AVZ_rules-v1-0 (WEBSITE).pdf - Victory Point Games

Science-Fiction Wargame #4
Game Design:
Chris Taylor
Developed By:
Chris Taylor
Art & Graphics:
Vinh Ha and Nick Hayes
(c) 2013 Chris Taylor and Victory Point Games (VPG); “Aliens vs.
Zombies” is VPG’s name for its two-player wargame of aliens
versus zombies.
http://victorypointgames.com; info@victorypointgames.com;
(714) 957-4066

Aliens vs. Zombies is published by Victory Point Games
3303 Harbor Boulevard, Suite B-1
Costa Mesa, CA 92626-1523
http://victorypointgames.com
info@victorypointgames.com
(714) 957-4066

Aliens vs. Zombies
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
[1.0] COMPONENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
[2.0] SET UP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
[3.0] HOW TO PLAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
[4.0] EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
[5.0] ACTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
[6.0] MOVEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
[7.0] ATTACKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
[8.0] VICTORY! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
INTRODUCTION
“Aliens vs. Zombies” (AvZ) is a two-player game
about the life and death (mostly death) battle
between two natural enemies: Aliens and
Zombies. The Aliens attacked the Earth and
destroyed 99% of humanity using orbital death
rays. However, the weapon interacted strangely
with human DNA and caused an unforeseen
mutation! Within 24 hours of death, the recently
dead arose and slowly shambled aimlessly, yet
with purpose, in the general direction of the
Alien attackers to take their revenge.
[1.0] COMPONENTS
Included in your AvZ package are the following
components:
(60) ½” square Zombie counters
(24) ½” rounded Alien counters
(2) 5/8” rounded big Alien counters
(10) ¾” x 1 1/8” rounded event tiles
(1) 8½” x 11” color game board
(6) six-sided dice (boxed edition only)
(1) Rules booklet
Everything you need to play is included, except
an opponent. You may also need to provide a
handful of regular 6-sided dice.
Event Tiles: One event tile is
revealed at the beginning of
each turn. Events have a number
(ranging from 3-10) and one or
two icons. The number indicates
the new Zombie spawns that
turn. The icons are Zombie (red)
or Alien (blue) events. The event
tiles are also used to keep track of game length.
When all event tiles have been revealed, the game
is over and a victor is determined.
Aliens: These rounded counters
represent the Aliens invading the
town. There are several types of
Aliens, with different characteristics.
Higher numbers are better. Units with
circled combat numbers are armored.
UFOs have a triangle behind their
movement number as a reminder of
their special movement rules. See the
back cover for a key to all Alien units.
Zombies: These square counters
represent the, very angry, recently
deceased. Zombie counters have
a single number – the Zombie
Number – which is used for both
movement and combat. Higher numbers are
better for movement and lower numbers are better
for combat. There are three types of Zombies, in
two sizes. The larger Mobs are more
difficult to kill and are stronger in
combat. Zombie Mobs have a white
number in a black circle.
Rotting Zombies are the most common, and
Tough Zombies are the rarest. Fast and Tough
Zombies have special rules for movement and
combat, respectively. See the back cover for a key
to all Zombie units.
Game Board: The board consists of rectangular
locations, divided by streets. The locations
regulate movement. There are three types of
locations: building, park and dirt lot. Building
locations are gray, park locations are green and
dirt lots are dirty brownish.
© 2013 Chris Taylor and Victory Point Games 1

