The Fortress/News/ColdCell
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Team Cold CellOperation FirestormWritten by Victor Vandregas, August 14, 2008 Never, in all your years of playing Urban Dead, will you see a level of highly efficient coordination and indomitable power to match that displayed by Anaconda, Cold Cell and Dark Watch when we headed out to Fort Perryn with one objective on our minds - to take back the Fort with an epic triple-team assault. We’d been taking it easy in Blesley for a few days when Commander SubforM laid our plans. The first step was to run scouting missions across Pennville and the North-East area of Whittenside. This reconnaissance was vital; obtaining the necessary intelligence would allow us to gauge the zombie presence around Perryn and determine the best route into the area. When we had mapped out the suburb, we moved in, recading as many empty buildings as possible before retreating to the safety of the Mall. This process was repeated over a couple of days to monitor the zeds’ activities and ensure our survival among such a large horde. Once we’d gained a foothold in Pennville, we secured a number of safehouses and set up shop. This suburb would be the spearhead from which we would launch further raids on our target. We made sure our turf in Pennville was firmly under our control, then swept into Whittenside from the North-East, executing a pincer movement alongside Team Anaconda to secure our beachheads in the stricken suburb. We took and held predetermined safe houses, preparing ourselves for the next - and definitely biggest - phase of Operation Firestorm: The attack on Fort Perryn. Now is a good time to mention that we in The Fortress had a little help from our friends; namely the Cannonball Crew and the BMC. Our Ambassadors made sure these allies were on the same page. We set up conversations with whatever instant messaging systems we had. We psyched ourselves up for the monumental task ahead. At 20:00 hours on the 22nd May 2008... The first wave struck. The plan was beautiful in its simplicity; reclaim the Gatehouse, the cades of which the Cannonball Crew would maintain, then cleanse the Fort of the undead infestation. We were a phalanx; not even hordes of this size stood a chance against our combined might as we swept through the Fort like a flood, all but annihilating the zed presence. Within thirty minutes we were finished; with just a handful of zeds still standing and only the Armoury still ruined, the second wave would have an easy job mopping up. An hour later, the second wave moved in. In less than twenty minutes, the Armoury was back in business and the remaining zeds had been forcefully evicted. The easy part was over. Now came the hard part - holding the Fort against the massive horde outside. Soon enough, the retaliation began. The zeds struck out with a string of small break-ins, but they were (relatively) easily repulsed. After a day or so, the order came through for Anaconda to move out of the Fort and turn their attention to the local NecroTech buildings - because as one might expect, an organised horde would aim to cut off the supply of syringes. Needless to say, the Condas weren’t gonna let that happen. The break-ins came thicker and faster, with more and more zeds getting in. We managed to stay on top of the situation, but with zed reinforcements sure to arrive in great numbers, and a few zed spies wreaking havoc within the Fort’s walls, the whole scenario looked rather bleak. But that was all about to change. We received very welcome news that Team Dark Watch were en route, and other survivor groups were being summoned to the Fort. The game was most definitely on. A number of us headed to the thankfully operational Joachim Mall to restock. When the 27th came around, SubforM announced a plan that might win us this battle. He’d been conversing with other combat team CO’s and the leaders of other survivor groups about implementing a “drawbridge” approach to