Weekender: 4Ground’s Epic Shopping Mall & Zombie Survival Prep Talk
October 1, 2016 by brennon
Welcome to a packed show where we're talking with UK Games Expo about their plans for next year, Cosy Dice about their new bags and...because we're totally the people to ask, some apocalypse survival tips!
If you want to find out more follow along and watch above.
BoW Updates
What's been going on this weekend?
- Re-Roll Weekend - We're launching Issue #2 of the magazine this week!
- Team Yankee Live Blog Next Weekend - Watch out for an intercontinental Live Blog happening next weekend.
- Drop Tactics Returns - Our tactics series returns looking at some new tricks you can use in game.
- Epic Wrath Of Kings Terrain Building VLOG - See how we built an utterly stunning Wrath of Kings table for filming this week.
...quite a bit wouldn't you say?
Hobbyween Entries
With October now on us it's time to get spooky!
- Frankenher by caladors
- Deathwatch Vs Paramour by abstractalien
- Monster Bottle by martincraddy
- Scary Bear by laughingboy
- Spooky Dungeon Saga by soapdodger
- Specimen 18 by isomerase
What do you think of these projects so far?
Walking Dead Malls & The End Of The World
We take a sneaky peek at what lies ahead for 4Ground as they showed us some shots of their Shopping Mall.
This brings us on to real life survival tactics and whether or not we could hack it. Maybe The End Of The World series of role-playing games by Fantasy Flight Games would test us enough?
Let us know what other tabletop games you think test your survival skills.
UK Games Expo Interview
One of the biggest events in the UK, this event continued to grow again this year. We talk with Richard and Tony about what they are hoping to see from it next year.
Hobby Lab Open Challenges
Not only are we focusing in on the new Fresh Water Challenge that we launched this week but remember to take some time and check out the Finalists of the Scatter Terrain Challenge too.
Cosy Dice Interview
It was a joy to sit down with Annie of Cosy Dice to talk about their new Gamer Bag which has a familiar badge adorning it!
Grab A Backstage Free Trial & Watch Weekender XLBS Tomorrow
Have a great weekend!
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"Do you think Lance's strategy of survival in movement and filling up your bathtubs or are you more of a guns blazing free for all like John?"
Supported by (Turn Off)
![Warcradle Studios Reveal TINY New 10mm Festive Marker! [Updated]](https://images.beastsofwar.com/2025/11/christmas-kyle-main-600-338.jpg)
We’re drowning in pumpkins here in the US. We need to send you a truck load to play with!
reroll is looking great
Glad to hear it 🙂
Be sure to leave some feedback on its post when you get time to digest it!
@warzan Check out ‘All Flesh Must Be Eaten’ RPG book and it’s supplement, ‘One of the Living: Player’s Handbook’ (zombie apocalypse survival stuff; scrounging, jerry-rigging, including the psychological and technological effects of society’s collapse).
http://www.allflesh.com/8020.html
http://www.allflesh.com/8007.html
http://www.allflesh.com/orderinfo.html
This looks fab! Really cool stuff 🙂
Best thing about the series is the DIY approach to zombies.
So you can make them exactly like your favourite movie.
It’s from how they spread the infection to how fast they move and if they’re intelligent at all.
Damn you all. Now I want a beer for breakfast!
lol once in a blue moon you get a chance to do things your own way… A simple beer breakfast has gotta be damn near the top of our lists lol
Lol. You’re right. I think I will do things my own way for once. I’m gonna have myself a beer breakfast now for 2 simple reasons. 1: I’ve worked hard all week, I deserve a treat. And mainly 2 : because my wife is away to work 😉
It”s the weekend! Time to pass time with a bit of hobby while also preparing the house for autumn/winter.
Ha ha we’re going through that prep here as well, it’s strangely satisfying getting stuff turned around for the change in season 🙂
Poor Doug the thug @ 1:40:55 – your Frostgrave scatter seems to be in the middle of a whiteout blizzard 🙂
Make that @1:21:37 – the previous timecheck’s the length of the video (otherwise known as when Warzan runs out of adreneline/Relentless) 😉
Lol 🙂
Blast one image escaped me :c
You can find his forum topic here anyhoo: http://www.beastsofwar.com/groups/painting/forum/topic/hobby-lab-open-challenge-frostgrave-scatter/?topic_page=1&num=15
I got a game in of Mythic Battles during the week. Highly recommended.