Aliens vs. Zombies
Since Zombies and Aliens obey all traffic laws,
they can only cross the streets at crosswalks and
can never jaywalk diagonally.
Aliens awaiting landing are placed off to the side
of the board in the reserve. Aliens that are killed
by Zombies are sent back to the reserve. Zombies
that are killed are sent to the other side of the
board to the Zombie dead pile.
[2.0] SET UP
Place the board between the two players.
Determine which player will control the Aliens
and which player will shamble along with the
Zombies. If necessary, roll a die to determine who
will be the Alien player.
Place the 10 event tiles face-down and randomize
them. Return two random tiles to the bag (they
will not be used this game) without looking,
leaving eight tiles on the table.
Put all the Zombie counters in a clean, dry
opaque container (like a coffee cup without
the coffee) that is called the grave. The Zombie
player draws 15 random counters from the grave
and places them on the map, up to three Zombie
counters per location.
Meanwhile, the Alien player should sort the
Alien units in the reserve by type and assemble
three groups, each containing one Trooper, one
UFO and one Tank. After the Zombie player
has finished placing his or her Zombies, the
Alien player places the three groups on the map
in locations with no other counters; each group
must be placed in a different location.
[3.0] HOW TO PLAY
The game is played out over eight turns. Each
turn is made up of the following phases, which
are conducted in order. Repeat these phases if
there are more event tiles to reveal. After the last
turn, see (8.0) to determine the winner.
1. Event
The Zombie player reveals one event tile.
The Zombie player pulls X random Zombies
from the grave, where X is the number on the
Event tile, and “spawns” these Zombies on any
number of locations on the outside edge of the
map and/or dirt lots (brown locations); there is
no limitation to how many Zombies can be in
a location and they can spawn in locations with
Aliens. The Zombie player may empty the grave
while spawning – any remaining spawns are lost.
Finally, the event depicted on the event tile takes
place. See Events (4.0).
2. Alien Landing
The Alien player rolls one die and adds the result
to 1 (generating a number between 2 and 7).
This is the total combat strength, or less, of small
Alien units that will land on the map this turn.
The Alien player can choose small units (Trooper,
UFO, Tank or Leader) to place on empty
locations on the map, as long as they have a total
combined combat strength that is no greater than
the random number. Only one Leader can land
per turn. The Alien BFAR and Mutant cannot
land during this phase.
Leaders like to travel in style and there isn’t enough
room for more than one in the same landing pod.
3. Alien Actions
Each Alien on the map can take one action:
Move, Attack or Blast ‘Em. The Alien player can
act with one Alien at a time or group Aliens in
the same location to perform the same action.
See Actions (5.0).
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© 2013 Chris Taylor and Victory Point Games

Aliens vs. Zombies
A Move action moves the Alien from location to
location up to its maximum movement allowance.
An Attack action allows limited movement, but
the Alien can shoot Zombies in the destination
location. Blast ‘Em actions don’t allow movement,
but the Alien’s attacks are explosive.
4. Zombie Actions
Each Zombie on the map can take one action:
Move, Attack or Chomp ‘Em. The Zombie player
can act with one Zombie at a time or group
Zombies in the same location to perform the
same action. See Actions (5.0).
A Move action moves the Zombie from location
to location up to its maximum movement
allowance. An Attack action allows limited
movement, but the Zombie can attack Aliens
in the destination location. Chomp ‘Em actions
don’t allow movement, but the Zombie has a
chance of reviving “killed” Zombies from the
dead pile.
Extended Example: The
Zombie player draws the “5”
event tile (with one Alien Laser
symbol). The Zombie player
draws 5 random Zombies from
the grave, examines them and
decides to place three of them
in one location on the edge of
the map and one each in two
different dirt lots. The Alien
player then makes a laser attack against the new stack
of Zombies but misses.
The Alien player then rolls a die and gets a 4 for a
total landing of 5 points of combat strength. The
Alien places one Tank and one UFO in the same
empty location.
The Alien player moves, attacks and blasts with each
Alien counter. The Zombie player responds by moving,
attacking and chomping with each Zombie counter.
This wasn’t the last turn, so the next turn begins
with the revealing of an event tile. If it had been the
last turn, the winner would have been determined.
See Victory (8.0).
[4.0] EVENTS
Each token has one or more event icons. Red
icons favor the Zombie player, while blue icons
favor the Alien player. Zombie Bites and Alien
Lasers occur once for each icon on the event tile.
Players can see the results of one event before
choosing the next target.
Zombie Bite: For each icon, the
Zombie player picks any one location
with one or more Alien counters and
rolls a number of dice equal to the
number of Aliens in that location. Zombies do
not have to be present or adjacent. For each result
of 5+, the Alien player kills one Alien. For each
Alien killed in this manner, the Zombie player
takes one random counter from the Zombie dead
pile and places it in the targeted location. Some
of the Aliens have been affected by the mutated
Zombie disease.
Alien Laser: For each icon, the Alien
player picks any one location with one
or more Zombie counters and rolls
one die. If the result is equal to or less
than the number of Zombies in that location, all
Zombies in that location are killed and sent to
the Zombie dead pile. The Alien High Command
has seeded space with Alien Orbital Laser platforms.
They can target many Zombies in the same area,
but take time to recharge.
Zombie Claw: Various body parts and
limbs, separated from their bodies, attack
the Aliens. For this turn, all Aliens on
the ground cannot move. Grounded
Aliens can take the Blast 'Em action or pass. Only
Alien UFOs can take the Move or Attack actions.
Add a +1 bonus to each Zombie attack die result
until the end of this turn.
Zombie Rise: The peaceful dead are
peaceful no more! In addition to the
four Zombie spawns listed on the tile,
spawn one additional Zombie for each
Alien on the map. Any Zombies killed this turn
are sent back to the grave, not to the dead pile.
© 2013 Chris Taylor and Victory Point Games 3

