User:Andre Aloisius

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His Funkiness...

Possum Aloisius Jenkins Andre 3000
Suspiciously funky in '07.
Joined: February 9th, 2007
Character class: Second Cousin Three Times Removed of Funk
Favorite equipment: The FAKs, ma'am. Just the FAKs.
Character profile: Urban Dead profile
Current status: Funky, but not in that dead, stinky kinda way
Character group: Ghetto Cow
Character stats: Numerous Heals, Umpteen Revives, Twenty-one deaths, Ten Kills, Fiiiiiive Golden Riiiiings!
Journal: Journal for Possum Aloisius Jenkins Andre 3000

I'm dedicated to making all things a little funkier. Except zombies. They're pretty funky already.

Current Plans

  • Hole up in Quartly and re-read all the Harry Potter books.
  • Heal so many people that suddenly, inexplicably and irrevocably, I become a stronger zombie.

A Rote Retelling of Sundries:

Of, By, and Concerning the Exploits and Adventures of His Right Honorable Personage, Andre Aloisius.

N'otherwords, my journal. I did have it on my main page, but no longer! Instead, you must go here to be bored to tears!

I got the Skills! (What Skills?) To Pay the Bills!

My skill tree plan/history. Feel free to comment on the talk page if you think I should change the order of something.

Current Rate of Skill Gain: 1 Skill/5 days

Acquired Skills

(Name of Skill) (Date gained) - (Number of days to gain it)
  1. Free Running (2/9/07 - Starting Skill)
  2. Hand-to-hand Combat (2/14/07 - 5 days)
  3. Diagnosis (2/20/07 - 6 days)
  4. Construction (2/28/07 - 8 days)
  5. Shopping (3/07/07 - 7 days)
  6. Bargain Hunting (3/13/07) - 6 days
  7. First Aid (3/18/07) - 5 days
  8. Necrotech Employment (3/26/07) - 8 days
  9. Lab Experience (4/06/07) - 11 days
  10. Necronet Access (4/11/07) - 5 days
  11. Body Building (4/14/07) - 3 days
  12. Axe Proficiency (4/17/07) - 3 days
  13. Headshot (4/27/07) - 10 days (but internet was down for 6 of 'em. :p)
  14. Tagging (5/03/07) - 6 days
  15. Radio Operation (5/09/07) - 6 days
  16. Basic Firearms Training (5/15/07) - 6 days
  17. Pistol Training (5/20/07) - 5 days
  18. Shotgun Training(5/23/07) - 3 days
  19. Advanced Pistol Training (5/26/07) - 3 days
  20. Advanced Shotgun Training (5/29/07) - 3 days
  21. Knife Combat (6/03/07) - 5 days
  22. Surgery (6/06/07) - 3 days
  23. Lurching Gait (6/11/07) - 4 days
  24. Ankle Grab (6/17/07) - 5 days
  25. Memories of Life (6/22/07) - 4 days
  26. Vigour Mortis (6/23/07) - 4 days
  27. Death Grip (6/26/07) - 3 days
  28. Rend Flesh (6/27/07) - 1 day
  29. Tangling Grasp (7/7/07) - 10 days
  30. Scent Fear (7/9/07) - 2 days
  31. Scent Death (7/10/07) - 1 day

Future Skills

(Name of Skill) (Estimated Date of skill gain)
  1. Flailing Gesture (7/16/07)
  2. Death Rattle (7/21/07)