Happy Saturday, I now feel inspired to have a brew before turning in.
Kid been going on about the pumpkins, so there might be some Knife work there soon. Speaking of pumpkin, I might have to bring some pumpkin spice soda for you if I can.
Like the bag, because its universal and not tailored to one specific game and you can still customize it when you order.
One question @johnlyons, the templates look a bit dark or is this just because it’s seen in video?
They are transparent. They may look darker on the video but they are pretty easy to see through 🙂 As Annie said, they are looking for feedback on them to see how they can be improved 🙂
Thanks 🙂
Feedback is greatly appreciated.
Annie
Oooo my scary bear made it into the show, first time I have been on the program. Thats made my morning.
Twilight:2000 by GDW has survival at its essence, and deals with it pretty well and in detail. Disease, radiation, food, medicine… Granted, the players have a slight advantage with the amount of weapons floating about – but so do all the enemies. 🙂
Weekend. TIme to paint up a few Frostgrave chaps before heading out for some mediocre football later.
For zombie survival games try Plaid Hat Games – Dead of Winter. A great co-op survival game.
RoG laptop, awesome bit of kit, love mine to bits.
@warzan, try and track down an Australian movie called Undead. You’ll pick up lots of tips for surviving a zombie apocalypse and it has some cool weapon mods for John to try out. Just don’t watch with your kids, strong language warning.
Love the bag idea, especially how customizable it is. Maybe the option of a laser line pointer could be added if the demand is high enough.
UKGE – highly recommended, whether you are a gamer or a trader. We were trading there last year; Friday was slow, Sunday was fairly busy, but Saturday was just mental! It was easily the best show we did. We sold more minis there than we did at Salute…
It would be great to see more minis games and traders next year!
Ah Project Zomboid. That is one mean game but very atmospheric! We used to play it regularly but the fog of war combined with a lack of in game map meant that we would always spend the first harrowing hour trying to link up and usually only two or three of us would manage it.. then we would spend the next hour trying to find the other missing players who would invariably end up trapped in some rusty old caravan with nothing to keep the zombies out but some drawn curtains!
..or we’d leave those stray players to their fate and instead try to make the nearest farmhouse defensible. It would be fine for an hour or so until we ran out of food and had to go raid a nearby convenience store (at which point someone would usually suffer an injury climbing through a broken window, cut themselves and either bleed out or get an infection that we didn’t have the medicine to treat). Mind you, there was that one time where we had food, defenses, even some ammo (but no gun).. and one night somebody left the curtains open in an upstairs window. I went into the room, turned the light on, and immediately drew line of sight to a few passing zombies that were in the front yard. I quickly turned the light off but it was too late..
As for the UKGE, I shall also be going next year (I made it in 2015 – watching that late night screening of Flash Gordon in one of the hotel conference rooms was great) and I am going to try and do all three days this time. @warzan If you guys are coming along, I might finally be able to corner you and get you to play Pathfinder or Star Wars 😉
@siygess I would love to see the lads playing STAR WARS
Amazing experiences with project zomboid. One of my favourite survival games but I agree with the difficulty of finding friends on the worlds. My protocol was to run a direction until you found something of notice and camp until my friends found it also.
great show again guys! aaah beer breakfast a good old bavarian tradition! 😀
I would recommend the WW-Z book, its basically a collection of short stories. I think its Brad Pitts character from the movie who made interviews with survivors of the zombie apocalypse. Hiding on an island wouldn’t be an option, because the ocean is littered with zombies roaming the sea bed and of course they fall in the ocean on one side and come out on the other. There is even a story about commercial divers who went down and cleared the ocean from roaming zombies. I think the best bet would be somewhere cold because the zombies will freeze and can’t move anymore or are very very slow.
