EVENT - Zombie Apocalypse 2017 (AoS Skirmish)

[The Supreme Emissary]

It's getting closer folks! Last year's Halloween event was a splendid success, adapting the apocalypse game type to the new at the time No Man's Land 7th ed Kill Team Campaign. This year we'll be doing the same thing but with Age of Sigmar.

Last year was 40k 7th ed, which worked well despite the awkward rules from No Man's Land. This year we find ourselves in the early stages of 40k 8th ed, too early to try and pick through the chaos.
The year we got the AoS Skirmish rules which are a Kill Team format and the easiest to use rule set I've seen yet! So this year should be even better than last year.

This year I'll be running the event as an inner campaign running the whole month of October. For September I'll be announcing play test days for anyone who wants to learn how to play AoS, build a Skirmish list and refine the custom Zombie Apocalypse rules for this event. Player participation last year was a crucial factor in making it such an amazing event.
- Playtesters are asked to build skirmish lists of 50 and 100 renown -

Campaign 
The rules and missions for this event will be taken almost entirely from the Skirmish book (5.99$ AoS app purchase). The Shadespire theme is too perfect for the situation, especially with the Shadespire specialty game being released in October as well. The campaign format and missions in the book will be the core of the event with some additional tweaks. Player progress through the Campaign will also be tracked in store, their progress will be recorded and posted. 
More details on the campaign flow coming soon.

Plague Zombies
Move 4" | Wounds 1 | Bravery 10 | Save 6+
Infected Bite - Range 1" | Attacks 2 | To Hit 6+ | To Wound 6+ | Rend - | Damage 1
The Dead Rise: Any player models that are slain by attacks from Plague Zombie models are immediately replaced by a new plague zombie model. 
Chaotic Taint: A Plague Zombie's 6+ save can be used to resist mortal wounds.
Keywords: Death, Chaos, Plague Zombies

Using Plague Zombies (PZ) in a game
Plague Zombies ignore the normal Skirmish restriction that denies the placement or creation of new models/units. 
1. A mission starts with a number of PZ models equal to the combined renown of all players' lists divided by 10 rounding up.
(So a 2 player game with 50 renown lists would be 50+50=100 100/10=10 10 PZ models start on the battlefield.)
These models should be placed as evenly as possible across the battlefield. 
2. At the beginning of each ROUND, before players roll for turn order, each player places D6 new plague zombie models on the battlefield. These models must be placed more than 9" away from any opponent models and more than 3" from their own models. If it is not possible to place a PZ model this way then place it in 3" of any battlefield edge, more than 3" away from any player models. 
(This may mean placing PZ models in a position to threaten your own models more than your opponents.)
3. At the end of each round is the "Zombie Turn". This progresses just like a normal player turn except that all players work together to complete actions for PZ models as quickly and efficiently as possible. PZ actions are executed in a predefined manner.

Plague Zombie AI
1. PZ must always move towards the nearest player model. They cannot enter a building or climb terrain off ground level. If they cannot charge then they must run. They cannot fall back.
2. A PZ must always attempt to charge when possible. If a PZ model would charge a player model, but another PZ model that is within 3" of the target model would prevent it from ending its charge in .5", treat the charge as successful if the charging PZ model can end within .5" of the intervening PZ model.
(In short a charging PZ model won't be obstructed if another PZ model is in the way, allowing them to swarm) 
3. PZ only fight during the Zombie Turn Combat Phase. They cannot be activated to fight during player turns. 
4. PZ don't take morale tests.

[The Supreme Emissary]

Skirmish Campaign
A skirmish campaign can be a solid foundation to lead into a Path to Glory Campaign, but that's another day. 

Renown
Players build their Warbands on a budget of 'renown' which is a calculation based on units' point values. These numbers can be found in the Skirmish Book, but expanded lists have been built by players. 

Shadespire
This Necropolis is a cursed husk in a cursed land left devastated by Nagash. The relics of this once incredible city lay amongst the dust and detritus. Finding these haunted treasures are relatively easy. Leaving with the Katophrane's spoils is not. 

Warbands
Like Kill Team games all models act as separate units, which can drastically change how they function on the table. However some restrictions and functions remain in tact. 
Models can be drawn from any combination of factions so long as they are from the same Grand Alliance. 
All war bands must have a HERO General from the start, that choice cannot be changed. They cannot use the 'Inspiring Presence' Command Ability normally available.

Battleshock Tests
The normal rules don't function in this format. Instead treat the whole war band as one unit and make tests using your General's Bravery characteristic. If your General has been slain, test against Bravery 5. This changes how many Bravery related abilities interact. 

Summoned Units
Not specifically for summoning effects. Any abilities that would allow a player to place a model on the battlefield during the game does not function. 
For this event this rule is suspended specifically and exclusively for Plague Zombies.

3 rules of 1
A player can only attempt any given spell once per turn. 
Natural rolls of 1 to hit, wound, save always fail AFTER re-rolls are applied, but BEFORE modifiers are applied. 
Abilities that generate additional attacks, hits or wounds cannot use these extras to generate more of the same.

Allegiance Abilities
A Warband can only use the ability associated with their Grand Alliance. 

Command Abilities
Generals can use the abilities on their Warscrolls. They can also pick or roll for a Skirmish command ability (listed in Skirmish book). 

