contentsPike & Shot & Zombies! Background 5 GameRequirements 5 TheGame 5 TheFigures 5 Don’tTrustAnyone 5

Das Land Der Toten GameSetting 6

Der Überlebenden Survivors Profile 7 Skills 8 Geist 9 SurvivorsWeaponsandArmour 10

Weapons Pistols 11 Carbines 11 Muskets 11 Bows 12 Close Combat Weapons 12 TwoHandedWeapons 12 NumberofWeapons 13 RareFirearms 13 Rare Missile Weapons 14 High Quality Swords 14

Armour Armour Value 15 RareArmour 15 High Quality Armour 15

Money PurchasingEquipment 16 RareItems 16 High Quality Items 16 Buying Salvation 16

Der Auferstandene Undead Types 17 Other Nasties 18

Arrivals Arrival Points 19 Sounds 19 DeadSight 19

Initiative and Sequence Initiative 20 GamesSequence 20

Observation ObservationRange 21

Movement MovementRate 22 SurvivorsMovement 22 LeapingaGap 23 Falling off Things 23

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ContentsMovement Climbing 24 Moving through Doors 24 Wagons, Artillery, Boats 25 Stealthy Movement 25 UndeadMovement 26 Shooting Shooting Procedure 27 Damage Procedure 28 FiringintoCombat 29 ReactiveFire 29 RecoveringArrows 30 FiringOverhead 30 Firing at Cavalry 30 SevereInjury 30 FiringMechanisms 31 Ammunition 31 HandthrownWeapons 31 HeavyWeapons 31 HeavyAmmunition 32Combat Undead in Combat 34 Damage to Survivors 34 Infection 35 SurvivorsversusSurvivors 35 SevereInjury 36 Close Combat Weapons 36 The Weapons Table 37 Types of Attack 37 Close Combat Modifiers 39 Horses in Combat 40 Changing Weapons 40 Moving in Combat 40 Destruction Structural Damage 41

Burning Combustion 42

Arcane Skills The Skills 43 Witchcraft 43

Notes on Murder Murder Trials 45

Cowardice and Honour Military Trials 46 Duels 46

Theft Trials of Theft & Robber 47

Finding Stuff Looking for Stuff 48

Creating a Scenario Basic Scenarios 49

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contentsAfter the Scenario Damage & Recovery 50 Down-TimeOptions 50 BeforetheNextScenario 51

Events 52Starting Scenario 57 Rescue Mission 58

Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the valuable help I had in creating these rules. Firstly Henry Danes for numerous helpful and imaginative ideas and some excellent play-testing practise. I would also like to thank Steven Eserin for the superb cover artwork (not to mention the play-testing). There were also several entertaining and truly hilarious games that helped me to iron-out a few areas in the rules - thanks Dave, Mick, Sam, Martin, Joe, Steve, Tony and Honza.

I would also like to mention the excellent figures that have been used to illustrate the rules, mostly Assault Group Renaissance figures for the “survivors”, plus a few from Warlord Games ECW range. And of course, not forgetting the zombies which come from Mantics superb range of undead plastic miniatures (a great range for any zombie period).

CopyrightStephenDanes2011All rights reserved. No part of this publication or abstraction from it may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or trasmission by email or internet, without prior permission in writing from the copyright holder.

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Do you have a bunch of Thirty Years War or English Civil War figures hanging around not doing much? Do you have a gang of undead figures equally underused?? Ever wondered what it would be like to pitch Europe’s meanest mercenaries against the relentless hordes of the underworld??? No, neither had I. But I did manage to borrow some zombies and come up with some daft but seriously fun rules for some seriously horrific encounters between man, musket and mouldering corpse. So welcome to the world of Pike & Shot & Zombies!

BackgroundSimmering tensions erupted into outright rebellion eventually crushed by the Emperor at the Weisser Berg. Extinguished in one area, war flamed into life in another. A generation has fought and died and the next generation too - war has raged for decades. A plague of murder, burning, pillaging and destruction infects the land. Great armies met and great butchery was done. Thousands were slaughtered under the Gallows Hill. A great battle was fought in the mist and the Lion of the North was slain. But the Emperors army was shattered, its great leader defeated and shamed. Now the mighty heroes are all gone, noble causes have been crushed into the dirt. The Emperor, far away in his fortified palace grows weak, the remains of his armies demoralised and degenerate.