On the topic of the walking dead, I still don’t like the tv show. I watched until Hershels farm and the scene with the little girl walking out the barn, it feels like hollyoaks with zombies. Maybe I would like it more if I wouldn’t have read the comics first, the comic books are amazing I would recommend to anyone reading them over watching the tv show. A good movie would be also Zombieland where the main character has a list of rules how to survive a zombie apocalypse, and if Im not completely of its based on the other book from Max Brooks the one Lancorz was mentioning.
Re-Roll looks great, thanks guys! Have a great weekend everyone and dont forget ‘Always double tap, always double tap!’
FYI: in the walking dead universe there will be no end to it as long as there are humans and no cure there will be zombies. Why? Read the books and you find out. 😉
uk games expo sounds like fun. any chance of a live beasts of war show ?
Great show guys 🙂
I have always wondered how I would behave in a situation when I would actually see a monster in this context a zombie. I would probably froze to death and not be hacking and slashing, yet I do not know. It’s all fun to watch in TV but in reality? Who knows how our brains would react?
Annie of Cosy Dice 🙂 you have a great idea. The get the bag and then add stuff you want in it is a great idea. Customization is the way to go 🙂
Thank you,
I have put them on http://www.cosydice.com now, but I am taking all hints and tips as to what people would like in there.
Annie x
Myself and friends had the discussion about zombie apocalypse, it was decided that I’d do alright at surviving. I’ve served in the military, done combat survival courses, one of my hobbies use to be bushcraft and wild food foraging but what gave me the added edge were the 10 swords, 3 daggers and two axes, along with a longbow. Everyone was in agreement that they’d all head over to my gaff
Happy saturday…..great show beer always helps…lol
I have to say I’m not 100% convinced by the Shopping Mall. Having spent an inordinate amount to time in US malls traipsing after my bargain hunting wife during sales I just don’t feel the look is right. If anything to me it resembles a garden centre. Obviously this is just a first look and I’ll reserve judgement until seeing the final product, but I was hoping it would be a sprawling low rise type structure with “Anchors” on either end.
I think perhaps a Dawn of the Dead VLOG project is in order?
A good afternoon another fun show guys. Warren if you are worried about a zombie apocalypse and then don’t watch the excellent film “Stakeland.” This is a vampire Apocalypse and these aren’t your pretty boys vamps; these are something else.
Laser line markers are better than dot markers in my opinion. Just a thought.
Thankyou Warren, that made my rather rubbish week better a lot better and cheered me up 😀
Huge Congratulations to you, @abstractalien , on your “Weekender Segment.” Feels great, doesn’t it? 😀
And kudos to Warren and the team for bringing this project to the fore. I’ve been following this for about 20 months and other aspects I’ve always liked (in addition to the thoroughly original sculpts) are the backstory, the “crazy-advanced” sci-fi, and the maps.
(full project log linked below)
http://www.beastsofwar.com/groups/painting/forum/topic/primeval-abyssian-my-diy-sf-extra-dimensional-wargame/
I mean a lot of people in wargaming say they’ve “created a universe.” Chris here has actually done it. 😀 Highly recommend at least a quick scroll through the the full project log, but keep that “blue pill” handy, this rabbit hole goes pretty deep (in a good way). 😀
so The Walking Dead…
US population as of 2014 – 318.9 million
Estimated number of firearms in the US – 357 million
Each weapon will have multiple loads of ammo.
As Zombies don’t breed there is a finite amount of them – why don’t those alive just organise themselves and ‘sweep’ areas clear of zombies.
With that amount of firepower it wouldn’t take more than 1 season!
I can’t be the only one who had Kelly’s heroes quotes in my head when Warren was talking about bridges today?
“It’s a motha-beautiful bridge . . .” 😀
@warzan Check out the game dead of winter there is a game play of it in season 2/3 of tabletop.
The book world war zone is great as well as the zombie survival guide both by Max brooks. Wwz is written as a 3 part story beginning of the outbreak, fighting the zombies, and after the outbreak, the Brad Pitt movie that came out much later basically took the book and said all we are going to use from it is the title and threw away everything else in it.
For a good laugh and info for fighting Zombies check out zombie go boom on YouTube where they review and test different weapons you can buy from companies today against Ivan a zombie they keep as a pet… just kidding about the pet part.
