The Eostre Herbert Siege

I figured that could be me. I’m Benigno, the founder of the historic Survivor Security Zone and an administrator on the RCC Discord.

This is my perspective as a survivor of what may have been the greatest siege to happen in Urban Dead in over a decade. With the numbers of people playing the game drastically lower than they were in its heyday, having well over 100 people fighting each other in one square on the map is a noteworthy occurrence. At the St. Patrick’s Day siege at Greenhow NT, we first began experimenting with Combat Revives as a defensive tactic for NTs. The lessons we learned there helped us defend the Eostre celebration that had started in Herbert NT. Read on to learn about the truly epic siege that occurred next!

The Eostre Herbert Siege 2021

The story

At the conclusion of the Greenhow St. Paddy’s day siege party, attention shifted back to the mall complex. On March 30th, things looked sparse and dangerous.

Survivors worked on restocking while we discussed the situation and did recon. The city slowly rebuilt. On April 3, Herbert was retaken from the few zeds that held it. The official announcement came the next day:

We had no idea of the incredible events about to unfold.

Easter Sunday dawning, the celebration began.

We were especially happy to spread the message of resurrection to our zombie friends!

Repeating the tactic of Combat Reviving to neutralize invading zombies first tested at Greenhow, we dug in. The building was lit, and 7 zombies clawed at our doors. Then, they all seemed to disappear. Things got quiet. Too quiet. We nervously gathered supplies.

Three days later, on April 7th, an appropriately numbered 7 zombies broke through the Herbert barricades including big RRF names such as Funk McBogey, Mr Eyeball Plucker, Herb Dangerous, and Hump the Messiah. Inventory was quickly discussed, and the plan was executed with the help of a few bullets from Ozmandius Prather and Indiana Jone. In less than 5 minutes, all 7 lay outside Herbert, most smelling very strange. The gauntlet, as they say, had been thrown down.

The next day, the RRF went for the mall via its southeast corner. We camped in Herbert and watched the action. Herb Dangerous decided to play firebug with ZombGG:

The mall fell and was held for a few days. The NecroNet scan showed 16 in the SE corner. Unfazed, we held the fort. We knew that the zombies wanted brainz, and they were all in Herbert. The zombies, though, tried to draw us out first by holding the mall and then occupying Eligius General Hospital on April 11.

On April 13, the zombies attacked again, this time with 8. As before, inventory was discussed, the plan was executed, and in another joyous 5 minutes they all lay stinking outside. We congratulated each other, excited about the early success of our plan.

Two RRF broke in later but were quickly removed.

The sound of zombie claws on our barricades grew louder as more and more shamblers stacked up outside. Psychological warfare began:

...and was promptly ignored.

A more subtle assault began to take place. It would become almost a daily occurrence.

On April 15th the mall was powered, but by the 17th, eleven zombies were camping inside, spread between the corners.

A few days passed, punctuated by minor break-ins of one to two ferals. The NN scan showed 8 outside. I reminded everyone of the strategy.

Inside, our numbers swelled. Drewe, of the magnificent Drewe Building in Roftwood, came after being invited to the party.

My view from inside Herbert on 4/21

The Dunell Hills Police Department showed up to join in on the siege that same day. We celebrated ZombGG’s birthday from 4/20 to 4/21 while we waited for the horde to return.

Poetry Thursday is a simi-regular occurrence in Roftwood. On these days, players recite poetry in many forms for an attending audience.

The format is open-mic, so everyone is welcome to participate. To keep with tradition, we held it on 4/22.

I did one too:

Intel began coming in that members of the Scourge were poking around. We began formulating plans for a larger invasion and stocked up on supplies. RRF numbers had dwindled outside Herbert, but their operatives were frequently spotted. Pro-zombie graffiti began to appear.

On April 25th, there were exactly 40 survivors occupying Herbert, likely more than it had seen in many years. RRF soldiers returned and began to wreck the surrounding buildings. Herbert got even classier, decorated with a stuffed lion head, a Grecian urn, a stuffed moose head, three European paintings, three African sculptures, a stuffed bear, a stuffed tiger head and a stuffed fish. A bit like a hunting club, but still very nice.

The 29th brought another wonderful Poetry Thursday as we waited for the horde to attack. That night, a group of eight RRF broke in at one of their usual strike times. Then another was through the doors. Then two more. RRF Gore Corps troops began blasting away at survivor targets. Scrambling the defenses, the building was lit and the revives began to flow. A few minutes later, the 11 had joined a pile of 24 bodies laying outside Herbert and the barricades were rebuilt.

The Story, Part 2

The scene the next day looked ominous.

We knew at any time, a large percentage of these zombies could attack at once and create a problem for us. ZombGG reached out to the Knights Templar and The Fortress, inviting them to join in on the action. Both immediately trekked to Herbert.

That night, we found ourselves facing 7 of them after a short battle over the barricades. The number quickly ballooned to 15. As before, defenses were scrambled, and the gift of new life was given to the zombie guests. Shots of Greenhow Gutrot and Herbert Hooch were poured up for the crowd of survivors.

