Fun Stuff > CHATTER
plans for the inevitable undead uprising
KharBevNor:
I'm not so sure of the practicality of polearms myself. Most, if not all polearms are designed to be practically used as a group. Practically, the lack of mobility (I'm not sure quite what you mean by polearm, but I'm assuming a halberd or pike) and the problem of zombies getting inside your guard would probably sink you.
Actually, speaking of weapons training, when in Bournemouth I can of course always hook-up with the rest of my Jomsviking re-enactment group. Fifteen or so hairy nutters and shield maidens, armed with an assortment of swords, axes, spears, hammers, shields, bows and knives, kitted out in leather and mail. Not only that, but all real weapons, designed to deliver and block blows, that we know how to use. Nice. We could get some proper pillaging in for a change.
Also Ozy, I think you're slightly over-estimating somewhat how hard it is to shoot a person in the head, if you have a sensible weapon (rifle, good shotgun). Actually, military training might not even be a good thing. Soldiers are generally trained to instinctively shoot for the centre of mass. What you want is a good target shooter. I can hit a human head-sized target consistently at a hundred yards (admittedly, non-moving target in light conditions). I would personally take a gun, if only for the tactical advantage it offers, except for the tremendous problem in the UK of finding a fire-arm that would be of any use whatsoever against zombies. .22 rounds would only really be effective if you plugged them straight into the right eye socket, and I doubt bird-shot would be any help at all. I wouldn't mind having a brace of black-powder pistols with ball shot, actually, strictly for close combat. Would pair well with an axe.
supersheep:
OK, when you're trying to kill a zombie how much of the brain do you need to destroy? Because this always makes me think. I mean, how many people do you hear of that have their brain totally destroyed by being hit in the head with a baseball bat?
Also, Khar is right about the guns - I am a terrible shot, and I can still consistently put a bullet into a 1" circle at 25 yards with a .22. Anyone who actually owns a gun should be significantly better at shooting than me. Also, .22" is 5.58mm - that's military calibre. The bullets ricochet around internally, tumble, and generally cause a lot more damage inside than a larger bullet, which goes straight through.
EDIT: Just to qualify, this is when you're stationary and in a safe place, like some sort of fortification where there is no immediate zombie-related threat of death.
ampersandwitch:
--- Quote from: ruyi on 05 Nov 2007, 03:01 ---the popularity of this fantasy has always struck me as bizarre.
--- End quote ---
For me, it's kind of fun because it's re-imagining the world of today with drastically different characteristics AKA zombies running around. It's for people who don't like the mundane, who need to "mix it up" a little. It's all very survival horror and escapist, plus, how hilarious is the zombie walk?
KharBevNor:
Except, supersheep, that we are not necessarily (or at all) talking high velocity .22 LR's. As far as I'm aware, most easy to obtain legal weapons in the UK (I'm using 'easy to obtain' in the loosest sense imaginable) use either the lesser powered .22 long (I'm fairly sure this is the cartridge the rifles I've done all my target shooting on used) or the .22 short. Hell, I'm not entirely certain we didn't use .22 BB's, which can be stopped by a decently starched shirt. I'm also relatively sure that most weapons in the UK are subsonic. (I don't know any of this, and the legislation isn't that detailed, but I'm assuming certain restrictions rule out other things at the same time) Also, I'd like to point out that, even with ideal ammunition, .22 rifles are mainly used for hunting things like rats. There's a biiiiig reason for this. The problem isn't the amount of soft tissue damage a .22 can do, which is appreciable (though inferior to almost every other sort of bullet), but rather its ability to penetrate bone. Put bluntly, beyond about thirty/forty metres, there's a big chance that .22s will just bounce off a zombies fucking skull, especially if it's fresh. From what I can find, .22s in general are useless for hunting anything bigger than a coyote, and even then you need to get a fairly good shot in from no farther than about 50 yards, using the best weapons and ammo. Remember, UK gun law is designed around only allowing very limited access to weapons that have the least possible utility in the killing of human beings. Probably the best thing that you could hope to get hold of (and this would need planning) would be the L98A1 Cadet Rifle, which, whilst not being civilian issue, is I believe probably the only non .22 or smoothbore fire-arm kept in any quantity outside of military bases and specially secured shooting sites like the Bisley range (Game wardens who control deer populations use larger calibre rifles, but that's like looking for a needle in a haystack). The L98A1 is bolt-action, and the action is deliberately very awkward ( you have to reach over the top of the gun with the left hand each shot, normally) but it's NATO 5.56, it takes STANAG magazines, and it has adjustable aperture sights. Raid a cadet unit for some of those suckers (praying they don't just have bolt action .22s like my old unit) and a few boxes of ammo and you're officially one of the best armed men in the UK. The other big option, of course, is criminally obtained fire-arms, but you've got a similiar problem to finding your game wardens rifle, not to mention you'd almnost certainly have to enter a big city to get your hands on one, and as far as I'm concerned 'do your best to get out of fucking cities' is a pretty hard and fast rule in the zombocalypse. The other major problem would be obtaining ammunition. Know how much 9mm ammo there is in the UK? Not very much, and you can bet your ass some Scouser gangsters probably unloaded most of it into a zombie swarm in Toxteth.
