Recent Rule books

 So I have bought a number of rules in the last fortnight (all from North Star).

First up: Five Leagues from the Borderlands Compendium.

Lots of new stuff for Five leagues from the Borderlands. Like the Five Parsecs from Home compendium, it contains a stand alone game Deep Below. In this case it is a dungeon delver game, with additional species to be part of your party.

The second is Forgotten Ruin, again based on Five Leagues, and is another stand alone game pitting modern infantry against fantasy critters.

The most recent purchase is the second edition of Dragon Rampant.

The original was an Osprey Blue Book. This edition is a hardback.

The core rules incorporate the updated rules from Lion Rampant second edition, and are generally compatible.

There are example warbands and lots of nice photographs.

Still more to read.

Five leagues from the Borderlands

Five Leagues from the Borderlands is a fantasy Solo and Cooperative wargame system from the people that brought you Five Parsecs from Home.

The book is a 233 page full colour hardback, smaller than the Osprey standard size and has a full index (which is useful). I bought mine from Orc's Nest in London, and they offer a Clicks and Mortar deal, email them details of your purchase and they will send you a link so you can download a PDF of the book.

Though I am a rather retro-person, much preferring a physical book to an e-book, it is much better to be able to print the quick reference sections from the PDF rather than transcribing the required bits.

Like Five Parsecs, the USP of these rules is the campaign system. Your party (starting with four heroic types and two followers) travel around a region, engaging in quests, meeting people and trying to maintain the peace. There are major over-arching threats (Foes Within and Foes Without) that will take multiple battles to defeat and the day to day encounters as you travel.

You set up a region by establishing the known settlements, define the threats and their levels and any additional points of interest. Just because it is on the map, does not mean you know what to expect. There are plenty of "here be dragons" areas where you will encounter many different things.

You also need to feed and equip your party - if you have not got the cash you can live off the land or  work for the town guard - but this eats into your working time. If you do not pay your party, dissension will set in and they will find better paid work.

Rules

The game rules are simple, based on a D6.

During the initiative phase, each one of your figures provides a D6, roll them together and then assign them to each figure. If the die result is equal or below the figure's Agility score it acts in the Quick Action Phase. If it is greater than the Agility score it acts in the Slow Actions Phase. Between the Quick and the Slow Actions phase is where the enemy figures act. So if you want your leader to make it to cover before being barbecued by the enemy dragon, you want them to act in the Quick Action phase.

Each figure can perform a Movement action, followed by a Combat or Non-Combat action. The figure can miss out either, but cannot change the order.

Humans move four inches, though by making a Dash Non-Combat action, they can increase their movement.

Ranged combat is generally one D6, if you have not moved add your Combat score. There is a target number to beat based on the target's situation

Melee combat again uses a D6. There can be up to three exchanges. The figure that initiates the combat starts out as the Attacker, this status may change in each subsequent exchange. Each figure rolls a D6 and adds their Combat skill. If the Attacker has the higher value, they strike a blow and remain as Attacker. The Defender is forced back and the Attacker has the option to re-close and continue the attack If the Defender has the higher value, no blow is struck and they become the Attacker in the next exchange. This is repeated for up to three exchanges, at which point each figure is moved 1" back and the melee ends.

Hits have to overcome any Armour, and if they do, they have to overcome Toughness. There are Wounded and Stunned effects if a Hit is not inflicted.

There is a magic system, you can make one of your Heroes a Mystic. The Mystic chooses two spells and gets three rolls on the spell table.

Conclusion

The key to this is the Campaign system. You build a world and then spend time exploring it, ridding it of enemies internal and external.

It is still a miniature battles rules set, but that is like acts two and three of your favourite television series, the set up is in the first act where you decide what your party wants to do, and that affects the finale.

My only concern is the absence of all the standard fantasy species as party members. The default is Human, there are Fey, Dusklings (Dwarf?), Halfling,  Preen (Ducks?) and Ferals (Gnolls?).

Building The Fellowship of the Ring might be difficult.

You can re-skin the enemies tables, or select them from your figure collection.

Stargrave - Quarantine 37 expansion

 Osprey have just released the first expansion for Stargrave, and my copy arrived today.

Covering adventures on a biological research station it throws the crews against zombies and bugs.

I am still reading the book at the moment, and there will be more on the book, and the supporting figures later.

Corps Commander

 Here is my copy of Corps Commander from way back when.

