Strategies, tactics, & who would YOU choose and why?

In a previous post called "Factions and Armaments and Super Long Tangents" http://zombiepodcast.com/forum/showt...-Long-Tangents I brought up the topic of the weapons, equipment, numbers etc of the 3 known/main groups of We're Alive. Now I'm bringing up the equally if not more important topic of the strategies and tactics that are used by the Colony's forces, the Eastern Bay Remnants or "Mallers", and the Tower. Again I'll start off with the Eastern Bay "Mallers" We know very little about the significant people in their group but from what is currently known I think its safe to say that Durai is most likely the main strategist and or tactician of the "Mallers" and the overall leader. Tardust seems to be to some extent an explosives expert, he most likely had something to do with the overall tactics used by the "Mallers" during the siege on the Tower and most likely helped with the making of Pipe bombs and other improvised explosives. And I'd like to think that Durai doesn't get all the credit for the advances in equipment and the expansion of territory for the "Mallers"...

So little is known about the Colony's dominant force and what little we do know could be meaningless for all we know, now that "Gatekeeper" or the artist formally known as "Gatekeeper" and his successful coup have taken over the Colony. But from what we do know of the oppressive/dominant force of the Colony since the Tower residents arrival at the Colony there are at least 3 different classes or ranks the "Guardians", the "Scavengers", and the "Recon teams". Micheal described the Guardians as having assault rifles with scopes slung across their backs "these were the one who stayed up in the towers". He described the Scavengers as looking "clean shaven" and "wore fancy dress suits" with an assortment of rings and necklaces. And he described the Recon teams as "having long matted beards and tan lines around their eyes from many days in the field". In the previous post I speculated that the Scavengers most likely carry smaller arms such as handguns and submachine guns possibly shotguns. The recon teams may or may not also act as snipers when need be. Since the Tower residents escaped with the ammo reserve and the new characters the Colony's dominant force has most likely scaled back their outward forces like the Scavengers and Recon Teams seeing as they most likely only have the ammo left in their guns and possibly whatever ammo they carried on them. I assume that the objective of the Colony's force now is keeping the workers scared to step out of line and keeping the Colony secure.

I think its safe to say that we all know the objectives, goals, and plans that the Tower residents have by now. So instead of getting into that I have a question. Who's group would YOU want to be in and why? Ideally I see myself as the 1st of many S.T.A.L.K.E.R.S (Scavengers, Trespassers, Adventurers, Loners, Killers, Explorers, and Robbers) in We're Alive or any post-apocalyptic scenario. But if I had to choose between the 3 main factions of We're Alive I would most likely choose the "Mallers" simply because of the direction they seem to be going in currently I think I could be recognized as a tactician or strategist and possibly combatant by the rest of the "Mallers".

I would like to say the tower because their the good people(heroes) in the post apocalyptic world but from a survivors stand point I would probably stick with the mallers. They're hardened criminals who aren't afraid to kill if it means protecting their own. I also could see them teaming up with the colony making their lives much safer than the average tower resident. But that being said it would be nice to meet some of my favorite people from the tower such as Riley, lizzy, and Kelly.

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Originally Posted by ilanagl

I would like to say the tower because their the good people(heroes)

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I doubt the story has been setup the way it has been so far to make the Tower residence seem like the "heroes". I mean it's "a story of survival" there are no good guys and bad guys when it comes down to survival, only people who are lucky enough (or in some cases unlucky enough) to live long enough to see the next day. If the story followed the Mallers or the Colony theres a good chance most people would consider them the "good guys".

I'd want to go with the Tower. The structure is open enough that everyone has a say in what goes on there.

The Mallers are certainly more aggressive and ruthless in their strategies and tactics but I wonder just how much they really to "protect there own" as ilanagl says. It seems more likely that you might be protected so long as you are either tough enough to hold your own or useful enough to justify being kept around. And let us not forget that anyone who isn't "one of them," meaning a former inmate of Eastern Bay, seems to fall into the category of slave and is therefore expendable labor/zombie fodder.

The Colony is interesting, it seems to be populated by mostly good folks looking for a safe place to survive. Unfortunately most of those people are living rather oblivious to the rampant corruption at the upper levels. Marcus was a liar who apparently allowed the guardians to abuse the workers regularly. Plus the whole system seemed to be built on a draconian system of "justice" (a broken nose equals a broken neck, etc...) I really can't imagine Gatekeeper making things any better. He might throw out a few perks to get people on his side (panem et circenses anyone?), he's only in it to placate his own ego.

If I'm going to have to survive the zombie apocalypse with any of these factions, I'm going to want to be somewhere where I can have a say in my own survival and can trust the people in charge. And while the Tower may have issues with people questioning the leadership, those folks have the power to do so. How do you think Durai would have dealt with Kelly in season 1, or Steven? How would Marcus have dealt with them? What about Gatekeeper? Everyone has a stake in the Tower and knows where they stand.

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Originally Posted by HardKor

let us not forget that anyone who isn't "one of them," meaning a former inmate of Eastern Bay, seems to fall into the category of slave and is therefore expendable labor/zombie fodder.

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We have no solid proof that that is the case, remember there is at least 1 more female Maller now, I doubt she had anything to do with Eastern Bay.

