Siege Doctrine
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Siege Doctrine
In all forms of warfare, be they Urban Dead or otherwise, the most important factor is morale. If one side loses their will to fight then the other factors involved do not matter. While this point is rarely reached on either side of the line in Urban Dead, that does not change this crucial element in direct confrontation. Siege Doctrine seeks to take advantage of this fundamental element of all forms of warfare, that even the zombies are still controlled by human players who are subject to human limitations of determination, will, and commitment, and apply it directly in a fashion rarely seen in survivor warfare: offensive action.
The tactic outlined below was developed based on the experiences of the participants in the Northeastern Crusade, particularly in the fighting in Huntley Heights and was formulated based on discussions had after the first stabs into the suburb were repulsed by the local ferals.
Theory
Siege Doctrine seeks to, ironically enough, besiege the erstwhile besiegers. While this may seem impossible to do, as zombies do not need medical attention, ammunition, revives, or anything else for that matter it is more doable than it would seem. The focus is not to sap supplies, as a traditional siege would and is impossible with zombies, but to sap the will of the horde and the ferals. The moment that a conflict proves far more trouble than it is worth is the moment when a force will simply back off and leave while they are still ahead. It is this element that survivors when on the offensive must attack if they are to hope to take and hold ground taken from the hordes.
Application
So how can this theory be applied? Much more easily than expected. The trick is to toss all established rules of survivor warfare out the window and keep that in mind during the course of Siege Doctrine-fueled operations. In normal situations of reclamation, which usually face small mobs and disorganized ferals, the usual policy of clearing resource buildings and working outward from there is sound. In the face of large numbers of ferals or an organized enemy this is suicidal. The resource building will often fall within a few days, possibly the same day, as when it comes back online making the effort wasted along with all those trying to hold it through meatshielding casualties. The objective in any combat operation must always be to keep an effective, intact fighting force and this is where the first prong of siege warfare comes into play.
1. Do not hold resource buildings
While this seems backwards, keep in mind the emphasis is on holding, not taking. More on taking later, but holding an obvious target is just going to add names to the casualty lists and lengthen nearby revive queues. Remember the objective is to be able to still fight at the end of the day, not to die needlessly.
2. Cade Strafe at every opportunity
Instead of going after the resource buildings, cade strafe and repair every single other building you possibly can. This is a proven effective tactic as it creates many places survivors can hide and multiple targets for zeds to worry about. Combine the two and you can either create unnecessary concentration on the enemy's part or scatter them.
3. Spread out
Keep your people dispersed where they sleep. While they should remain within easy distance (about 15 AP roundtrip will work) of the primary target, make sure they are sleeping in different places when they bed down for the night. This way if one of the safehouses you have is breached at most you lost one member instead of half or all of your forces in one go.
4. Concentrate on one target at a time
This is the final component. Once you have sleeping locations determined and have people cade strafing you want groups, preferably X:00 strike teams, organized to go after specific resource buildings. Now this may seem inherently contradictory with the earlier point of not taking resource buildings, but the objective here is different. These teams want to reclaim and recade the buildings but not stay in them or try to keep them. The objective is to give zeds another set of cades to beat up on and time for survivors to gather supplies while the building still stands. Do not try to hold onto a resource building while using Siege Doctrine until the building stands unsupported for a few days at least. In the interim continually assault the position without mercy, even if there's only one zed in there one day hit it with overwhelming force. Make it death for anything that wants to hide in there to keep it harder to take back. While individual instances of death are no problem for zombies, constant death and harrasment is a very draining thing to be on the receiving end of. Members of organized hordes may remain while ferals will usually after a while move on. Eventually even the most dedicated Barhah fundamentalist will tire of getting an axe to the face every single night and more on. Once it is clear the zombies are leaving the building alone, only then is it safe to hold, and even then sleeping in resource buildings in a combat zone is never encouraged. Most importantly when conducting such strikes make certain you are hitting the same target consistently with overwhelming force. This is not like hit and run attacks characteristic of Urban Warfare Doctrine where one seeks to keep the enemy moving constantly and reacting to you, the objective here is to grind down the enemy's will to resist until they refuse to fight any longer and leave.
Criticism
Like other forms of tactics involving strike teams this approach requires a considerable degree of discipline and coordination.
More soon, article under construction