Zombie Games

 A couple of Zombie games from my cupboard.

No More Room In Hell by Iron Ivan Games.

Skirmish Outbreak by radio Dish Dash.

Twilight 2000: Reference material 2

Back in the mid to late 'eighties, I used to play Ultramodern 6mm games. One of the companies responsible for the rules I used was Tabletop Games, especially those rules written by the late Bruce Rea-Taylor.

First up is actually a set of rules designed for 20mm scale games (based on a ground scale of 1cm = 1 metre). It includes organisations for British, American and Soviet forces.

 Challenger (and the later Challenger II) rules were for 6mm and 10mm games with infantry based as half section (Challenger) or full section (Challenger II). Challenger was published in 1983, Challenger II in 1988

There is a whole range of supplements for these (and the War-games Research Group).

The Digest series added additional forces from various theatres. Digests four and five were published after Mr Rea-Taylor's death and cover forces for Challenger II.

There was a scenario book, with a mix of historical and fictional scenarios.

A more detailed look at these books will follow.

Another set of rules from that period are Games Designer Workshop rules Combined Arms.

Those rules were at a larger scale, each vehicle/stand representing a platoon.

One of the most important fact/fiction books was The Third World War. This is the inspiration for Harold Coyle's Team Yankee novel.

Here's Negan! - Anyone Home? Revisited

So same set up as last time. 

Survivors (left to right from Negan’s point of view): Laura; Sherry; Dwight; Tara;  John. 

I still have not finished painting them.

Turn one

Survivor phase

Laura leads off.  Her ability to make two identical actions allows her to move six spaces across the board, revealing one of the tokens (a White die, with a roll of one).

Dwight follows along. He is Stealthy which allows him to Move four spaces rather than three.

Sherry moves through the door, and Tara follows up. John provides some back stop.

Walker phase

The Event card is Bitter Rivals, Dwight bags a +1 action at Sherry’s expense (a -1 action).

The Walker tokens move, followed by the Walker revealed by Laura fends off his attack.

Here’s Negan phase

Negan is not impressed with the party’s progress, lashing out with Lucille and John loses a point of Stamina. The Noise attracts another Walker to the entry point in the room and increases the Threat level.

End phase

The Threat Level increases again

Turn two

Survivor phase.

Laura stabs the Walker with her knife, beating its roll and gaining a Headshot. The Walker walks no more. She then proceeds towards the exit.

Dwight follows on, and manages to Hold His Nerve, reducing the Threat Level and gaining a point of Reputation.

Tara moves forward as does John. Sherry has only one action (due to the -1 Action token) and moves forward. All three only their one Move action.

Walker phase

No, Wait, Over There!

A Walker token is moved and another is added nearest to Laura. That is in Line Of Sight of Dwight, so it is revealed as a Red die. Dwight’s luck holds and no Walkers are placed.

The tokens move, and the moved token is revealed to be another Red die of Walkers. Dwight’s luck is still holding and a blank is rolled.

The Walker in the entry room advances towards Negan.

Here’s Negan phase

Negan thinks the party is too spread out, so everyone moves back towards him, while he advances one space.

End phase

The Threat Level increases by one.

Turn three

Survivors phase

Tara, Sherry and Tara move back towards the exit and attempt to Hold Their Nerve. Sherry succeeds, reducing the Threat back to one and gaining a point of Reputation.

Laura makes two Move actions via the top route, opening the door and revealing a Blue die of fire tokens, yielding two. There is no bypassing this, as this is Negan’s chosen route.

Dwight follows along.

Walker phase

Another Walker token appears on the entry point nearest to John.

The Walker and the token are moved. The Token is revealed to be a White die, yielding one Walker.

Here’s Negan phase

Negan taunts John, removing a point of Reputation.

End phase

Threat goes up three, once for insecure rooms, and twice for the Fire tokens.

Laura rolls the Black die twice, once for each Fire token. She loses one point of Stamina.

Turn four

Survivor phase

Laura moves forward and Extinguishes one of the Fires.

Dwight also moves forward and Extinguishes the other one.

Tara follows along and attempts to Hold Her nerve (and fails).

Sherry again Holds her Nerve (lowering the Threat and gaining Reputation). With her other action she follows Tara.

John tags along. He fails to Hold His Nerve.

