HomeCh 7: The Final Mission
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Ch 7: The Final Mission
Zed Tzu Tue Apr 03, 2012 5:34 pm
The final mission is what we all look forward to. Experiences will vary from game to game, so part of this will not apply to everyone. At my university, the final mission is meant to be a death march; the humans are supposed to be wiped out. However, with proper strategy and the right mindset, the final mission may be overcome.
Preparations for the final mission begin on Day 1. That is to say, the game relies on a snowball effect as the Zeds gain momentum. If one Zed can tag three humans a day, and those three new Zeds tag three more humans each per day, and so on... You've gone from one, to four, to sixteen, to sixty-four, and so on. Now, say these humans read The Art of Survival and remembered the 10 Cardinal Rules for Survival. Now the original Zed only gets two humans, and they only get two more, and so on... That means you go from one, to three, to nine, to twenty-seven in the same time the other Zeds would have had sixty-four. Now, with starvation not taken into account (we can't rely on it), we've already drastically limited the Zeds' numbers. So, come time for the final mission, you could be facing only a fraction of the horde you would if the humans didn't prepare.
Engage in the missions, but remember to be smart. If you're being overrun, acting like a hero will only get you killed. Then, once you're a Zed, you'll cause more human casualties than if you had just escaped instead of fighting for a lost cause. By the end of the week, you and the other survivors should be familiar enough with each other that you've built some sort of mutual trust. This is necessary to succeed in the final mission.
Skipping ahead to that fateful day, we must first attain the correct mindset for the final mission. This is a unique scenario in which you will now be mentally assuming that you will be turned. In your mind, there must be no doubt. If you hold even a bit of the survival paranoia that is typically recommended, you will be far more likely to fail. Instead, you will stare the Zeds in the eyes and aim only to take as many of them with you as possible when you go. (I like to use this to get in the right frame of mind.)
At my university, the final mission goes like this: The humans begin at one end of a very long quad, and they must make their way down to the other end. The mission lasts 30 minutes, with a turn time and respawn time of 5 minutes for the Zeds. Typically there will also be a rolling respawn/turn time every 10 minutes which will bring back or instantly turn anyone regardless of when they were stunned/tagged. You are not allowed to step past either of the sidewalks that mark the sides of the quad. If humans are able to fight their way to the far end of the quad, they must hold the extraction point for the remainder of the mission. As survivors, your mind should be troubled by two thoughts: a railroaded path through the entire (rapidly respawning) horde, and the inevitably short supply of ammo. To handle the latter problem, shots should be conserved (one per Zed, make them count), and a sort of human solidarity should be understood. That is to say that if someone is tagged, they should hand over their weapon and/or (more importantly) their ammo to the other survivors before the tagged human becomes a Zed. As far as the rapidly respawning and growing horde goes, you must simply use sound tactics and keep a cool head.
You remember the chapter on Zed Combat, so you want to spread out and move at a steady walk. However, this is not the best option for the final mission. Instead, you will keep your steady pace along one of the side boundary lines. This keeps one of your flanks secure, which is about all you can ask for on the final mission. As far as spacing goes, you'll be standing closer together to keep everyone on the sidewalk, but try to maintain a bit of elbow room so you aren't too easy of a target. For the duration of the quad, you'll need to trust the rest of your group. If the group breaks into a run, they will die. If the group stops moving, they will die. Everyone must continue walking forward and watching their own portion of the group. There's no sense in turning to watch the back if you're in front: you have your own threats to worry about, which is why the mutual trust built during the week is a huge bonus.
Once you've made your way to the end of the quad, it's time to hunker down and fight out those last minutes. If you've fought well and paced yourself, the horde shouldn't be too big. You prevented its growth during the week, and you fought it off down the quad. Now you're forced to stand your ground, so find a corner (use a side and rear boundary or whatever you can find) to set up an easily defended position. At this point your best bet is to maximize your ability to fire at the enemy; a wall of nerf darts is your best friend. To do this, an effective method I've seen is having the front line kneel while the lines behind it can fire over. If people are too nervous to be in the front, then step up yourself. Believe it or not, the Zeds seemed to forget about the front line and jump right over to try and hit the lines behind it.
