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There are four endings to the game (you want to accomplish each of these): cure Zombieism in the Laboratory; seal the Evil Graveyard; draft a Constitution at City Hall; and reclaim the whole town.
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6.Almost always recruit any survivors before reclaiming a square, because even if you have radio, you'll seldom have new people joining your camp.
7.Besides any scientists you have, make sure you always have 2-3 leaders, 3-4 builders, and the rest soldiers until the Evil Graveyard is closed.
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3.In the earlier stages of the game, scout aggressively to the point of leaving your police station unassigned. As soon as you find the Evil Graveyard, reclaim towards the direction of the Evil Graveyard.
4.Closing the Evil Graveyard is the easiest win condition, but you should not close it until you have the Anti-Venom technology and at least ~40 soldiers. You have to make sure that the Evil Graveyard is surrounded by at least 3-4 blocks of friendly territory because the hordes that are triggered by you attempting to close the graveyard can retake squares quite easily.
5.Zombie killing missions should focus on squares that you intend to immediately reclaim. Only kill zombies in other squares if you have spare soldiers.
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Beaten Nightmare on a 12x12 map today. Here is what I recommend for people trying to do the same:
1.The game becomes much easier when you use a "save and load" strategy so you can replay a day if you end up with a bad outcome. Basically, you quit the game after you've performed your actions but before you end the day, then go back to the saved game and immediately end day. If you end up with a bad outcome (like any survivor dying), close the tab and restart. You usually have to change some of the actions, like leaving a survivor unassigned, in order for a good outcome to occur.
2.Keep making new games until you get a good map. A good map would have a lab, big farm, hospital, bar/church, and school visible on the first day. If you don't reclaim those buildings quickly, the game will be much harder.
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For those having difficulties with the final badge, if you get frustrated, try Rebuild 2. It is easier and the strategy is slightly different there, so it may help you learn to adjust your playing style, just as it did myself. If you keep at it, I am sure you can at least win playing Harder.
Realize that the most important squares to reclaim in the early part of the game, on average, are farms and living quarters, followed by a hospital, while both laboratories and defense buildings are ancillary. Your town can build faster the more people you have, but the more people you have the more food you need. It is important to understand that if you have positive food production, it doesn't overly matter how much food is lost to things such as blight, as people will not starve.
Also, be aware that it is safest at the corners of the entire town, followed by the sides, so instead of initially attempting to reclaim every square around you, you will likely want to proceed in a direction.
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The same day that I reclaimed the last tile... "These guys calling themselves the Zombie Kill Squad showed up today armed to the teeth. After asking for some pointers they went out and offed zero of the Zed surrounding our fort. Nice guys!"
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Great game but trying to get that final badge is ridiculous with how reliant it is on random numbers which makes almost anything you do not matter because if something bad can happen it will happen.
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doesn't matter how many soldiers you have, or fortifications to overwhelm the power of an attacking fort, one way or another these dumn creatures will find a way in and over run your safe haven along with killing a soldier or two
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I just drafted the constitution, cured zombieism, and closed the evil portal, but can't reclaim the last three squares. No matter what I do, they stay overrun. This is ridiculous.
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After a long time I finally got the hard badge. It was pretty hard and I had a lot of luck during my game. The best of all, I won thanks to the constitution, made exactly the same day the zombies destroyed everything and killed everyone. But hey! Now there is a constitution and that is enough right?
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sent a guy off to scavenge a 0% danger location and he dies of dysentery... send ANOTHER guy and he dies of the same thing.. wtf
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Danger to Fort 1% "I don't need to add my last warrior from the zombie horde attack." FORT OVERRUN 1 SQUARE LOST 4 SURVIVORS LOST "shuts down computer" .__.
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The problem with the game is that it gets easier as you grow your base and population. They seem to have forgotten to make the game harder over time.