Roamer phase

The Threat level goes up to four (low) and a Walker Token is placed on the two Low Threat entry points. A Walker token is placed on the Unsecured token nearest to John. The Tokens and Walkers move toward Negan.

Here’s Negan phase

Negan advises the party to keep moving, so they all move one space.

End phase

The Threat level goes up by one.

Turn five

Survivor phase

Laura has two goes at securing the room, succeeding on the second.

Dwight opens the door to face a White die worth of Walkers. His luck is still not bad, there is only one. He shoots his Crossbow, four points and a Headshot. The Walker collapses.

Tara advances and tries (and fails) to Hold Her Nerve.

Sherry is good at Holding Her Nerve, she follows on behind Tara.

John Clears The Way for Negan and Holds His Nerve.

Walker phase

Noises spook John, he loses all his Reputation.

Here’s Negan phase

Negan gives a rousing speech, boosting the Reputation of all who hear it.

 End phase

Threat Level goes up.

Turn Six

Survivor phase.

Dwight moves to investigate the Supply Token, finding some Bandages.

Tara moves into the room and manages to Hold Her Nerve.

Sherry moves into the room and attempts to Secure it. With both Dwight and Tara in the room (three White dice) she secures the room. One Reputation all round.

Laura attempts to patch herself up, but fails. She also enters the room.

John Holds His Nerve and trails Negan.

Walker phase

“Do you think I NEED BABYSITING!”, evidently Negan does not like John being behind him. and he loses a point of Reputation.

Walkers and tokens advance.

Here’s Negan phase

Negan gives John some advice, and a +1 Action token.

End phase

Increase Threat Level.

Turn seven

Survivor phase

Sherry moves forward into the next room. Motherlode, three Supply tokens, but one Walker. She attacks it rolling three and a Headshot.

Tara moves in on one of the Supply tokens, finding a box of cigars.

Laura has a look at another of the Supply tokens and finds a Fire Axe.

Dwight looks at the last Supply token, which reveals a Fire Extinguisher. That would have been useful earlier.

John follows along behind.

Roamer phase

The party have been Holding Their Nerve well, so even though the Threat Level goes up, no more Walker tokens appear.

The Walkers and tokens move.

Here’s Negan phase

Negan messes with John, bruised, John’s Reputation goes up by two.

End phase

Once more the Threat goes up.

Turn eight

Survivor phase

Sherry clears the last corridor, but fails to Hold Her Nerve.

Dwight clears the last corridor and Clears The Way.

Tara Clears The Way and follows Negan towards the Exit.

Laura Clears The Way and Negan Exits.

Game over!

Dwight has four Reputation (plus some bandages and a Fire Extinguisher).

John has only three Reputation.

Laura has four Reputation (and a Fire Axe).

Tara (after passing the box of cigars to Negan) has six Reputation.

Sherry is Top Dog, with seven Reputation.

Negan is not very impressed, and give John a beating to encourage him and the rest of the party to do better next time.

Here's Negan! - Anyone Home?

This is the second scenario in the game, played with all six survivors.




Having thought through the relative abilities of the characters, the starting positions were chosen (note, slightly different to the ones in the set up photograph).

Turn One

Survivor phase

Dwight moved first. He is stealthy and fast. He Ran to see what was lurking round the corner. Running may cause Noise so the player rolled the black die – luckily no Noise.

The Lurker was revealed to be a White die of Walkers, but Dwight’s luck held out the player rolled a blank.

Laura was next, she can perform the same Action twice. She Walked through the door and continued to the first door in the corridor. Opening the door revealed a Blue and a Red dice of Walkers and two supply tokens. Rolling the dice revealed three Walkers

Deciding discretion was the better part of valour, she continued to the next door and opened it. Another Supply token and a White die of Walkers. Rolling the die revealed two Walkers. Laura is not going to have a good time.

John, Tara and Sherry move forward.

Walker phase.

Draw Event card, move Walkers. Laura has to fend off four Walkers.



Walkers roll four Red dice, Laura rolls her defence of one. Walker score three, Laura scores two and loses one point of Stamina.

Here’s Negan phase

Negan moves two spaces and messes with Sherry. He is so impressed with how she handles the loss of two Stamina that she gains one point of Reputation.

End phase

The Threat level goes up.

Turn two

Survivor phase

John moves first into contact with one of the Walkers threatening Laura. He attacks with two White dice. He rolls two hits, but the Walker also rolls two. John’s Bruiser characteristic means he still knocks the Walker Prone.

