Boulder, Colorado

Boulder is a small city in Colorado that sits at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. After the zombie outbreak Boulder was the largest surviving human population center, with approximately 150,000 residents.

Link to Wikipedia Article: [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulder,_co"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulder,_co[/URL]
Google Map with Boulder Sites: [URL]http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=200372006308941683650.0004cb2bc380033aab571[/URL]

[SIZE=4][B]Appearances:[/B][/SIZE]
[List]
[*]Chapter 29-2 - Michael is informed of the existence of Boulder.
[*]Chapter 29-3 - Pegs, Kelly, Datu and Hope fly out of Fort Irwin to settle in Boulder.
[*]Chapter 33-2 - A Blackhawk helicopter from Boulder locates the crash site of a Chinook helicopter that was enroute from Los Angeles to Boulder.
[*]Chapter 33-3 - Michael realizes the threat to Boulder from the missing Little One/Inkling and seeks to warn them of the danger.
[*]Chapter 34-1 - Boulder is over-run by Little Ones/Inklings. Datu and Hope are trapped in a strange house in South Boulder.
[*]Chapter 34-2 - Fighting in Boulder continues as civiians are ordered to evacuate.[/List]
[IMG]http://www.zombiepodcast.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2178&d=1349129790[/IMG]

[SIZE=4][B]The Defense of Boulder[/B][/SIZE]

The terrain around Boulder makes defense against a zombie threat challenging, but manageable.

• [SIZE=3][B]West[/B][/SIZE]—The dominant terrain feature in the Boulder area is the Rocky Mountains mountain range, which rises like a wall along the entire western flank of the city. There are a handful of roads and trails through the Rockies, with the most important being Canyon Road, that runs from the city’s hydroelectric power plants straight into downtown Boulder.
[IMG]http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/boulder_1.jpg[/IMG]

• [SIZE=3][B]South[/B][/SIZE]—This is the direction where the greatest threat would seem to lie. Denver is less than 30 miles to the south, and it is a source of potentially endless zombie hordes. Luckily there are only a handful of roads between Denver and Boulder, passing through a region of rolling hills. Assuming the zombies tend to follow the roads, it would be possible to build a strong defense by blocking the roads where it passes between hills, and covering these blockages with fire from military positions.

• [SIZE=3][B]East[/B][/SIZE]—This direction features a number of lakes and reservoirs, which channelize movement into the narrow areas between them. Once again it would be possible to build a strong defense by blocking these routes and covering them with fire from military positions.

• [SIZE=3][B]North[/B][/SIZE]—There are larger hills and more lakes and reservoirs in this direction, which provide a basis for defense. The Boulder Airport sits outside the main metropolitan area northeast of the city. The greatest threat from this direction comes from the zombie populations of small cities like Longmont, Greeley and Fort Collins, which are more than 50 miles away.

• [SIZE=3][B]Defense Strategy[/B][/SIZE]—Because of the terrain the largest concentrations of military forces are probably going to be to the south and east of Boulder, with lesser forces to the north and very little covering the west. I believe that defenses would consist of an outer ring, an inner ring and point defenses. The general philosophy would be

1) Keep a low profile to avoid attracting zombie attention,

2) Engage zombies at long range, killing them before they can get close enough to infect human defenders,

3) In the event of an attack keep the civilian population indoors, in fortified positions, with weapons. It is critical to avoid crowds of panicked civilians in the open, since these can get in the way of the military response, and they are potential reinforcements for the zombies.

4) Maintain large, mobile reserve forces to deal with breakthroughs.

[B][I]Outer Ring[/I]—[/B]barriers and roadblocks at choke points along the main roads, covered by dug-in outposts with heavy machineguns, and supported by artillery, armed helicopters and armored vehicles.

[B][I]Inner Ring[/I][/B]—Corporal Puck mentions the zombies being "inside the wall". I suspect this refers to a real wall, most likely a Hesco-type pre-fabricated wall. These use manufactured shells that form the outline of the wall, which are then filled with dirt, rocks or other fill to rapidly turn Boulder into a walled city. This is reinforced in 34-2, when we hear that there is a "South Gate" to the city.
[IMG]http://www.zombiepodcast.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2191&d=1349298581[/IMG]

[B][I]Point Defenses[/I][/B]—Every occupied building should have its doors boarded up and its ground level fortified, while larger, public buildings should be turned into bunkers. This should be complemented by roadblocks and checkpoints designed to slow the movement of people or zombies on foot, and to channel infiltrators away from populated areas and into open areas such as parks, which sould be pre-configured to serve as kill-zones for artillery, mortars and helicopters.

