by James2044
Having a huge investment in the first edition makes swapping to second edition a problem. Is it possible to improve both editions by combining them into one?This paper assumes the following:
• You own the first edition of Zombicide and some or all of the expansions for it. I have the core game and KS versions of the expansions along with about every guest box, game night, Ultimate set, Dogz and Crowz.
• You own the second edition Reboot Box for Zombicide. May or may not have the core set and any of the additional purchase items.
• You want to keep most of the first edition and use some of the second edition survivors and zombies.
• Not including KS extra zombies and additional purchased Zombie boxes, you should have:
o 201 Walkers including 16 Berserkers, 16 Toxic and 40 Skinners.
o 82 Runners including 8 Berserkers, 8 Toxic and 16 Skinners.
o 52 Fatties including 4 Berserkers, 4 Toxic and 8 Skinners.
o 18 Abominations including a Berserker, Toxic and Skinner.
o 18 Seekers.
o 15 Skinner Crawlers.
This covers an approach, what to keep, changes and what to set aside.
Second edition only spawns’ zombies in dark rooms, first edition spawns’ zombies in all rooms. This is a critical difference that determines which set of boards, spawn and equipment cards to use. Having 20+/- first edition game boards make this an easy decision, to me; this means no dark rooms and use the first edition spawn and equipment cards.
Replace the gasoline, glass bottles, nail and scope cards with the Molotov Cocktail, Nail Bat and Sniper Rifle cards, no changes are needed to the back of the cards.
The Flame Thrower requires gasoline cards. if you include the flame thrower, give two gasoline cards when it is drawn.
The Berserker, Toxic, Skinners and Seekers Zombies are in first edition and kept in the spawn deck.
Second edition Abomination spawn cards can be used as is but will alert players that a special zombie will spawn next. An option is to glue these cards to an unused first edition spawn card. This makes the cards a little thicker but is not noticeable in a card holder or stack.
The Reboot Box contains 31 single zombie sculpts, 19 walkers, 6 runners and 6 fatties. There is a set of fan rules covering these unique zombies that make the game more difficult. These zombies will need special spawn cards; write the zombie’s name on an unused spawn card for inclusion in the spawn deck.
Zombie Rush is an excellent rule, write the word “RUSH” on no more than five walker and/or Fatties spawn cards. Do not do this with runners, second edition does not spawn in a room next to a door that can be opened. If runners have “RUSH”, they could be able to move and attack when spawned.
Dogz and Crowz can be included in the spawn deck.
V.I.P. and Zombivours are not included in the spawn deck. Your choice can be to do so, as you like. We never played with Zombivours and V.I.P.s are replaced with the unique zombies from the reboot box.
The spawn deck needs to be balanced for game play! Limit the number of abominations and unique zombies, if you use the special rules, otherwise the zombies will overpower you. The spawn deck should contain between 40 and 60 cards for a normal game.
The original six survivors exist in first edition, ultimate box and second edition game. Ultimate survivors are worth keeping if you have them. Whichever set of the original six you like best is the one to use for the new game.
Kid survivors are only in the second edition, they add another level and are worth keeping.
Dashboards in the second edition are a big improvement over the first edition boards. This sets a three wound for adults and two wound for child survivors. Keep the boards and pegs from the core box and new cards from the reboot box.
First edition survivors’ do not fit into the second edition bases. This should not be a major problem as these are various colors and the second edition ones are orange.
Second edition has better rules for the canned food, bag of rice and water items, first edition cards can be used with the new rules.
Used second zombie splitting rules, no more adding zombies.
Targeting priority is more complex with all the first edition zombies, second edition unique zombie special rules and second edition abomination rules. A suggested priority list is included as the last page of this writeup, but house rules are always the best solution.
The introduction of ammo types for “Plenty of Bullets” has been a house rule with many players and should present no problem in using first edition equipment cards.
Escalation, Field Medic, Home Defender and two types of Improvised Weapon and the new skills. Explanations of these skills are available on the internet and in the rulebook, none of them will invalidate any first edition missions.
The first edition rules for cars and companions are unchanged.
163 individual survivor ID cards in the Reboot Box, covering the survivors in the kick starter first edition games, guest boxes, game night boxes, promos and Ultimate boxes. Second edition survivors can push this number to 200-210. Determining which ones to play could become a game in itself.
PR Zombie Damage Experience
01-A-Bomb Abomination max 5
02-Toxic Abomination 3 5
03-Berserk Abomination 3 5
04-Abomination 3 5
05-Toxic Runner 1 1
06-Berserk Runner 1 1
07-Seeker Runner 1 1
08-Skinner Runner 1 1
09-Runner 1 1
10-Special Zombies * varies varies
11-Toxic Fatty 2 1
12-Berserk Fatty 2 1
13-Skinner Fatty 2 1
14-Fatty 2 1
15-Seeker 1 1
16- Toxic Walker 1 1
17-Berserk Walker 1 1
18-Seeker Walker 1 1
19-Skinner Walker 1 1
20-Walker 1 1
21-Skinner Crawler 1 1
22-Zombie Dogz 1 1
23-Murder of Crowz 1 1
Survivor is hit only if no hits scored 1 -1
on Zombies, range combat only
* Check special rules for unique Zombies.