Outlanders Rulebook (1996), p187-188 — Plague Zombies

Cost to recruit: 10 credits for D6 Plague Zombies

Long ago Necromunda was swept by a mysterious neurone plague which boiled up from the Underhive and touched even the highest peaks of the Spire. Victims of the plague fell ill for weeks, days or hours depending on their strength. If they succumbed to the fever their brains were rotted by the terrible disease, all higher reasoning was lost and the victims became little more than beasts.

Unfortunately beasts still need to eat and soon thousands of brainless, half-dead plague victims roamed the boulevards and thoroughfares of the great hives seeking flesh to feast on. Each time they pulled down some luckless citizen and tore into his flesh with teeth and nails another victim was infected and another Plague Zombie was added to their ranks. Anarchy and chaos swept through the hives as Necromundans struggled to fight off the hordes of Plague Zombies and drive the surviving ones down into the Underhive.

Zombie plague still breaks out from time to time in the Underhive and packs of Plague Zombies are yet another of the many dangers in the dark underbelly of the hive. The Zombies live in wild packs like dogs, fighting each other and living off what carrion they can find or anything that's stupid enough to let itself be caught. Scavvies often round up packs of Zombies and send them against outposts, settlements and rival gangs that they are attacking. In sufficiently large numbers these creatures can be fearsome opponents.

Plague Zombies have forgotten the meaning of fear and do not experience pain so they are hard to stop. Also, any wound inflicted by a Plague Zombie carries the dreaded plague and may turn its victim into another Plague Zombie.

A Scavvy gang can 'buy' Plague Zombies for a game, the cost representing bits of food which are used to lure the Zombies to the right place. Every 10 credits' worth of food will bring D6 Plague Zombies along to fight. The Plague Zombies are under the control of the Scavvy player for the duration of the game but they do not join the gang and will go back to their wandering existence when the game is over.

M	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld
2D6	2	0	3	3	1	1	1	5

Weapons. Plague Zombies do not have any wargear; they are armed with a variety of spikes, sharpened bones, claws and teeth.

Special Rules

Zombie Shuffle. Plague Zombies usually stagger around with broken, faltering steps. Occasionally when they get the scent of blood in their decaying nostrils, they will break into a loping, shambling run. To represent their unpredictable gait Plague Zombies move 2D6" in the movement phase. Each Plague Zombie is rolled for individually and the controlling player may move them as he wishes up to the distance rolled on the dice.

Plague Zombies may not run or charge, they always move 2D6". However, Plague Zombies always count as charging into hand-to-hand combat if they manage to move into base-to-base contact with an enemy model.

No Pain. Plague Zombies feel no pain whatsoever: you can burn them, shoot them or cut them and they'll just keep trying to bite you until you manage to inflict crippling damage on them. Because of this Plague Zombies ignore being pinned and are not affected by flesh wounds.

No Fear. As the reasoning parts of their brains are long gone Plague Zombies lack the intellect to be afraid of anything. This means that Plague Zombies ignore all Psychology rules and never have to roll Leadership tests to see whether they lose their nerve. If the gang controlling the Plague Zombies bottles out the Zombie pack loses its motivation and scatters as well.

Plague! Naturally, Plague Zombies carry the zombie plague, if you see what I mean. If another model is wounded by a Plague Zombie in hand-to-hand combat he may contract the disease and (ulp) turn into a Plague Zombie. Note which gang members are wounded by Zombies on the gang roster and at the end of the game roll a D6 on the table below to see whether they are infected. Note that this is in addition to the Serious Injury roll if the fighter goes out of action.

D6 roll	Result
4-6	Zombie Time! The gang member is infected and suffers brain death within hours. Roll a D6: on a roll of 4-6 the new Zombie wanders off into the wastes to join his fellows. On a roll of 1-3 the Zombie attacks a randomly determined gang member, fight out the close combat immediately. In either event all of the model's equipment is infected and counts as destroyed.
2-3	Sickness. The victim feels weak and ill for days and must miss the gang's next fight while he recovers.
1	Clear. After a few tense days no symptoms of zombie plague have emerged and the gang member is in the clear.

D6 Modifiers

Only suffered flesh wound	-2
Not reduced to 0 wounds	-2
Friendly Doc is part of gang's territory	-2
Member of gang has Medic skill	-1
Gang owns a medi-pack	-1