I'm back!

So... that was what they call a Hiatus then?

After setting up Zombie Shop, and then JJD UK, both of which have been and continue to be fantastic fun, and then taking a full time job over 200 miles from home things became a little difficult to keep the blog going. Travel, late nights and a crazy schedule meant something had to give, unfortunately it was the blogging.

So. Just over 18 months later and I'm finally back home, this time (fingers crossed) for good.

Thankfully there wasn't a complete vacuum in gaming or hobby or Zombies, and luckily, after starting blogging I got into the habit of taking pictures of things as I made them, so to make up for lost time, I'll be posting a few tasty morsels of everything I've been up to.

So what's next?

There's the completion of Outbreak City for my All Things Zombie campaign, quite a bit of Dust Tactics, new survivors for ATZ, some Judge Dredd miniatures, a 3D Incursion Board (that's half-way through) and more Live Roleplaying fun.

Most of all though... I've missed you guys.

Where have you gotten to Zombie Ad?

I have been meaning to write this post for about a week now, no, make that about a month, erm.. actually how about more than two?

Outbreak City - Eastern Front 2011 (Figures courtesy of Colin)

In answer to a question posted by The Extraordinarii today:

"Where have you gotten to Zombie Ad?" The answer?... Life got in the way.

Life, you say, what have you been up to? In short, I...

• Almost met my match with my new Outbreak City gaming table project
• Ran a display/turned participation game with fellow blogger Colin, awesome stuff
• Worked away from home for two months (for the interactive entertainment software industry's leading publisher). In one word, EPIC!
• Battled the undead side by side with quite possibility the UK's leading expert and author on zombie survival - Sean T. Page from the Ministry of Zombies
• Played some great new Euro games
• Built a Dystopian Wars table commission
• Finished (almost) a 40K Demon Army commission
• Started a Malifaux Crew (Ressurectionists of course), just for me
• Had my busiest month yet with Zombie Shop, it's a Halloween thing
• and, to cap it all off - I started a collectable soldier and wargames figures company with my best friend JJD UK (We even sell 28mm Zombies of which I have my hands on some sets right now).

Like I said... life got in the way.

Life is at it's most exciting when you step up to the plate and say "I'll give that a go."

Blogging took a bit of a back-set so that I could spend what little time I had left with my family.

A very wise fellow blogger once said, try not to do too much otherwise you might face burnout. I'll pay a little more attention in future, thank you Bryan.

Without further ado my fellow zombie gamers... thank you for bearing with me, forthcoming posts include some of the stuff above and plenty of other bits and pieces I started but never quite got around to finishing.

Zombie Ad's back!

Zombie Shop - UK's first all zombie online store.

In my last post I said I'd been working on a little project, so, here it is:

What is Zombie Shop?
Everything is better with zombies, so, Zombie Shop is the UK's first all zombie online store. It is, quite simply, as much zombie gaming and entertainment goodness as we could fit into one place. It's a shop... with zombies - shopping... but better.

How did Zombie Shop come about?
I've been a fan of zombies since seeing The Night of The Living Dead late one night when I should have been getting some sleep ready for school the next day. Zombies are awesome and zombie stuff is awesome too, but, something always bugged me a little. I always had to get my zomb on from lots of different places. Wouldn't it be good if you could find all sorts of awesome zombie stuff in just one place?

What does Zombie Shop sell?
That's easy - zombie stuff. Stuff that has zombies in, zombie themed stuff, zombie gifts, zombie play-things and zombie gubbins. Zombie gaming and entertainment!

What's in Store?

Zombie Inspiration
We've got zombie films on DVD and zombie books, both fiction and survival instruction - classic, mainstream and cult. Zombie Shop has a huge offering of zombie entertainment to keep even the most die-hard zombie-phile in countless hours of zom-bliss.

Zombie Tabletop Skirmish Games
Zombie Shop stocks the full range of Two Hour Wargames' much-loved All Things Zombie, including: the All Things Zombie core rules, the two supplements ATZ: Haven and ATZ: I, Zombie and, a current UK exclusive, the fantastic ATZ: Risks and Rewards Deck. So if you're based in Europe and concerned about shipping, import taxes and duty, you know where to come.

Zombie Board Games
We've hooked up with Europe's leading distributor to offer a massive selection of board, card and tile-based zombie games, from the classic Zombies!!! from Twilight Creations to Flying Frog's hugely popular Last Night on Earth.

Zombie Role Playing
We have something for the tabletop gamer with All Flesh Must be Eaten, the fantastic D20 based RPG game from Eden Studios and the Zombie LARP gamer will be right at home with our selection of zombie slaying Nerf blasters and gaming accessories.

