RRF/Malton Herald & Sun/Text/Text0310left
Editor's Note: This issue covers early RRF history, from Post-Caiger to Stanstock
Christmas in Ridleybank after Caiger
- Taken from an account by Papa Petro himself
Upon our return to Ridleybank, we found that every Johnny Wannabe had founded some sort of 'liberate Ridleybank' organization. That this was our home, and the only liberation it needed was from oppressive barricading and the plague of closed doors, did not occur to their infantile minds.
We at once set about the work of evicting the harman infestation from Ridleybank, while beginning post-Caiger war plans making use of our newfound strength in strike teams and the creation of the unit that does not exist, our elite black ops team.
This led to a fundamental shift in the dynamic of the RRF, which reminds me of the old football acronym- everything's easy when you're winning, and nothing works when you're losing. Well, we weren't losing, but we were coming off our first and only loss. Furthermore, the combination of having so many zombies concentrated at Caiger in conjunction with the revive boost was to have a profound effect upon the whole game.
For the first time since the founding, we had lost more members than we were recruiting during the siege. After the siege, many members of the CMS joined us either with their primaries, or sent out an alt, which helped to turn that around, but it was clear that the RRF was going to need more of an organizational framework than Grim and I PMing each other and then sending the group leaders out to bash suburbs. A nascent war council had formed during the end of Caiger, providing the nucleus of what would become the Elders. Added to this were the strike team commanders, who had earned their positions by dint of volunteering to lead and organize for highly efficient coordinated strikes. With this core in place, we were in excellent position to rebuild our numbers and reestablish our dominance as the top group in the game.
However, we faced our greatest challenge yet. While we had piled up at Caiger, nearly every other suburb on the map had been cleansed, as the locals made use of the buffed revive find rate to virtually wipe out the entire feral zombie population of the game. Those of you who visit the wiki (may BARHAH have mercy upon your souls) are undoubtedly familiar with the wiki suburb map. Well, in early December, the entire map had gone green but for two suburbs- Barharhville, and Ridleybank.
Zombie numbers were at their all-time low, as survivors had taken a two to one lead over us. Survivors were doing what they do when the numbers fall off- PKing each other, and in what would become a familiar pattern, deciding to 'liberate Ridleybank' en masse.
So in addition to the early siegers, it seemed like half the organized survivor groups in the game threw in to attack us. We were surrounded on all sides, heavily outnumbered, and being zerged on top of it all.
It would've been damned easy to throw in the towel then. As the only target left in town, we had no obligation to be the punching bags for the trenchcoated masses. But the horde proved what mettle it has. Building by building, we took it back. We crushed the Gingerbreads in the Battle of the Warehouse, signaling the beginning of the end of human occupation of Ridleybank. We drove them from our home, and using the list of headshotters compiled at the Desen board, we began hunting them in the neighboring suburbs. Every day, the strike teams and the unit that shall not be named would head for the border, crossing over to pay back the 'brave heroes' that had swooped in like vultures. We were preparing offensive operations once more, to rebuild the Groups, to go out and hunt once more.
It was what proved once and for all to me that this is the best group in the game. The War Council outdid themselves, keeping morale up, honing the new RRF into a sharp-edged war machine. While we did lose some of the innocent fun we used to have, I think we did a better job of keeping the spirit alive than we had any real call to, if everyone hadn't stepped up.
Still and all, the game was fundamentally broken at that point, as was to be proven with the next update, which led to one of the biggest and most spectacularly weird events in the game.
Formation of the BARHAH Brigade
- Taken from an account by Jorm
The origins of the Barhah Brigade starts at Caiger and the strike teams that were defined. Towards the end of the Caiger seige, things were very grim back in the homeland - the trenchies had moved in en masse and our younglings were getting slaughtered to the man.
I came up with the idea of sending a small group of hand picked people - a solid "strike team" back to the 'bank to help cleanse it and provide some solid aid to the zombies there. But something like this had to be done on the sly: we couldn't announce that we were sending help from Caiger, because it would have the effect of demoralizing those left at the mall while at the same time proving that the "Trench Effect" was working in the 'bank.
So Petro and I talked and set up the basics, and I sent out PMs to a couple singular, trusted people, asking them to join. And then I went to bed.
...And when I woke up, Petro had called the retreat at Caiger.
So this put plans in a different perspective. The idea of the Brigade was a sound one, so we kept with it. I went about handpicking people at first (we later moved into a vote/veto system).
I had intended for some "dry run" missions - crack known safehouses and see how we operated - but we got thrown into the grinder feet first, without a training mission: Crack Nichols mall (which had, by that time, become a fortress) and assassinate some specific individuals (and, uh, Saromu was on the list, but I don't think we got him at the time).
It was bloody brilliant. Our first mission, our first hit-and-fade, and the confusion it threw up on the desensitized boards was a joy to behold. This one mission became the blueprint for many future operations: crack a mall, kill a specific, singular person, and leave without ever being noticed.
Of course, our *big* win during this time was the discovery of the Gingerbread HQ. And not once, but *twice*: the first time we found them inside Ridleybank and crushed them (the second time, we found them in Stanbury after they were regrouping and we decided to leave them be).
A Gift from Kevan: the December, 2006 Update
- Taken from an account by Jack Destruct
THAT update:
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19th December 2005
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As Petro said, we zombies were but a mere third of Malton's population, and according to the stats page at the time there were actually more Zombie Hunters in the city than zombies. It was a sad state of affairs.
But, we did our best, we took back the homeland and we begun harrassing as many survivors as possible. The game however was quite obviously broken; In a zombie apocalypse the zombie hordes had been turned back.
I don't know if we really expected a zombie buff, but the update that came was an affront to zombies everywhere: Firstly, whilst headshot was being changed, it still wasn't enough. Too little too late; We were still being punished for simply dying. And, secondly, crate drops full of goodies for survivors. Literally a Christmas treat for the armies of Trenchcoaters everywhere.
So, we made a stand and once again Petro helped to form a group that was destined to change the face of Malton: "On Strike"
On Strike
- Taken from an account by Papa Petro himself
The strike was something that had been percolating as an idea for a while. Barcoded of the Pwotters had gone so far as to enter a suggestion into the wiki to the effect of 'Just get rid of zombies', both as a protest of how the game was going and for the trenchie-mindset of a lot of voters at the wiki. It had been months since we'd gotten an update, while survivors had gotten various buffs and tweaks, all the while our population numbers declined. The revive search buff at Caiger was the final nail in the coffin, and proved how deceptive our October campaign had been- while we were beating everyone we met in the field, we were facing an enemy with both qualitiative and quantitative superiority, and it was only by virtue of local superiority that we were winning fights.
And then came the update. While we admitted at the time that it was better than XP headshot, it was, at the time, it was the difference between getting kicked in the teeth and getting kicked in the nuts. The fact was that survivors were built with force multipliers designed for fighting against foes that outnumbered them. When they were given the numerical edge, those force multipliers were killers. Toss in the supply crates, and it was the final straw. The IRC essentially mutinied, and the die was cast.
Editor's Note: Continued in the next column