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Ever since the short but intense battle for the Tower we know the "Mallers" have lost roughly half of their initial numbers before the assault on the Tower, with that slight loss of man power (I say slight because the "Mallers" Are apparently building their ranks again via found survivors. I don't think every survivor they find instantly becomes a slave but I also think that the process of choosing which of the new survivors become slaves and who becomes a "Maller" is all that complicated. I wouldn't be surprised if they were going by the 'Eeny, meeny, miny, moe' system to be honest. My backup for this theory is that there is a female "Maller" other than Scratch, in part 2 of chapter 21 When the Scratch's convoy makes the last stop before the Arena Shes introduced talking about "Sam" being ripped out of his seat during the ambush. She remains nameless but his is still important.)

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Originally Posted by HorrorHiro

We have no solid proof that that is the case, remember there is at least 1 more female Maller now, I doubt she had anything to do with Eastern Bay.

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Yeah, you do have a point there. But I still wouldn't want to leave my survival up to chance by joining the Mallers in hopes of being one of the lucky few that get chosen to join up while everyone else becomes cheap labor/zombie fodder.

Everything about the Mallers seems to point to a "might makes right" philosophy, with Durai and the other leaders trying to control the chaos while everyone else fights for whatever they can get their hands on. I know we haven't heard anything from the Mallers to prove this is the way things work, but I can't help but picture it that way in my mind.

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Originally Posted by HorrorHiro

We have no solid proof that that is the case, remember there is at least 1 more female Maller now, I doubt she had anything to do with Eastern Bay.

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I have to agree with HardKor on this one

It's "Prison Rules Dog", show any weakness & you're gone, It's a common theme in Post Apocalyptic movies to have this roving band of marauders coming across a nice little community of survivors & for them to do a big smash & grab, killing everyone & leaving nothing, although this is a common plot device to introduce the main "protagonist" , it is also sadly a reflection of your basic criminal's mind in real life, they simply haven't got the nous to work out that if they just demand a little bit now, they can come back later & feed off the colony, instead they think if they don't take it all now someone else will.

The mind of a petty criminal is truly a frightening thing, it has only 1 thought, how to scam, it's entire existence seems to center around how or what it can leverage without giving anything up.

The Colony doesn't rate a thought, it's autocratic, in fact I'd probably be leading the charge to tear it down.

I'm for the Tower, they are reasonable people who can reason.

Also I think after blowing up the Arena, the Mallers will run south & hopefully run right into the Colony, now, that'll be interesting.

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Originally Posted by Nullifier

I'm for the Tower, they are reasonable people who can reason.

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1st off I couldn't agree more with the part about the Colony. 2nd I doubt the Remnants of Eastern Bay are simple petty thugs like the Raiders of the Fallout series, of course some of them are but I don't think if majority of the Mallers simply lacked the ability to reason and negotiate in a civil manner they would have self-destructed by now. I guess it wouldn't be out of place to use Latch (Scratch's brother) as an example, remember at the beginning of chapter 6 He and Scratch (albeit her methods involve far more use of pure force and intimidation) try to negotiate over the tanker that the Tower residents took from the the fueling station. Personally I think that the negotiation would have ended in a trade of ammo for the tanker if Scratch hadn't have pushed things, and they didn't have loaded weapons. Now is this because they were low on ammo? I doubt thats the case because of the events at the end of the chapter 6, I think that Durai or Latch or someone else convinced earlier scavenging groups to keep their weapons unloaded if it seemed at all possible to negotiate over something in their territory. The being short on ammo wouldn't really work if you know what happens at the end of chapter 6 I agree with the "show any weakness & you're gone" mentality but I think that would be rather common later on in groups of survivors in almost any Post-Apocalyptic scenario.

Personally I would join everyone at the tower. The tower has some defences set up, have good numbers, and a fair amount of ammo and weapons. The only problem would be the lack of food and water after the fight with the mallers. One final point as to why I would join the tower is because everyone gets a fair amount of input as to what goes on inside the tower and everyone can remain occupied with certain jobs.
I don't think i would join the mallers for multiple reasons.
1. The mallers lost a great deal of their people in the fight for the tower.
2. It hasn't really come out how much food and water they have so that could be a gamble.
3. The mallers aren't exactly friendly people meaning most or all are criminals.
Now as for the colony I would not even want to be near there for a few reasons.
1. There are clearly government issues if there was a revolt and now bringing me to reason 2.
2. The new leader is possibly INSANE!
3. The colonies workers have horrible lives, if they dont do work they can get beaten or tased.
4. You cannot leave unless you are sent for supplies or for recon.
In this apocalyptic world the tower might be the smartest choice although the colony does have a large amount of supplies in the end for me the debate is 100% settled i would go with the tower.
Any thoughts?

I thought to keep this simple.
The Mallers have numbers and equipment over the Tower. But as I am not a huge fan of rape and slavery and I am a HUGE fan of fair treatment and everyone working together.. I'll go with the Tower. If I am going to die in a situation like this at least I will die not violated and a human being.

I like the points you made. They seemed to be fairly unbiased and reasonable. I would only choose the Mallers because I semi-despise 90% of the Towers residents (most of the main characters.) And the only way I would go with the Colony is if I had plotted out to completion a way to "pop the flood gates" if you will to kill most if not all of the oppressive force of the Colony, but this would probably lead to majority if not all of the people within the Colony's walls death. But if I had the choice of anything other than the 3 main factions of We're Alive I would be a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Scavengers, Trespassers, Adventurers, Loners, Killers, Explorers, and Robbers