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THE BATTLE FOR FARMINGDALE
States of SiegeTM #9
Arising once again from the grave, from designer Hermann Luttmann and lavishly illustrated by Vinh Ha, arises Dawn of the Zeds Second Edition as you've never seen it before. In this States of Siege™ solitaire game of horror and survival, your strategies will be put to the test. The world has gone crazy – a deadly virus has turned ordinary people into vicious, zombie-like killers. The undead, nicknamed "Zeds," are now converging on your corner of the world. You have been left to your own devices to stop them while the National Guard organizes a relief column and fights its way to you – but that could take days, or even weeks, before they arrive.
At the town of Farmingdale and its surrounding villages, you must coordinate its defenses. Regular citizens may emerge as heroes as you work to halt the Zeds' advances by (re)killing them, discovering and implementing a cure to this vile scourge, and preserving the area and its inhabitants as much as possible. In addition to this madness, the crazy Doctor Marteuse has been working in the underground tunnels and unleashing his uber-deadly Super Zeds, a nasty bunch of beasts that give havoc a whole new name. Bring him to justice, destroy the infectious Zeds, and save your city from peril!
In a game that requires the utmost test of skill and nerve, will you survive long enough? Will you be able to fight hordes of Zeds while protecting the townspeople? Test your heroics and unearth Dawn of the Zeds, a game that will keep you on your toes!
What's New in 2nd Edition:
- Contains a Tutorial Scenario for beginners, in addition to Classic and Walking Zeds Scenarios
- Never before seen cards and counters, including the dreadful Super Zeds
- Three different game lengths to choose from: Short, Standard, and Campaign Game
- Four new Heroes: Wright, Kingman, Wilson, and Carter
- An additional 5th track (the Tunnel Track)
- All new and beautiful artwork
- Bigger cards
- A completely new, two-sided map (for each Scenario)
- Several uniquely-shaped, colorful, laser-cut counters
Game Data:
Number of Players: 1 brave soul (with cooperative multi-player play included)
Ages: 13 and up
Playing Time: Approximately 45-90 minutes
Complexity: 4 on a 9 scale (Intro), 6 on a 9 scale (Advanced)
Solitaire Suitability: 9 on a 9 scale
Scale: Each unit represents a single Hero plus their entourage, dozens of citizens, and hundreds of Zeds.
What's In The Box?:
• One 24-page Rules booklet (Extended Example of Play included)
• 123 thick, two-sided, multi-shaped, laser-cut game pieces
• 100 cards
• One 11” x 17” two-sided color game map
• One two-sided 8.5"x11" Player Aid
• One two-sided 8.5"x11" Player Mat
• One 4-page Quick Play booklet
• One Quick Play Set Up sheet
• Two six-sided 12mm dice
• One 11” x 17” mounted, two-sided, jigsaw-cut game map
• One bright red, 9" x 11 7/8" Deluxe cardboard VPG game box
• One beautiful box cover sleeve
• One "Wipes-A-Lot" napkin
• One charcoal dessicant packet
Polybag version has the paper board, not the mounted board.
Newer prints will also include the updated, Tim Allen map spanning 2 11"x17" paper boards.
Dawn of the Zeds | Level 1 | Playthrough
- Incredibly tough and brutal.
- Event deck actively works against the player.
- Creates memorable moments and emergent stories.
- Excellent solo experience.
- Very complex rules.
- Can be unforgiving due to luck.
- Zombie apocalypse survival
- Town under siege
- Story-driven
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cooperative — can be played cooperatively
- Event deck — with an vent deck that absolutely hates you
- Resource Management — you have to manage your resources very carefully
- solo — is a solo game where you are defending a town from a zombie attack
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
References (from this video)
- Dug it out and started cleaning it off
- Will get a copy of the designer edition
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Oh my god, this has Bladeunner feel with an Arkham Horror twist. if that makes any sense. It feels like the old second edition uh Arkham Hore.
- I just want to get rid of some more stuff that isn't going to sit there, you know, that I'm not going to play.
- You know, once I review it, if I don't think it's going to stay, you know, and not that it's a bad game or anything like that, it just becomes a point where where, you know, at my age, okay, at this ancient ancient age, okay, how many games can you keep?
- I just got a feeling that, you know, everything's, you know, they want to go digital with everything. I mean, what's the point of that?
- I I I I I'm trying to find stuff that I can make consistent fun videos for.
- I try not to be a gosh darn infomercial, okay? I try not I try to separate myself from the rest of the board game industry.
- All I care about is doing my best to try to get, you know, have some fun.
- My whole thing is, okay, it's a Godzilla with big minis. Yeah. If I can get my hands on it, I'll get my hands on it.
- And my plan is to keep going as long as I can physically and mentally and just enjoy myself.
- get back to the way it used to be in 2013, 14, and 15, you know, where we just we had fun.
- And then we just, clean, smart, concise, and just keep it simple.
- The board game geek hall of fame. Holy cow, what a train wreck that thing is.
- You're one of my favorite designers of all time.
- And we're we're making that push to to just have fun and have a good time. And we're getting as far away from stupid stuff as you can imagine.
References (from this video)
- Reprint is liked better
- Rank keeps getting better with editions
- First edition did not do well
- Zeds
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Hens is a game I didn't like at all.
- Gobblet is a simple game in which you are to stacking pieces and trying to get four in a row, but bigger pieces cover up other pieces.
- Dice as resources to buy cards, kind of like a Dominion-style game. And it was fine. It just didn't have any kind of air of excitement to it.
- And it's a big, grandiose Euro-style game that I thought worked pretty well.
- The biggest problem with Echoes of Time is I think it's almost too short.
