[Ball Tripper]

It's eventually pointed out in almost every thread that if the zombies do this then you would have to do something different for whatever the thread is about. So this is specifcally for how our plans change with the zombies.

To keep it simple why don't we concentrate on Romero's classic slow shamblers vs. 28 days later/dawn 04' sprinters.

What in particular would you need to do differently for one type that you wouldn't need against the other? What would work for one type that wouldn't work for the other?

[kiltedninja]

Either way, my tactics would be the same... GET THE F**K OUTTA TOWN!

[The Devistator]

the best way I can see serviving is getting in my crapy hatch back honda and getting all the food and gas I can then just drive into the middle of nowhere when they get to close you drive a little further. further as in about 100 or 200 miles.

[joerrrrrr]

Slow: get to a safe spot, dosent need to be concealed ( on top of the things that gas pumps are under), pick em' off and decrease thier amounts, dont let to many get close or they could get you. if moving locations would be nice you can pull it off, when moving go melee and dont go out of your way to kill them.
Fast: This is trickier. Get to a secure spot with multiple exits that can be blocked but still easily accesed, make sure they dont know youre there, and dont bother trying to kill them pointlessly. i would go to a U.P.S. store because the one in my town has no windows ( thats another thing to remember, no windows) and it has two doors before you actually enter the store, it also has another section that can be completly blocked off from the rest of the place by a huge sliding metal door. You should avoid having to move location at all with fast zombies, but if you have to youll want ranged semi automatic weapons, you want these weapons to also have a large clip size to minimize the need to reload. Having a fully-automatic weapon risks getting trigger happy and wasting ammo. Of course you should bring a melee weapon with you (trench spike, crowbar, ect).
Do these things and you should be fine.

[Ball Tripper]

One thing that I am thinking is about choice of weapons. I believe in the one other thread it was pretty much established that a shotgun would be a poor primary weapon against zombies because of the small ammo load, slow reload time, poor range, high recoil, large shell size, and some other reasons. Against fast zombies I think a shotgun might just shoot up to my prefered weapon. Even very good marksmen are going to have a hell of a time scoring consistant head shots on sprinters at full speed. In a fight against fast zombies I think a shotgun's stopping power and spread of the shot would be incredibly valuable. A shot to the hips or legs of a sprinter would put it down, make it easier to finish with another head shot. I think the golden rule of aim only for the head, one shot one kill and such would go out the window when fast zombies are coming at you, it's just not feasable for anybody except robocop. I feel that the slow reload time and limited ammo capacity of a shotgun would have to be offset by being in a group. Which brings me to my next point.

Travel on foot in anything other than a large, well armed group would be suicide in a fast zombie scenario. Against slow zombies you could travel alone on foot with a reasonable chance of avoiding anything you can't handle alone, a fast walk is often enough to outpace slow zombies. It won't get you away from them, but you won't get eaten if you are tired. With a cool head and a steady hand, one man could kill countless slow zombies. No matter what weapons you have at your disposal, one man couldn't kill more than a small group of fast zombies. Excepting some extreme situations(mini gun vs zombies through a choke point or something)

[Scud]

ok so if were talking 28 days later zombies, were talking about zombified living, whom you dont need a head shot to kill, but youre confronted with the issue of their agressiveness, so i would say stay as far away as you could, control shot then head shot if they dont stay down, assuming you have a firearm.

old school zombies get a Louisville slugger to the dome. :2cents:

[kiltedninja]

28 days 'zombies' wouldn't need head shots...Fast 'zombies' would be a nuisance still because of their speed and aggression, but a good center of mass shot would work well enough.

Shamblers... I'd have to go with Scud's Louisville to the head plan...

[Ball Tripper]

Very true.... I tried to specify, but I didn't get specific enough. 28 days later 'infected' will die from a heart shot or massive trauma/blood loss but dawn 04' zombies are still true undead and need a head shot.

[OVERKILL]

There's only one type of zombie. Undead shamblers who need to be shot in the head. Large groups of them and people unwilling to do what must be done are your worst enemies. A secure area filled with trustworthy and helpful friends is a must. Simple survival skill and a steady aim are required.
The fast type are "crazies" whether it's a rage virus or what, these are still living humans, and can be taken down by destroyong the brain or stopping oxygen from reaching the brain via a heart or lung shot or depletion of blood.

[Ball Tripper]

Just because you want zombies to be slow doesn't mean they will be. In Dawn 04 the zombies were fast and still true undead, they needed a head shot.

[Ironzey]

kiltedninja said:

Either way, my tactics would be the same... GET THE F**K OUTTA TOWN!

X2. I ain't sticking around.

If I HAD to fight for slow I'd feel pretty confident as long as I wasn't surrounded. I'd allow distances to be alot closer. Hand to hand fighting would be my last option, I'd be cool as long as I'm not surrounded.

Fast ones, My tactics would be, run, avoid, distract then fight. There is just not enough time to deal with them. Less time to shoot, reload, swing a bat, run or whatever your plans are. However it depends on their intelligence too. Will they run off a cliff in order to get you? Will they wait till they can reach you or just loose interest and walk away? Are they easily distracted by noises? For me, fighting would be a last resort.

[kiltedninja]

The idea of scout or Ranger type hit and run tactics would seem to be the best, get in, perhaps take a few out, and then get away as fast as possible.

[OVERKILL]

Ball Tripper said:

Very true.... I tried to specify, but I didn't get specific enough. 28 days later 'infected' will die from a heart shot or massive trauma/blood loss but dawn 04' zombies are still true undead and need a head shot.

Anything that runs requires a beating heart to pump blood and give those muscles energy. Anything with a beating heart can be stopped by destroying the heart or it's ability to get blood to the brain. Either way my personal plan is still the same

Better Dead on Red


But only if I can't run.

This post has been edited by OVERKILL: 16 January 2009 - 05:01 AM

[Ball Tripper]

EvilWeasel35 said:

I have a theory that a 'true' zombie (a dead dead one, not a virus infected one) would go through rigor mortis. This occurs about three hours after death and lasts about 36 hours. Working on this theory, if a recently killed person re-animated quickly they could be fast until rigor mortis set in. Their quickness should only last about three hours. Rigor sets in after about this time, which would give us about 30 hours to pick of recently 'dead' corpses before they started to move again.

There are also differing theories as to why slow zombies are slow. From what CSI has taught me, there are a lot of things that can affect a corpse's rigor. If somebody dies while their muscles are clenched, those muscles will go into rigor immediatly apon death(like a dead hand still clutching something tightly) and go through their course and be released from rigor while the rest of the body is still stiff. Also apparently if a body is moved around it can completly prevent rigor from setting in(like if a body is floating in water with a current) so if this is the case a zombie would never be affected by rigor.

Another theory about slow zombies is they when the heart stops beating, all of the blood pools in the lower extremities. This could be why some zombies seem to shamble about slowy, but can still lunge and grasp at things close to them with a bit of speed.


Personally I think all bets are off once the dead start to walk, what we thought was true is obviously not if corpses are eating people. Anything that can make dead flesh move, has the potential to change the way dead flesh normally behaves in other ways too.

[kiltedninja]

That is at least a good theory, hopefully it never has to be put into practice, but damn good thinking Tripper.

[Ball Tripper]

The blood pooling in the legs? I didn't come up with that one. Thanks though :D

[manaketes]

indeed. very well thought out, man.