Zombie Cliche Lookout: Do it Quietly
As we’ve discussed ad infinitum around these parts, nothing attracts zombies more than noise. That means the most effective way to survive is to do so quietly whenever possible. Naturally, this isn’t always possible. Sometimes what you’re doing necessitates noise, and sometimes you have to confront the zombies head on in order to get to safety. In those cases, however, it still makes a lot of sense to exploit the zombies’ weaknesses as much as possible.
If you can, for instance, quietly dispatch a few of them before alerting the rest of the horde, you’re in considerably better shape than if you’d simply charged into the fight screaming and flailing about.
About this Episode:
I grew up in a very rural area. I didn’t have a neighborhood; the nearest kids for me to play with were a mile or two walk away. As a result, I spent a lot of time fiddling about in the woods, hacking at trees in an abortive attempt to become an amateur lumberjack. While this doesn’t sound like it has a damn thing to do with zombies, stick with it.
As I was hacking at old dead tress (my parents weren’t really big on my killing living trees for some reason), I was often slowed by something: my axe constantly getting lodged in the tree. It strikes me that people trying to survive the zombie apocalypse with sharp weapons would have the exact same experience. Except where I had the luxury of all the time in the world to un-stick my axe, they have considerably less time to reclaim their weapon before the dozen or so other zombies nearby eat them.
Discussion Question: How Many Zombies is a Problem?
I’m a big fan of slow zombies, but I’m the first to admit that a single zombie isn’t terribly threatening so long as you know it’s there. They only really turn into a problem either through surprise or numbers. The question is, how many slow zombies do you need shambling about before they actually become dangerous?
Hmmm interesting question…I’d say around ten would be a problem. As you say, they are all shambling zombies so my mind makes me think they would be clustered together(Even more so if they just ate someone) and then you have to take them down to get past, you take down two or three and your melee weapon gets stuck, well not you’re dead too because they surround you.
Ten could certainly be a problem, especially in tight quarters.
I think Stewart should pay attention to the blue and light blue zombie, but if he swings correctly, he’s pretty much got a shot at a 2-for-1, if he aims it properly! 😀
The only thing that sucks is that minifigs aren’t really that good at swinging from side to side, although if Stewart is young and dexterous enough, he could probably flip his weapon quickly to the other hand! 😉
Yeah, the lack of articulation can make scenes like this seem a little static; I definitely spend a lot of time getting the posing look as good as possible.
No typos today, either! 😀 Another +1 for Dave! 😀
Sweet!
A to the speed of these particular zombies, they seem very slow to have noticed that one of their number already has been taken out. Hopefully, though, these two will remember the golden rule: There is always one more zombie! 😀
There is indeed always one more unlooked-for zombie.
Ratio forgotten: SPACE. One zed in closed quarters can be as dangerous as five in the open.
As long as they are slow and I have an arms length weapon 4 to 5 could be on shaky grounds. When I was younger my friends and I would jokingly make the rule 3 for you 2 for me, so 5 with support 4 without. You never know when the gods of probability will stick their fat feet in your already bad day.
Right you are, Brickthorne. Close quarters definitely up the challenge level.
I guess it depends on the number of people trying to pick them off. If there’s 2 of you and you’re busy with a small group (say 6-8) then there’s the danger that while hacking your way through the undead that one of those slow sneaky buggers will come up behind you and get you good and proper.
Oh perhaps an injured zombie forced to crawl along the floor.
Guess Im the wimp here. I would start to get seriously worried at 3. This aint a Steven Segal 80s action movie where they are going to attack you one at t time. Being attacked from three different points simultaneously would be pretty bad in my book.
No, I think that’s just rational. Overconfidence kills.
For the discussion question, I honestly feel like just one zombie is an extreme problem, because I can recall countless situations in movies/games where a single zombie caused the entire outbreak!
That’s a damn good point, Mason.
Is there achieve for the comic somewhere at the page. Cant find it anywhere ><
Absolutely, just hit the “Comic” button: http://bricksofthedead.com/chapter/comic/
Let’s face it; even one zombie is still a problem. How well you can dispatch it determines how big of a problem it will be.
But remember, if there’s even one zombie, chances are there’s another close by.
Always more than one.
Infection cause: “splattered matter / fluids”
Number of zed-heads: 1 solo
Situation: anything that cause a splat with gore flying
Number of survives: Any without coverings (assume recent outbreak)
Also was watching anime blastridder (anime on hand) the zeds were nano machine caused, a very small handful (3 usually) were like a group of ninjas. However as the series progressed a whole horde would be like a slow moving wave with brains that acted similarly to a LAN party for Diablo, and groups of 2 would be feral like. This was compensated by the horde being controlled by a master. I think the series tried to walk the line between crazy horde numbers of slowness and quick zeds fairly well.
That’s an interesting interpretation. Essentially the bigger the horde grows, the less efficient they become? Cool.
If they’re good enough and smart, even lucky. They can dispatch those zombies.
Yes indeed, and don’t forget we haven’t seen Inez yet.
Sorry to correct BrickVoid but
about the episode first paragraph sent -> spent
Aw damn. Fixed.
The number of zombies it takes to be a threat depends on a lot of variables group size location (ie. in a prison guard tower or an open field) also what kind of weapons and the skill you have.
But I will assume you are alone with a civiilan rifle and in a field or empty road. Anywhere from 12 upward would be dangerous as they would eventually become one group and you would haft to move and shoot with a headshot.
Yeah, there are certainly a lot of variables to consider; I guess this question was a bit vague.
That’s okay, the more people there are spotting typos the better. I don’t think I could always catch every single one anyway! 😀
Right you are; I always appreciate typo call out so I can get everything fixed.
And yep okay, that’s a typo! 😀 Although it is a rather sneaky one! 😉
Took me three times reading through to find the damn thing.
Dave, has something broken reply chaining? I thought I hit the reply button to comments twice and they’re not going where they should be. Weirdness!
It does look like something was wonky yesterday; I have no idea what would have caused it though. Time to start Googling, I suppose.
At any rate, it appears to be working now.
No, I think you’re fine. My number was going to be “two”.
Looks like we’re all in the same club, Kim.
I mean we’re talking about shambling zombies, means they’re quiet. You could be taking out a zombie in front of you and one sneaks up on you and makes the back of your head meatloaf.
Which is one of their primary dangers, and one of the reasons I like them more than fast zombies. They seem less dangerous, but in reality they’re simply less overt about the danger they pose.
An easy way is to take the typo itself and do a text search with your editor you use to put the write-up sections into the comic itself. In Nightly here I can do a search for text on the page itself, although I don’t know how much that would help you with whatever editor you’re using.
For instance, Nightly, my browser, uses “Find” and has a hotkey bound to it, so finding a word on a page is straightforward and very easy to do! 😉
Oh yeah, I often use that trick. However I find it helpful to force myself to re-read, so as to no introduce new issues with my ‘fixes’.
Thanks!!
Just to be picky, I think there *is* a typo. Shouldn’t “hacking at tries” be “hacking at trees” ??
Right you are. Fixed!