Atom Zombie Smasher Tutorial

Might as well start at the beginning. Before landing, the helicopter sends out a signal to everyone within a certain range to gather near the landing area.

Strategically, this can have a negative or positive effect. Or, actually, both at the same time. If you land reasonably near the zombie entrances, it will draw the citizens away from this area, thus leaving your mercernaries with less zombies to deal with. The mercs may be blood-thirsty, but they have plenty of business to worry with already!

The negative aspect of this is, not all of the citizens can be picked up with one lift, so all of these folks are now CLOSER to the zombies after you take off.

You need to find your own strategic balance in this area of the game! It might change from map to map, so feel free to hit F9 and try again if you don't like the results.

NOTE: Don't forget that you can MOVE the landing area for the helicopter! It doesn't have to be at one static location!

Strategy Tip: While the Heli Vac is still loading, you can go ahead and set the "next" landing location without interfering with the current loading of the copter. This can be quite helpful to get this done before you get distracted with other things!

IMPORTANT: Even though nighttime has fallen and it is IMPOSSIBLE to capture the territory by destroying all zombies, continue to rescue all survivors as possible. This will level up your helicopter quicker and assist you in future missions. Plus it will give your militia members more time to level themselves up!!!

NOTE: You get credit for helicopter rescues for all surviving civilians if all zombies have been destroyed in the territory, even if you haven't "physically" picked them up!

Why aren't 30 civilians being picked up per landing?

The Heli Vac is on a time schedule. From the time the "horn" sounds until take-off is approximately eleven seconds!

This leads to another area of strategy regarding the Heli Vac. It may be advantageous to land in crowded areas of the map so you can get more civvies loaded per landing.

NOTE: If you are not confident that you will be able to destroy all Zed in a territory, (you just have Zed Bait, Barricades and Artillery to work with, for example) consider just landing the Heli Vac directly on top of the scientist in a Level 1 mission. This way, it will be done with and you won't get distracted with him/her later on.

I wanted to put this near the top since effective use of artillery is soooo important! Or put another way, my initial poor use of artillery led to a lot of campaigns being deleted and scrapped.

Start by putting your artillery in an out-of-the-way location. Don't put them near a zombie entrance or you won't be able to fire at them right away. Later on, of course, don't put them near any buildings that are susceptible to gas line explosions!

What I failed to realize is the importance of leveling up your Artillery. Upgrades will allow more frequent reloads of ordinance and also allow multiple cannon shots per reload.

After a "mere" 125 kills with your Artillery, you will be upgraded to Level 2, giving you two cannon shots per reload! This is huge!

It gets even better. At Level 3 (250 kills), you get four cannon shots per reload! Once you get this momentum swinging in your direction, your campaigns will progress beautifully!

So always keep in mind, even if additional cannon shots won't directly affect the success or failure of "that" specific mission, constantly keep the Artillery firing!! For example, if your helicopter is taking off and you know they won't have time to land again to pick up more survivors, continue firing your artillery for quicker upgrades!! Try to aim as accurately as possible to take out as many zombies as possible! You get more points from blowing up 25 zombies versus 3!! Duh!

On this same note, start firing the artillery immediately upon the start of the mission! With the - and + keys, you can increase and decrease game speed, even before the mission begins. Consider putting the speed at 10 percent so you can get that first Artillery blast off ASAP.

NOTE: The placement on the map will not affect the time it takes for the artillery to land. If you notice the "clock hand" on the artillery symbol, this is the timer for when the artillery will arrive. This "clock hand" will move more rapidly as you upgrade your artillery.

NOTE: You can also buy upgrades for your artillery once you start receiving scientists to rescue!! In my humble opinion, this is one of the most important upgrades to utilize!

NOTE: Put the Artillery "hit" centered about one inch before the lead zombie. That usually works out about right. Modify accordingly as the recharge time decreases.

NOTE: Artillery shots are not totally accurate. They may veer off to one side or the other just a bit!!

The Victory Track keeps "track" of how many points you have earned when playing the 6,000 or 20,000-point mission. What I never noticed about this is you can hover the cursor over the small circles on the Victory Track to figure out the number of points you need to trigger certain events.

For example, on the 20,000-point campaign:

700 - Research Lab - start rescuing scientists!
1,200 - Catbird Cannon - Rescue civilians and kill Zed to power this super weapon.
2,000 - Elephant Bird Cannon -
2,600 - Llama Drop - Knock out entire zombie territories on the Territory Screen. Your chance to "catch up" with the zombies!
3,500 - Big Bad Zepelin - You can now have four militia groups versus three! (Besides the helicopter!)

The Territory Screen has randomly-generated territories and is a straight-forward concept.

Yellow territories are those captured by the good guys -- you and your buddies. You must wipe out the entire zombie population in a district for this to occur.

