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ZDay- 5p Attack and Defend

ZDay- Release 1.0

Thank you for downloading this scenario. This was built with a lot of love on the original Conquerors. Perfect scenario if you have that awkward 5-man group like we did.

Summary
Players 1, 2, and 3 are playing as hordes of zombies attacking the last remnants of humanity (players 4 and 5). Zombies have numbers on their side but largely lack any ranged units. They start out weak, but get stronger both with time and with kills. After one hour, supply drops appear on the map, and the humans can retrieve them for resource bonuses. The humans are not trying to "win," they are trying to survive for as long as possible against the endless horde. Try to last as long as you can as the humans, or eat those tasty brains as the zombies. Survival times vary widely from game to game, but if humans can survive 3 hours that is a very good time. The record is just over 4 hours.

Civilizations
Player 1- Persians
Player 2- Aztecs
Player 3- Byzantines
Player 4 and 5- Random or chosen (see below)


Zombies

The Zombies are trying to attack the Brain Factory to get those delicious brains (the wonder). The zombies have numbers and time on their side, but lack ranged units. Don't expect a positive kill-death ratio. Each of the 3 zombie players have a different role.

Player 1 Tanks
Beefy zombies that can take a beating. Slow but powerful. Specialize in absorbing damage. Spawned units include huskarls, teutonic knights, and war elephants.

Player 2 Horde
The faction with by far the most units. Most combined attack power, but can fall rapidly. Spawned units include pikemen, berserks, rams, and petards.

Player 3 Speed
The group with speed on their side. Specialized in opportunistic attacks, economy disruption, and hit-and-run attacks. Spawned units include paladins, cataphracts, eagle warriors, and tarkans.

Each zombie faction gets "killstreaks," achieved when that player achieves a number of kills. These usually give bonus units that the zombies don't normally get access to, including ranged units. There are also a few team killstreaks, achieved when every zombie player attains the number of kills.

Monk Hockey
Zombies don't have much to do in the beginning, which is why they have Monk Hockey. Each zombie player has a monk on a platform. The goal is to have the most relics in your area at the end of 10:00. This has no impact on the rest of the game, and is an optional time-killer for the zombie players.


Humans

The humans are trying to protect their Brains Factory (the wonder) at all costs, but defeat is inevitable. They will hold out as long as they can. 3 hours is a very good time, but defeat within 30 minutes is also quite possible. In terms of economy, the humans are more-or-less playing a normal game. However resources in your starting area are limited and if you want to survive for a long time you need to venture out.

Civilizations
It's up to your group how you want to assign human civs. Random or selection is fine. Our group rolled dice with one optional reroll. I suggest banning the Saracens, Khemer, Portuguese (for being a bit too strong against the zombies due to lack of counters) and Goths (no stone walls).

Supply Drops
Starting at 1:00:00, supply drops start appearing on the map. You receive these drops by having at least 1 unit inside the zone at the right time. Zones are rings of trees marked with torches. Note that the timers START at 1:00:00, which means the first drop is actually at 1:10:00. There are two of each “type” for the two sides of the map.

10 minute timer
Mixed near center 350 gold, 50 stone
Stone outside gate 300 stone

15 minute timer
Gold inside tree ring 1200 gold
Gold on tree corner near gate 1500 gold

20 minute timer
Stone Stockpile- 1500 stone
Gold on Ice Plains- 4000 gold

30 minute timer
Gold in back corner- 6000 gold


Odds and Ends

Gentlemen’s Rule: Do not delete your own units. Kills are useful to both sides.

Trade units cannot be built, resources are finite.

Humans are not allowed to convert the infected. After 10 conversions the player is removed from the game.

Humans are limited to 3 onagers and 6 scorpions each.

The snowy road section around the zombie spawn will kill any human units entering. This area also heals zombies.

Zombies take attrition damage (small damage over time) on the human players’ upper platforms. This is to ensure a small early raid can be recovered from.

The Juggernaut is not allowed to touch the Brains Factory.

Much of the map is ice which cannot be built on, but there are dispersed patches of snow. This is intentional and can be built on.

After one hour, humans gain line of sight on the supply drop zones. Zombies have line of sight here from the beginning. Zombies also have sight on the Brains Factory.


Tips and Tricks


Humans

Walls are your bedrock. Do not let them fall. Get a villager to the center gate to make sure it doesn’t fall in the first 15 minutes. Be vigilant and keep your walls repaired. And keep your gates locked!

Human to zombie strength ratio waxes and wanes throughout the game. Zombies are strong from roughly 20 minutes to 45 minutes, then humans are strong until about 1:30:00. Use the times you are strong to capture supply drops and mine resources out on the map.

The clock is vital to timing supply drops. Press F11 to pull up the clock.

Zombies get bonuses from getting kills. Limit your losses as much as possible!

Stone is highly limited. Building your first castle requires either buying stone from the market, mining it from out on the map, or achieving 10 kills.

If both players have a unit in the supply drop zone, both players get the resources. Work together to maximize resources.

Try to minimize your time in the drop zones. Zombies have vision here and are usually able to overpower you given the time to gather up.

Lack of zombie ranged units vastly changes the power level of different units. Teutonic Knights and War Elephants become top tier while paladins and skirmishers are much weaker.

You can’t cover every defense point at full strength. Scout when you can and try to anticipate where attacks will be coming from.

Beware the Eagle Teleporter that is activated after Speed gets 45 kills. Games can be lost this way unless you take defensive measures.


Zombies

The three factions have vastly different specialties. Working together is critical!

Put pressure on the humans. Lay siege if you can’t attack the gate. Don’t let them bring unprotected villagers and monks onto the map. Sometimes the best move is to wait and build strength.

Horde spawns in waves until 45 minutes. Tank and Speed spawn in waves until 1 hour. Afterwards units spawn continuously, with buffs occurring every half hour.

Getting through an open gate can be a huge early advantage that often can’t be recovered from. Make the humans pay for carelessness.

Speed spawns Tarkans at 30 minutes. This is a great way to break through walls if the humans don’t have good defenses yet.

Late game, Tank and Horde have good units for breaking fortifications. Speed has good units for pushing a breeched wall.

Work together to feed kills to the players that need them. Team killstreaks are very helpful, giving squires, husbandry, and blacksmith upgrades.

Tank units are slow but powerful. Engaging the enemy takes planning and good map vision. Rely on your allies for scouting and initiating!

Horde has by far the most units. Use your numbers to funnel human units to where you can surround and destroy them.

Speed units are fast and can often retreat before dying. Bring weak units back to be healed and keep your numbers strong.

The most powerful killstreaks will almost never be reached, but are designed to be stalemate breakers.