Post by HannibalAtTheGates on Sept 14, 2006 23:36:17 GMT -5
Well, things are getting much more interesting in the Battle of Blackmore. They are finally starting to use the brains they're not supposed to have and are targeting our logistics corridor, which is based on Nichols Mall in Stanbury Village. This is causing problems for Greater Blackmore and the Bastard Brigade needs to do something about it. Here are my suggestions on what we all need to do to make sure that the two pillars of Greater Blackmore - the Blackmore Building and Nichols Mall - do not fall.
Force Concentration is a military term. It refers to the idea that concentrating military power on a single point will cause disproportionate losses for the enemy. It's based upon the formula that the combat power of a military force is the square of the number of members of that unit. For example:
*One survivor has the combat power of one survivor (1*1 = 1)
*Two survivors have four times the combat power of a single survivor (2*2 = 4)
This idea really came to the forefront during the Great War with the advent of tanks. Because they were so new, the General Staff didn't know quite how to use them effectively. Originally, they were spread out across the line of battle, which minimized their effectiveness. However, when they focused all those tanks on one point that single place doesn't have enough resistance to stop it.
Another example is your hand. If you use your hand to attack somebody and your fingers are spread out all you do is slap them. However, if you draw all your fingers together, concentrating them, you form a fist and when you hit someone with your fist you can't help but feel it.
The zombies have come across this tactic with their hordes, as they have had to to adapt to the tactics of battle, specifically breaking down barricades, entering, and attacking the survivors inside. The best use of this tactic was the Big Bash, in which over 300 zombies could concentrate on a single block to decimate buildings and mall.
Now, we survivors are using it at Blackmore. By concentrating all of our forces on a single target we were able to make the Blackmore one tough nut to crack. It has cracked but it's never been taken out. The sheer numbers we've called on has done this.
Since we've been so successful at making Blackmore tough, we've started to spread out to the other areas of Ridleybank to populate it. However, we are now running into a logistical problem as the hordes are starting to attack our softer underbelly - Nichols Mall.
As they say, "An army marches on its stomach." In the world of UD one could say "A survivor group barricades on it supplies." Malls have always been the best source of supplies and therefore were the first bastions and strongholds for survivors. It also made them the first targets for hordes. This has made them the major site for sieges and battles between survivors and zombies.
Ever since the Mall Walking fix and the Ransack skill, however, malls are much more difficult to defend against zombies. Not only must survivors contend against break-ins, they must also make sure that all 4 corners of a mall stay populated lest they become ransacked, making it impossible for barricades to be put up until all the zombies in that corner are killed.
Thus, we must not only use barricades but "bodycades" as well, using our very bodies as an obstacle to the zombie's victories. Most uncoordinated survivors do not want to make this sacrifice, however, making them forgo the common good and stay to the unattacked corners of the mall. This means our weak spot becomes all the more weaker in a mall and all the more vulnerable to zombie attacks.
Survivors have adapted to mall sieges by not focusing on them so much. Blackmore is the perfect example of the Single NecroTech Defense - a survivor group holes up in an NT building to keep their revive cycle, making sure that it has a high rate of barricades and bodycades, making it virtually impossible for it to be cracked by zombies from the outside. In the case of a break-in, a few zombies do come inside and kill some of the survivors inside. However, there are enough survivors to raise the barricades right back up again to make sure no more zombies can enter. Those few zombies who are inside kill a few of us but it's impossible for them to kill all of us when we're inside a single building, meaning that it will never be ransacked.
Unless we are killed by other survivors. This is what the RRF's desperation to keep their ego overly inflated has caused them to resort to - death cultists, zombies who are revived as survivors who then Free Run inside our buildings because the horde is unable to break in as zombies. This is what the Ridleybank Resistance Front has been forced to do in order to keep their pride: despite being the most infamous horde of zombies they are so desperate that they're going to start fighting us as survivors.
So much for all their rants and raves about zombie superiority. Remember how much they relished the power of zombies during the height of the Big Bash? I wonder where all that pride in being an undead went. It probably went with Petrosjko when he retired from the RRF. We certainly know that Sonny has never had any pride in being an undead - otherwise why hasn't he committed to the zombie cause and gotten Brain Rot? That's probably why they've raised Patrucio up in order to try to get their zombie pride back. I doubt that he'll succeed either if they're going to condone the use of PKer death cultists, using survivors to kill survivors. Of course, they must resort to this tactic. They've proven they can't beat us as zombies. Their use of death cultists is an admitance on the RRF's part that they can't beat us as zombies.
