Chronicles of the Living Dead - Getting ready for Pike Shot and Zombies

"Eskil look back towards the burning farm house. It didn't seem like any one of them got out of there. He wondered, will there ever be an end to this. Beside him Ernst was scanning the edge of the wood to their right for signs of any more of the living dead. Being a swede Eskil had never imagined he would be relying on a subject of the Habsburg empire. Their countries had been at war for more years than Eskil cared to count. But all that had changed now, since the dead had come to life again as wild flesh eating monsters. Only a few weeks ago Eskil and Ernst would have been on different sides of the battlefield. Now they stood back to back instead.
They had sought refuge for the night in the farm house, only to find the remains of family of farmers, all now turned into living dead. Luckily enough they managed to close and barricade the door from the outside, after that it had been easy to just torch the place. At least now the family would be in the grace of God, if he did exist. Eskil quickly turned the thought away, without God this land and all other lands wouldn't have a chance. He prayed that God would save them, because pikes and shot were not enough to stop the zombies."
 
In Chronicles of the Living Dead we get to follow the Swedish soldier Eskil and his friend the Habsburg woodsman Ernst. It is the 1630s and the world has changed entirely. In the midst of war there has been a zombie outbreak and the apocalypse is let loose on renaissance world. The story takes place somewhere in central Europe. Eskil doesn't know exactly where he is, neither does the Austrian Ernst. They have both been enlisted in their respective armies and haven't really tried to keep up with where they have been marching. Now they only fight for their survival as the world is quickly falling apart.




Some time ago I finish 18 Mantic zombies that I had lying around. Since I also have the Pike Shot and Zombies (PSZ) rules, I thought I could give them a try. For that I needed some heroes. I opted for making Eskil and Ernst. They are made from a box of Empire Militia that I had lying around. Since I hadn't built any of the Empire Militia miniatures before, there is also ample opportunity to expand the cast as the story progresses. I have quickly painted up Eskil and Ernst with a simple base coat and a wash of Army Painter's Strong Tone. They'll work on the gaming table, but they won't win any painting prizes. Most probably this will also be a solo-gaming experience. Games involving zombies do tend to suit to solo-gaming. Although PSZ, isn't specifically a set of solo-gaming rules I do think the rules will work nicely as such. With all miniatures painted, I only need to base Eskil and Ernst and then it's time to try out some PSZ gameplay.