Saturday, October 5, 2013

Battleground Weird WWII: Walking Mines

 
Notes:  Below are the rules for Walking Mines in your games of BGWWWII.  The rules are additions to the the normal Zombie rules.
Origin:  A crafty German pioneer on the Eastern Front had an epiphany one day whilst fighting against some dug-in Russian infantry, "Why not just have some zombies move in and do the job for us?!"  he proclaimed.  A couple days later, the Russians didn't act any differently when they saw some undead heading their way but when one of them exploded, collapsing the building they were in, things got a bit more hairy.  It was soon realized that the undead were fitted with packs of explosives that were being remotely detonated by the Germans watching off in the distance.  The Russians quickly withdrew afterward due to a lack of an effective defense against this new threat and also because they were scared shitless.  Because of the availability of the undead, their ability to take large amounts of punishment before they become inert and how they will hone onto any living mammal, made zeds a perfect weapon for such assaults.  The Walking Mine was now a proven combat weapon and its creation, use and deployment would find itself within basic German military doctrine and within just about every German unit at the front.  Other nations would soon add this type of weapon to their arsenals as well.
Date Introduced:  Early '45
Users:  Only the Germans, Russians and Japanese are know to use the undead in such a manner.  All other nations have strict morale codes that keep them from deploying such weapons unless under the most dire of circumstances.  German, Jap and Russian forces may deploy Walking Mines under any circumstance but all other combatants will have to make a successful 1/4 Gut Check before attempting to do so.
Making a Walking Mine:  Unless deployed at the beginning of the battle, Walking Mines must be made during a battle.  To make a Walking Mine, a zombie of either type must be defeated in close combat.  Once defeated in close combat, the human figure may attempt to restrain the downed zed with the appropriate Skill Check and if successful they can then spend two actions fitting the zombie with explosives, fuses and detonators.  Below are the modifiers in making a Walking Mine with all other modifiers in effect.
  Walking Mine Close Combat Modifiers
  Creators                                     Skill Check
                                                                German/Russian/Jap             Basic Skill Check
                                                                All other Combatants                1/2 Skill Check
Walking Mine Deployment:  If deployed at the beginning of the battle, zombies must start the battle up to a minimum of 16" out from any friendly unit.  The closest until will be considered the unit that is in control of the Walking Mine's remote detonator if so equipped.  If created on the battlefield during a battle, the Walking Mine's creators will have 2 immediate free actions of movement to get away from the zed before it stands back up and comes for them instead.  This free move must be in a way to move the furthest way from the Walking Mine as possible, that doesn't move the creators closer to any known enemy units.
Walking Mine Detonators:  There are four types of detonators for explosives on a Walking Mine: Pressure Fuses, Friction Fuses, Pull Fuses and Remote Detonators. 
     Pressure Fuses:  If a pressure fuse is fitted to the explosive, the zombie will have to make a Detonation Roll for each action of movement they make.  On a roll of a 15 or less, the zombie may continue moving but on a roll of 16 or more it will explode.  This represents the zombie accidentally activating the explosives themselves whist moving.  Otherwise, explosives will detonate upon the zed entering close combat, falling prone, if it moves up against an impassible object or if it takes a Gory Death result on the Effects Chart.
     Friction Fuses:  Friction fuses allow for the explosive to detonate after so many actions of movement by the zombie.  It is up to the controlling Commander or figure that created the weapon to choose between a 2, 4, 6 or 8 action fuse at the moment they light it.
     Pull Fuses:  Pull fuses detonate when its line is pulled out or cut.  Pull fuses can be up to 30" long so it is up to the detonating figure to decide how long the cord will be before it is detonated.  Note the location of the anchor for the line and if the zombie moves more then the length of the line they will explode.  Note that zeds that walk in terrain with a +2 or more modifier will have to roll a Detonation Test per action of movement.  On a 11+, the zed will explode.  Use the terrain's cover modifier as a dice modifier when rolling the Detonation Test.
     Remote Detonators:  If the Walking Mine has been fitted with a remote detonator, it can be detonated by the the forces that created it as long as it is in LOS of the figure that has its detonator.  This is done by the figure with the detonator using a single action to do so.  A successful detonation is a successful Skill Check +2 of the figure performing the action.  Walking Mines that are not in LOS of the detonating figure will only detonate on a 1/2 Skill Check +2.  In addition, the actual Walking Mine figure will be deviated by D3" for every action of movement it had performed since the detonating figure had lost LOS of it.  This represents the detonating figure not knowing exactly were the zed is when they detonate it.  If the deviation move puts the Walking Mine in LOS of the figure detonating it, it will detonate at the exact point where the LOS would be established.
Type of Explosives:  Any type of man-portable demolitions, mines or grenades can be used on a Walking Mine.  When the explosives detonate, place the appropriate blast template with the A ring directly on top of the Walking Mine then treat anything under the blast as normal.  The Walking Mine will be considered inert after detonation no matter what type of explosive might have be used.
Wargaming Piece:  Walking Mines are easy to make by just adding a pack or mine onto any zombie mini that you might already have.  Grindhouse Games make a few zombies with bombs on, or rather IN, some zombies from their Incursion line so swing by and give them a gander

2 comments:

  1. Plenty of figures that can be used too, nice addition

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    Replies
    1. Agreed. This is the golden age for gaming with zeds.

      Brian

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