defending the Gatehouse. In the past, the Fort Perryn Defence Force had successfully held the Fort for over two weeks - against a Feral Undead horde numbering at least 150 - using this method. The idea is that the cades are held at EHB until a group of survivors needs to get in, at which time the cades are dropped to VSB. Once they’re inside, the cades are immediately brought back up to EHB. It requires considerable coordination from all involved, but it works like a charm. By this time, the defences had been breached and the Fort had fallen once again, with at least 30 zeds inside at any one time. Needless to say, this had us miffed - but, in a way, we had to thank the z-bags. Wanna know why? Because they gave us an excuse to plan the biggest RTS in the history of Malton. Having optimised their inventories at Joachim (kudos to Tommy Crowbar for his ingenious restocking philosophy), the combat teams made their way back down into Whittenside. Constant recon runs into the Fort kept us on the ball with regard to zed numbers and building conditions. The CO’s had been conversing with our allies and the timing for our planned attack was leaning towards Sunday. The plan was to go in, guns blazing, and completely clean house. At midnight on Sunday, the Gatehouse cades would be raised to EHB and the Fort would be completely locked down; no survivors in or out. We organised ourselves, rallied the participants, and at 5PM GMT on Sunday, we descended upon the Fort like Death himself, slaying every zed that stood in our way. The result was incredible; 27 zeds, several bodies and all but one ruined building before, no zeds, no DB’s, 3 lit buildings and cades as they should be after. Over 30 survivors took part in the attack; a truly unprecedented assault that should serve as an example for survivors all across Malton. This, my friends, is how it should be done. But, as one would expect, we weren’t out of the woods yet. There were 63 DB’s and 11 standing zeds outside, with almost 7 hours still to go before the big lockdown. Previous intel had led us to believe that the Feral Undead and the RRF had moved North to Fort Creedy, but they had since heard of our retake of Perryn and were talking of heading back down to crash the party. At midnight, as planned, the Fort was locked down - and immediately the break-ins began. However, with 30+ Fortress members keeping a steel-wall vigil over the cades, every break-in was quickly quelled and the cades bumped right back up. A few extra Fortress members - namely Warlord and CouponBaller towards the start of the lockdown - managed to squeeze in during the zed break-ins. Clever guys. For the most part, it was a matter of battling with the active zeds to keep the cades up. While they relentlessly attacked from outside, we worked frantically on the inside to keep the cades healthy. Despite the dangerous situation, there was no shortage of comedy as BlackOps1337 kept us all giggling with a whole new, vegetable-esque take on the Mudkip craze. By now, even the greens of Boot Camp were partying with us. Drill Sergeant Officer Duncan had brought the newbies along to help us keep the Fort firmly under survivor control, but after several days, he felt it was time for BC to bow out; the Fort was holding, with all break-ins deal with swiftly and the Gatehouse cades generally kept high. After a few more days, Team Anaconda left the Fort for pastures new, as per orders from Miss Elainious. They were soon followed by Cold Cell and Dark Watch as we moved out to prepare for our next operation. To say we were proud of ourselves would be a massive understatement. We’d held Fort Perryn against a sizable horde for over a week. Every break-in was handled swiftly, and we were so well-equipped and well-coordinated that when a generator was destroyed, it was replaced and fueled up in seconds. Operation: Firestorm stands as a true testament to the unparalleled skill, dedication and efficiency of The Fortress. Stay Vigilant!
