Shantytown Anyverse

(Image from:  Ashes of Dystopia)

Since I'm a mediocre painter, I'm a big fan of cardboard terrain.

Come to think of it, I'm not much better at assembling pre-painted buildings either.

Which is why I like Runestone Entertainment's Model Card Shanty Town.

While actual shanty towns are, sadly, an all-too common sight in our world, they're often the settings for Dystopian-style games and stories, also known as Crapsack Worlds.

So they can fit anywhere from Terra Firma to a recently terraformed world.

Runestone's Shanty Town currently can be downloaded for $6.95.  But Drive Thru RPG often has sales, or even offers stuff for free.  So check the site as often as you can.

You can either print the material on card stock yourself or take it to a print shop.  (There's a local print shop I like going to because their card stock is sturdier and their ink better quality).

This particular product comes in a PDF format and is 23 pages long.  This includes assembly instructions and various Building Templates (white paper "frames") and Texture Templates (exterior) in the following scales:  28 mm, 20 mm (1/72), 15 mm (1/100), and 1/144th.

Not all the Exterior Templates fit completely over the walls and roof.

This is deliberate in order to give buildings that slap-dash, scavenged look.

I assembled 9, 28 mm buildings.

First, are some "public buildings," which could be stores, warehouses or dive-bars.

 Here's the front view:

Here's the right-side view of the "general store," (first building on the left), and the rear views of the other two buildings.

The left-side view of the "general store," along with rear views of he other two buildings.  (Their sides are just plain walls with no unique features).

Next are some "private buildings," which could be dwellings, or storage facilities.

Front view:

Rear view:

Once again, the side views are plain walls with no unique features.

The last three buildings are small sheds.

Front view:

Rear view of the first two buildings:

While I question my skills at assembling cardboard models, I liked how these structures turned out because they're suppose to look decrepit.

Product Review: World War Z, The Boardgame

I'm not a fan of horror, but oddly enough I like Zombie Apocalypse-style games.  I currently own most sets of Zombies!!!, the Last Night on Earth, along with a few expansions; and All Things Zombie.

So when my wife and I were out shopping last weekend I snatched up a copy of World War Z The Game by University Games.

The map is a Risk-like version of the world used to regulate the player's movement and the spread of the Zombie Plague.  The cards and cardboard playing pieces are decently made for the type of game this represents.  The rule booklet is only a half-a-dozen pages, so the game can't be too complicated to learn.

What irked me though was the Parcheesi-style tokens the players are suppose to use.

Seriously?

University Games couldn't think of something cooler to represent the players?

This isn't the only problem with the game, but I don't feel like wasting blog space about it.  Here's Mitch Lav with a scathing review about this game in particular, and movie tie-in games in general.

Overall, World War Z couldn't even get past the half-way point (5 out of 10 stars) in terms of ratings.

The raters on  Amazon were somewhat more generous giving the game an average rating of 3 out of 5 stars.

Despite the low opinion gamers have of this movie tie-in game, I'm rather happy with my purchase.

Why?

Well, for two reasons.

First, I often buy boardgames with an eye on using them for something other than the game itself.  In this, case World War Z would make a good campaign map, or situation map, for any of the Zombie Apocalypse games I mentioned earlier.

Second, and most important:  I found the game on the Clearance Shelf at Half Price Books--for $3.  Make that $3.29 with sales tax.

Hey, $3.29 for a poorly designed game?  I've spent far more than this on dumber things.

World War Z is currently going for anywhere between $5 to $16.99 on the Boardgame Geek Marketplace; or $7.77 to $32.54 on E-bay.

There are 0 bids so far, I might add.

But no matter how cheap you buy it on-line, you'd still have to pay for shipping & handling (S&H).

Best to troll through discount stores, or keep an eye out for gamers having garage sales.

Starlit Citadel Reviews Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game