Zombie Contact Lenses
We stock cosmetic contact lenses that make a startling impact on the way you look. Perfect for zombie LARP, cos-play, Halloween, zombie walks and costume parties, or just for sending a picture into your boss and telling them you feel a bit 'peaky' today and perhaps it's best if you stayed at home till this all blows over.

What's Next for Zombie Shop?
The current offering is a mere drop in the radioactive-meteorite-borne-virus of an outbreak we have planned for the future. We'll be expanding all the current lines and adding some fantastic new ranges including: zombie fancy dress, zombie t-shirts, zombie jewellery, zombie crafts and zombie novelties.

You can follow Zombie Shop on Facebook, so drop by, click like and share with all your friends.

We're also on Twitter.

And... Zombie Shop has it's very own dedicated Blog where you'll find plenty of fresh meat of zombie gaming and entertainment news, reviews and views.

Tell the world, tell your friends, tell your dog, tell your neighbour, tell your hairdresser! If you need a zombie fix, you know where to go...

Get yer zomb on!

zombieshop.co.uk

What does this mean for The Lead Will Walk The Earth?
The Lead Will Walk the Earth will stay exactly as it always has. This is, and always will be, the blog about my Outbreak City 28mm zombie gaming project: the modelling, miniatures, vehicles, painting, play-testing and Batreps. Somewhere to share and gather ideas from fellow zombie gamers.

I will link to the store if I was going to link somewhere else, it would be kinda silly not to, and you might already have noticed the banners, but other than that it's zombie gaming business as usual.

I'm currently working on some new buildings and some amazing custom terrain that a fellow blogger had quite a lot to do with and the next ATZ Batrep is on its way. Till next time.

Zombie Ad

Bioflex Betrays! Zombie LARP

Last November I attended one of the UK’s coolest live action zombie events. Zombie LARP: Nightmare took place at the UEA Norwich and was an epic event jam-packed with zombies, genetically modified mutants, lunatics, rubber fire axes and an armoury of Nerf weaponry to satisfy even the most disturbingly enthusiastic gun-bunny. I was a little late signing up to play but was happy to join the ranks of the perma-zombies and excitedly attended the event, with video camera in hand.

Unfortunately for some the adverse weather meant a few attendees had to cancel and the GMs offered player slots to the perma-zombie crew. Anxiously, but excitedly, I accepted.

I’ve done my share of LARP over the years; even running events myself, but that was then. I hadn’t partaken for some time and, quite frankly, Zombie LARP presents an interesting new take on the LARP formula.

Nerf Maverick: Modded and Painted - Nerf BAP

Gone is the tavern/bar and talks around campfires, the hours of chatting (character development), the epic linear and a boss-battle on a Sunday morning. Zombie LARP starts In Media Res…and there it stays.

A quick in-character briefing, a few moments of foreboding paranoia and then…well…to quote Jeff Goldblum. “Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that’s how it always starts. Then later there’s the running and screaming."

Zombie LARP takes place over the course of one night as a series of ‘runs’, each ‘run’ is approximately 15 minutes long with a half-dozen or so players taking part. The layout of the site means they can go wherever they want and the games are fast-paced, intense, action driven and combat heavy. The beauty of the formula is, pretty much everyone who attends gets to play during the night and almost everyone not ‘playing’ is either a zombie, special character or GM so, whichever way the party goes, something grizzly and challenging awaits.

Something that sets Zombie LARP apart from traditional LARP is that dying is, refreshingly, an accepted, if not encouraged, part of the event. Survival is cool, but the game is not about winning; it is about being in the midst of a zombie outbreak and we all know that typically involves having your guts shredded or being eaten alive at some point during the proceedings. The survival rate is low and as they put it ‘Your character's death is often your best chance to write yourself into the many legends and myths of Zombie LARP’. They even have a forum thread entitled ‘So, how did you die?’



The events are very atmospheric. Shadowy figures of the recently deceased shamble in the dim half-light. Claustrophobia reigns. The visceral feel of a sidearm in a sweaty palm does little for your confidence as the moans of the undead fill the corridors and the screams of their victims spread panic through the party. It’s a fun-filled night zomb-gasm of a way to spend a night.



Their current site is well suited to the genre, although they are looking for new venues, the rules are simple to learn and ‘add’ without ‘detracting’ and the attendees are all there for one thing – the joy of zombie apocalypse simulation. The GMs do a fantastic job of putting together a great event and make sure everyone is having fun and is well and truly in the spirit of the event. If you get rule 1, you get the vibe.



Check them out. The website it is well presented, superbly written and laced with a wonderful sense of humour. It’s about zombies, about killing zombies, about being eaten by zombies and about having fun with people who are as geek as you about zombies. Did I mention the zombies?

Live the nightmare. Zombie LARP, we salute you.

Zombie LARP: Evolution runs on the 5^th March 2011

Future Zombie LARP events can be found at Zombie Shop

www.zombielarp.co.uk