- It's a cool mechanism. This is the game that should have it.
- It's a very different feeling of Lost Cities. It's not as good as Lost Cities, but it's still pretty cool game.
- It's very Ameritrashy.
- It's a lot going on in this game.
- I think my favorite of those is Pixel Tactics 2.
- Thanks as always for joining me in my pile of mid games.
References (from this video)
- Upgraded and enhanced version
- Gameplay changes including combat, new heroes, town guard, and victory points
- Appeals to solo players
- Appeals to fans of tactical combat
- Survival horror
- Town defense against zombie-like killers
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Play — Gameplay involves cards, with 'some of the cards here for gameplay'.
- Combat — Mentioned that 'some of the combat's been changed'.
- state of siege — Identified as a 'State of Siege game'.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This is a State of Siege game where you play as a solo player essentially.
- This looks extremely juicy. If you like soliter games, if you like tactical combat, I think this one's going to be a lot of fun to play.
- This looks like for fans of Japanese history and if you like multiplayer games that are going to give you a grand strategic experience, this like this one looks like it could be a lot of fun.
- This is an outstanding series.
- Halls of Haggar was fishly hard to win, but a fantastic gameplay experience and was very well regarded. This looks like the same type of experience, but another theme, another gameplay element, and more good work from Tom Games.
- Why am I interested in this game? Well, I was reading a book about Greek history, per Greek and Persian history a while ago, and there wasn't I realized there wasn't really a lot of games that focused specifically on naval combat in the ancient era, the era of triams and all the different reams here.
- Combat Commander Adversary solves one of the weaknesses in the game and that given the card-based nature of the play of Combat Commander, it's not a game that is very amenable at all to solitire play.
- This is a dream come true. This looks really fun to be able to play Combat Commander Solitaire and have a a smart and and savvy opponent to go against.
References (from this video)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- It's been such a joy to read your guesses and your kind messages. It really warmed my board gamer heart.
- my most favorite game ever.
- Did you get them all? Or maybe just a few.
- This channel means so much to me and I truly couldn't have done any of this without all of you, the viewers, the commenters, the silent supporters, the sharers, the likers, just everyone.
- Here's to more great games, more passionately made videos, and more comments from all of you.
- See you in the next video, and don't forget to check your comment.
References (from this video)
- Actually really great game.
- Has six levels of difficulty/complexity.
- Level one is a good starting point.
- A lot of similarities to Plum Island Horror.
- Lots of unique abilities for heroes.
- Fun to utilize hero abilities.
- Well-armed civilians are cool.
- Betty is a favorite character due to her combat abilities.
- Deputy Schmidt has useful abilities like free actions and combat advantages.
- Rulebooks were overwhelming initially.
- Ran out of ammo frequently.
- Difficulty with dice rolls leading to frustration.
- Losing heroes and civilian units.
- Zombie apocalypse
- Farmingdale
- Plum Island Horror
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — Players manage units across different tracks and locations on the board to defend against advancing zombies.
- Bag Building/Drawing — Regular and super infected zombies are drawn from bags or cups.
- Combat modifiers — Terrain benefits and hero abilities can shift combat advantages and outcomes.
- Deck construction/management — The game uses event decks and fate decks that are shuffled and drawn from, influencing the game's progression and challenges.
- Dice Rolling — Dice (specifically d6s) are used frequently for determining starting resources, combat outcomes, scavenging results, and other game events.
- Gunfire attack — A ranged attack that requires spending ammo to deal damage to zombies in adjacent spaces.
- Hand-to-hand combat — A core combat mechanic where player units engage zombies in close quarters, with outcomes determined by strength comparison and dice rolls.
- hero abilities — Each hero character has unique abilities that impact gameplay, such as healing, combat bonuses, or resource generation.
- scavenging — An action taken to find additional supplies or ammo, typically by rolling dice.
- Set Collection — Collecting resources like supplies and ammo is crucial for survival.
- variable difficulty — The game features multiple levels of difficulty, adding complexity rather than just making it harder.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I've had a copy of this game for a couple of years now, but the amount of rule books overwhelmed me and so I wasn't willing to give it a shot and I'm really bummed that I have lost many years of my enjoyment for this game because it's actually really great.
- The amount of rule books overwhelmed me.
- This is the third edition uh designed by Herman Lutman's.
- We win by going through the entire vent deck and don't lose.
- How we lose is any zed enters the town uh the town center.
- This is going to be a strength of 10 mob.
- This is a really good civilian. He can attack with plus one.
- This zombie is toast.
- You can discharge units for free.
- This infection track can just kill you.
- This is amazing. He is not going to give up.
- This game really makes you feel the pressure with your ammo.
- The melancholy mood left in the wake of your brute survival leaves quiet questions still unanswered, interrupting your reflections comes a ray of sun bursting through the clouds and shining on a small, untrampled patch of flowers.
- We may have lost two heroes and three civilian units, but we actually did quite well.
References (from this video)
- Solid zombie-themed coop
- Good family-friendly play
- Rule clarity can vary
- May not scale well for large groups
- Cooperative survival with episodic play
- Zombie outbreak on a modular board
- Session-based progression
- The Walking Dead: The Board Game
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cooperative combat — Work with others to defeat zombie threats.
- Tile Placement — Place tiles to form the map as you play.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- What does Colin know or Time to educate Colin? Whichever way you want to think about it.
- I'm going to learn so much today.
- I'm 0 for three right now.
- The over under is five.
- I ain't got time to bleed.
- I'm at 10.5 points, going into December.
- This is Fight Club.
- Galaxy Quest the best Star Trek movie.
- What does Colin know or Time to educate Colin?
- I'm not on zero.