Aliens vs. Zombies
Alien Mutant: The mutated Zombie
DNA strikes a lowly Alien trooper
and creates a 30-foot-tall Alien
mutant! Replace one Alien Trooper
with the large Alien Mutant counter. The Mutant
immediately goes on a rampage and can move up
to six locations (ignore terrain costs; it can only
enter a location once during this special move).
One Zombie is killed (Zombie player choice) in
each location the Mutant stomps through while
rampaging. The Mutant only rampages during
the initial turn. If there is no Trooper on the map,
discard this event with no effect.
Alien BFAR: The massive Alien
Battle Faction Armored Robot lands
and immediately attacks nearby
Zombies with SRMs (short-range
missiles). Place the Alien BFAR in an empty
location. The Alien player rolls six dice. For
each result of 4+, the Zombie player removes
one counter in an adjacent location (including
diagonals). The BFAR only makes one missile
attack when initially landing.
[5.0] ACTIONS
Each counter can act once per turn. Both
Zombies and Aliens can take Move and Attack
Actions. Zombies can take the Chomp’ Em
action and Aliens can take the Blast ‘Em action. A
counter can pass and do nothing. Counters must
complete their action before another counter can
act. Counters performing the same action can
move or attack at the same time. You might want
to rotate or flip counters to indicate they cannot
act again this turn.
[5.1] Move: The counter may move more than
one location using movement points, but cannot
attack. Alien movement points are equal to their
movement number and Zombie movement
points are equal to their Zombie number. See
Movement (6.0).
[5.2] Attack: The counter may use one movement
point and then make one attack. See Attacks (7.0).
[5.3] Chomp ‘Em: Zombies that do not move
can make this special attack. On a natural 6 on
attack dice, deal one hit and return one random
Zombie from the dead pile to this location.
[5.4] Blast ‘Em: An Alien that does not move
can make this special attack. On a natural 6, deal
one hit and attack again. This will continue as
long as natural 6s are rolled. Blast ‘Em attack dice
explode in gaming terms.
[6.0] MOVEMENT
Each point of movement allows the counter to
move to one adjacent location by the long or
short edge, but not the corner. A counter does
not have to spend all of its movement points, but
points are never saved and cannot be shared with
other counters.
[6.1] Big Trees: Park locations are dense with
trees and cost two movement points to enter. A
counter using the Attack action could not enter
a park location since it only has one movement
point. Exception: Alien UFOs ignore terrain.
[6.2] Enemy-Occupied Locations: Moving into
an enemy-occupied location ends movement.
Exception: Alien UFOs and Fast Zombies do
not have to stop.
[6.3] Braaains!: The last Zombie cannot leave
an Alien occupied location. At least one Zombie
must remain in a location with one or more Alien
counters. Alien Leaders have very large brains
and are especially tasty. No Zombie can leave a
location with an Alien Leader.
[6.4] Alien Rundown: Aliens cannot leave
locations with Fast Zombies. Exception: Alien
UFOs can leave locations with Fast Zombies.
[6.4] Stacking: Any number of Zombies can
occupy a location. At the end of a movement
phase, there can be a maximum of four Aliens in
one location. The BFAR and Mutant count as
two Aliens each. The Alien player must discard
excess Aliens to the reserves if necessary.
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© 2013 Chris Taylor and Victory Point Games

