Undead of Omyr bonus round

I ran a Warhammer 40,000 Halloween campaign using a custom detachment of zombie miniatures from Zombicide. There were 3 scenarios, with a failsafe scenario in case the Astra Militarum detachment falters. In the campaign, the Astra Militarum survived each scenario, so there wasn't a need to play the failsafe scenario. As with many of the scenarios in this campaign, Scenario 002 (the failsafe scenario) has some interesting special rules, so I decided to play through it.

The story

This scenario can take place after the first battle within the city ruins, or after the stealth mission within the city centre. In the event that the zombies win one of those scenarios, the Astra Militarum player selects exactly 1 miniature from their battle force as the lone survivor. This lone survivor has been collected from the battlefield and placed into an Adeptus Arbites quarantine facility.

Unfortunately, a bunch of other patients in quarantine have been infected and, as zombies, have broken out of containment and are roaming the halls.

The lone survivor must reach the exit objective without killing any ally unit. The lone survivor has an early stage of infection, and so can join the zombie unit, but as a fellow human it can also join an ally unit. Should an ally model be destroyed by a unit containing the Hero model, the Hero fails the mission.

Any Wounds the Hero takes are ignored, and instead the Hero collects Impurity Points. These Impurity Points potentially work against the Hero in the final scenario of the campaign.

Round 1

Initiative order is Zombies, Astra Militarum, Adeptus Arbites.

The Zombies move through the hallway, stopping just around the corner from the cell door.

The Assassin leaves her cell, and makes an Advance right through the Zombie hallway and out the other side. At the end of her Movement phase, she closes the main door behind her. She's safe from the Zombies, just like that.

The Adeptus Arbites make an Advance anti-clockwise around the facility.

Round 2

This time, initiative is Astra Militarum, Zombies, Adeptus Arbites.

The Assassin chooses to Advance clockwise around the facility, probably having taken note during her stay here that the Vigilants patrol anti-clockwise.

The Zombies move across the facility to the northwest quadrant of the facility. They bypass the open cell and stick to the hallways, maybe smelling the approaching scent of the Adeptus Arbites.

And sure enough, the Adeptus Arbites fling open the side door in the northeast quadrant. They can't enter the facility this Round though, because opening a door occurs at the end of the Movement phase.

Round 3

In a real stroke of luck (or is it tactical genius?), the Adeptus Arbites rolls high on initiative, followed by the Zombies and then the Astra Militarum.

Because of the tight spaces of Boarding Action terrain, only 5 Vigilants (well, and their cyber-mastiff) can fit into the hallway this Round. That's a good number of Attacks, but from experience I know that the mediocre strength of their rifles make it pretty unlikely that they'll remove any Runners. Instead, they spend a Command Point to throw a grenade and successfully remove 1 Runner. I'd hoped for 2, but I guess 1 is better than doing 1 Wound that immediately auto-heals.

The Zombies rush forward but, again because of the tight space, can only get into base contact with 3 Adeptus Arbites models.

Doing their worst provides 6 Attacks, which kills 1 Vigilant and restores 1 Runner to their own unit. Honestly, what's the point in fighting zombies?

Meanwhile, the Assassin sneaks around the outside of the facility toward the exit in the northwest quadrant.

Round 4

The slaughter continues! Astra Militarum goes first, so the Assassin hurries toward the northwest quadrant the long way round.

The Adeptus Arbites go next, and fail to kill any of the zombies with 7 Attacks (there are Wounds dealt, but not enough to overcome auto-heal.) The Zombies, on the other hand, remove 2 Adeptus Arbites.

It's worth noting that the mission is a failure if all Allies die before the Assassin reaches the objective!

Round 5

Zombies roll high for initiative and, with 8 Attacks and melee bonuses in effect, remove all the Vigilants (including the K9 the cyber-mastiff, I'm afraid) from the hallways.

There's still half a unit of Adeptus Arbites outside, however, and on their turn they attempt to close the door. The zombies oppose, so there's a roll off. The first rolls result in a tie, but the second roll off is a clear (6 to 1) Adeptus Arbites victory, so the zombies are again sealed inside the facility.

This creates an interesting new problem, however. The Adeptus Arbites are still primarily concerned with subduing the sombies, so they need to get back inside the facility through another door so they can use their ranged weapons and grenades. The closest door is in the same path the Assassin happens to be taking toward the northwest quadrant. In other words, the Assassin may have skipped past the zombie horde, but she's face to face with some very angry Vigilants.

Round 6

In an unfortunate bit of luck for the Assassin, the Adeptus Arbites roll high on initiative. They open fire and get 2 Wounds past her Save, so she now has 2 Impurity Points. In a real stroke of luck, they only roll 5 for their Charge, which is just 1" short of success, so they do not manage to apprehend her and send her back to her cell. They could spend a Command Point to re-roll, but they badly need Command Points for grenades, so they do not.

Next up is the Astra Militarum. She rolls 10 for her Charge, so she flashes her Imperium badge and recites some official-sounding rhetoric that convinces the Vigilants that actually she's meant to be here and is joining their ranks to keep them on track.

The zombies hurry along their clockwise path, which places them, comically, just on the other side of the door the Adeptus Arbites are headed toward with the intention of sneaking up on the zombies (who they assume are still clawing at the OTHER door.) The Vigilant with the auspex has already been removed from the board, so I don't even think it's defensible to say that they scan the door before opening it.

Round 7

In the cleanest initiative roll you could possibly hope for, the zombies roll high, followed by the Assassin, followed by the Adeptus Arbites. That means everything works out for everyone.

The zombies stupidly progress clockwise around the halls, their backs now to the door.

The Assassin leaves the Adeptus Arbites unit and reaches the exit (technically ending the game immediately.)

The Adeptus Arbites proceed to the door and kick it open, ready to pursue the zombies in a hail of bullets and grenades from behind.

Post-game administration

This scenario was a lot of fun, and actually ended up having a lot more crossfire than I'd expected. I thought the Assassin's path around the opposite side of the facility was so obvious and safe that the game would be over in 3 Rounds. But a few bad Advance rolls drew the game out, and then complications with which direction made the most sense for the Adeptus Arbites to move meant that the Assassin actually did gain 2 Impurity Points. Those would have worked against her in the final scenario. She'd have had to roll 2d6, and unless she got double 1, these rules would have come into effect:

• No zombies would attack the Lone Operative
• Magos Biologis Thalion would recognise that the Lone Operative was becoming a zombie, and would attack the Lone Operative each round.

Luckily, this scenario never actually happened, and the final scenario didn't see the Assassin and Magos trying to kill each other as they ascended the building to deliver the antidote. Definitely a fun scenario with a unique design, and I'm glad to have played it as a glimpse into an alternate timeline.