Next to act is Laura. She decides it is time for some Rock and Roll. She shoots and knocks prone the first Walker but manages a Headshot on the second. Having caused Noise twice the Threat level goes up. She still has a Walker next to her. The noise causes Walkers to enter the room near Dwight (the first lot is a Blue die worth – a roll of two, the second is a blank. Dwight still has two hungry Walkers to face.

Dwight acts next. He shoots at the nearest Walker, hitting but not damaging it. He decides a tactical retreat is in order and moves back to the group.

Sherry and Tara move forward.

Walker phase

The survivors noisy antics have roused some Roamers. Another Walker appears in the room with Laura, and Negan can see one that has entered the starting room.

Let us start with Laura.

She is facing a Walker, so the Walker attacks. There is only one Walker now and it gets a one. Laura’s defence roll is nothing so she loses another point of Stamina.

Here’s Negan Phase

Negan moves forward two spaces, and Lucille protects the other survivors by removing one of the Walkers and reducing the Threat Level.

End phase.

Threat Level goes up, but the two Prone Walkers remain Prone.

Turn three.

Survivor Phase

Dwight moves towards the rest of the group. He shoots his Crossbow across the barricade at the approaching Walkers, but misses.

John dispatches the Prone Walker in front of him and moves forward.

Laura also dispatches the Walker in front of her, then moves to the back of the room, leaving John to deal with the rest,

Sherry moves forward and tries to Hold Her Nerve. She does, gaining one Reputation and lowering the Threat by one.

Inspired by Sherry’s efforts, Tara does the same with identical rewards.

Walker phase

Breakout: the small room near Dwight opens and there are Walkers inside.

The Walkers move.

Laura fends off the walker next to her.

John is not so lucky, losing four Stamina and being Bitten.

Here’s Negan phase

Negan moves up behind John and whispers “Are You Scared?” If John had any reputation, it had gone.

End phase

Threat goes up.

Turn four

Survivor phase

There is a bit of a bottleneck.



Laura decides that this is the time for some knife work and attacks the adjacent Walker. She fails to damage it. Because she can, she has another go and manages to knock it prone.

John can only move forward, with a simmering Negan behind him. He attacks the Walker. He does not make a Headshot, but his Bruiser Characteristic means that as he has rolled more than double the Walker’s roll, the Walker is destroyed. He then moves into the room withLaura and the Walker.

Dwight moves back from the door for a clearer shot, this time knocking one of them prone.

Tara moves back to support Dwight. She fails to Hold Her Nerve.

Sherry does Hold Her Nerve, gaining more Repuation and reducing the Threat Level.

Walker phase

More Roamers are roused.

The Walkers move.

Tara fends off the Walker threatening her, and retaliates knocking it Prone.

John also fends off his attacker.

Laura bucks the trend, losing another point of Stamina.

Negan loses one point of Stamina and everyone loses one point of Reputation.
Here’s Negan phase

Negan loses his rag, big time.



Three Walkers feel his wrath, as does John and Sherry. No one has any Reputation left.

End phase.

Threat goes up.

Turn five

Survivor phase.

Laura downs her Walker after two tries.

John destroys his opponent, but fails to Hold His Nerve.

Tara dispatches the Prone Walker in front of her, and also fails to Hold Her Nerve.

Dwight moves into a better firing position and knocks another Walker down.

Sherry tries and fails to Hold Her Nerve.

Walker phase

Laura panics and unleashes a hail of fire at the prone Walker, causing Noise.

Here’s Negan phase

Negan pushes on, leaving the other survivors Reputation in tatters.

End Phase

Threat increases.

Turn six

Survivor phase

Laura dispatches the Prone Walker. She then attempts to Secure the room. Assisted by John, it is Secured.

John tries to patch himself up and moves away from the door.

Tara moves back to dispatch the Prone Walker.

Dwight shoots and knocks another Walker over.

Sherry moves forward and Shoots, knocking the Walker Prone.

Walker phase

More Walkers enter play.

Negan destroys the Walker attacking him and any lingering Reputation of the Survivors.

Here’s Negan phase

Negan bullies Sherry into Securing a room and pushes on.

End phase

Threat goes up.

Turn seven

Survivor phase

Sherry dispatches the prone Walker she shot in the previous turn and moves into the room.

Dwight rushes into the room and attempts to Secure it. Unfortunately he fails.