World War Z not Zone ( autocorrect got me again)
great show guys, great back drop you had behind
I’ve been running a campaign using FFG’s ‘End of the world’ zombie apocalypse, it’s a very different style of RPG – more of a sandbox, with easy to learn but interesting game mechanics. All the players loved rolling ‘themselves’ up and found it a very cathartic experience- you need to leave your ego at the door! The only problem I found running a ‘contemporary’ zombie apocalypse game is how to write out or write in loved ones, friends & relatives of the players. Using local road maps & google earth has also really worked well in our campaign. The next encounter my group will have is with the ‘undead beast of Exmoor!’
I’ve added a link to some really useful GM guides & player aids for FFG’s ‘End of the word’ games.
https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/220513-gm-and-player-resource-pages/
Best of Luck!
David-K
I’ve taken part once a game of Vampire: the Masquerade where we all played ourselves having been vampirised… This sort of game has always stuck me as being a great idea in theory but not so much fun in practice, as you’re either dealing with lots of real life issues, relationships, etc. which is just not much fun to game about if you’re doing it realistically (e.g. in a real zombie apocalypse, would you really hang out with your gaming group or would you prioritise your family? If you wouldn’t hang out with your RPG buddies then you don’t have much of a game).
And if if you’re not going to play it ‘realistically’, but you’re fudging things to make it work, then you might as well just play a game where you’re not playing yourselves.
of course there is another flight than air flight @warzan:
SPACE!!!
Happy Weekend! and CHEERS!
Some Thoughts:
By the time you see the sea retreating before a Tsunami, it’s already too late, you’re Doomed, by that point you should be much further inland on natural high ground, unless they’re constructed almost entirely of reinforced concrete with no windows, are air/water tight and are anchored in the natural bedrock most buildings are going to be destroyed.
On thew matter of Zombie survival, a lot depends on the type of Zombie Walkers/Shamblers (eg. Walking Dead)can be outlasted they’ll rot within a matter of weeks at minimum, months at the maximum (depending on environmental conditions, to ensure no repeats ensure that the bodies of the recently expired are disposed of in such a way that they are utterly destroyed (cremation) or at least that the Brain-Body connection is severed (post-mortem decapitation). Runners/Hunters (World War Z) need a far more organised preferably militarised response rapid containment and extermination (preferably via lots of fire/thermobaric munitions) is the ideal response. The Possessed/Summoned (The Evil Dead) eliminate the root of the problem, eg. destroy the Tome Of Eldritch Lore used by accident, eliminate the Summoner/disrupt the ritual or wait for the Cosmic alignment (The Stars ar Right, that sort of thing) to abate otherwise good luck.
UKGE looks Awsome! may well have to ask around my mates see if anyone wants to group up and go next year, With any luck, see you there 😀
The bag is an excellent idea, maybe add or have the option of adding some Wound/Pin trackers akin to those in the Bolt Action starter sets or something similar.
Re-Roll is excellent you’re on a roll with that project (pun NOT intended. lol) keep it going.
Another spectacular show guys ;D
When the Tsunami comes I am going to dive into my recycling bin and hold down the lid – its full of packaging and water-tight – I will surf to the surface and bob about like Oscar the Grouch until the water abates or the rescue Highland Rescue helicopters come 🙂
@warzan , I was thinking a paint with Romain would be great at Expo
Peachtree Mall os a great idea. I lived in Atlanta and you can be driving on Peachtree street, turn onto another street, go back onto Peachtree Street, then come to the intersection of Peachtree and Peachtree Street ad infinitum….
And here’s a different take on the Apocalypse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiOtklXEe6Q
Some great survival board games are Dead of Winter and Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island. Both are co-op so you work with the other players but on Dead of Winter each person has their own hidden goal also. They are 2 great games and worth a look. Also if you get a chance and don’t mind the extremely dark side of it Kingdom Death MOnster looks to be a Survival game from what I have seen of it.
Dead of Winter is a personal favourite – The Long Night is an epic expansion to it as well. Love the human vs human interaction as well as the zombies.
Awesome show guys!
UK Games Expo looks ace, a long-long way for me but, it’s tempting!