Taking a breath after the RRF’s biggest attack yet, on May 1st we stocked up on supplies and discussed strategy. RNG and the grace of Kevan allowed us to procure those supplies quickly. We also tidied up the place:

That night, another attack came in what was becoming a regular occurrence. 8 zeds had quickly appeared inside and smashed the generator but were removed with blinding speed. A short time later, three more had broken past the cades but were revived (and one shot to death) almost immediately. Over the course of the next 12 hours, small numbers of zombies including RRF would break in and eventually be kicked back out.

The battle was seriously starting to heat up. More and more red names were showing up outside our doors, with zombie numbers over 30 and growing. We rallied the troops.

The next day’s battle was a barricade war. Large amounts of AP on both sides were burnt up. Herb Dangerous got assaulted by my trusty newspaper, twice, as he made brief appearances to kill our generator. A few more generators were installed, though promptly destroyed. We instantly learned to save them for break-ins.

Kain Markko was beyond ready, carrying an awesome 13 needles and a generator. He reported some back pain.

On May 3rd, exactly 1 month after the start of the Eostre celebration, a small breakin of 3 was cleared by Si Fast lighting and me reviving. The number of zombies + bodies outside numbered 32. Inside, 50+ survivors waited, eager to defend our NT castle.

That night at the server reset +30 strike time, 11 RRF suddenly ripped away the barricades and stormed the building. We revived a few but were still staring at 8. After about 20 minutes, we had the building clear. The action was fierce. The siege’s first bellow occurred.

The day of the 4th, seven RRF zombies smashed in but were quickly revived and removed. Alicia of the MMS raised everyone’s spirits, literally.

Later, two broke in but were promptly removed by Si Fast.

May 5th – 6 zombies broke in early. I was able to revive 5, with Si Fast getting the other and doofus217 repairing the barricades to VHB. Jordantrain dumped the bodies, and we cleaned the building of the blood spatter. With the numbers on both sides continuing to grow, the epicness of the siege really began to sink in.

At their later strike time, 8 zombies came bursting through the doors. While we gathered an inventory count, the number rapidly grew to 12. The time to strike back was now, and within ten minutes the horde was back outside.

May 6th – 60 survivors crowded in an unlit Herbert, waiting for their chance to defend the fort. Several zombies broke in overnight and were largely repelled with bullets. The strikes had stepped up to three times a day, which ensured round-the-clock action. At the earlier strike time, 7 zombies broke in. Six were removed, but the cades remained down. Soon, the number was back up to six. Then nine. Scrambling more people, we were able to evict the zombies and barricade the building. Six more quickly tore them back down but were also removed. The zombies kept a sharp eye out for generators during the battle, destroying several moments after they were placed. The Creedy Defense Force showed up, and between people coming and going we numbered 64. Counting the zombies, this meant that there were over 100 people in this one tile.

We realized that this may be the biggest siege to happen in Malton in the last 10 years, at least.

An MMS employee preparing for the next battle.

That night we struggled over the cades. Then, without warning, FoD killers attacked.

We reacted calmly.

I got back inside but was killed a short time later by Comrade SpuD of the RRF. Such is life.

On May 7th, 6 zombies broke in at a time we were not accustomed to, around midday EST. A combination of RCC members and in-game survivors took care of them in short order. But the cades came right back down, and again we found ourselves facing six zombies, their body fluids leaking all over the pristine Herbert marble flooring. Three more made it 9. Then 10, as we discussed our inventories. Then 11. It was revive time! In short order, all eleven lay outside the mighty Herbert walls. In total, 17 zombies had attacked. Fixgen, a command we had been using a bit, was well executed during this battle, allowing us more time to stab zombies with needles.

Another zombie broke in later. It was dispatched in style.

At server reset +54 minutes, another 7 broke in. Heals were distributed while we did a roll call. Doc Hwang threw a fit after just having cleaned:

The 7 were never fully cleared, and three hours later 16 brain-obsessed zombies were drooling over the prospect of a virtually endless survivor buffet. We switched tactics a bit, electing to reinforce the meatshield instead of poking zombies until we could organize a bigger clearing effort. The party had officially become epic.

At 6:48 AM EST, the situation inside looked extremely dire.

We were hoping that the sheer size of the meatshield would hold the building until we could organize the effort. We began to gather our resources and calculate AP usage. We weren’t sure if we could do it.

We were currently looking at 35 zombies, with the number of survivors inside now cut in half. It was a close match. We set a strike time and made announcements in the hope that enough people would log on the Discord and be there for the strike. While we waited, the number of dead grew to a bone-chilling 41. We didn’t get a lot of communication on the server. Morale began to drop.