John finds an Angle Grinder and tries to patch himself up.

Laura does manage to Secure the room.

Tara dispatches another Prone Walker and then follows the rest of the party.

Walker phase

More Roamers.

More Walkers appear.

Here’s Negan phase

Negan presses on

End phase

The Threat goes up again.

The situation before turn eight.



Negan has got away from his lieutenants, there is a mass of Walkers coming up the corridor and in the entry room. John is down to two Stamina and has been bitten, Sherry and Laura also have two Stamina. Tara has only one Stamina.

Time to hit Reset and try again.

Here's Negan - Training Day: parts four and seven

So, after the survivors did not survive the last three games, it was time for another rematch.

This time they kept their eyes on the prize, with a slight diversion when the first room became Compromised (reverting to unsecured) before Negan had set foot in it. Dwight had to rush back down the corridor to Secure it with John.

Moral: keep Negan in corridors until after that Event card has been revealed, use Clear The Way to hustle him through, but keep him at least three spaces behind the survivor in front if you are in a corridor.

They all made it through to the end room, with only a few bumps and bruises - this time John did not die at the end.

Game five was another two character plus Negan game, this time with Laura and Tara. The different characters have different abilities and weapons (Guns! Lots of Guns - so lots of Noise). This one went a similar way to four. I wish they would not store flammable material in that side room.

Game six was a success, again they kept their eyes on the prize and dragged Negan clear of the first room before it was compromised.

Game seven was Big League. All five characters plus Negan. The map had more doors and rooms to secure.

Because of the pinch point on the corridor, Dwight and Tara lead the way towards the Exit. Sherry and John went and cleared the room behind them.

Laura picked up the Supply token in the first room (an Angle Grinder!).

It was all going swimmingly until one of the Event cards opened the lower side room while Tar was passing releasing a number of Walkers. She fought them off and with John Secured the room.
When Dwight reached the Exit Room, it was on fire.

The Rivals Event card gave Laura +1 Actions (and Sherry -1 Actions) which was put to good use to get Laura up to the Exit room. Laura's ability to spend two actions on the same Action meant that they got the Fires out and the room secured.

Negan was then hustled across the board with Clear The Way with Sherry being the Tail End Charlie and not making it to the final photograph (she survived).

They did not score much on Reputation (Negan jumped up and down on all their Stuff, he was so angry at their lamentable performance), but they were all alive (though once again John was Bitten).

Here's Negan - Training Day: parts two and three

After the first game went so badly wrong for the survivors, I had another go.

As I had a better grasp of the rules, and was not taking notes it ran through much faster (the third game took less than forty minutes from the photograph time stamps).

Unfortunately for the survivors the result was not much of an improvement.

There are a number of learning points to take away from this.

Game Two.

John lead the way. the first room was secured promptly and with no fuss. Dwight followed along.

The second room was flooded which meant that you only got to reveal the Walker tokens when the survivor was adjacent to it,

Unfortunately, no one had the Boss's back and he was overwhelmed by Walkers from the Entry point,

Game Over.

Game three 

Having learned my lesson from the previous game, I used the Clear The Way action to get Negan across the corridor ahead of the horde. John pressed on, only pausing to attempt to put out the fire in the second room (Fire tokens increase the Threat level). This was to cost him as being within three space of fire can cause loss of Stamina. He then pressed on to the exit room. 

Dwight followed Negan to ensure he was not going to get eaten by anything following them. He did have a go at extinguishing the fire, managing to put out only one token.

John found the Exit room to be in darkness, this meant that in every Walker Phase it would spawn a Walker token until it was Secured. He did pick up a Sledgehammer, which would cause any Walkers adjacent to him to be made Prone, but at a physical cost.

He made one attempt to Secure the room, but on failing was overcome by the Walkers spawned in the Walker Phase. Having been Bitten, he turned.

And then Negan reached the entrance to the room. Negan will not enter an Unsecured room so stood in the doorway. Dwight did not have enough (or indeed any) Reputation to get him to move, so the spawning Walkers in the Exit room wore Negan down...

Game Over.

Learning Points

• Do not push ahead without ensuring Negan's safety. Use Clear The Way to move him through pinch points and clear of Entry points.
• Build up Reputation so you can Call Negan if he gets ahead of you. blocking.
• At least in this scenario, ignore rooms that are on Fire that are not on your route, you will need the Stamina.
• Make sure you have more than one character in  front of Negan, just in case one falls.