Once a territory is captured and turns yellow, you cannot lose this territory. It is yours for the rest of the campaign! Each month you will receive 20 points for this territory.

If a battle is fought in a territory and the minimum number of citizens are rescued BUT all zombies are not destroyed, the territory turns black. No further battles can be fought on this territory! It is out of commission!

Zombie-infested zones will have an infestation rating of 1 to 4. Each month, the zombies will receive 10 to 40 points for each of the territories they possess, according to their 1 to 4 rating.

Gray territories are neutral.

Note: Don't get "too" discouraged if you fall a bit behind at the beginning of campaigns. Eventually the Llama Bombs can totally knock out multiple zombie zones.

Sometimes events conspire against you. You aren't necessarily doing anything wrong, but you just can't get things going.

The order in which you are issued different military divisions is random. For example, you may get "lucky" and start out with Infantry and Snipers. A lot of maps can easily be cleared with this combo.

A more "unlucky" combo is, for example, Blockades and Zed Bait. Your third group will be able to actually destroy zombies, but the odds are that you will not be able to completely clear a zone with this combination.

Another "unlucky" random event is shortened daylight. You are only given 30 seconds to clear the zone of zombies, which is practically impossible in many circumstances. The best you can hope for is to at least rescue the minimum number of civilians to neutralize the territory and zap as many zombies during the nighttime to help level up your troops.

Another "unlucky" random occurrence: Fast Zed!

If you are really unhappy with the way things get started, it might be worthwhile to start the campaign over again. I know I did more than just a "few" times!

Infantry are great to work with. It took me a few games to figure out you can move them around! Duh! A lot of strategic possibilities are available to you with this basic unit.

Remember that they fire at the zombies closest to them, so move your Infantry around to have them target the zombies most likely to unleash havoc to nearby civilians.

NOTE: Like all of your military units, have them keep fighting in the nighttime hours as long as possible even when things are hopeless. Leveling up your units ASAP is essential!

Snipers are awesome. They can be positioned to target two incoming groups of zombies from nearby locations, although they may be overrun trying to destroy both columns.

Rest your cursor on top of the Sniper location during the zombie invasion (or in setup mode) to see in which direction the Snipers are shooting. It is possible to change the direction they are aiming mid-game, although it takes X number of seconds to reposition.

Does it take less time to change the angle slightly versus a larger angle?

This weapon of mass destruction is available on all missions after obtaining 1,200 points in the campaigns. It is "charged up" by rescuing civilians and killing Zed. It is like super Artillery on steroids and can take out a large block of Zeds.

It may be strategic to wait a while to utilize this weapon, once available, to take out "straggler Zeds" out of the reach of your other military units.

Are points of some kind accumulated by killing Zed with the Catbird Cannon?

No. It just allows you to win more territories!

Zed Bait is a way to corral zombies toward a beacon that lasts for X number of seconds.

Important: It is not necessary to place the Zed Bait before the mission begins. This tidbit of info can be a game changer --as it takes a long time for Zed Bait to recharge. You may only have a chance to use Zed Bait once per mission.

Zed Bait works great in combination with Artillery strikes, Landmines and Dynamite.

Have fun!

Dynamite is pretty straight forward. It blows up Zeds!

Just a pointer or two here that may help out just a bit!

The placement of dynamite is not totally fluid, but can be placed from sector to sector at set distances. Through just a bit of experimenting, it works out that Dynamite placed at three "clicks" apart will destroy all zombies between the two sets of Dynamite. Rarely, a single Zed might escape. Overall, placing the Dynamite just two "clicks" apart will be a waste of resources.

Place your cursor on the Dynamite icon during game play to see the concentric rings indicating the kill zone of the Dynamite. Very helpful!

NOTE: Dynamite is not set off simultaneously, but in quick succession, one after the other. The first Dynamite placed is the first one to explode!

Landmines are set off, after a brief delay, after its first contact with Zed.

Works great in connection with Zed Bait!

Later in the campaigns, Landmines can be used effectively in combination with buildings susceptible to gas line explosions!

Barricades can be effectively used to "corral" Zeds and slow down their steady march through your city.

It is not necessary to place any Barricades if you don't desire. And you won't be reminded to do so either!

One rule in placing Barricades is that no section of the city is allowed to be totally blocked off.

BUT it is possible to block all roadways to an area if a "greenway" will allow ingress to the area, even if it is not as direct!

It "may" be best to utilize all of your Barricades, even if not needed, to "level up" the Barricade mercenaries.

This is a totally different concept from your regular mercenary groups. Rather than using Llama Bombs during actual missions, they are utilized at the Territory Screen once you reach 2,600 points.

You start out with two Llama Bombs, which can totally vaporize four Zed territories.

Llama Bombs are a good reason you shouldn't give up hope if you are falling behind Zed in the campaign. Llama Bombs are a game changer!