But, despite our concern, the tide began to change. A survivor inside randomly lit the building and revives began to flow. We quickly cut the number of zombies in half, but 21 remained. Surprisingly, more and more people both in-game and on the Discord began to log on and hit the zombies with needles. We went down to 19. Then 17. 16. 14. We began to be amazed at the prospect of evicting that many zombies in the face of certain defeat! Soon, there were ten. Nine. 7. Ozmandius quickly jabbed three. 3. 2. 1. ZERO.

Cades: VHB. Herbert: clear.

We could hardly believe it. We had never seen this new-to-us tactic work on such a large scale. We didn’t even think we had the numbers nor the supplies.

30 of us remained inside Herbert, less than half of its peak population. We had endured many casualties in the battle, and other survivors had scattered into neighboring buildings. But we celebrated this victory.

We put the word out to survivors hiding nearby that Herbert was again secure and asking that they come back to help defend. Something occurred to me about the mass eviction:

It wasn’t even a genny we had placed.

By May 9th we were back up to 39 survivors. We knew the zombies would awaken to great surprise and become extremely determined to debrain us. A quick look outside showed 32 standing zombies at our door, as well as 27 bodies although some were friendlies. Another small barricade battle was won by the survivors early on. Bad behavior was punished:

At their post-server-reset strike time, we found ourselves with 10 RRF zombies inside. A quick operation ensued, the zombies were removed, and the barricades raised to EHB. However, 3 more appeared. They too were swiftly evicted and the cades repaired to VHB.

Around midnight (EST, my time zone), four more RRF zombies broke in, but were repelled and the cades repaired. Relentless, at 4:40 AM, 7 zombies spearheaded another invasion effort. The number quickly increased to ten. An hour later, sixteen were inside. An hour after that, it was 26. Waiting for my USA time zone people to wake up, we started taking inventory. It took about another hour, but we had 24 needles ready and knew we could throw up some cades with only 2 inside. Lighting the building, we whittled the number down to 9 when the generator was suddenly destroyed by an active zombie. We had another ready but counted our remaining needles before striking again. We found we were ready, and by this time fewer zombies remained. A quick op finished off the remaining zombies and the building was once again clear.

A look outside later showed 22 standing zombies and 46 bodies outside Herbert.

Having won another big battle, we felt confident, but the power of the zombie numbers did not escape us.

At their ~2 PM EST strike time later on May 10th, Kain Markko spotted 7 inside and the doors wide open. Two more swiftly followed. Soon, we were staring at 14. An hour later, it was 19. Then 23, as we desperately tried to muster supplies. By 5 we had the number back down to 19 which wasn’t very comforting. However, as people in the USA got off work and began logging on, we began taking inventory. Suddenly realizing we had enough to clear the remaining zombies, we put the plan into action!

Immediately, the deed was done. More celebrations ensued as two big battles in the same day had both been won by survivors!

On May 11th, at server reset plus about 2 hours, 4 zombies broke in but were again removed quickly.

33 zombies stood clawing at our cades. The noise was deafening. Another 33 lay in the dirt, waiting for their chance to pounce.

At the 2:30 PM EST strike time, 9 more zombies broke in. 15 minutes later they lay outside. As we resupplied we realized that search rates for all of our supplies had dropped drastically. Barricades, as always, were constantly being torn down and rebuilt. 41 zombies stood outside the gates, and 21 more lay on the ground.

Their server-reset-ish strike time brought in another 9. Soon, it was 18. Then, 22. The most active people started being picked off. While we made our inventory list, we watched the now 25 zombies slowly shamble around and munch on random brainz.

It was soon we realized the terrible truth. The huge battle had attracted a horde of The Dead and they were plowing through survivors like no tomorrow. We hoped the meatshield would hold.

By 9:00 AM EST, a lot of damage had been done. 42 zombies stood inside, facing only 16 remaining survivors. Nobody on either side was happy that an unexpected horde of The Dead had ruined what had effectively become a stalemate. Survivors had hoped for a win through attrition; we wanted to make the zombie side give up. We believed we were close. Maybe not. But it’s a prospect that really motivated us, if we could pull it off. A member of the RRF sent us a message:

By that night, 55 zombies were inside, with 13 survivors comprising the last of the meatshield. An hour later, it was 65 vs 11. By 4:00 AM, there were an astounding 71 inside, a frustrating amount of them part of the invading horde of The Dead.

A survivor, one lone hero, gave the zombies one last message.

To our great sadness, the destruction of the decorations soon followed. We took stock of what had happened and discussed a lot of strategy regarding setup and many different contingencies. A short after-party was held at The Horsey Museum in Shackleville, hosted by ZombGG.

Conclusion

The Combat Revive is now standard operating procedure at Herbert and all our NTs zone-wide. The RRF has never truly let up on assaulting the building, and as of today (6/18/2021) they are breaking in at least daily and make a lot of effort to cut off our supplies. As we adjusted our tactics, so they have adjusted theirs, making their strikes more complex to combat our most active players.

If you’re reading this and you’re friendly, come to Roftwood! It’s one of the most active places in Malton and it’s never boring. Coordinate in-game or on the Roftwood Discord to be part of the action!