Operation Brain-Drain was previously published under the name ‘Cocked & Loaded’ when Project Z was first released. It has been newly updated and renamed in line with the game’s re-release & presented here as a free downloadable pdf.
Operation Brain-Drain comprises two mini-campaigns that use the plastic Spec Ops miniatures, Sarissa’s Secure Compound Scenery Set, and plenty of zombies, (un-)naturally.
The first takes place in the lair of Doctor Puke himself. Your Spec Ops teams are charged with eliminating him and his minions and destroying the very source of the zombie plague. The second involves rescuing trapped remnants of the Spec Ops troops barricaded inside the ruins of Dr Puke’s compound.
As well as eight scenarios (over the two campaigns), Operation Brain-Drain introduces rules and guidance for the use of buildings within scenarios.
Do your specially trained troops have what it takes to defeat the greatest menace facing
mankind?
Exterminate with Extreme Prejudice
In the first mini-campaign, your job is to exterminate Dr Puke and his infernal infrastructure inside his laboratory. It has taken months for you to track him down and he is far from alone, intel suggests he is surrounded by his undead minions.
Before the Plague, Doctor Puke (real name classified and presumably long since lost) worked in the top-secret Black River government research facility. A brilliant biochemist, Puke was assigned to the secretive Project Z, a military programme seeking to find ways to increase the survivability of soldiers in combat. Although started as a mission of mercy, the project quickly took a dark turn…
As part of Project Z, the Doctor and his team developed a chemical compound known only as ’12B’, designed to allow critically injured soldiers to ‘walk through the pain’ and self-rescue, even with wounds that would usually be fatal. Based on an obscure virus found in deep jungles, 12B rapidly mutated beyond the scientists’ wildest ambitions – within weeks, it was capable of ‘re-animating’ dead test subjects, and Puke believed he was on the threshold of the miraculous.
It was soon found, however, that the virus had unintended consequences as it continued to mutate. Anyone infected soon died, before reanimating as soulless killing machines, devoid of all personality and emotion, save for an insatiable lust for human flesh. Despite the military’s best efforts, the virus escaped the laboratory and spread like wildfire – the rest, of course, is history.
Somehow managing to survive the initial apocalypse, Puke (by now thoroughly deranged by the horror he had unleashed) had remained ensconced within his research bunker. With only the dead for company, he continued his work, perfecting several chemicals to both enhance the zombies’ physical abilities and grant him a limited measure of control over their rotted brains. By now believing himself to be something of a god, Puke sends “his” zombies forth, gathering supplies and attacking the desperate bands of survivors roaming the post-apocalypse.
What his motives are, none can say, but if left unchecked the not-so-good Doctor’s plans are sure to bring further death and devastation…
No One Left Behind
In the second mini-campaign, your job is to get inside the remnants of Dr Puke’s compound
and free the squad of troops trapped inside the lab. They are out of ammo and nearing
exhaustion and you are their last chance at escape from an area crawling with zombies.
To give yourself more of a challenge, consider adding the feared zombie beast as an additional undead obstacle during the campaign.
The effects of the Zombie virus on the vast majority of infected humans are well-documented, but a few recorded outliers do exist. The most ‘common’ of these are the disgusting abominations are known by survivors as Zombie Beasts, and with good reason.
Standing over seven feet tall, bulging with unnatural muscle, and bloated with decay, the Zombie Beast is a terrifying presence to behold. While filled with the same anthropophagic frenzy as their smaller kin, the Beasts seem to retain a kind of bestial low cunning, reaching the dizzying intellectual heights of wielding road signs or other nearby debris as clubs. Frequently seen in the hordes led by the mysterious Doctor Puke, the Beasts provide a nigh-unstoppable wall of rotting flesh and muscle, requiring enormous amounts of firepower to bring down.
The origins of the Zombie Beasts are virtually impossible to determine with any certainty, and few still live who care enough to conduct any serious study. Nevertheless, wild theories abound, ranging from the scientific to the frankly silly. It is however widely accepted that Puke must have had some hand in their creation, as they appear in his hordes with far greater frequency than elsewhere.
The Operation Brain-Drain Get Started Bundle
Get everything you need to get started playing Project Z and the Operation Brain-Drain scenarios with this great value bundle! Aside from the starter set, and a Spec Ops team, you’ll open up the full zombie experience via the Zombie Horde boxed set (which contains rules that make the zombies a playable faction in their own right), a zombie beast and Doctor Puke himself. The Sarissa compound set is also included, around which the Operation Brain-Drain scenarios were specifically designed. Additionally, you’ll get a fee Spec Ops Insertion vehicle.