The question is are we going to let them beat us as survivors? Are we going to let them beat us from within as well as without? Now that they are resorting to the most desperate of tactics, will we let them prevail against us?
I certainly hope we don't. Blackmore is now and forever will be a bastion of survivor solidarity and determination. The longer we stay there the more we show how much survivors can do when unified against a common goal. The longer we stay there the more we show how decadent and inept the Ridelybank Resistance Front has become despite their posturings. The longer we stay there the stronger, the tougher, the greater we prove ourselves to be.
I must say that I honestly feel that we've already won the Battle of Blackmore. We invaded Ridleybank and rather than be dealt with quickly and easily, as we ourselves were fully expected, we were allowed to live and build and grow. Now that we have put in roots, the RRF can't uproot us as zombies and they may soon try to uproot us as survivors. Not only that, but they are also going to try to target the source of our supplies in Nichols Mall to try to kick us out of Blackmore. Their very desperation and ire is, I feel, a victory in and of itself. We have both shown and proved survivors and zombies all across Malton that the Ridleybank Resistance Front is no longer a thing to be afraid of but rather a thing to pity considering how fall they have fallen from their greatness.
While we may have won the victory of heart in this battle we still have the victory of bodies to win. We must stick out these hostilities until the RRF either gives up against us or devolve so totally that they are no longer worth the effort. One of those is coming soon, but we must have the determination and vigilance to see this campaign through until that time.
And we shall do so as a brotherhood, for that is what the Blackmore Bastard Brigade is. Unlike the RRF, we have no papas for us to blindly follow despite our own better judgement, no papas to lead us into ruination, corruption and dishonor, no papas to prop up on pedastals while the group falls, We are all Bastards who stand, fight, die, and revive all together as one.
But now that we are being targeted on multiple fronts, how shall we stand together when we must split up our forces? We are no longer engaged in just the Battle of Blackmore anymore. Now, we have committed to the Greater Blackmore Campaign, of which now consists of the Battle of Blackmore and the Battle of Nichols Mall. Below are the tactics and strategies I propose all Bastards pursue.
1) Withdraw from non-essential buildings. Non-essential buildings are basically those that aren't Blackmore and Nichols. When we had the advantage of numbers, we were able to spread out and start populating more of the suburb. Now that the zombies are attacking us on two fronts, we don't have that luxury anymore. All Bastards who are not at Blackmore or Nichols should get there immediately. I also propose that we no longer do any barricading except for Blackmore and Nichols. This will allow us to focus on our two major strongholds, which we should stay in no matter how dangerous it gets because we're able to keep our revive cycle so high. An added benefit is that it will make it difficult for death cultists and PKers to hunt us down if they have no safehouses in the suburbs. If Blackmore and Nichols are the *only* strongholds in the suburbs then PKers will be targets of the survivors they're attempting to kill as well as the zombies who are not discriminating in whose brains they eat.
2) Defend Nichols Mall. Nichols Mall is the most important site of our logistics train. It provides us with ammo to shoot zeds who break in and rotters at our revive points. It provides us with FAKs to cure infections to keep Bastards able to barricade. It even provides us with portable generators that the zombies and PK-GKers go after us to annoy us. Because of its wealth of supplies, we need to do what we can to ensure that it stays in our hands. Therefore, we need every alt that a Bastard has head over to Nichols to help defend it. Because it's a mall, ransacking is a hazard. Therefore, we must use "bodycades" as well as barricades to keep it defended, making sure that the most dangerous corner is the one with the most survivors. However, no corner should be ignored and all should be well populated.