Now I have to wait until I get to play again, but in the meantime I will be planning my next cunning scheme...

Here's Negan - Training Day

Scenario 1: Training Day.

This is the board set up (note this is for two survivors and Negan – this setup is different for more survivors).

The survivors are:

John, he is good at fighting and is armed with a Crowbar.

Dwight, he is better at shooting and has a Crossbow and a Knife.

I am using the Negan from the TWD:AOW Booster.

The starting threat level is 1.

This is a Solo run, so the player can choose which survivor activates first, this would affect play if two or more players were playing.

Turn One.

Survivors Phase.

Dwight moves forward to the first door, opens it (unlocked doors can be opened automatically), steps through, opens the door across the corridor and steps through.

Survivors can move up to three spaces as a Move action.

Dwight has entered an unsecured room so a Room card is drawn.

The card is “Lockdown”. The text on the card is followed, a supply token is placed in the room and the required die is rolled for Walkers. Luckily a blank is rolled, so no walkers.

As the room is empty, Dwight attempts to secure it. His player rolls the White Die and rolls a 1, this is equal to the Secure number for the threat level so the room is now Secure. Negan will be pleased. Dwight gains one reputation.

That is it for Dwight’s activation so the activated marker is placed on his card.

John moves forward his three squares. He has nothing he can do with his second action, so the Survivor phase ends.

Walker Phase

The player draws an Event Card “They Are Everywhere!”. The threat is increased and walker tokens are added to the board. John is looking at one of the tokens so it is revealed as a Red die. John is not as lucky as Dwight and gets two walkers.

The other Walker tokens are moved one square towards the survivors.

The first one is in contact with John so attacks (they do not move). John’s player rolls a die for defence, and a die for the Walker attack. John gets a 2, the walker a 1 so the attack is fended off.

Here’s Negan! Phase

Nothing happens in the first turn.

End Phase

The activation tokens are removed.

There is one Secured room but three Survivors, so the Threat Level is increased.

Turn Two.

Survivors Phase

Dwight moves in contact with the locked door. With his second action he tries to Break And Enter. The Player fails the roll and Noise is caused. Another token is added adjacent to the entry point (which is currently occupied by a Walker) and the Threat Level goes up again.

John chooses to attack the Walker in front of him. He rolls his Fight plus his Weapon. This gets four hits and two Headshots. The Walker collapses motionless. John bravely moves forward to face the Next Walker, protecting Negan.

Walker Phase

The Event Card is drawn and the text followed. No Threat Level change takes place.

The Walker tokens are moved. Dwight is in for a surprise when that door opens.

The Walker facing John attacks. John once again fends off the Walker.

Here’s Negan! Phase.

Negan wants Dwight (furthest from him) to move three spaces towards the exit (unlocking doors as required) OR ELSE! Unfortunately, there is a Walker behind the door and Dwight takes the Reputation hit.

End Phase

Threat goes up (still three survivors but only one secured room).

Turn Three

Survivor Phase

Dwight tries the door again. Fails again. Dwight is stacking up the tokens behind that door. To pass the time he searches the token. Congratulations, you win a Fat Cigar.

John bravely goes for a “Clear The Way” action, moving Negan three squares towards the exit. He then attacks the Walker in front of him. He beats but does not Headshot the walker and it goes Prone. The Walker token behind it is revealed, and John’s luck does not improve – three more Walkers. Luckily they cannot get to him because of the Prone Walker.

Walker Phase

Poor shuffling of the Event Deck – same card as last time. There is a bit of a queue at the exit! No Walker can contact John because of the Prone Walker.

Here’s Negan! Phase.

Negan is “Sick Of Dwight” causing Dwight to make Noise.

End Phase.

Threat goes up again.

The Prone Walker remains Prone.

Turn Four

Survivor Phase

Dwight decides that discretion is the better part of valour and moves away from the Locked Door.

For his second action he attempts, but fails to Hold His Nerve.

John moves towards the barricade and attempts to jump it. He fails. He will have to move round his boss. This is not going to go down well. He also tries to Hold His Nerve. He also fails.

Walker Phase.

A Red die’s worth of Threat is added and a Walker appears within three spaces of Negan.

Here’s Negan Phase

Negan is not a happy chap. John loses his only point of Reputation. He also loses a point of Stamina, as does Dwight. The Walkers are attracted by Negan’s howls of anger.