I really have to go check out the video for the winners of the Scatter Terrain Challenge, because if those are Golden Buttons, can’t wait to see the wiiners.
Damn you @johnlyons ! I need to replace my gamer bag because or wear & tear and it seems Cosy Dice is going to win my money!
See you Sunday (or maybe monday because of work…)!
On the subject of a Zombie apocalypse you must go and check out the film The Girl With All The Gifts, currently in U.K cinemas. Arguably the best zombie film in a long time, 1979s Doctor Who crossed with 28days later crossed with lord of the flies.
Hey all! Thank you all so much for the lovely kind and helpful comments you have all come up with. I have now got my own profile (instead of the shared personal one with my better half @tonka73 ) So please tag me in any further comments so they pop up for me!
Thanks once again!
Annie!
Thanks for the shoutout guys for my hobbyween entry. There are some excellent ideas submitted already so well done to everyone.
Great show as always, maybe alcohol should be made a permenant feature?
As for a zombie apocalypse, I’m heading to the sea. Steal a boat and live off fish. It’s the only safe place!
Zombie themed game suggestion : ‘Dead of Winter’
It appears to capture the community aspect of TWD quite perfectly :
http://geekandsundry.com/tabletop-dead-of-winter/
Of course we can’t forget the obligatory ‘Zombicide’ (if you need zombie minis this game you can’t miss)
And speaking of ‘the walking dead’ … the Telltales’ “The Walking Dead” is a must.
You get to make the same kind of awful choices that the characters in the show do.
link : http://store.steampowered.com/app/207610/
oh … and it gets worse in the sequel because *spoiler* … you get to play as a kid stuck in that situation.
Not for the faint of heart.
great show guys, the cosy dice would be great if they do colour coordinated chapter ones like say dark green bag for dark angles with the eagle/sword Aquila covering the main flap.
@warzan (Alcatraz) a prison on an island? for zombie survival
Great show. Can’t recommend UKGE show enough. It’s the only only show so far I’ve suggested to non-gamer friends and families, just because there’s pretty much something for everyone.
Been three times now to the Uk Games Expo and the growth has been amazing. I think it’s a great couple of days.
The board gaming is great, the atmosphere is wonderful, the food is AMAZING and there are lots more miniature game companies popping up there too now.
Read Max Brooks – Ireland survived the Zombie War with the Pope and most members of the Royal Family taking refuge in Armagh (?)
World War Z – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_Z
The situation in the British Isles is not entirely clear in the novel, although Ireland may have escaped the worst of the outbreak. Members of the British Royal Family had fled to Ireland and the Isle of Man, following the military retreat to the Antonine Wall, and now exports oil from a reserve under Windsor Castle where the Queen held out for the war’s duration, refusing to flee with her relatives. The Papacy established a wartime refuge in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Armagh.[1]
Which I wanted to see in the film 🙁
I think I saw a comic version of the book in London – All I remember is the intro which shows a Pictish Zombie hoard attacking Hadrian’s Wall in the Roman era!!!!
The Ancient Latin Source (quoted!) suggested that Hadrian’s Wall was build to keep zombies out of Roman Britain :-O
The coloured lasers are an awesome idea. I tried to source bits to make a green laser for X-Wing, but it was too expensive and then I saw the u-tube videos of balloon-pooping, plastic-melting, green lasers and I thought, ‘how the hell do I calibrate this thing so it doesn’t actually laser-burn my miniatures?’
…so I would definitely get a ready-assembled laser kit 🙂
Another great show- keep the beer flowing.
The con look like real fun and will be checking it out near time.
Love the bags and think Warrens one will need a pouch for a 6 pack lol
Re: Zombie games, there’s been another kickstarted Walking Dead game which is all about characters cooperating (or not); the mechanics emphasise leadership and consent.
I think it’s Level 7: Escape which is the board game which uses the adrenaline mechanic. The rule book is pretty confusing, even though the game itself is fairly simple – and a lot of fun.
I see others have mentioned Dead of Winter and Kingdom Death as survival board games. Would Battlestar Galactica be another? It’s still on my list of things to play. And I know it’s not about zombies, but some of the same themes perhaps?