Battle of Pitneybank

The Battle of Pitneybank (also known as The Battle of Giddings) was a month-long battle which occurred at multiple buildings in Pitneybank between January 2nd and January 31st, 2008. The battle followed immediately after the events of Silent Night Slaughter and The First Ruining of Fort Creedy. During the battle, a large number of survivor groups defended Pitneybank against a large number of zombie groups participating in the Second Big Bash event. The bulk of the battle took place at Giddings Mall and the surrounding buildings. The final siege in the battle was unique because the Interference game update was added during the middle of the siege, prompting each side to adjust their tactics. After weeks of fighting, zombie attackers break through survivor defenses, ending the battle with a zombie victory.

Buildings involved in the battle

While early and late battles took place at Fort Creedy and The Farmer building NT in southern Pitneybank, much of the fighting took place in northern Pitneybank in the area immediately surrounding Giddings Mall. Notable sieges occurred in the following locations:

The Morrish Building Byrne Auto Repair Bromley Auto Repair The MacMillan Hotel The Dewell Building (Spracklingbank) Giddings Mall Fort Creedy The Farmer Building

Timeline of events

The Battle of Pitneybank also known as The Battle of Giddings
Date:	January 2nd - January 31st, 2008
Place:	Pitneybank, mainly the Farmer Building, The Morrish Building and Giddings Mall
Result:	Zombie Victory
Combatants
Survivors x Zombies
Groups
- Survivors :	At Farmer: TNR, Malton Rangers, C4NT, CDF, AaR, USAI, DEM , E.N.D, rrn, zsg, MDD and RHVP At Morrish and Giddings: TNR, MR, THC, C4NT, AaR, USAI, SHURLMNP, DEM, E.N.D, RHVP, TDB, TF, FANNY, CDF, 151st, ACC, TTFW, ARFCOM, the DA, D52, B.A.T., ATO, /zom/, NFA, DR, NW, VZW, DotP, CC, UC and MDD.
- Zombies :	The Second Big Bash, officially comprised of: Cybele's Shamblers, De-vivification Experts of Malton, Eastonwood Ferals, Extinction, Feral Undead, Infected Swarm, Killer Zombie Tomatoes, Lebende Tote, LUE, Rowcliffe Must Fall, The Minions of the Apocalypse, The Alliance, The Ridleybank Resistance Front, Thulsa Doom's Temple of Set, Undeadites, and Williamsville Horde of Organized Zombies
Commanders
- Survivors :	Blanemcc, Redwave, Padre Romero, Johnny Lunchpail, El Satanno, Randomzero, XxCannon FodderxX, Laundry_hamper, DanceDanceRevolution, Doctor Sarcoma,Clint Clintstone,Tommy Crowbar, and Deletion
- Zombies :	DonTickles, Brona, Keith Moon, Gogolnik, Captain Grisum, Brainzombie, Mrhton, Plinker
Strength
- Survivors :	800-1300 overall
- Zombies :	Around 400 at the beginning of the siege, over 700 at the time Morrish fell.
Casualties
- Survivors :	900+ (300 Creedy, 150 Farmer, 300 Giddings, 200 Morrish.)
- Zombies :	Unknown, but somewhere in the hundreds. Several breakins of around 50 were repelled, and at least one numbering 100 or more.

The following timeline closely approximates the sequence of events during the Battle of Pitneybank

	January 2nd Big Bash 2 zombies ruin Fort Creedy.
	January 3rd A short skirmish at The Farmer Building NT takes place.
	January 3rd to January 4th Big Bash 2 pause to allow zombie groups to catch up to the main horde. Survivors take advantage by reviving, healing and otherwise preparing for a large siege.
	January 4th The Siege at The Morrish Building begins.
	January 4th to 14th The Morrish siege continues and Byrne Auto Repair and Bromley Auto Repair are frequent battlegrounds.
	January 15th to 17th Battles take place at The MacMillan Hotel and The Dewell Building (Spracklingbank). Byrne Auto Repair and Bromley Auto Repair are repaired and reclaimed by survivors.
	January 18th The battle at Morrish continues and focus begins to shift to Giddings Mall.
	January 23rd The interference game mechanic is added.
	January 24th The NE corner of Giddings becomes the main focus of the siege. Fort Creedy and The Farmer Building are reclaimed by survivors.
	January 27th Fort Creedy and The Farmer NT are reclaimed by zombie forces after a few days of battle.
	January 29th With survivors refocused on the NE corner of Giddings, zombie focus is shifted to the SE corner. Break-ins are frequent and active battles take place inside the mall. Morrish remains in survivor hands.
	January 31st The SE corner of the mall is ruined creating a beachhead, allowing zombies to move freely into and through the building. The mall falls and the Giddings siege ends. Zombies again focus on the Morrish Building. The NT building falls later that day after another skirmish. The Battle of Pitneybank ends with Giddings Mall, Morrish NT, Fort Creedy and Farmer NT ruined or in zombie control.

Siege participation

Participation was very high by both survivor and zombie players during The Battle of Pitneybank. Before the Silent Night Slaughter and subsequent ruining of Fort Creedy, approximately 700 survivors defended the fort against a modest amount of zombie attackers. When the Second Big Bash arrived at Creedy, it brought 300 or more zombies players to the battle. After the fort was ruined, surviving Creedy defenders met with more survivors as they retreated back to The Farmer Building. Eventually, as the battle moved to the Morrish Building and Giddings Mall, more survivor groups came to the defense and more zombies players caught up to the Big Bash horde. The amount of groups participating at the end had swelled to over 35 survivors groups and 20 zombie groups plus many unaffiliated players. The combined estimated player participation in The Battle of Pitneybank was around 2,000, or approximately 16.8% of the game's total player base at that time.

The above graph provides some population data for Malton during the battle. The data was aggregated from the Urban Dead stats log and corroborates with the participation claims above. Shifts in zombie and survivor numbers reach close to one thousand by during the middle and end of the Morrish/Giddings siege.

Interference update

On January 23, the interference game mechanic was added to the game. The update occurred during the third week of battle and approximately one week before its end. Prior to the update, barricade build rates were unaffected by zombies standing inside a building. After the update, build rates were drastically reduced while more than two zombies stood inside. Because the update occurred at the height of the battle, each side had to quickly establish new tactics. It was during this time that the zombie Beachhead Tactic was first practiced, among others.

See Also

• First Ruining of Fort Creedy - The event immediately preceding the Battle of Pitneybank
  • Silent Night Slaughter - An individual account of the PKA's strike on Fort Creedy
  • The Second Big Bash - Sequence of events leading to the ruining of Fort Creedy and The Battle of Pitneybank
• Bashing Back: The Battle of Pitneybank - An detailed accounting of the events of The Battle of Pitneybank (PoV article).
• The Morrish Building - Historic Events section document some of the events
• Fort Creedy/News Archive - Archived news updates documenting some of the events
• Interference - An explanation of the game mechanic introduced during the siege.
• Beachhead Tactic - A tactic first used by zombies during the Battle of Pitneybank.