Musings

The Siege Perilous

Continuing in the same vein as last time, I've been thinking about the differing tactics of Zombies and Humans when it comes to large-scale sieges. Simply put, the zombies have the tactical edge. Without discounting the efforts of PKers, GKers, RKers, and any other "K"-ers that one might think of, the zombies effectively win a siege by means of a large, coordinated break-in that overwhelms the humans in that NT building/corner of the mall. All they have to do is get a minimum of fifteen to thirty dedicated zombies (though more is certainly better) to attack at a certain time - preferably one during which fewer defenders will be likely to be awake. In other words, the zombies need only one point of coordination; not to sound like I'm bashing the hive mind, but their basic strategy relies on just making sure enough people can be awake at a certain time, long enough to break in and kill enough people that retaliation becomes impossible without reinforcements from forces not already committed to the siege in some way.
Of course, while it is one particular strike that wins a siege, it is the ones that have come before that are even more important. These initial strikes, though beaten back, serve to weaken the position of the humans inside. If nothing else, a failed strike will waste the AP of the inhabitants in making them attack and dump the zombies that have broken in. Barricading and healing (assuming one has access to a powered mall and has the first aid skill) are both skills that, on the whole, are more AP-efficient than their zombie counterparts. It takes many more AP to take down a barricade than put it up, and FAKs heal more damage per AP than zombies can inflict. However, their combat skills outclass survivor ones by a decent margin. Any time a human can be forced to attack a zombie, they are basically wasting AP; therefore these "failed" break-ins become tactical strikes, to which humans have no equal counter-measure.
This in mind, it becomes obvious that the best zombie tactic - the only one that zombies have an AP advantage in - is a simple mass attack. Unfortunately for survivors, this tactic is one of the easiest to undertake. In fact, I would venture to say that there is no NT building (at least) that can possibly survive a coordinated attack of fifty or more zombies, as long as the attack time isn't during peak survivor activity.
Survivors, on the other hand, cannot use this simplest of tactics. A time-coordinated mass attack on zombies simply means that the zombies get to eventually attack a population that has fewer AP to spend. In their worst case scenario, they are out 6 AP - whereas humans, with ammo/weapon searching included, have spent what probably amounts to a full days AP simply to take out one or two zombies. When the zombies inevitably get up and begin hammering on the barricades again, there is no longer anyone to re-barricade, or to expel any zombies that might make it inside. Similarly, a time-coordinated mass defense is just plain silly.
Instead, humans must rely on constantly checking the barricades. That is not to say, however, that they cannot take advantage of the tactic of using time-coordination. The difference is that it cannot possibly be a massive group. It is my opinion that humans should take a lesson from X:00 - small groups of humans should check in at specific times and be ready to barricade if need be. I think to reach maximum effectiveness, five people should be assigned to each thirty minute period. Thus, with 48 survivors - a decent but attainable number - constant surveillance could be achieved. These five users would log in at their time and immediately check the barricades. If the barricades were safe, and there were no zombies in the building, then they could spend a whole days AP as they saw fit, because they wouldn't need any until their next check-in period, 24 hours later. A similar system could be set up with 24 survivors, as long as groups took two time periods; in this situation, the groups would only be able to spend half a days AP at a time (or however much it took to achieve maximum barricades).
Of course, this system only applies to regular maintenance of a building. Taking back a ransacked building necessarily requires a time-coordinated mass offensive - but, barring any attacks of hundreds of zombies at the same time, I think the described system could hold off the daily break-ins that any siege must face.

Mall Tour '07/Sticklingrad

Fifty-five days into the year, and four malls are down; at this rate (One mall per 13.75 days), the tour should end in early October. I, personally, think this is rather good for the survivors, but I'm not sure if this rate can be maintained. It seems, for every Stickling or Caiger - in other words, for every extended siege - there is a Calvert or Dowdney. Furthermore, the fallout from Stickling has been extensive; there are many still waiting on revives, and if the Mall Tour choses well, they could easily take another mall in short order before the survivors can get re-organized.
Of course, there are external factors to take into account. Dowdney, it seems, had been weathering an attack already when the Mall Tour mopped it up. Caiger, of course, was fated to hold out reasonably long because of its symbolic significance. And Bale fell as much to a coordinated Valentine's Day Massacre redux as it did to zombie attacks. This leaves, then, Stickling. What was different about this siege that it lasted for a whole month? Or, conversely, was this mall the rule, and all the other malls the exception? Will the sieges of '07 be, as a rule, long and drawn out?
I, for one, have no idea. After all, I only arrived in Malton half a month ago. Still, I have some theories on Sticklingrad. First, it seems that the defenders knew what was coming, to some degree. With early appearances by the Lime Brigade and the Malton Rangers, Stickling seemed well prepared to repel the attacks of the Mall Tour itself, sans the inevitable horde of Ferals that follow in its wake. However, as much as these groups helped, I hypothesize that it was the return of the Channel Four News Team that really created Critical Mass. While the core members of the group are effective, far more effective is their charisma and the legions that follow them. With the News Team came publicity, providing a cause that the unaffiliates could rally to, as well as attracting smaller groups with roaming agendas and no set territory to defend.
So then, why did the Mall fall? As in the third siege of Caiger (and countless other battles, as far as I can tell), the NT building - in this case, The Whippey Building - proved key. And for a while, it seemed like it would hold, even after the Tour switched the bulk of its emphasis on it. Yet while the defenders had attracted many groups and loners, the defense of Whippey seemed to fall primarily to members of the Lime Brigade, the core of the News Team and members of Ghetto Cow. (This is not to say other groups or individuals didn't help, but this is what I saw in my time there). Every night, the numbers in Whippey slowly but steadily declined, until its eventual fall.
However, I theorize that the fall of Whippey didn't HAVE to lead to the fall of Stickling - the next closest NT buildings, The Hawksley and Nisbet buildings, were a mere 4 AP from the mall. Nisbet, in particular, was reportedly well-held and defended until the mall itself fell and the horde spread throughout the suburb. While it hurt to lose Whippey, it was basically replaceable. However, it is my belief that, with the Whippey building, went the best and brightest of the defenders - those that understood how key the building was, and were, in general, much more effective defenders. In this case, by effective defenders, I mean those that understand that barricading and healing are much more important than killing zombies, and that even if one cannot do these things due to lack of AP or skills, they are still important as meatshields to protect those that CAN do these things. It seems then, to me, that the masses of survivors in the mall that refused to spread out were more interested in self-preservation than winning a siege.
In other words, it seems that we have a clash of tactics. By definition, a mall siege falls into the category of Dam Tactics. The mall acts as a chokepoint for the zombies; this is their eventual goal and thus seems to most people to be the most important place to defend. However, in this modern Mall Tour, the chokepoint has shifted - instead of the mall itself, the first dam becomes the NT building. When survivors don't understand this, the first dam is easily (or at least eventually and inevitably) overcome. This cuts off the one resource the mall itself cannot provide, and once its supply line is cut, the mall founders and falls. Furthermore, those inside the mall, while on the face are practicing valid Dam Tactics, are still holding onto River Tactic ideals, because they refuse to spread throughout the mall and meet the zombie hordes at their head. This graduated dam cannot possibly stand; worse, once one corner is breached, these river idealists are even less likely to go willingly into danger. They value their lives above the holding of the mall.
I must say here that I have nothing against River Tactics - I do practice them occasionally, and do not deny their value. The problem stems not from the tactics themselves but from the fact that a Mall Siege is, and cannot be anything but, a Dam situation. If a survivor comes to the siege, they become card-carrying supporters of Dam Tactics, and should behave accordingly. The problem is simple: they don't.
So where does this leave us? Unfortunately, there is no hard and fast solution. To be honest, the situation depends entirely on the willingness of survivors to improve their tactics. The problem with this, I believe, is that the ones that need to improve their tactics fall into several categories:
  1. Those that don't read the wiki and stand little chance of learning it on their own,
  2. Those that have their own ideas about mall defense already and will not be convinced otherwise, and...
  3. Individuals and groups that are inherently more interested in their own survival than staving off a Mall Tour.
And, unfortunately for Mall Warriors, people that fall into these categories are justified. After all, this is a game of Zombie vs. Survivor. Think about that: the name of the human group is Survivors - self-preservation is inherent in choosing this side. Yet, the game has arguably evolved (much to the displeasure of many) into a series of sieges, with Malls being the focal point. I personally believe in something beyond survival - would that others felt the same as I did.