End Phase.

The Threat Level rises again, but the Prone Walker does not.

Turn Five.

Survivors Phase

This time it is John’s turn to go first (remember this is a Solo game so the player can choose who goes first).

He moves in contact with the Locked Door and by the magic of his Crowbar, it opens without a roll. Unfortunately that reveals a queue of Walker tokens.

The first one is a blank. The second is a White die, but the player rolls a blank! His luck continues to fluctuate, this time a Blue die. Two Walkers. The last visible token is a Red die, but his luck returns, another blank.

He decides to try and reduce the threat level (it has reached Medium) and succeeds, reducing it by one.

Dwight shoots at the Walker nearest his boss. He gets a blank and a 1, the Walker’s defence roll is also a 1, so it becomes a bit of a pin cushion.

As he cannot do anything else, he also tries to Hold His Nerver. It goes as well as his shooting. There will be trouble.

Walker Phase.

Yes, really make sure you shuffle the Event cards. Brief pause for a shuffle.

New card, Threat goes up and another token is added. There is a definite queue for John’s attention.

Negan takes a hit. This would cost Reputation, if there was anyone with any Reputation in this party.

John defends himself from the Walker in front of him. He defends himself easily.

Here’s Negan! Phase

Well, Negan is Enraged by being attacked! Dwight and John receive a stern telling off from Lucille. Two Walkers also suffer the result of his wrath.

End Phase.

Threat goes up, Prone Walker stays down.

Turn Six

Survivor Phase

Dwight shoots the Walker across the barricade. No effect. He does drop the Threat Level though.

John Attacks the Walker, knocking it prone. With his remaining action he moves to one side. Negan is not going to be happy in the next phase.

Walker Phase.

More tokens and Walkers.

There is one Walker adjacent to Negan alone, and one that is adjacent to both Negan and John. The combat is split so John fights one and Negan fights the other.

John just defends himself. Negan takes another hit.

Here’s Mister Happy!

Enraged again, Dwight and John feel his wrath, as does one Walker.

End Phase.

Threat goes up, Prone Walker stays down.

Turn Seven

Survivor Phase

Dwight shoots and hits a Walker. It goes down (but not out).

For his second action, he pokes at the adjacent Walker with his knife. He pokes it in the eye! He is on the Reputation score board again!

John dispatches the Prone Walker and clambers over the body.

Walker Phase.

Lots more tokens.

John is Bitten, which is not good for him.

Here’s Negan Phase

The log jam (Walker Jam?) stops the effects of Negan’s Action.

End Phase

Threat goes up and the two Prone Walker stay down.

Turn Eight

Survivor Phase

Dwight shoots at the Walker in the doorway. It is knocked down. Once again, his first aid abilities fail him.

John attacks the Walker, knocking it prone. He is adjacent to a door and opens it, the first Walker token is luckily a blank, the second generates two Wakers. He moves into the room (with two Walkers in it).

Walker Phase

The Event card causes Dwight to shriek, the Noise attracting unwanted attention. The threat level is now High.

John is surrounded by hungry Walkers, he rolls his Defence die, while the Walkers roll a cumulative three dice. He rolls a blank. They roll a blank (sigh of relief, cut short by…) and two 1s. John joins the ranks of the Walking Dead (having been bitten then reduced to zero Stamina). The character is replaced by a Walker.

Negan loses another point of Stamina.

Here’s Negan! Phase

Negan is Enraged again. Dwight loses his only point of Reputation. He does dispatch another Walker.

End Phase

The Threat goes up, as do two of the Prone Walkers.

Turn Nine.

Survivor Phase

Dwight dispatches a Walker. He then patches himself up.

Walker Phase

The Secured token is flipped back to Unsecured.

The Walker tokens and Walkers move. Negan loses another Stamina point.

Here’s Negan! Phase

Negan is Enraged again. He dispatches another Walker and Dwight loses another point of Stamina.

End Phase.

The Threat goes up, and one of the Prone Walkers stops laying about.

Turn Ten

Survivor Phase

Dwight fires at the walker in the doorway. He misses. He does some first aid and regains one point of Stamina.

Walker Phase

More and more they come… Negan takes another hit.

Here’s Negan Phase

You guessed it.

End Phase

Threat up, Prone Walker up.

Turn Eleven

Survivor Phase

Dwight shoots again and the target goes Prone.