Note that the Zeds will likely resort to the single-file line attack method, so you should brush up on how to handle that in the single-file line tactic chapter.
Preparations for the final mission begin on Day 1. That is to say, the game relies on a snowball effect as the Zeds gain momentum. If one Zed can tag three humans a day, and those three new Zeds tag three more humans each per day, and so on... You've gone from one, to four, to sixteen, to sixty-four, and so on. Now, say these humans read The Art of Survival and remembered the 10 Cardinal Rules for Survival. Now the original Zed only gets two humans, and they only get two more, and so on... That means you go from one, to three, to nine, to twenty-seven in the same time the other Zeds would have had sixty-four. Now, with starvation not taken into account (we can't rely on it), we've already drastically limited the Zeds' numbers. So, come time for the final mission, you could be facing only a fraction of the horde you would if the humans didn't prepare.
Engage in the missions, but remember to be smart. If you're being overrun, acting like a hero will only get you killed. Then, once you're a Zed, you'll cause more human casualties than if you had just escaped instead of fighting for a lost cause. By the end of the week, you and the other survivors should be familiar enough with each other that you've built some sort of mutual trust. This is necessary to succeed in the final mission.
Skipping ahead to that fateful day, we must first attain the correct mindset for the final mission. This is a unique scenario in which you will now be mentally assuming that you will be turned. In your mind, there must be no doubt. If you hold even a bit of the survival paranoia that is typically recommended, you will be far more likely to fail. Instead, you will stare the Zeds in the eyes and aim only to take as many of them with you as possible when you go. (I like to use this to get in the right frame of mind.)
At my university, the final mission goes like this: The humans begin at one end of a very long quad, and they must make their way down to the other end. The mission lasts 30 minutes, with a turn time and respawn time of 5 minutes for the Zeds. Typically there will also be a rolling respawn/turn time every 10 minutes which will bring back or instantly turn anyone regardless of when they were stunned/tagged. You are not allowed to step past either of the sidewalks that mark the sides of the quad. If humans are able to fight their way to the far end of the quad, they must hold the extraction point for the remainder of the mission. As survivors, your mind should be troubled by two thoughts: a railroaded path through the entire (rapidly respawning) horde, and the inevitably short supply of ammo. To handle the latter problem, shots should be conserved (one per Zed, make them count), and a sort of human solidarity should be understood. That is to say that if someone is tagged, they should hand over their weapon and/or (more importantly) their ammo to the other survivors before the tagged human becomes a Zed. As far as the rapidly respawning and growing horde goes, you must simply use sound tactics and keep a cool head.
You remember the chapter on Zed Combat, so you want to spread out and move at a steady walk. However, this is not the best option for the final mission. Instead, you will keep your steady pace along one of the side boundary lines. This keeps one of your flanks secure, which is about all you can ask for on the final mission. As far as spacing goes, you'll be standing closer together to keep everyone on the sidewalk, but try to maintain a bit of elbow room so you aren't too easy of a target. For the duration of the quad, you'll need to trust the rest of your group. If the group breaks into a run, they will die. If the group stops moving, they will die. Everyone must continue walking forward and watching their own portion of the group. There's no sense in turning to watch the back if you're in front: you have your own threats to worry about, which is why the mutual trust built during the week is a huge bonus.
Once you've made your way to the end of the quad, it's time to hunker down and fight out those last minutes. If you've fought well and paced yourself, the horde shouldn't be too big. You prevented its growth during the week, and you fought it off down the quad. Now you're forced to stand your ground, so find a corner (use a side and rear boundary or whatever you can find) to set up an easily defended position. At this point your best bet is to maximize your ability to fire at the enemy; a wall of nerf darts is your best friend. To do this, an effective method I've seen is having the front line kneel while the lines behind it can fire over. If people are too nervous to be in the front, then step up yourself. Believe it or not, the Zeds seemed to forget about the front line and jump right over to try and hit the lines behind it.
Note that the Zeds will likely resort to the single-file line attack method, so you should brush up on how to handle that in the single-file line tactic chapter.
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