Comments on: We’ll Call It “Tall Tale Thursday”. http://coffeehousepoetry.net/2007/10/25/well-call-it-tall-tale-thursday/ WARNING: Cranky, sarcastic, foul-mouthed, liberal atheist on premises. Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:56:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: MrJames http://coffeehousepoetry.net/2007/10/25/well-call-it-tall-tale-thursday/#comment-35161 MrJames Sat, 27 Oct 2007 05:40:45 +0000 http://coffeehousepoetry.net/2007/10/25/well-call-it-tall-tale-thursday/#comment-35161 Don't forget firewood. Michigan gets COLD. Salvage woodstoves for maximum heat with minimum smoke. Smoke might attract the soccer moms, er, soccies. Ever watch Junkyard Wars? They did one episode where they made siege weapons. Junkyard catapults and ballistae, and one team used suspension springs to make an honest-to-god scorpion. It fired spears eight feet long THROUGH a cinderblock wall. Even a small catapult or ballista flinger-thingy would make for great defense - take large pickle jars, fill them with gasoline and soap flakes. Attach a burning rag to the lid, and fling! Napalm, anyone? Use chainsaws to fell a lot of the surrounding trees, making tangled messes as natural barriers. Leave obvious approaches clear to funnel incoming scavengers or soccies to your kill zones. The fencing will work for animal pens or last-ditch defenses, but you're going to need something on the order of seven or twelve acres per person, or more, particularly if none of you know farming. Think how much food you'll need for a whole year. And if you do get a decent crop going, wheat and veggies and maybe barley, there are going to be a lot of people who'll want it. You'll have to be able to defend your fields, not just your base. Horses may be essential to provide guards for such a large area. Also, you're going to want a medico of some kind. PS - awsomely silly zombie movie - go rent Planet Terror, the Robert Rodriguez Grindhouse flick. Has the picture on the cover of the girl with a rifle attached to her leg stump. Over-the-top seventies-style gorefest, with some actual humor thrown in! Don’t forget firewood. Michigan gets COLD. Salvage woodstoves for maximum heat with minimum smoke. Smoke might attract the soccer moms, er, soccies.

Ever watch Junkyard Wars? They did one episode where they made siege weapons. Junkyard catapults and ballistae, and one team used suspension springs to make an honest-to-god scorpion. It fired spears eight feet long THROUGH a cinderblock wall. Even a small catapult or ballista flinger-thingy would make for great defense - take large pickle jars, fill them with gasoline and soap flakes. Attach a burning rag to the lid, and fling! Napalm, anyone? Use chainsaws to fell a lot of the surrounding trees, making tangled messes as natural barriers. Leave obvious approaches clear to funnel incoming scavengers or soccies to your kill zones. The fencing will work for animal pens or last-ditch defenses, but you’re going to need something on the order of seven or twelve acres per person, or more, particularly if none of you know farming. Think how much food you’ll need for a whole year. And if you do get a decent crop going, wheat and veggies and maybe barley, there are going to be a lot of people who’ll want it. You’ll have to be able to defend your fields, not just your base. Horses may be essential to provide guards for such a large area. Also, you’re going to want a medico of some kind.

PS - awsomely silly zombie movie - go rent Planet Terror, the Robert Rodriguez Grindhouse flick. Has the picture on the cover of the girl with a rifle attached to her leg stump. Over-the-top seventies-style gorefest, with some actual humor thrown in!

]]> By: JavaElemental http://coffeehousepoetry.net/2007/10/25/well-call-it-tall-tale-thursday/#comment-34987 JavaElemental Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:52:47 +0000 http://coffeehousepoetry.net/2007/10/25/well-call-it-tall-tale-thursday/#comment-34987 The trade goods are an <i>excellent</i> idea. I'll see if I can work that in, or get one of my party members to work that in. I'm hoping by moving north with the party, that I'm giving myself reasonably ready access to farm-starters. There's a lot of farmland up in that area, and a dairy farm not far down the road. Someone in the area used to keep chickens, too. Pigs would be great, but all the pig farms I know of are on the other side of town from the school. We should have ready access to grains and seeds, as nearly everyone in the area has at least a large garden. If nothing else, my folks will have seeds and grains to hand. Not a ton, but it could get us started. I've got a great vantage from the top of the school, and if the barricades work out the way I'm hoping, we'll be able to walk them like castle walls and fire safely from there, as well. I've got clear lines of site for a fair distance on three sides of the school. The fourth side we'll have to work on, as there are woods across the road. But that'll probably work out, as we'll probably need extra barricading materials, and logs will work. :D The trade goods are an excellent idea. I’ll see if I can work that in, or get one of my party members to work that in. I’m hoping by moving north with the party, that I’m giving myself reasonably ready access to farm-starters. There’s a lot of farmland up in that area, and a dairy farm not far down the road. Someone in the area used to keep chickens, too. Pigs would be great, but all the pig farms I know of are on the other side of town from the school. We should have ready access to grains and seeds, as nearly everyone in the area has at least a large garden. If nothing else, my folks will have seeds and grains to hand. Not a ton, but it could get us started.