Also, I'd like to point out that we're all, maybe even me, though my plans are flexible, making a really crucially erroneous supposition here. Basically, we're all expecting Zombie Survival Guide/Russo zombies. This is a conditioned media response, people! What if 'Kill the Brain, Kill the Ghoul' is as empty as 'Duck and Cover'? What if we get classic Night of the Living Dead zombies, where the bite is not infectious, but generally fatal, and ALL recently dead re-animate within 5-10 minutes. What if we get later Romero zombies, who develop a degree of intelligence, or at the very least a thoughtless acting out of their previous existence (sometimes people forget that there's a REASON the zombies go to the mall). What if the zombie uprising, when it comes, is a purely supernatural horror, rather than a twisted scientific one? Perhaps the only sure ways to kill a zombie will be the same as the only sure ways to kill vampires (decapitation and burning). Speaking of burning, will we have zombies that dislike fire, instinctively moving away from it (a big bonus) or will we have zombies that merely shamble mindlessly through fire, setting themselves ablaze perhaps, but otherwise unharmed, maybe stumbling on for several minutes as flaming, crumbling edifices of mindless hunger, igniting us even as they gnaw on our bones.
Oh, and one more point. Someone earlier, I just remembered, opined that swords would not be effective against zombies. I think this implies a certain lack of understanding of how you use a sword, and how it works. Whilst some swords would probably be useless against zombies except in the hands of a very skilled wielder (epee's, foils and other stabbing weapons particularly) most western swords in particular would be fairly effective, as they are really mainly hybrid cutting/crushing weapons. Broadswords, as a category especially. They were designed, after all, to be effective against men wearing chain and plate armour, padded out with stiffened leather and sheepskin, and using shields. Zombies are not likely to be so well dressed for a scuffle, although a unit of zombified riot police might give you pause for thought. Other varieties of sword are likely to be pretty effective as well. Properly maintained ones designed for actual combat, that is. That's always a problem nowadays. Katanas, scimitars, cutlasses and other slashing weapons would take more skill to use than a broadsword, but not too much. My basic plan for taking down massed zombies with an axe would probably be a basic figure of eight, keeping the weapon moving all the time, and you'd want a similiar plan for such a sword. Never mind if you waste a few blows hacking off arms or whatnot, sustaining momentum is the most important thing: the one huge disadvantage of broadswords, and axes maybe, is the likelihood you're going to get one stuck in a zombies skull, leaving his mates free to dine on your delicious meats. If you kept it sharp enough, you'd be able to consistently slice clean through a zombies skull if you got it square on the side level with the eye-sockets.
Stryc9Fuego:
I am telling you as a qualified Awesomologist that the answer to Zombie is always Shotgun. You don't need to be a great shot with a shotgun, just good enough to hit around the jaw/neck area. Some of the shot will mess up their motor functions to the point where they are not a threat. Also, if Dr. McNinja teaches us nothing else, it's that the best armor for Zombies is Space Suit. You all go around hacking with your swords and getting bitten or bled on, I'll be safe trotting around in my space suit blasting heads off with my shotgun.
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