Artifacts of Power
Generals can pick or roll for a Skirmish artifact (listed in Skirmish book). Or they can use artifacts from their Grand Alliance. The normal restriction of one Artifact per HERO is ignored, allowing your General and only the General to have multiple Artifacts. 

Mysterious Terrain
This is a list of effects for terrain features. These can be ignored, picked or rolled for. It is suggested to use no more than one discreet scenery piece per battlefield board (1 terrain feature for every 2x2' area of the table).

Underdog Bonus
This is an important balancing mechanism. If there is any difference in opponents' renown, the lesser war band gains a number of re-rolls. The greater the difference the more re-rolls. In games featuring more than 2 players, use the war band with the highest renown only to calculate re-rolls. 

Earning and Spending Renown
After each battle, calculate up your rewards. Every game earns you renown. Before your next game you may spend your renown to add more models or save it to buy more expensive models later. 
Unlike most other Kill Team style games, there are no casualties. Any models that die in battle have no risk of being permanently lost. 

Rewards of Battle
After each mission, roll on this chart to determine what bonuses your war band has unearthed. A warband can only acquire each reward once. 
Spoils are mission specific bonuses that can only be earned once. Even if a player plays the same mission multiple times their spoils are locked and recorded.


1. Shadespire Beckons (Clash of Dawn pg22)
2. City of the Dead (Treasure Hunt pg23)
Spoils - Artifact of Power
3. The Ancient Warlord (Fragile Cargo pg24)
Spoils - Command Ability
4. The Soul Well (Vortex of Power pg25)
Spoils - 3D6 Renown
5. Empowered by Death (Assassinate pg26)
Spoils - Command Ability +
6. Bonestorm (Seize the Relic pg27)
Spoils - Win the Campaign


Battle Traits
Order - Re-roll failed Battleshock tests.
Chaos - Pick a unit to attack in combat if its in 12" of your general or 3" of another Hero from your war band. On a roll of 6+ add +1 to hit rolls for that unit in that phase. 
Death - If a unit suffers a mortal/wound while in 6" of your general or a death hero in your warband, on a 6+ the wound is negated.
Destruction - Roll a dice in your hero phase for your general and each Destruction Hero in your warband, adding 2 for the general. On a 6+ pick a friendly Destruction unit in 6" of the general or Hero being rolled for. That unit can immediately move 6" if it's more than 12" from the enemy / immediately pile in if its within 3" of the enemy / immediately declare a charge in any other circumstances. It can't run with this move, but can still move, charge or pile in normally later in the same turn. 

[The Supreme Emissary]

Halloween Skirmish Campaign

Players will complete 6 missions of the campaign and report their results. 
Each mission has 4 possible results with different potential rewards. 
Players may replay any mission as many times as they want but cannot gain the same rewards multiple times. 

Renown Rewards
Depending on how well a player does they earn between 6-10 renown just for completing a mission. However, they can replay a mission to improve their rewards but only to a point. If a player scores a Major Victory in a mission they gain 10 renown and can gain no more for playing that mission ever again during the campaign. Alternatively if they lost a mission they would gain 6 renown and have the potential to replay the mission. If they lose again, they gain nothing, but if they draw or achieve a victory they'll gain the difference in renown. 
If a player is able to achieve a Major Victory in all 6 missions, they will have 60 renown to expand their warband. However that may not be possible for some players. But even if they lose every mission, playing the campaign to its end will net 36 renown to build from.

Result	Renown Earned
Loss	6
Draw	7 (+1)
Minor Victory	8 (+2)
Major Victory	10 (+4)

Rewards of Battle
After each mission, players roll on a table. Players who achieve a Major/minor victory get an extra dice to roll. A player cannot receive any reward more than once. If the roll a result they've already received, they may PICK a different result.
Over the coarse of the campaign, players can earn 8-15 extra renown. This can help make up for some points lost from losing battles or minor victories. 
2-5 Gives a one use item that can only be used in your next mission
6-8 gives you an extra D3 renown
9 Roll for a Skirmish Command Ability. If its one your General already has, you may PICK a different result.
10 Roll for a Skirmish Artifact or Magic of Shadespire. If the result is one you already have, you may PICK a different one.
11 gain an extra D6 renown
12 gain an extra 6 renown

Battle Traits
A war band can only ever have 1. This is taken from their grand Alliance.

Command Abilities
A General can have up to 5. 1 built into the warscroll, 1 from skirmish table at start, 1 from Reward of battle table, 2 from mission Spoils

Artifacts of Power
A General can have up to 3. 1 from Grand Alliance/skirmish list, 1 from rewards of battle, 1 from mission Spoils

How Much Renown?
Starting Value+(10x6)+D3+D6+6+3D6
Starting Renown is suggested at 25, but that's too small. It'll Probably be 40.
40+60+3+6+6+18=133 potential Renown.
Maximum Renown Allowed = 100
So assuming one loses all their games and rolls low
40+36+1+1+6+3=88 renown minimum after totally completing the Campaign. 

What's the Difference?
How well you do during the campaign will determine how fast you are able to add models to your warband.
It also grants players a number of re-rolls for facing a war band with greater renown.
For every 5 renown more your opponent has, you gain 1 re-roll. These re-rolls can be applied to any rolls your units make. That means not things like reward rolls, effects in a mission, or turn order.