3) Blackmore Must Not Fall!!! The Blackmore Building is our best stronghold in Ridleybank. With it providing revives for us we can hold out indefinitely against the hordes attacking us in the suburb. We can do this even if Nichols Mall falls - those of us who are infected can just die and be revived and will deal with break ins with our axes, which doesn't require ammo. In the Greater Blackmore Campaign, preserving and populating Blackmore is the key. Do Not Let Blackmore Fall! We've already shown the RRF the strategic importance it has for survivors in the suburb. If we let it fall we'd be quite hard pressed to win it back. Thus, we should make sure that we don't have to win it back which can be easily done by keeping it populated on at least a one-to-one ratio of survivors to zombies and bodies. We should do this even at the expense of Nichols. I hope it doesn't come to that, but should we be forced to make the tough decisions we should make them to favor our bastion Blackmore. However, it's not zombies that we should be the most afraid of but rather PKers who can Free Run inside. Therefore, we should abide by the RRF's barricade policy and make sure that the Blackmore is the only barricaded building in the suburb. This means PKers will have to travel quite out of their way in order to stay a survivor.
4) Bastard Bounty Hunters. In order to keep our dangers of PKers and death cultists to a minimum, we need to have a coordinated force of volunteers hunter to patrol Greater Blackmore and hunt down those survivors who are confirmed to be enemies of other survivors. We need these hunters to range around the suburbs and into safehouses to dispatch any zombies who have been revived and will attack us while they're alive. If we keep our areas unsafe for PKers to stay near us we can make it quite difficult for them to harass us.
5) Bring More Bastards. The more numbers we have in our cause the tougher it'll be for the zombies to dislodge us. Everybody needs to recruit as many Bastards as they can, and every Bastard needs to have one character in Blackmore and another in Nichols Mall. If you have contacts in other survivor groups, ask them to come up and join us at either place for battle. This campaign against the zombies is more a show of survivor solidarity than it is a military victory. All together, we are accomplishing something great and historic in Malton, something that will rival the Siege of Caiger, Mall Tour '06, and the Big Bash, something that will be talked about for a long time to come. There's more than enough glory and XP to spread around and we want to share it with everybody. What's more, unlike most battles, this is one that's ever escalating and ever changing, making it quite a dynamic campaign that won't be that boring. So far, we have 3 complete survivor groups of the NMC, coordinated members from 24 groups, and other members spotted from 22 groups battling against 2 insidious PKer groups and the largest horde in Malton and the ferals they attract spread 2 sites of battle. If that's not glory, I don't know what is, and the more we call to our combined strength the glorious it will be.
That's why we're all doing what we're doing, survivors and zombies alike: for glory. After the atrocities the zombies have made against us survivors during the Mall Tour and the Big Bash, so many survivors have come together to dish it back at the hordes. Let's keep dishing it back at them until they get enough and give up. Let's keep fighting in the Greater Blackmore Campaign until victory, not our victory but the victory of all survivors, is complete.
Force Concentration is a military term. It refers to the idea that concentrating military power on a single point will cause disproportionate losses for the enemy. It's based upon the formula that the combat power of a military force is the square of the number of members of that unit. For example:
*One survivor has the combat power of one survivor (1*1 = 1)
*Two survivors have four times the combat power of a single survivor (2*2 = 4)
This idea really came to the forefront during the Great War with the advent of tanks. Because they were so new, the General Staff didn't know quite how to use them effectively. Originally, they were spread out across the line of battle, which minimized their effectiveness. However, when they focused all those tanks on one point that single place doesn't have enough resistance to stop it.
Another example is your hand. If you use your hand to attack somebody and your fingers are spread out all you do is slap them. However, if you draw all your fingers together, concentrating them, you form a fist and when you hit someone with your fist you can't help but feel it.
The zombies have come across this tactic with their hordes, as they have had to to adapt to the tactics of battle, specifically breaking down barricades, entering, and attacking the survivors inside. The best use of this tactic was the Big Bash, in which over 300 zombies could concentrate on a single block to decimate buildings and mall.
Now, we survivors are using it at Blackmore. By concentrating all of our forces on a single target we were able to make the Blackmore one tough nut to crack. It has cracked but it's never been taken out. The sheer numbers we've called on has done this.
Since we've been so successful at making Blackmore tough, we've started to spread out to the other areas of Ridleybank to populate it. However, we are now running into a logistical problem as the hordes are starting to attack our softer underbelly - Nichols Mall.
As they say, "An army marches on its stomach." In the world of UD one could say "A survivor group barricades on it supplies." Malls have always been the best source of supplies and therefore were the first bastions and strongholds for survivors. It also made them the first targets for hordes. This has made them the major site for sieges and battles between survivors and zombies.