And the fighting continues. Ragged armies march across the carcasses of old battlefields, the rotting leftovers of former wars fail to halt their passage. Lesser men with their petty rivalries and inflated reputations squabble over worthless land and blemished honours. Starving soldiers visit indiscriminate slaughter in search of food and a moments shelter from the cold.

But these slaughtered millions have had enough. No longer do dead eyes and gaunt bones express still and silent accusation. Now the dead are rising and swollen limb, shattered jaw and withered talons seek to tear at the flesh of the living. Has the land become so engorged with blood and the earth so saturated with flesh that it can contain no more? Has this sickened land finally vomited up the corrupt remains of lost generations? Or is this the end of the world as foretold in the ancient books - the great and final Apocalypse? Now the living must kill again, kill those already dead. Now the real struggle for survival begins...

Games RequirementsAll that players need is a copy of these rules, a ruler or tape measure, a few six-sided dice, a direction die (you know, the sort with arrows on), a handful of individually

based figures to represent the survivors and several handfuls of hungry hungry zombies.

The basing requirement for figures is only that each figure should be individually based and that the bases should be (roughly) the same size. I have used square bases for my figures so that it is easy to work out the figures arc of fire, although this 90º arc can be painted on to circular bases if players wish to.

The GamePike & Shot & Zombies is a survival game for two or more players in a zombie “rich” environment. One player will control the undead, the other players will control one or more “survivor” figures. The primary objective for these players is the survival of their own figure or figures. Players may have a secondary objective such as clearing a farm of an undead infestation, but this lesser objective can never override the primary. The umpires objective is to provide the “survivor” players with a funny, scary, challenging battle for survival against the overwhelming hordes of undead creatures that plague their world.

The FiguresThe zombie figures that you can see throughout are from the Mantic Games “Undead” range. These are hard plastic, multi-pose figures and as anyone who has bought these will know - they are excellent figures. There are also a small number of metal figures “behind the scenes” mostly those with axes in their heads or with their “giblets” hanging out. I have had these rather amusing figures for a while and can’t remember where they are from - sorry.

The non-zombie figures are all from The Assault Groups “Renaissance” range, mostly Germans, Cossacks, Croats and Tartars - a motley collection of kick-ass survivors”

Dont Trust AnyoneWhat is it about zombie games? No one seems to trust anyone else. Alliances seem to last less than five minutes andbytheendofthescenarioanyremainingsurvivorsare usually spending more time fighting each other than the undead - but that’s why we love zombie games!

It is of course up to the umpire what sort of gamethey wish to create, but ones that build up the tension between the survivor players as well as delivering huge amounts of threat from the undead are usually the best games. Occasionally there are moments of heroism and self sacrifice, but hopefully these will be out-weighed by more frequent episodes of cowardice and double-dealing. I’m sorry, but its just more amusing that way!

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Pike & Shot & Zombies!

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Across the land spreads a new plague, destroying lives and memories and hope. What were these lands called in early times of peace, before the war came and the dreadful waking of the dead. Was it fair Europa, a land of pleasant valleys and bountiful crops, busy villages and prosperous towns? Was there ever a time of peace or had war always raged? Few now dare to remember the past, all must focus on the now. The next hour, the next minute, the next second is crucial for survival.

The wars of the past have left this land ruined. What do borders and boundaries matter now? Gone are the great princes and warlords who fought over these lands. Gone also is the greatest border of all - that which lies between life and death. All must now struggle to survive indas Land der Toten, the “land of the dead”.

Only a crumbling shadow of this lands former glory now remains. The plague came quickly to the cities and spread, as it always does, without concern for riches or status or honour. The humble corpse in the gutter rose up to take those who had once stepped round it the previous day. Graveyards and crypts erupted into blasphemous unlife as the dead returned to the cowering bosom of theirterrified families. Those slaughtered dead, discarded on a hundred battlefield now roam across vale and farm, village a hill, searching, seeking out the living wherever they shelter. Surely, a time will come when the dead will hold dominion over this troubled land and it will truly be knownas-das Land der Toten.

But that time has not quite arrived yet. Pockets of life and survival remain; in isolated valleys, remote farms and hilltop villages - away from the main thoroughfares of war - the struggle for survival continues. In small communities, among those thatmanaged to overcome

their initial surprise and fear and who endured the initial onslaught of the dead, life of a sort manages to continue. In places, the land is still tilled and a harvest is brought in. Fruit from the trees are picked and cattle is still tended. These precious resources manage to sustain life and are constantly guarded and patrolled.

