Attacking Zombie controlled territories

[lozmoid]

Hey guys, I’ve just picked up my copy of this game and I think it’s great so far.  :-)

One thing I’m confused about and can’t seem to find in the rulebook is, what exactly happens if I want to attack a Zombie controlled territory that has NO ENEMY UNITS in it, on my Combat Move phase? There are no examples of this in the rulebook.

I assume that I fire for all my attacking units as normal, using their normal hit values (Infantry at 1, Tanks & Fighters at 3 etc.) But do I also count any 6’s rolled as hits against the Zombies too? I assume so. That means they are very easy to kill…

Also, after my attacking units have fired and all hits have been assigned, how do the Zombies fight back? I take it they roll 1 die per Zombie unit and hit on a… what?

If the above is all correct then cool, I’m playing it right. But how many combat rounds does this last for? Until the Zombies or my men are wiped out?

Which leads me to my last point - if I understand correctly, can I just invade a Zombie controlled territory with land units and take control of it WITHOUT fighting the Zombies? Why wouldn’t I want to wipe them out? Confused…

Thank you very much for your help!

[Panther]

@Lozmoid:

I assume that I fire for all my attacking units as normal, using their normal hit values (Infantry at 1, Tanks & Fighters at 3 etc.) But do I also count any 6’s rolled as hits against the Zombies too? I assume so. That means they are very easy to kill…

Correct!

@Lozmoid:

Also, after my attacking units have fired and all hits have been assigned, how do the Zombies fight back? I take it they roll 1 die per Zombie unit and hit on a… what?

No, Zombies have no defensive roll in a regular battle. They have the “Zombies Attack” (Phase 2) and the “Zombies Bite” during the General Combat Sequence (Phase 5). So during Combat each Zombie rolls a ‘Zombie Die’ prior to the attacker’s rolls. Zombies hit the Attacker on an “A”.

@Lozmoid:

But how many combat rounds does this last for? Until the Zombies or my men are wiped out?

Which leads me to my last point - if I understand correctly, can I just invade a Zombie controlled territory with land units and take control of it WITHOUT fighting the Zombies? Why wouldn’t I want to wipe them out? Confused…

Just walking in is not enough.
One round of combat is necessary to take control of the territory provided an attacking land unit survives:

@rulebook:

If you win a combat in a territory that is controlled by an enemy power or by zombies,
and you have one or more surviving land units there, you take control of (capture) it,
even if there are zombies remaining in the territory.)

As the attacker you may (optionally!) choose to continue the battle against the zombies (provided there is at least one land unit left).

You maybe want to wipe them out to prevent from future Zombies Attacks and Zombies Bites.
You maybe want to co-exist just to complicate an invasion of the opposing alliance.
There may be different strategies of course.

[lozmoid]

Thank you very much for these answers Panther!  :-)

Okay, so what if it comes around to my turn and I see there are Zombies in my controlled and occupied territory that arrived there during the previous player’s turn? Obviously, they will attack my units in that territory during my Phase 2, but come my Combat Move phase can I do battle with them even though they are already in my territory? (I am not invading that territory as such)

For example, it came to my turn (I was UK) and I had 1 Infantry and 1 Fighter in Australia with 1 Zombie there too. I did 1 round of combat with the Zombie and failed to kill him, but he rolled a ‘D’ and scored a hit one of my units… So I had to choose and decided to lose the Infantry.

So what was the next step? I was unsure how to proceed and so paused the game. I still currently control Australia but if I land the Fighter in a nearby friendly island, then the Zombie will take control of Australia on the next player’s turn in Phase 3 (if I don’t recruit any Infantry there during my Purchase/Mobilise phase) - right? Therefore, can I keep the Fighter in Australia (he technically hasn’t used any movement points to battle the Zombie) or must I land him elsewhere?

And for that matter, can hits scored by Zombies during MY Conduct Combat phase be applied to my air units? I am buggered if I know how they can do that lol  :-D

Interesting game mechanics! But that’ll do for now… Thank you again.

[Panther]

@Lozmoid:

Okay, so what if it comes around to my turn and I see there are Zombies in my controlled and occupied territory that arrived there during the previous player’s turn? Obviously, they will attack my units in that territory during my Phase 2, but come my Combat Move phase can I do battle with them even though they are already in my territory? (I am not invading that territory as such)

In case you share your controlled territory with Zombies the territory is still friendly. However you may conduct combat there:

@rulebook:

… You may also resolve combat in each friendly territory that contains your units and zombies
(in fact, you must do so in such territories that you moved units into during the previous phase)
…

@Lozmoid:

For example, it came to my turn (I was UK) and I had 1 Infantry and 1 Fighter in Australia with 1 Zombie there too. I did 1 round of combat with the Zombie and failed to kill him, but he rolled a ‘D’ and scored a hit one of my units… So I had to choose and decided to lose the Infantry.

In your scenario you are the attacker, so the Zombies would have hit you on an “A”.
When being hit you actually had no choice as during combat zombies can’t hit planes:

@rulebook:

Zombies cannot eliminate air units during this step.
Neither the attacker or the defender can select air units as casualties.

@Lozmoid:

So what was the next step? I was unsure how to proceed and so paused the game. I still currently control Australia but if I land the Fighter in a nearby friendly island, then the Zombie will take control of Australia on the next player’s turn in Phase 3 (if I don’t recruit any Infantry there during my Purchase/Mobilise phase) - right? Therefore, can I keep the Fighter in Australia (he technically hasn’t used any movement points to battle the Zombie) or must I land him elsewhere?

At least three zombies are needed to take control of Australia provided there is no UK unit present. So as long as the fighter survives the Zombies Attack Phase (2) you keep Australia. Of course you should think about bringing and/or recruiting additional units there. With a fighter only you are allowed to initiate one round of combat against the zombies. You can land the fighter back in Australia, as Australia is still friendly.

@Lozmoid:

And for that matter, can hits scored by Zombies during MY Conduct Combat phase be applied to my air units? I am buggered if I know how they can do that lol

No, see the rule quoted above.
Air units can only be hit during the Zombies Attack phase (2), page 14.
(It is in this phase when zombies hit you on a “D”).

[Caesar-Seriona]

Just so you know. You can’t liberate and then attack the same zombie territory.

[Panther]

@Caesar:

You can’t liberate and then attack the same zombie territory.

What do you want to say?

It is technically impossible to do that during the same turn:
Combat ends in step 8 and the territory is liberated in step 9 of the General Combat Sequence.
You never liberate territories during combat steps 3-8.

Of course you may attack zombies present in the liberated territory during the next turn.