I’ve got a great vantage from the top of the school, and if the barricades work out the way I’m hoping, we’ll be able to walk them like castle walls and fire safely from there, as well. I’ve got clear lines of site for a fair distance on three sides of the school. The fourth side we’ll have to work on, as there are woods across the road. But that’ll probably work out, as we’ll probably need extra barricading materials, and logs will work. :D

]]> By: JavaElemental http://coffeehousepoetry.net/2007/10/25/well-call-it-tall-tale-thursday/#comment-34984 JavaElemental Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:41:13 +0000 http://coffeehousepoetry.net/2007/10/25/well-call-it-tall-tale-thursday/#comment-34984 Only a <i>little</i> BS. ;) I mean, the property mostly is fenced, and there are trailers and cars and crap there, and I did once see a bulldozer-thing there. :lol: Only a little BS. ;) I mean, the property mostly is fenced, and there are trailers and cars and crap there, and I did once see a bulldozer-thing there. :lol:

]]> By: JavaElemental http://coffeehousepoetry.net/2007/10/25/well-call-it-tall-tale-thursday/#comment-34983 JavaElemental Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:39:23 +0000 http://coffeehousepoetry.net/2007/10/25/well-call-it-tall-tale-thursday/#comment-34983 I'm hoping for a party of around twenty. That seems like a good number to start with. Large enough to defend and fight, but not so large as to be cumbersome. I'm counting on gamers and gamers' friends and family. By the way -- I'm running your zombie scenario for our Thursday night gaming session. :) I'll let you know how it goes! I’m hoping for a party of around twenty. That seems like a good number to start with. Large enough to defend and fight, but not so large as to be cumbersome. I’m counting on gamers and gamers’ friends and family.

By the way — I’m running your zombie scenario for our Thursday night gaming session. :) I’ll let you know how it goes!

]]> By: MrJames http://coffeehousepoetry.net/2007/10/25/well-call-it-tall-tale-thursday/#comment-34926 MrJames Fri, 26 Oct 2007 05:01:51 +0000 http://coffeehousepoetry.net/2007/10/25/well-call-it-tall-tale-thursday/#comment-34926 Lacking the opportunity to grab seed grain or potatos or other farm-starters, stock up on goods you can trade with later. Socks and underwear, still in the plastic, weigh almost nothing and will be worth more than gold. Bust into JoAnn Fabric, take all the sewing patterns you can grab. Some cloth, too, but the patterns are, again, very lightweight and survivors will trade a lot for them after a while. Part of that fencing could be used to make an animal pen. Round up pigs, sheep, and goats. Geese if you can get 'em. Better than guard dogs. A pig, wounded and set loose, might distract the Sockies when you really need to. Guns are great, but you've read the book. Distance weapons that don't make noise and the skill to use them are key. What's the vantage of that school? Good view from the roof? Burn off the treeline if you have to, you want half a mile of visibility. Being in Oregon has been disorienting - my Zombie plan is void now that I don't know the area. I don't even know where to stash a body! But the mountains are tempting - few are the zombies who can climb. Then again, a bloody lot of survivors will think the same thing, and they're more dangerous than the zombies half the time. Dammit. I need to think. Lacking the opportunity to grab seed grain or potatos or other farm-starters, stock up on goods you can trade with later. Socks and underwear, still in the plastic, weigh almost nothing and will be worth more than gold. Bust into JoAnn Fabric, take all the sewing patterns you can grab. Some cloth, too, but the patterns are, again, very lightweight and survivors will trade a lot for them after a while.
Part of that fencing could be used to make an animal pen. Round up pigs, sheep, and goats. Geese if you can get ‘em. Better than guard dogs. A pig, wounded and set loose, might distract the Sockies when you really need to.
Guns are great, but you’ve read the book. Distance weapons that don’t make noise and the skill to use them are key.
What’s the vantage of that school? Good view from the roof? Burn off the treeline if you have to, you want half a mile of visibility.
Being in Oregon has been disorienting - my Zombie plan is void now that I don’t know the area. I don’t even know where to stash a body! But the mountains are tempting - few are the zombies who can climb. Then again, a bloody lot of survivors will think the same thing, and they’re more dangerous than the zombies half the time. Dammit. I need to think.

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