[General Battuta]

That problem too would probably end up being tackled the way World War Z did it.

Nuclear option? Oh wait...

That's not much good. Nukes aren't going to do anything. Zombies aren't an army and would be so widely dispersed you'd need to nuke a lot of acreage for any kind of results.

big firepower would make a difference only early on, but once urban zombies disperse, you would need an entirely different strategy. from the military standpoint its very difficult to draw the line from friend and foe. you could blow up your own cities early on but then you would also blow up any live ones still holed up there. so you might want to let them disperse. there is a gun in the world for every 7 people, and enough ammo to kill everyone on the planet many times over. in the usa with every redneck, every cop, every gangbanger and anyone else with a gun armed to the teeth and more gun stores than macdonalds, i very much doubt the zombies would be your biggest problem. its a situation where you could shoot anyone you run into on a whim, shoot em, and just say they were a zombie and get away with it. thats how the black guy died in night of the living dead. with society falling apart people may be shooting anything that moves whether theyre zombies or not. there will be looting and hoarding of supplies and ammo. zombies only want your brains and other assorted meats, but other people want your guns your food your water your fuel and will shoot you in the head for it.

Actually yeah, see, this is a great point. Zombie apocalypses are a literary tool to unleash the evil of man. That's what they're all about; their fundamental nature is an excuse for us to kill our fellow humans en masse without remorse. And that's why in most good zombie stories it's the other people who are the real danger.

[Nuke]

im half tempted to split out the zombie discussion into its own thread, because it would be very intresting to be able to continue. maybe il do it later, i gotta go to the store (and radio shack) right now before the close, i need parts/caffine.

[Mars]

Ultimately what it comes down to is a number of variables:

What percentage of the population becomes zombies.
How rapidly and synchronously the transformation occurs.
What level of tactics the zombies can use (can the zombies take cover? How is their mobility and aim?)

    This also transfers to, what weapons can zombies use?

What it takes to kill a zombie.
What weapons are available to use (zombies in Canada will have to stick to chainsaws more than their USA brethren, Middle-Eastern zombies will have access to AKs and RPGs)

If the zombies are subject to any type of strategy (Stephen King's "Cell")
Type of landscape (urban zombies would be a lot more terrifying than country zombies IMO)

 

[Mars]

In a situation where 50% of the population instantly becomes dextrous, cover seeking, center-of-mass aiming, and immune-to-pain-but-not-damage in an average US population center (Denver being of course, my favorite example) I could easily see them taking over, with some significant resistance.

Even the military bases here might not be any significant advantage - what's to stop service members from being infected?

[StarSlayer]

Maggots happen.

[Mars]

What about the mindless human being variety?

[NGTM-1R]

See, Armageddon portrays a similar situation to a zombie invasion. Large population dieoff followed by a directed invasion.

Human society is fairly resistant to losses at about 20%, and it's hard to construct a scenario where you get more given the state of health education.

[General Battuta]

Are we talking the asteroid movie? Because I'm...not so into that as a great comparison.

[NGTM-1R]

Are we talking the asteroid movie? Because I'm...not so into that as a great comparison.

Stuart's novel about an invasion. From Hell.

[General Battuta]

Are we talking the asteroid movie? Because I'm...not so into that as a great comparison.

Stuart's novel about an invasion. From Hell.

Well that one at least only bored me for a few minutes.

[Nemesis6]

One thing I don't get - In all the outbreak scenarios, how come the U.S army is so proficient at leaving heavy hardware like tanks and APCs behind? One of those things could theretically beat an entire horde. Ammo gone, no problem: Run em down.

[NGTM-1R]

Well that one at least only bored me for a few minutes.

Considering his obvious respect for your class of sci-fi, I would have assumed even less.

[General Battuta]

Well that one at least only bored me for a few minutes.

Considering his obvious respect for your class of sci-fi, I would have assumed even less.

I couldn't get past the intro. It might actually turn out to be awesome but my Baen gag reflex kicked in too rapidly to tell.

[Kosh]

One thing I never understood about "Dawn of the Dead", how exactly could a heavily fortified military fort be overrun by zombies but a shopping mall with glass doors somehow be able to hold out?

[MR_T3D]

One thing I don't get - In all the outbreak scenarios, how come the U.S army is so proficient at leaving heavy hardware like tanks and APCs behind? One of those things could theretically beat an entire horde. Ammo gone, no problem: Run em down.

indeed, however, if the oil (transport) infrastructure was eliminated by the damage caused in initial outbreak, or looted by panicking civvies then the fuel is a very valuable resource, especially for the not-terribly-fuel-efficient US army vehicles such as the M1A1.  BUT things like those new humvee successors would be pretty good with an upside-down plow on them (to ensure they drive over the zombies, squashing them, because tossing them aside could leave many zombies still okay, if they have bull**** damage resistance, because otherwise they'd be consumed by wildlife and myriad of other things.) for the fuel cost.

[Nemesis6]

One thing I never understood about "Dawn of the Dead", how exactly could a heavily fortified military fort be overrun by zombies but a shopping mall with glass doors somehow be able to hold out?

It's in the sound. A mall can be shut down, you know, with glass and shutters in place, the zombies can't hear or see anyone in there. A military fort, however, would be perceivably teeming. Noise-wise, heavy equipment operating; tanks, helicopters, trucks, and so on. Visibly, convoys and soldiers arriving and departing, manned fortifications at the perimeter and so on. Alerting the dead-heads is pretty much inevitable, and when the shooting starts, they seal their fate by attracting more of them.

[General Battuta]

i blame fiat

[Nemesis6]

i blame fiat

[Kosh]

One thing I never understood about "Dawn of the Dead", how exactly could a heavily fortified military fort be overrun by zombies but a shopping mall with glass doors somehow be able to hold out?

It's in the sound. A mall can be shut down, you know, with glass and shutters in place, the zombies can't hear or see anyone in there. A military fort, however, would be perceivably teeming. Noise-wise, heavy equipment operating; tanks, helicopters, trucks, and so on. Visibly, convoys and soldiers arriving and departing, manned fortifications at the perimeter and so on. Alerting the dead-heads is pretty much inevitable, and when the shooting starts, they seal their fate by attracting more of them.

All they had to do was hop into a tank and start rolling over everything. Not to mention mortors, grenades, artillery, machine guns, etc that could easily mow down any number of zombie hordes.

[Nemesis6]

Problem is: Tanks will fail, too. Engine failure, overheating, running out of juice, zombies clawing out vital optics, etc. Combined with the fact that you will attract even more of them whichever way you use the tank, you'll be doomed eventually. On top of that: By attacking the zombies, you instantly put yourself on the defensive against a force you have no grasp of... there could be millions of them, they could be capable of alerting other zombies, and for all you know, they could bring a tank of their own as well!  

Brains before brawn when it comes to the undead, basically.