Combo-Stoppers

Lawrence Welk: NOT FUNKY.
How are we supposed to keep it funky when these polka-lovers keep cutting the power, or WORSE, putting on Lawrence Welk?
Cadmium442
Don't Shoot
Just David
thef00l
Ramkoers
Binomial
Virus002
c138
Feel free to put any of these dirty dogs on your dance card, and if ya see 'em, electric slide across their teeth for me.
Nota Bene, this used to be a much longer list because I included every PKing I saw occur as well as some notorious peeps, but I decided to cut the list short and only include people that have killed me (which, actually, doesn't include any of these people), GKers (the vast majority, although many might just be Combat-Revived Zombies) and RKers.

Find the Funk!

A list of all the direct musical references in my page. Just for fun!
  • Busdriver - I Won't Dance
  • Lawrence Welk
  • Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive
  • The Zombies - Time of the Season
  • James Brown
  • The Meters - Look-Ka Py Py
  • Tone Loc - Funky Cold Medina
  • Tony Orlando - Knock Three Times
  • The Beatles - Dr. Robert
  • Kool & the Gang
  • Afrika Bambaataa - Renegades of Funk
  • Lakeside - Fantastic Voyage
  • Carole King - Tapestry
  • The Beastie Boys - The Sounds of Science
  • Run-DMC - Krush Groove
  • Outkast - I'll Call Before I Come
  • The Beastie Boys - Skills to Pay the Bills

Silly Boxes for Silly People

Zeppelin.jpg Horse-Drawn Zeppelins FTW!
This user believes that horse-drawn zeppelins are awesome and wants to see them fill the skies of Malton.
Zcow.jpg Suck the Cow!
In the grim darkness of Malton there is only war. And rats.
Rat-ah-tat-tat.jpg Here, have a rat!
Lachryma has given Andre Aloisius a rat for being funky in a good way and joining GC
Bill&ted05.jpg DUDE! It's a Template!
This user has been known to say the word "Dude" from time to time.
Hammer.jpg
Du Nu Nu Nu...
You can touch this.
Ohsnap2.gif Dance-Off
Oh snap!
Visited Nichols Mall
This user has visited Nichols Mall.
Visited Stickling Mall
This user has visited Stickling Mall.
Visited Hildebrand Mall
This user has visited Hildebrand Mall.
Visited Bale Mall
This user has visited Bale Mall.
Visited Caiger Mall
This user has visited Caiger Mall.
Visited Dowdney Mall
This user has visited Dowdney Mall.

GC-shield-sm.png

Newfireaxe.jpg Axe Crazy
This user has an axe. Do not cross them.
Pkdaythumb.jpg Body Count
This User has killed 10 zombies.
Pkdaythumb.jpg
Death Count
This User has died 21 times.
Sinq.jpg Well!
This user certainly didn't expect some sort of Spanish Inquisition!
Rat-ah-tat-tat.jpg Here, have a rat!
Lachryma has given Andre Aloisius a rat for ...um...cuz she's just random! And Andre is cool!