He patches himself up.

Walker Phase

And the Event Card pushes the Threat over the limit and the game ends.

In conclusion

This went wrong from Turn One with the Lockdown Room card. The plan was to open the door and then snipe down the corridor. Not being able to get through the door from turn two until turn five messed up the plan and allowed the Walker numbers to build up.

It is very difficult with just two Survivors, the entry point in the corridor needs to be held to allow Negan to get safely into the first room. It might be that he is big enough and bad enough not to need that protection, but it will not do wonders for the characters Reputations.

The game itself went fairly smoothly. I did need to check a couple of the rules again (the rules on Doors could do with being in the index).

So reset and try again, maybe with more survivors.

Here's Negan! - Rules overview

Here’s Negan!

Here’s Negan is a semi-cooperative board game set in the universe of The Walking Dead comics. I will assume that the reader is aware of the background.

The game is set when the Saviours initially arrive at The Sanctuary. Their cooperative mission is to secure the site for their leader (Negan) while also individually gaining some degree of respect from their fiery and unpredictable leader (not getting him killed also helps).

Rules overview

If you are a player of The Walking Dead: All Out War game, a lot of the rules and components will be familiar. There is a Threat Tracker (slightly different from the AOW one), Event Cards, Supply Cards and the special dice (black, red, white and blue with different values on the faces).

The first difference is that this is a board game, so there are sixteen double sided tiles that will make up the playing area.

The tiles are about six inches square with a five by five grid overlaid. The grid is used for movement and range purposes. These tiles represent the rooms and corridors that the characters have to clear and secure. The scenarios have the layout of the tiles and where to place the various features (also on thick die cut counters) that need to be positioned for that scenario.

There are twelve Walkers to harass the characters and the five characters, plus their boss Negan.

The Walkers are the same as the ones from the TWD:AOW Core box.

The painted one is the Salute 2017 freebie.


To add to their woes, there are a set of “Walker Tokens” which are used to denote the unseen but heard threats. The flip side has nothing or one of the coloured dice symbols to denote the number of Walkers that appear when a character gains line of sight on the token).

One important item is “Lucille”, Negan’s beloved baseball bat. This is a larger token that is held by the “First Player”.

The “First Player” gets to make some of the decisions in the game, at the end of each turn “Lucille” is handed on to the next player. The initial “First Player” can be chosen by the players or by each rolling a Blue die with the highest becoming the “First Player”.

The game can be played solo, but they recommend having at least two characters. Increasing the number of characters increases the difficulty (more walkers, more difficult to secure rooms etc.).

Negan is controlled by a set of Action Cards, plus in each scenario he knows where he is going, get in his way at your peril.

Turn Structure

Each turn is split into four phases:

1. Survivor Phase
2. Walker Phase
3. Here’s Negan!
4. End Phase

In the Survivors Phase, each player (oddly starting with the “First Player”) can perform two different actions (similar to TWD:AOW). This has the usual move, fight, shoot, search, hold your nerve actions plus others such as “Clear The Way!” and “Call Negan” which affect Negan’s actions.

Shooting and Fighting use the “skill” dice plus weapon dice system used in TWD:AOW versus the opponents Defence dice. Unlike in TWD:AOW, the target should be Walkers only.

The objective is to clear and secure rooms, a room can be secured by clearing a room of Walkers and then rolling a White die (plus an additional White die per other Survivor in the room) to beat the Secure target for that Threat Level on the Threat Tracker.

In the Walkers Phase, the First Player draws an Event Card and follows the instructions on it. This may include increasing the Threat Level (which happens before any other effect of the card).

Once the events have completed, the Walker tokens are moved towards the nearest survivor (including Negan).

Once the tokens are moved, the Walkers follow suit.

Any Walkers adjacent to a survivor attack. Player characters can defend using their Defence plus any additional equipment that can be used. Rules for being Bitten can cause a character to be eliminated from the game (an unbitten character who is reduced to zero stamina is just out of play).

Negan has his own rules (moral, keep the Walkers away from the Boss).

In the Here’s Negan Phase an Action card is drawn which determines his actions for the turn. Make sure you are not in his way and are keeping up to his schedule, other wise there will be Words (and a kiss from Lucille).

The End Phase has all the housekeeping. This includes increasing the Threat Level due to Fire or having too many unsecured rooms. Lucille is then passed onto the next player.

Next: Playing the game.