Crowbank - Operation: My Life with the Chain Kill Kult
Aside from "Santa Felt My Presents", I've never seen such an awesome name for an operation. And what an operation it was... The aim of a Chain Kill is to keep the chain going for as long as possible, with at least one recorded kill per hour. To date, the greatest Chain Kill achieved by a single Combat Squad was Team Battlehawk's assault on the Brennand Building, a NecroTech facility in Shore Hills. The chain lasted over 20 hours and was only brought to a halt when the 7-man team had slain all 25 attacking zombies. Needless to say, it set one hell of an example. My Life with the Chain Kill Kult was Team Cold Cell's attempt to surpass the Battlehawks' stellar performance in Shore Hills. As per the rules, the Chain Kill can only take place in a single target building; in our case, Burt Square Police Department in Crowbank. Our team consisted of 9 challengers: Ruinator, temporary Commander of the Cell, SubforM, who had stepped back into the ranks for this op, Max Dusseldorf, Sub's Lieutenant, Fishel, the Cell's legendary Havoc Knight, Amano Jaku, a seasoned veteran of the squad, Ulecqeldroma, a talented Battalion Ranger, Daishii, a Campaign Master of incredible skill, and finally myself and Mjrahabim, the not-so-new newbies out to claim our first ABA. It should be noted that another recruit, Beasty92, had been grounded for God knows how long, but has made a stylish return to active duty within the squad. He could not take part in the Chain Kill, and as such was not allowed to contribute to the Chain itself, but the support he gave us through healing our injured, helping to secure other buildings and generally Staying Vigilant was invaluable. The newly reinstated SubforM rewarded Beasty's hard work with a long overdue promotion to Engament Squaddie. Our original target had been elsewhere, but when I headed out to the predetermined HQ to find it - and almost every other building in the vicinity - ruined, I fell back to Crowbank. Using this information, Ruinator announced a new, spur-of-the-moment target; Burt Square PD. Being ruined, with a mob of zeds inside, and less than 5 AP from our HQ in Crowbank, it was the ideal spot for the Chain Kill to take place. And so the preparations began; the challengers dug into the suburb, helping the cause through healing and cading, all the while saving their huge amounts of ammo for the Chain Kill. Having had the challengers post in the preparation thread with times at which they would be available, Ruinator drew up a (relatively) flexible schedule. Once we were all ready, we got into position. At 17:00 GMT on Friday 7th March, the Chain Kill officially began. Ruinator was up first, claiming the first two kills before falling back due to low AP. Amano took the next kill, but not without a fight; he was attacked by a zed while claiming his kill. The two teamed up to grab the next kill at 20:00. Amano moved in again for another kill, again suffering a few injuries. The next kill, at 21:00, was handled by Max Dusseldorf. Fishel popped his head in and slew the next zed in just 5 AP. Max's turn again; he grabbed yet another kill. MJ moved in next, securing her first kill. Yours truly followed up with the next kill - my only kill of the Chain, since I was low on ammo and had to go to bed immediately after dropping my zed. Our dear CO SubforM handled the next kill. He, too, felt the sting of the active zambahz within the PD. About two pages of worried discussion later, Ulecqeldroma made his impression upon the zombie scum with his first kill of the Chain. MJ popped in again and claimed an easy kill; apparently, her second victim was below 10 HP. Fishel scored another kill; he seemed to be randomly turning up and laying the smackdown on some unfortunate zed before vanishing again. This was swiftly followed by a third kill from MJ, who had the AP and ammo for a fourth. She tried to claim said fourth kill, but was unlucky in terms of target and hit chances; she kept missing with her shots and the zed she was attacking was one of the annoying majority with Bodybuilding and a flak jacket. She fell back to a safe building, well and truly out of the Chain. Fortunately for her, Ulec picked up where she left off and slew the zed she had weakened, just in time to keep the Chain going. Ulec claimed yet another easy kill; a 12 HP zed whom Fishel's attacks had missed ten times in a row. Daishii made his contribution soon after. Sub stepped in, claiming a second kill and reducing another zed to 2 HP. Amano took the next kill and noted something which had us worried for a moment. The PD was running out of standing zeds. If no more would enter the building, the Chain was at risk of being broken. Nonetheless, we'd made the fifteen kills required for our Chain ABA. Ruinator attempted to keep the Chain going, but was 8 minutes too late, and thus the Chain was broken. I tried to slay a zed in the Leggetter Motel to celebrate, but just as I brought it below 15 HP, it became active and started attacking me. I was forced to retreat and wait to be healed. How's that for bad luck? Ruinator declared the Chain Kill a success and officially handed command of Team Cold Cell back to SubforM, who promptly promoted Beasty92 for his outstanding work while we challengers put on the Chain ABA badge for which we'd worked so hard. We may not have surpassed Team Battlehawk, but we had a damn good shot at it, and of that we are all proud. This incredible Chain Kill is just one of many demonstrations of the determination, organization and brutal efficiency of the most powerful squad of survivors in all of Malton: Team Cold Cell. Stay Vigilant! |
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