Ever since the Mall Walking fix and the Ransack skill, however, malls are much more difficult to defend against zombies. Not only must survivors contend against break-ins, they must also make sure that all 4 corners of a mall stay populated lest they become ransacked, making it impossible for barricades to be put up until all the zombies in that corner are killed.
Thus, we must not only use barricades but "bodycades" as well, using our very bodies as an obstacle to the zombie's victories. Most uncoordinated survivors do not want to make this sacrifice, however, making them forgo the common good and stay to the unattacked corners of the mall. This means our weak spot becomes all the more weaker in a mall and all the more vulnerable to zombie attacks.
Survivors have adapted to mall sieges by not focusing on them so much. Blackmore is the perfect example of the Single NecroTech Defense - a survivor group holes up in an NT building to keep their revive cycle, making sure that it has a high rate of barricades and bodycades, making it virtually impossible for it to be cracked by zombies from the outside. In the case of a break-in, a few zombies do come inside and kill some of the survivors inside. However, there are enough survivors to raise the barricades right back up again to make sure no more zombies can enter. Those few zombies who are inside kill a few of us but it's impossible for them to kill all of us when we're inside a single building, meaning that it will never be ransacked.
Unless we are killed by other survivors. This is what the RRF's desperation to keep their ego overly inflated has caused them to resort to - death cultists, zombies who are revived as survivors who then Free Run inside our buildings because the horde is unable to break in as zombies. This is what the Ridleybank Resistance Front has been forced to do in order to keep their pride: despite being the most infamous horde of zombies they are so desperate that they're going to start fighting us as survivors.
So much for all their rants and raves about zombie superiority. Remember how much they relished the power of zombies during the height of the Big Bash? I wonder where all that pride in being an undead went. It probably went with Petrosjko when he retired from the RRF. We certainly know that Sonny has never had any pride in being an undead - otherwise why hasn't he committed to the zombie cause and gotten Brain Rot? That's probably why they've raised Patrucio up in order to try to get their zombie pride back. I doubt that he'll succeed either if they're going to condone the use of PKer death cultists, using survivors to kill survivors. Of course, they must resort to this tactic. They've proven they can't beat us as zombies. Their use of death cultists is an admitance on the RRF's part that they can't beat us as zombies.
The question is are we going to let them beat us as survivors? Are we going to let them beat us from within as well as without? Now that they are resorting to the most desperate of tactics, will we let them prevail against us?
I certainly hope we don't. Blackmore is now and forever will be a bastion of survivor solidarity and determination. The longer we stay there the more we show how much survivors can do when unified against a common goal. The longer we stay there the more we show how decadent and inept the Ridelybank Resistance Front has become despite their posturings. The longer we stay there the stronger, the tougher, the greater we prove ourselves to be.
I must say that I honestly feel that we've already won the Battle of Blackmore. We invaded Ridleybank and rather than be dealt with quickly and easily, as we ourselves were fully expected, we were allowed to live and build and grow. Now that we have put in roots, the RRF can't uproot us as zombies and they may soon try to uproot us as survivors. Not only that, but they are also going to try to target the source of our supplies in Nichols Mall to try to kick us out of Blackmore. Their very desperation and ire is, I feel, a victory in and of itself. We have both shown and proved survivors and zombies all across Malton that the Ridleybank Resistance Front is no longer a thing to be afraid of but rather a thing to pity considering how fall they have fallen from their greatness.
While we may have won the victory of heart in this battle we still have the victory of bodies to win. We must stick out these hostilities until the RRF either gives up against us or devolve so totally that they are no longer worth the effort. One of those is coming soon, but we must have the determination and vigilance to see this campaign through until that time.
And we shall do so as a brotherhood, for that is what the Blackmore Bastard Brigade is. Unlike the RRF, we have no papas for us to blindly follow despite our own better judgement, no papas to lead us into ruination, corruption and dishonor, no papas to prop up on pedastals while the group falls, We are all Bastards who stand, fight, die, and revive all together as one.
But now that we are being targeted on multiple fronts, how shall we stand together when we must split up our forces? We are no longer engaged in just the Battle of Blackmore anymore. Now, we have committed to the Greater Blackmore Campaign, of which now consists of the Battle of Blackmore and the Battle of Nichols Mall. Below are the tactics and strategies I propose all Bastards pursue.
