate.

    C.J. gets ready to check the door of a trailer as Reef covers him, looking out for zombies

Mike W's C.J. ran forward and onto the deck of the trailer with the metal bars over the windows. Just as C.J. reached for the door, he heard a familiar moaning sound from behind him. Three zombies had just spawned from the building behind him and began shuffling towards him. His companion, Reef -- a new guy the convoy had just picked up -- fired at the zombies, killing two. C.J. disappeared inside the trailer and ducked inside one of the rooms, closing the door behind him. He heard Reef continuing to fire, and then begin to curse loudly. "I'm jammed, C.J.! I'm out of here -- heading back to the RV!" Quietly, C.J. cursed the faithlessness of his new companion and peeked out the corner of one of the windows to keep an eye on the zombies. They seemed to be following Reef. That was good news, at least. They seemed to have forgotten he was there.

    Zombies shamble across the dirt road towards Junior on the porch and Coop, in the distance

Not far away, Jimmy and Earle were creeping quietly between a rusted home made from a shipping container and a trailer painted bright pink. They heard the gunfire and flattened themselves against the shipping container building. Slow shuffling footsteps sounded like they were just on the other side of the building, so they crouched in place, hoping not to be noticed. On the opposite side of the board Junior and Roman dashed up onto the wide deck of a large trailer that seemed to be in pretty good shape, other than dirt, trash, and leaves piled up around. Across the little lawn between it and the neighboring, heavily damaged trailer, Coop and Daisy were moving forward to investigate, too. "Check inside," Junior whispered to Roman, "I will cover you from out there." Roman pulled his hoodie up and pushed open the door of the trailer.

    Hearing Reef's gun shots and slow, dragging footsteps, Earle and Jimmy take a moment to hide

Much to my surprise, the player controlling Reef was serious -- his rifle-armed character who'd rolled a "1" (out of ammo) did flee back to the trailer and jump inside, gunning the engine. I let him move the trailer back and forth along the edge of the table, which was really all he did for the rest of the game. He did try to run one zombie down, but only knocked it off its feet. Poor C.J. cowered inside as the zombies circled the trailer where he was hiding. They were drawn by the gunfire of Earle, who would shoot at the group of zombies, then dash off out of their movement range. The tactics of Earle "the Rabbit" would be put to the test as zombies spawned from all around him in this game. As the zombies were distracted, Jimmy ducked inside the container building and began searching.

    Drawn by the sounds of shooting, zombies begin to shuffle towards the survivors

Meanwhile, zombies began to notice Junior standing on the corner of the deck keeping watch, and shuffled towards him. A Fast Zombie led the charge. Once a large group was within range, Junior let off two blasts of his shotgun, killing several and physically hurling others back. More zombies began to converge on Junior, and he continued blasting away until he ran out of ammo. One zombie clambered up onto the deck and clawed at him, but Junior smashed its head with the butt of his shotgun. Hearing his cursing, Roman dashed out onto the deck. "Found some supplies," he said, shoving things into his backpack, and you might want these!" He tossed a belt of shotgun shells to his friend, who snatched it and quickly began to reload as more zombies shuffled into view.

    Coop and Daisy pause after searching a trailer, only to be surprised by zombies arriving nearby

Seeing his distress, Coop began firing at the growing horde of zombies, killing two. Daisy dashed out of the fire-damaged trailer slinging her pack onto her back, "I'm good!" she called, "Let's move!" The two moved towards the water tower just as a trio of zombies emerged from the trees behind them. The trailer Daisy had just searched came up as the spawn point, which meant they arrived in the trees behind it, instead. As the two dashed off, pursued by zombies from both sides of the street, Earle sprinted across the dirt road. He had rolled an extra action, so he stopped at the corner of the building and blasted away with his rifle twice. The zombies redirected and began to converge on Earle. 

    Junior takes a position on the deck of a trailer and blasts away with his shotgun at groups of zombies

Meanwhile, Roman had darted back inside the trailer, planning on ducking out the back door to search Swingle's Schwarma Shack across the street, when the coast was clear. Junior quietly snuck off the porch and crossed the lawn, hoping not to be noticed. Earle's friend Jimmy also ran across the road, firing his pistol. He followed Junior behind the damaged trailer. Zombies followed them both, streaming around both sides of the building. "Damn!" both cursed simultaneously. With nowhere to run, each turned to face the oncoming zombies. Junior's shotgun barked twice, while not far away, Earle's rifle fire cracked out. Zombies fell, but soon Junior and Earle were in hand-to-hand combat with zombies hungering for their flesh. They heard the sound of Coop's rifle and Daisy's pistol, though, as the two fired on the zombie horde. Junior hoped that the gambit would draw the zombies off.

