Additionally, USF HvZ runs regular training missions (minigames) at the same location as routine TBNC events. One is happening tomorrow, 02-22-15.
I of course will be playing both of these.
After-Action: 01-24-15 TBNC HvZ Day Game
January 24, 2015 was the first ever Tampa Bay Nerf Club Humans vs. Zombies day game. The location was the Jefferson Equestrian Area near USF, most of which is a mixture of forest and brush, and makes a great HvZ site.
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| View from staging area |
The game itself went very well. It was surprisingly dispute-free, the mod team did a great job with the missions, and the day reminded me of how awesome HvZ can be.
Coop772, I'm not sure why you no-showed this game after signing up but you missed out.
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| Packing gear for 01-24-15 |
If you are a serious stock class player, consider getting some boots. I always wear boots to everything involving combat, but even if you prefer to wear sneakers to run fast in some situations, you will eventually play a game that is not on turf or concrete and you will want ankle support and the ability to step on rough stuff. This game punished everyone who wore sneakers. There was COLD standing water and wet tall grass everywhere. There is a reason the Florida HvZ 501st wears boots.
My hit ratios were shit. Part of this was constant wind and part was trying to use up worn darts first, but more significant, the zombies had adjusted their tactics to us. TBNC does have a strong tech culture and I was at one point running with 7 humans 5 of which had high end autos like mine, and what do you know, the zeds just moved their camp distance back away from us.
Now on the subject of the high end autos, ever heard someone worry about weapons mechanically breaking HvZ gameplay? They usually cite a situation like this one with some concern about how HvZ is "going to be dead" if it happens. I had one on Reddit refer to the Rival line with a comment that if they perform like superstock guns out of the box, HvZ will be "dead". Too hard for the zombies, they say.
Well... we played this game with actual superstock guns. As many actual superstock guns as a regular HvZ event has toy-grade guns.
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I have talked on Reddit and other places about the HvZ arms race and weapon-limited versus human-limited gameplay, and how locally we play a human-limited game since mid 2013, and what it boils down to is that a good modern zombie preys on operator weakness, not the shittiness of nerf guns used to shoot at them. Nowadays they are close enough to a perfect engine that if they are used properly there is very little that could ever take down the wielder, not even a mass horde charge. We die because we are not superheroes, and our situational awareness, judgement and agility are far from perfect.
Of course, if you are somehow still playing a weapons-limited game, where zombies rely on the specifics of what humans are using to be able to tag people, then even modern toy level nerf can put your game in a hurt. The question then is why your game is that way. Locally I have never seen anything like that. Player culture and the balance of hardcores between the H and Z sides contributes, I suppose.
During this game I also figured out what happened at a previous war with the Tacmod prototype. It was a pusher crash caused by some combination of a bad magazine and receiver rail wear due to the high usage on this gun, and I will soon post at length about this Rapidstrike issue and how to detect it early.
After-Action: USF HvZ Training Mission
About a week later. CO of 501st showed up and we played and talked HvZ veteran stuff later, the Tacmods racked up kills, I died toward the end of the game in a second of chaos with a full mag not even firing a shot or seeing the zombie (as is usual), and there were many snap shots and oh-shit ambush moments. Overall another great HvZ event which along with the TBNC game somewhat restores my faith in Humans vs. Zombies.
I guess I do have a funny story: toward the end of an open-field "Infection" (speed HvZ) round at the beginning of the event, I am one of a few humans left and end up lonewolfing a bit too much and getting a bit close to zombies. I'm snapping zeds and trying to keep track of the respawning ones coming back from the edge of the field. Behind me is a human group led by a player, Jake, who is usually a hardcore human. He has a Swarmfire and a sock rig. When you are a hardcore human wearing a sock vest and carrying a Swarmfire, you look very human. He is yelling to me to fall in. Come on, we got ya covered... I back up into the formation since I am still engaged and shooting in the opposite direction and I meet the formation directly next to where Jake just was and suddenly I am getting tagged.
"Trojan horse! Gotcha!"
There was a cooperating zombie hidden in the formation and I got owned. To all who organized that, well played indeed. I guess that is a good reminder not to get too sloppy about IFF in HvZ! Stay vigilant people...
Something I ran into here is that for the main missions we play location-based respawns for zombies. The respawn points are along trails in the woods, and humans must on occasion be in very close proximity to them. This is a scenario you have to be prepared for as a human in this sort of game, and in particular, watch your ammo load and consumption in 'small' games. Those moments of passing by the respawn points can turn a small force of 5 zombies into 15 people coming at you in a row, and in these 'small' games I need every bit of my big-game level rifleman loadout. It really does simulate a big game mission.