1) Withdraw from non-essential buildings. Non-essential buildings are basically those that aren't Blackmore and Nichols. When we had the advantage of numbers, we were able to spread out and start populating more of the suburb. Now that the zombies are attacking us on two fronts, we don't have that luxury anymore. All Bastards who are not at Blackmore or Nichols should get there immediately. I also propose that we no longer do any barricading except for Blackmore and Nichols. This will allow us to focus on our two major strongholds, which we should stay in no matter how dangerous it gets because we're able to keep our revive cycle so high. An added benefit is that it will make it difficult for death cultists and PKers to hunt us down if they have no safehouses in the suburbs. If Blackmore and Nichols are the *only* strongholds in the suburbs then PKers will be targets of the survivors they're attempting to kill as well as the zombies who are not discriminating in whose brains they eat.
2) Defend Nichols Mall. Nichols Mall is the most important site of our logistics train. It provides us with ammo to shoot zeds who break in and rotters at our revive points. It provides us with FAKs to cure infections to keep Bastards able to barricade. It even provides us with portable generators that the zombies and PK-GKers go after us to annoy us. Because of its wealth of supplies, we need to do what we can to ensure that it stays in our hands. Therefore, we need every alt that a Bastard has head over to Nichols to help defend it. Because it's a mall, ransacking is a hazard. Therefore, we must use "bodycades" as well as barricades to keep it defended, making sure that the most dangerous corner is the one with the most survivors. However, no corner should be ignored and all should be well populated.
3) Blackmore Must Not Fall!!! The Blackmore Building is our best stronghold in Ridleybank. With it providing revives for us we can hold out indefinitely against the hordes attacking us in the suburb. We can do this even if Nichols Mall falls - those of us who are infected can just die and be revived and will deal with break ins with our axes, which doesn't require ammo. In the Greater Blackmore Campaign, preserving and populating Blackmore is the key. Do Not Let Blackmore Fall! We've already shown the RRF the strategic importance it has for survivors in the suburb. If we let it fall we'd be quite hard pressed to win it back. Thus, we should make sure that we don't have to win it back which can be easily done by keeping it populated on at least a one-to-one ratio of survivors to zombies and bodies. We should do this even at the expense of Nichols. I hope it doesn't come to that, but should we be forced to make the tough decisions we should make them to favor our bastion Blackmore. However, it's not zombies that we should be the most afraid of but rather PKers who can Free Run inside. Therefore, we should abide by the RRF's barricade policy and make sure that the Blackmore is the only barricaded building in the suburb. This means PKers will have to travel quite out of their way in order to stay a survivor.
4) Bastard Bounty Hunters. In order to keep our dangers of PKers and death cultists to a minimum, we need to have a coordinated force of volunteers hunter to patrol Greater Blackmore and hunt down those survivors who are confirmed to be enemies of other survivors. We need these hunters to range around the suburbs and into safehouses to dispatch any zombies who have been revived and will attack us while they're alive. If we keep our areas unsafe for PKers to stay near us we can make it quite difficult for them to harass us.
5) Bring More Bastards. The more numbers we have in our cause the tougher it'll be for the zombies to dislodge us. Everybody needs to recruit as many Bastards as they can, and every Bastard needs to have one character in Blackmore and another in Nichols Mall. If you have contacts in other survivor groups, ask them to come up and join us at either place for battle. This campaign against the zombies is more a show of survivor solidarity than it is a military victory. All together, we are accomplishing something great and historic in Malton, something that will rival the Siege of Caiger, Mall Tour '06, and the Big Bash, something that will be talked about for a long time to come. There's more than enough glory and XP to spread around and we want to share it with everybody. What's more, unlike most battles, this is one that's ever escalating and ever changing, making it quite a dynamic campaign that won't be that boring. So far, we have 3 complete survivor groups of the NMC, coordinated members from 24 groups, and other members spotted from 22 groups battling against 2 insidious PKer groups and the largest horde in Malton and the ferals they attract spread 2 sites of battle. If that's not glory, I don't know what is, and the more we call to our combined strength the glorious it will be.
That's why we're all doing what we're doing, survivors and zombies alike: for glory. After the atrocities the zombies have made against us survivors during the Mall Tour and the Big Bash, so many survivors have come together to dish it back at the hordes. Let's keep dishing it back at them until they get enough and give up. Let's keep fighting in the Greater Blackmore Campaign until victory, not our victory but the victory of all survivors, is complete.