I am working on a rule set to incorporate the Zombie Apocalypse into the classic game of Risk. I have been running it by all my old gaming groups, and this can safely be called version 1.5, following a set of adjustments to make the zombies harder to defeat, both by being stronger in combat and by being more numerous In the first run, they ended up being only a minor annoyance, which obviously will not do.

I have tried to stay true to the basic premise of both the Zombie Apocalypse (World War Z flavored) and Risk itself. This is still Risk, no additional pieces needed, just a tweak to add some additional flavor.

Let me know if you give it a try, so that I can continue to tweak it. I hope you enjoy!

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Risk: Zombie Edition

For the most part, the game works the same way as standard Risk, with the following changes relating to Zombie Behavior.

Initial Game start:

After starting territories have been assigned to players, all territory cards are returned to main deck, which is shuffled. Two cards are then drawn for each player in the game. This represents the initial Zombie Outbreak. Three zombie armies (pick any unused color) is placed in each territory selected, in addition to the player army already there.

Infected zones-

An infected zone is a zone that has both human and zombie units within it. Such zones still count as belonging to that player, and count towards continents held, armies received, etc. However, if a player ends their turn with infections remaining in their territories, the infection spreads, with the effect that a human army in the infected zone is replaced with a zombie army. Once all human armies have been removed, the zone has been overrun, and is no longer in the possession of that player.

Overrun Zones-

Overrun Zones are territories with zombie armies but no human armies. After every player has taken a turn, the zombie hordes grow as the zombies feast on civilians hiding in the region. An additional zombie army is placed in each overrun zone for every two bordering nations (with a minimum of 1) at the start of the zombie turn. Once the Zombies have at least four units, They start attacking neighboring territories.

Zombie Hordes will attack the largest concentration of humanity in their proximity. So, if an overrun territory has two neighbors, one with four human armies, the other with two, the zombies will attack the force with four armies. If the forces of bordering nations is even (two neighbors with three human armies each) then the zombies will choose an Infected zone over one without an infection. If numbers are even and all are either Infected or Clean, then the zombies will choose their target randomly.

Taking an Overrun zone does not earn the player a card for conquering a territory.

Zombie Combat-

The primary change is that any human unit that dies fighting a zombie horde will become itself a zombie horde, which must then be dealt with. As it requires a headshot to kill a zombie, zombies always win ties.

When a horde from an overrun zone attacks a human held stronghold, or when fighting in an infected zone, the human defenders have the advantage, allowed to use up to three dice (assuming they have at least three armies) to defend. Human casualties during this time do not immediately join the invading horde. When the battle has been resolved, assuming the human defenders won, they may then choose to attack the infected units with the same advantages. They do not have to, however. If they choose not to, the new zombie units remain, and their zone has become Infected.

When attacking an Overrun zone, things move even more in the Zombies favor, with Zombie “defenders” getting to use up to three dice in their defense. Human armies that fall in attack, after being turned, remain in the Overrun zone if the attack is called off.

Fighting alongside the Infection:

If a player attacks an Infected Zone held by another player, they must first resolve player-player combat between them normally. However, any armies killed in the process become zombies. This only happens in player vs player fighting within Infected Zones.

If the conquering player takes an Infected Zone and does not then resolve the Infection, they lose an army to the horde at the end of their turn as usual.



Further Outbreaks:

As the war continues, further outbreaks will occur. Whenever a player plays cards for an army bonus, three zombie armies appear in each named zone. Wild cards allow the player to choose a zone where this occurs. (This is a biological attack by that player.)

The Size of the Horde:

At the start of the game, total zombie numbers worldwide are limited to the number of armies of their color in play. This changes if a player is eliminated by Zombies, see below.

The Infection Spreads:

If an overrun zone is bordered entirely by other overrun zones, its zombie population (leaving the one that must remain in every zone) moves one territory towards the closest human population by territory count. If multiple zones are an equal distance away, the one with the larger population is preferred. If army counts are even, Infected zones are preferred over clean. If infection status is even, choose randomly.

Once an entire continent is overrun by the zombie hordes, the largest zombie force on that continent receives a one-time bonus of that continents army bonus in the last territory to fall. In addition, that continent cannot be used for human army bonuses of any kind (either territory count or full continent bonus) until all zombie units, including those in merely Infested territories, has been destroyed.

If a human player is finished off by zombie attack, their cards are shown immediately. Any overrun zones gain a four zombie army bonus. Wild cards result in every zombie zone receiving and additional two armies. Their color is then also "Infected," and so their color is added to the Zombie numbers. Therefore, the first player to be eliminated by the Zombies doubles the potential strength of the Horde.

Partial Victory-

Once only one human player remains against the zombie horde, they may declare a partial victory by taking complete control of all infections in the continents they hold a stake in. For example, if Doug is the last human player, with territory held in North and South America, he may declare a partial victory if he is able to take full control of North and South America with no Zombie Infections within his borders. Even if the Zombie hordes drive him out of North America, taking full control of South America can let him claim partial victory.

Eliminating the Infection-

When the last zombie unit is removed from the board, the player who removed it gets an extra card at the end of their turn as a reward. The zombies will of course return when the next outbreak (cards played) occurs.