Did you get to put the 552 Holosight to much use, and if so, how did it perform?
ReplyDeleteAll these games were before I had that, but I ran it yesterday. I like it. I like it a lot.
DeleteI look forward to when you can do a write up. I used to play paintball in the woods with a BSA RD30 Red Dot sight, and found that it was very useful.
DeleteGreat Article
ReplyDelete"Of course, if you are somehow still playing a weapons-limited game, where zombies rely on the specifics of what humans are using to be able to tag people, then even modern toy level nerf can put your game in a hurt. The question then is why your game is that way. Locally I have never seen anything like that. Player culture and the balance of hardcores between the H and Z sides contributes, I suppose."
My work schedule keeps me from getting to some of the day games locally which is a shame, so of course take this with a grain of salt (most to all of my practical experience is from ReCoN games), but I still believe that location and terrain are also valid concerns when considering acceptable weapons for HvZ. When most engagements are at less than 15 feet, getting tagged repeatedly with a superstock blaster can be painful.
Of course it's easier to play HvZ for kicks and giggles when the round will only last 20 minutes.
"There was a cooperating zombie hidden in the formation and I got owned. To all who organized that, well played indeed. I guess that is a good reminder not to get too sloppy about IFF in HvZ! Stay vigilant people..."
So just to be clear, the humans were still human players but cooperating with the zombies specifically to tag their own team? Seems slightly sketchy.
Then again I know I've done things to even the odds for the zombie side because A) I feel that's a duty of the moderators and B) one sided human victories aren't much fun for me, even when I'm a human.
Also bravo for calling out the IFF issue. There was a TTT game at our last event in which reflex got the better of my and I tagged out the Detective on reflex (which then caused me to be tagged out by an actual "terrorist").
I'm also curious as to any tricks or training you use to keep track of ammo. Previously you've written that you don't have a problem with "spraying and praying" type firing. Is it a matter of keeping track of burst fired (as opposed to individual rounds fired) or something else?
What I was getting at with weapons and HvZ was more about capacity, rate of fire, automatic versus pump, and general firepower. Some games have highly restrictive rulesets as to how shooty humans can be, particularly early on, and the reason is not safety but balancing.
DeleteSafety and velocity limits are an entirely different issue and I can see what you are talking about, if you play inside and are getting full autoed at 3 feet because you turned a corner into a superstocker, you will feel that. Though, if you ask me, superstock should never have a MED or any sort of concern with close range pain, that's part of the reason for superstock versus higher velocities and less cushy dart tips. It doesn't really hurt, and consensus among local zombies has long been that harder-hitting stuff is nicer to play around because it prevents disputes. You would be surprised at what you won't feel when lunging at humans.
Yes, it is easier to play HvZ for S&G when the game is short. This is what led to the Trojan horse maneuver with the zombie. Humans working with zombies is not exactly correct from a simulation standpoint but HvZ is not all serious simulation and there are tons of other ways to get betrayed that ARE realistic for a Z-day scenario. Treachery is a longstanding part of hvz as a game. My point was that this was a reminder not to get sloppy, sooner or later you will get a curveball like that and you had better be ready to dodge.
Me and IFF have a questionable history. I have HvH'd people by reflex (hey, at least I wasn't that other local who HvH'd people by poor trigger discipline). IFF in TTT is a whole other issue, and as I see it the point of that gametype is to challenge the IFF abilities of players and cause chaos based on the anonymity of terrorists.
I keep track of ammo by trigger time. I don't often count rounds under pressure, I just know how much shooting a mag is, and in any off-time I might look at the mag if I am unsure whether it is time to grab a new one preemptively for the next change or do a tac reload before reengaging.
Regarding boots: I think that it should be emphasized that not all boots are created equal for HvZ. There is a tradeoff to be made between ankle support and flexibility; boots which come higher above the ankle will tend to give more support but to also bring more of the attendant disadvantages.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I prefer either work boots or well-worn hiking boots that come up about an inch above the ankle, both for HvZ and whenever I'm outdoors in general. I can run just as fast in these boots as I can in any other shoe; the only thing that I cannot do is to run as quietly as I could in sneakers. I don't miss the extra ankle support that higher boots would provide, but this is probably because I have strong ankles as walking is my primary mode of transportation.
Also relevant: weight added to the feet has a much greater impact on a person's speed and endurance than weight carried. Heavy boots are not good for games where you can expect to run around all day.