Upgrading Llama Bombs to Level 2 only takes ten scientists, so this is one of the first upgrades I recommend. With this first upgrade, you will receive three Llama Bombs versus two!

IMPORTANT: It is possible to destroy three Zed territories with a single Llama Bomb if you are able to position it successfully!!

NOTE: Besides getting Llama Bombs at 2,600 points, you can also receive them as one of the random events that occur at the beginning of each month/mission! Go figure!

This Super Weapon is unlocked at 2,000 points. As soon as it is unlocked, it is used in the next mission that follows.

Afterwards, it is available "approximately" once a year. I believe what this means is that it now becomes a "random event" that occurs at the beginning of each month/mission.

IMPORTANT: When the Elephantbird Cannon is used in a mission, no other mercenaries are available! But this is such a highly effective weapon, this is all you need for your chance to take out your first Level 4 territory!

Don't miss out on this opportunity! Remember, destroying a Level 4 territory will result in 35 scientists being added to your roster!

Once you reach 3,500 points, you are allowed to deploy four groups of mercenaries versus three. (Plus the Heli Vac, of course!) That's because you now have available the Big Bad Zeppelin to transport these troops to battle! Booya!

Very simple strategy:

With three mercenary groups (plus Heli Vac) choose Level 1 territories. The odds "may" be against you on Levels 2 and 3.

If you have a mission where the Elephantbird Cannon is available, definitely choose a Level 4 territory. The Super Weapon kicks butt!

Be assured the campaigns can be won with this conservative strategy!!

Once you have four mercenary groups, with plenty of upgrades, your call!

IMPORTANT: Before the mission, you are given quite a bit of information to help you in planning your attack. One is the random occurrence, such as slow Zed, fast Zed, more daylight or less daylight. A second bit of information is in the upper right-hand side of the screen that will tell you all of the mercenaries you will have available on this mission, plus a listing of those that are "on away missions." A/k/a "not available." (This printing is a bit dark and fades into the background and is partially hidden behind other graphics.)

If nothing else, this info can help mentally prepare you whether you are going to have a "fun" mission, with Snipers, Infantry and Artillery, or a grind just to get the minimal amount of civilians out with Barricades, Zed Bait and a bit of Dynamite.

One strategy that I have not given much thought to -- yet -- is the option of choosing a Level 1 territory -- where you are confident you can capture the territory -- versus tackling a Level 3 territory, where you are only confident of rescuing the minimal number of civvies. Choosing the Level 3 might make sense, since you are permanently depriving the Zeds of 30 points per month, while you would only be gaining 20 by capturing the Level 1 territory. Plus this will prevent this territory from increasing to a Level 4 and the corresponding threat of increased contamination.

Your call!

There are 41 achievements available. I am not an expert on such things, but here are a few thoughts on this area of the game.

Although it kind of feels like "cheating," some of these achievements can be easily obtained from playing the mods. This almost seems like a glitch, as the achievements are meaninglessly easy on some of these. Just a thought.

How do I "buy a Llama Bomb"?

You can only buy a Llama Bomb if you check the modification box before starting the campaign that specifically allows you to do this.

1. Take on a Level 4 territory when you get the Elephantbird Cannon. It's an easy victory!

2. Get 125 kills with your Artillery ASAP to reach Level 2. You will then have two impact areas to target per recharge!

3. DO NOT place your Zed Bait until after you have started the mission! The slow recharge may not give you a second chance to use it!

4. Realize that random Llama Bombs may be granted to help you catch up in the campaign. Don't give up! Try to take out three territories per Llama Bomb! (If not four!)

5. Realize that all of the campaigns, 2,000 points to 20,000 points, can be won by just taking on Level 1 territories -- with the exception of those missions where you have access to the Elephantbird Cannon. This will lead to slow but steady progress in the game!

6. Realize there is a fair share of randomness and luck in this game. If you are not happy early in the game with your mercenaries and such, start over! Don't get yourself in a hole and get discouraged! At the same time, realize the first mission, of course, is not winnable and the next few may not go well either with your limited mercenaries.

1. When zombies appear from the edge of the screen, a skeleton head will appear. When this disappears, realize there are no more zombies coming. This allows you to start moving your Infantry, Snipers or take other steps to attack Zed elsewhere on the map. Nighttime is coming! Don't waste time!

2. On Level 1 maps, there are 125 civilians to rescue. If you notice the number of zombie victims and rescued civvies doesn't add up, that means you blew some of them up with your own Artillery, Catbird Cannons, etc.

3. There are two levels of success on each map. The first is to kill all of the zombies. The second is "just" to rescue the minimum amount of civilians. If you realize you can't do the first goal, aim for the second.

4. Turn down the speed for precise play. That's what it takes for success on many missions.