    Coop & Daisy continue their methodical search, cleverly always just out of reach of the zombies

The zombie attacking Junior swung wildly with its claws, but missed. The burly survivor then bashed in the creatures forehead with the butt of its shotgun. As he saw more closing in, he cursed again, and ran for the RV parked nearby. Jimmy quickly followed him into the vehicle, shutting the door behind him. This left Earle alone and in a bit of a lurch. A stream of zombies closed in on him, led by a Fast Zombie clothed in nothing but bright red underwear. Her claws tore through Earle's leather jacket, but the survivor shrugged off the pain. Another zombie closed with him. Earle heard the door of the RV opening and closing, and began edging backwards that way. He battled fiercely, and shoved himself free for a moment of the zombies' flailing arms. When he did, he heard shots ring out and the snap of bullets whistling past his ears on either side. Both zombies dropped as his friends covered him from the windows of the RV. Seeing an opening, Earle dashed for the vehicle himself, ducking inside and shouting, "Go, go, go...!"

        Things are getting dangerous -- Junior attacked by a zombie while Earle faces down another

Meanwhile, with all the commotion, Roman had been able to sneak across the street, using the burnt out hulk of a vehicle as cover. After what seemed like forever waiting for the zombies to shamble a safe distance away, he sprinted for Swingle's and dove across the counter top into the small, stone building. While waiting, Roman had been shaking his head, watching as Reef drove the other RV up and down the lane on the other side of the trees, alternately revving the engine then skidding to a stop. "What the freak is that guy doing...?" he mumbled. When the new guy returned to the corner intersection and slid to a stop, Ramon waved at him frantically at him. Once he caught his eye, he mouthed the words, "WAIT...FOR...ME!" He got a thumbs up and a grin. Ramon shook his head, again. "Crazy mutha..."

    Things are looking bleak for Earle -- in contact with 2 zombies and nearly surrounded

Coop and Daisy were on the run, again. They had eased the pressure off their friends, but were attracting the attention of a lot of zombies. Daisy would quickly enter a trailer to search it, while Coop tried to hold off the zombies with his rifle. Once Daisy had found something worth scavenging, she would exit the trailer, and add her pistol to the firing to slow down the zombies. Once they stemmed the surge a little, they would dash for the next building in the trailer park. As they were outside the last one, they heard honking as their RV sped around the corner. Earle and Junior's heads were hanging out the windows shouting at them to get in. Needing no further encouragement, the two survivors darted for the van and jumped inside. On the other side of the trailer park, C.J. was doing the same. Roman held the door open for him as he sprinted inside. C.J. shouted, "I'm in, now let's get out of here! Reef, you are a crazy sonofabitch...!"

    Zombies shuffle back and forth underneath the legs of the water tower drawn by gun shots

There were some close escapes, but all eight survivors exited the board inside one of the survivors' RVs. They scavenged nine caches of supplies and rolled well enough to find a couple more weapons or extra ammo. This would keep the convoy moving well into Indiana, and keep their bellies full. Earle certainly had the closest calls. He was hit by zombies twice, once rolling the necessary "6" to pass his Grit Check. The other time, the zombie rolled only a "Flesh Wound." Junior also had very good fortune, too, never seeming to miss when a zombie closed the distance and was within striking range. Mike S's Coop and Daisy were seriously good "team players." Whenever one of their group was about to be overwhelmed, they fired like crazy to draw off the zombie hordes. 

    Coop and Daisy on the run from zombies, again -- they played cat and mouse with them all game

Reef's "peace out" as soon as he ran out of an ammo was a disappointment. The player contended that he couldn't do anything since he was out of ammo. I told him that there are survivors in every game of Zombie RV that we play who are armed with only a melee weapon. He could run. He could search. There was plenty he could do besides leave his companions to do all the scavenging for supplies. Driving up and down the lane beyond the line of trees in the RV wasn't going to accomplish much. In the end, he did provide pickup service Roman and C.J., who had been cut off from the rest of the group. So, the "new guy" wasn't completely useless.

    Earle will relive this moment in nightmares as more and more zombies close in on him...!

I was happy with how the trailer park looked. The water tower is a great, iconic rural America terrain piece, too. The system of moving spawn points worked really well, I thought. I like it better than the one I've been using. It raises the danger level and limits the somewhat cheesy "rabbit" tactic of having a fast player continuously run back and forth to distract the zombies. Instead, the players stepped up for each other, firing to support group members who were in trouble. Except in scenarios where a single spawn point makes sense, I may keep this mechanic of moving spawn points for most of my scenarios. Its hard to use the word "realistic" in a zombie apocalypse game, but it certainly makes more sense.

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 119
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 54 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 17

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 39