Does this life of rural drudgery and constant vigilance appeal to everyone? In a lot of cases it does not. Many of those used to the soldiering ways of old do not fit easily into these cramped havens. Although their military skills are valued, they often find such lives restrictingandtheyyearnforthedayswhentheywerefree to roam. Many such bands of armed men now stray across the countryside, living as they always did, seeking employment here or there, demanding payment for their services or simply taking payment for their own pleasure. The more established survivor settlements fear these lawless bands often more than they fear the undead. Sometimes they must grudgingly accept their presence and the rapid emptying of their larders to ward off far harsher treatment that can be so easily administered.

Game Setting

ItisintothissettingthatagameofPike Shot & Zombies will be set. The survivors can be based in a small community and act as part of the defence force or local militia. They could also be a roving band of ex-mercenaries living off their wits in open country, skirmishing with the undead and making the most of any opportunitiesthat may present. Or players could be terrified survivors scavenging a living in the ruins of a once great city. It is up to the games umpire to create this setting, hopefully one as bleak and inhospitable as possible!

Das Land der Toten

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Why do the living have to endure the torment of the dead? Why do some survive and others not? Is there a purpose to this endless suffering? It does not pay to dwell too long on such imponderables, madness and death await those that do. The Überlebenden, the survivors,know this only too well. For many, the term “survivor” is far too optimistic a description of their miserable existence and prospects. Many prefer the appellation das verfluchte, “the cursed”.

Survivors ProfileEach survivor figure has a profile that describes their basic characteristics. This profile is made up of eight Attributes, these are Initiative, Shooting, Combat,Strength, Attacks, Life, Endurance and Geist. The player rolls 1d6 for each attribute to determine the factor.

InitiativeInitiativedeterminesthenumberofactionsthesurvivorcan take each turn. Roll 1d6 and see the table below.

Die Roll Initiative Actions1 Able 3

2 Capable 4

3 - 4 Adept 5

5 Resourceful 6

6 Enterprising 7

ShootingThis attribute determines the survivor figures shooting ability with any type of missile weapon. The “aimed fire” column shows whether the figure can take aimed shots. No means the figure cannot, yes means that they can as long as the usual criteria is met and “always” means that the figure always fires aimed shot (thus ignoring the usual criteria - see Shootiing section of the rules). The “hit bonus” column is for survivers who are exceptional shots and is the score added to the die roll to hit. For example, a survivor is a “marksman”, the player needs to score eight to hit, 2d6 are rolled for the range and two is added to the score. This bonus is added whether the shotisaimedorunaimed

Die Roll Shooting Aimed Fire Hit Bonus1 Inaccurate No -

2 Adequate Yes -

3 - 4 Accurate Yes +1

5 Marksman Yes +2

6 DeadShot Always +2

CombatThis attribute determines the survivor figures close combat and melee weapon handling ability. The Combat Factoristhescoreormoreneededtoscoreahitwith1d6 when using melee weapons. If this score is achieved, a hit is made and damage is tested for.

Die Roll Combat Factor1 Poor 5

2 Aggressive 4

3 - 4 Fierce 3

5 Brutal 2

6 Ferocious 1

StrengthThis attribute determines the survivor figures physical strength and will therefore determine how much weight the figure can carry (i.e. the total weight of weapons and armour). Very strong survivors might even gain a damage bonus that is applied to any hits scored in close combat.

Die Roll Strength Weight Combat Damage1 Feeble 12 -

2 Solid 14 -

3 - 4 Sturdy 16 -

5 Muscular 18 +1

6 Powerful 20 +2

AttacksThis attribute represents the survivor figures speed and agility in close combat and will determine the number of attacks that can be used in each phase of close combat.

Die Roll Attacks Number1-2 Slow 1

3 - 4 Swift 2

5 Rapid 3

6 Blur 4

LifeThis attribute show the number of wounds that the figure can suffer before they are killed. Each wound removes one Life Point, when the figure is reduced to zero they are badly wounded and can take no further actions. If the Life Points are reduced to less than zero - the figure is killed (see Shooting and Close Combat section).

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Der Überlebenden

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