Aliens vs. Zombies
[7.0] ATTACKS
Aliens and Zombies can only attack enemies in
the same location. For each attack, perform the
following steps:
a. Roll Attack Dice
b. Roll Save Dice
c. Resolve Hits
d. Remove Casualties
[7.1] Roll Attack Dice: The number of attack
dice rolled and the result required for a hit
depends on if the attacker is Alien or Zombie.
[7.1a] Alien Attacks: Attacking Aliens roll a
number of dice equal to their total combat strength
and hit on a 4+. Alien Leaders stacked with Aliens
add +1 to each die result (and so hit on a 3+).
Alien Example: There is one Trooper, one
UFO, one Tank and one Leader attacking in a
location. The Alien player rolls a total of eight dice
(1+2+3+2, respectively) that hit on 3s or higher.
[7.1z] Zombie Attacks: Roll one die for each
Zombie and hit if the result is greater than the
Zombie number. If attacking with multiple
Zombies, roll each type of Zombie separately.
Zombie Mobs roll one additional die.
Zombie Example: There are three Rotting
Zombies, one Fast Zombie Mob and two Tough
Zombies in a location that are attacking. The
Zombie player would roll three dice that hit on 4 or
higher for the Rotting Zombies, two dice that hit on
5 or 6 (one for the Fast Zombie Mob counter plus
one Mob bonus die) and two dice that hit on 3 or
higher ( for the Tough Zombies).
[7.2] Roll Save Dice: The attacked player rolls
one die for each hit. Each die roll of 5+ reduces
the number of hits by one. Alien stacks with at
least one Leader and Zombie stacks with at least
one Tough Zombie instead save on a 4+.
[7.3] Resolve Hits: Players assign remaining hits
to their own units. Each hit will kill one Zombie
(non-Mob) or un-armored Alien counter. It takes
two hits to kill one armored Alien counter (UFO,
Tank or BFAR) or one Zombie Mob. Hits cannot
be split between armored units or Mobs to avoid
taking losses. A loss must be taken if possible.
Example: The Alien player is assigning two hits to
a stack with a Trooper and two UFOs. They cannot
assign one hit each to the UFOs to take no damage.
The Alien player assigns one hit to the Trooper (they
can always make more) and one hit to a UFO, which
bounces. The dead Trooper is placed in the reserve.
[7.4] Remove Casualties: Dead Zombies are
placed in the dead pile. Dead Aliens are placed
in the reserve. For each dead Alien placed in the
reserve, return one random Zombie from the
dead pile to the grave (in addition to any Chomp
‘Em results).
[8.0] VICTORY!
The game ends after the 8th turn. To determine
the winner, count the number of Zombies in the
dead pile.
Dead Zombies Level of Victory
0-10 Overwhelming Zombie Victory
11-20 Zombie Victory
21-25 Stalemate
26-35 Alien Victory
36 or more Incredible Alien Victory
CREDITS
Game Design by Chris Taylor
Character Illustrations by Nick Hayes
Map & Cover Art by Vinh Ha
Playtesting by Brad Bernstein, Robert Choi,
Hayden Decker, Tom Decker, Alan Emrich, Scott
Everts, Joshua Gottesman, Chad Krizan, Lenz
Poh, Mary Taylor, Nathaniel Taylor, Ko Travis,
Ian Wakeham and Sean Young
Proofreading by Chad Krizan, Rick Partin and
Ian Wakeham
© 2012 Chris Taylor and Victory Point Games
5

3 3
4 4
2 2
Rotting
Zombie
Rotting
Zombie Mob
Fast
Zombie
Fast Zombie
Mob
Tough
Zombie
Tough Zombie
Mob
1 3 2 6 3 3 2 3
3 5 4 4
Alien
Trooper
Alien
UFO
Alien
Tank
Alien
Leader
Alien
Mutant
Alien
BFAR
Zombie
Number
3
Alien Laser: For each icon, zap one location. Roll ≤
number of Zombies to send them all to the dead pile.
Combat
Combat
(Armored)
1 3
2
2 6
Movement
Zombie Mob
(+1 attack die)
Flying
Movement
Alien BFAR: Land the robot in an empty location.
Attack all Zombies in adjacent locations (ea. 4+=kill)
Alien Mutant: Replace Trooper with Mutant.
Mutant rampage (5 locations; kill 1 Zombie ea.)
Zombie Bite: For each icon, gnaw one location.
Roll 5+ for each Alien to replace.
Zombie Rise: Spawn one extra Zombie for each
Alien on the map. Dead Zombies go to grave.
Zombie Claw: Non-flying Aliens cannot move.
Zombies add +1 to all attack dice results.
Sequence of Play
1. Event
2. Alien Landing
3. Alien Actions
4. Zombie Actions
Attacks
a. Roll Attack Dice
b. Roll Save Dice
c. Resolve Hits
d. Remove Casualties
Attack Hit Numbers
Aliens hit on 4+ (Leaders 3+)
Zombies hit > Zombie Number
Alien Actions
Move (Full move, no attack)
Attack (1 MP, normal attack)
Blast ‘Em (No move, special attack:
Natural 6 is a hit, then roll again.)
Zombie Actions
Move (up to Zombie #)
Attack (1 MP, normal attack)
Chomp ‘Em (No move, special attack:
Natural 6 returns one Zombie from dead
pile to grave.)