Operation Tumbleweed

Operation Tumbleweed was originally activated by PLEB on the 23 October 2005, in response to the mounting threat presented by the Church of the Resurrection's plans to pass through East Becktown on their pilgrimage to Molebank. Due to the great success achieved through the initial implementation of the plan, it was reactivated on 1 February 2006, in response to the the Zombageddon promised by the Mall Tour '06. Operation Tumbleweed inspired River Tactics which were employed in Shearbank, Roachtown and Ridleybank in response to the Big Bash.

All and any survivors are welcome to take part, regardless of group affiliation and with no pressure to join any other group.

It is STRONGLY advised that all residents of East Becktown find safer places to sleep (avoid Police Departments, Hospitals and Necrotech buildings if at all possible). It is further recommended that these places be located OUTSIDE of the suburb. The purpose of Operation Tumbleweed is to make East Becktown into a barricade maze and barren hunting ground.

Mission Directives

Due to the quantity and organized nature of the zombie hordes descending on East Becktown, it is considered that there is very little which can be done to deter them or halt their progress through the suburb. Attempts to slow them or disperse them will instead lead to their prolonged presence in East Becktown and increased survivor casualties. The reasons for this are:

• The Mall Tour '06 is a scarily large Zombie Horde, comprising many zombie groups working together as well as many ferals.
• These are organised zombies who target specific buildings and overrun them en masse.
• They use human spies to identify and target less-likely buildings. Although Police Departments, Hospitals and Necrotech buildings are typically primary targets, organized zombie hordes have breached many neighboring (not-so-)safehouses.

As such, it is deemed that the best method of defiance we can show to this horde is to make their stay in East Becktown as fruitless as possible, and hope they move on in boredom to their goal of Caiger Mall.

We shall use the following methods to do so:

Evacuate

The most successful thing we can do to combat the horde is to provide them with a completely empty suburb to feast on. We have no need to hold any particular territory. For every survivor we save from the horde, it is a victory; for each one who falls, it is a loss.

• At this time is strongly recommended that all survivors evacuate from East Becktown.

For those relocating to another suburb, the following information may be useful:

• As of 1 February 2006, Mall Tour '06 is attempting to wreak mayhem upon the four suburbs nearest the mall: East Becktown, West Becktown, Darvall Heights, and Chudleyton.

• Lukinswood, Havercroft, and Richmond Hills also are believed to have high zombie activity. Molebank and Eastonwood are believed to have active and organized human resistance.

• Caiger Mall (on the border of Darvall Heights and Chudleyton) is the final target for Mall Tour '06. Thousands of human survivors are gathered in Caiger to prepare for the coming siege, but you will not be able to enter Caiger Mall without the free running skill.

Survivors who wish to stay within East Becktown as the hordes pass through should take care not to let their scents be traced back to their safe houses, not to gather in large groups, and to make full use of chances to repair any barricades they come across.

Split Up

Do not gather together into large groups. Of course, the zombies will be expecting people to gather in hospitals, police departments and Necrotech buildings. However, they will be using human spies - maybe with Free Running, or maybe without - to identify other hidden targets in less prominent buildings. Keeping to smaller groups will make you a less appealing target.

It is generally easier for those with Free Running to hide like this than those without. It is recommended that those without the skill either learn it very soon or evacuate from the suburb.

Barricade

Maintain barricades in non-resource buildings at Extremely Heavily Barricaded. Keep barricades in resource buildings at Very Strongly to allow lower level survivors to have access to resources and emergency shelter, and to provide Free Running entrances.

As the horde gets closer, more frequent monitoring of barricades and more repair work will need to be done. Also, any resource building which comes under assault will need to be removed from the VS list and be left for the remaining occupants to decide their desired level of barricading.

All survivors are to be reminded that if you are trapped inside a building which is barricaded beyond the level where you can exit (Very Strongly) and you do not have the Free Running skill, you can exit the building by simply clicking on an adjacent building (climbing out the window, if you will). There is no need for any survivor to be trapped inside a building they do not wish to stay in. You will not be able to reenter the building, so make sure that you have enough AP to reach a safehouse.

If the building you are in has been breached by an organized horde: flee. If you are determined to remain in a breached building: re-barricade, close the doors, and dump the bodies. These are necessary for any chance of survival. Attacking the zombies will not improve your survivability until your building has been secured.

Inform

Keeping people up to date with the latest information will save lives and help to reach the maximum amount of survivors.

• Add any zombie sightings you come across to the PLEB Weather Report for East Becktown
• Update the Zombie Tracker with zombie numbers in the four quads of East Becktown and any other neighbouring quads you happen to investigate.
• Feel free to add the latest zombie positions in East Becktown to the Zombie Activity section of the PLEB page.
• Use word of mouth in-game to let other people know what is going on and where they can find more information to help them make their own choices.

History

Operation Tumbleweed was originally activated by PLEB on the 23rd of October, 2005 in response to the mounting threat presented by the Church of the Resurrection's plans to pass through East Becktown on their pilgrimage to Molebank.

On the 8th of November, 2005, it was noted that the Ridleybank Resistance Front, thought to be chiefly responsible for the recent looting of Ackland Mall, targeted East Becktown for destruction. The RRF are a much larger and more organised group than the CotR and the trouble they cause will be proportionally larger. The RRF have been known to target any and all buildings in a suburb, systematically breaking down all barricades they find, not simply the main resource buildings that most hordes focus on.

In early December, 2005, a smaller group of zombies known as Ars Requiem began repeatedly attacking buildings in southeast quad of East Becktown. Unlike many other zombie groups, they don't always target resource buildings, and thus their attacks are harder to predict.

In January 2006, a large number of organized zombie hordes were breaching many of the resource buildings throughout East Becktown. Mall Tour '06 included instructions to turn East Becktown into another Ridleybank.

In July of 2006, Shearbank, Roachtown and Ridleybank employed Operation Tumbleweed as a strategy to expidite the progress of the Big Bash through those suburbs.

It is expected that Operation Tumbleweed and the resulting absence of desirable targets will hasten the departure of the zombie hordes from East Becktown. Operation Tumbleweed is the first recorded implementation of River Tactics in Malton.