• [SIZE=3][B]Military Units[/B][/SIZE]—The majority of the military personnel in Boulder seem to have come from Fort Irwin, which means that most of them would be from the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. This is an armored unit, but we know that few, if any armored vehicles were transferred from Fort Irwin to Boulder. Under the circumstances we can expect most of their personnel are functioning as infantry, supported by armored Humvees and armored trucks (possibly MRAPs). [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11th_Armored_Cavalry_Regiment_(United_States)"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11th_Armored_Cavalry_Regiment_(United_States)[/URL]

The only unit specifically identified is 2nd of the 135th, Company A, Wolfpack, which corresponds with A/1-135 Aviation of the Colorado Army National Guard. This unit operates a mix of UH-60 Blackhawk, OH-58D Kiowa and CH-47 Chinook helicopters: [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2d_Battalion,_135th_Aviation_Regiment_(United_States)"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2d_Battalion,_135th_Aviation_Regiment_(United_States)[/URL]

There is no information on what, if any, artillery assets are present in Boulder. There is a local Army National Guard unit that is equipped with the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), which is a very heavy rocket artillery system. There are artillery systems based at Fort Irwin which could have been transferred to Boulder.

[SIZE=4][B]Chapter 34-1: The Inkling Attack on Boulder[/B][/SIZE]

I've been taking a close look at Boulder, trying to figure out how an attack would have unfolded. Here's how I think it happened:

1. Zombie Griggs comes over the Rockies from the Chinook crash site and approaches Boulder from the west.

2. It comes across the hydro-electric plants that support the city, attacking and turning the maintenance crews and guards and knocking out the power.
[IMG]http://www.zombiepodcast.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2179&d=1349131268[/IMG]

3. With its new posse, Zombie Griggs travels down Canyon Road into downtown Denver, just blocks from the City Council Building. The people at the command post learn of the attack when the zombies charge into their building.

4. At this point Boulder is effectively split in two, with zombies spreading out in all directions from the city center. Troops from the southern defenses attack into the city, retaking the City Council Building, and drawing the attention of the zombies in their direction.

Per KC, Datu and Hope were in the south area of Boulder. They were eventually able to evacuate through the South Gate, but got lost enroute to the rendevous point. Pegs and Kelly are described as being in the north area of the city, and to have Lady with them.

5. Colonel Kimmet orders evacuation of the city, with survivors to rendevous approximately 40 miles to the south, of of Interstate 70 at the turn-off to Evergreen (Colorado Hwy 74). This is a large shopping center, anchored by an "S-Mart" superstore. Survivors from South Boulder seem to be able to escape, but survivors in North Boulder have a harder time getting away. The Boulder Airport is over-run and the C-130 and aircraft fueling site are lost.

[SIZE=4][B]Predictions[/B][/SIZE]

Based on what we know as of Chapter 34, Part 1, Here's what I thought the best-case scenario was. [COLOR="#FF0000"]All of these predictions were proven wrong by the actual outcomes of Chapter 34, Part 2![/COLOR]
• Assuming the humans don't panic, the situation in Boulder should start to stabilize.

• The population is locked up tight in boarded up homes and fortified public buildings, and they're armed. This means that the Inklings will have a tougher time recruiting than was the case during the initial outbreak and they're taking losses doing it. And don't forget, Datu is at large, with a pickaxe!

• Army units that were guarding the perimeter of the city will be reorganizing and converging on the city center. With the civilians indoors, anyone seen on the streets will be a target, allowing the troops to make maximum use of their firepower and making it much harder for the Inklings to turn the troops. This should slow the outward spread of the Inklings, and possibly start pushing them back. The assault force from Fort Irwin should arrive in time to reinforce this effort.

• The trick now will be to draw the Inklings into the open, where they can be effectively engaged by any available armor, artillery and helicopter gunships. This becomes particularly attractive if there is an MLRS unit in Boulder. Imagine the KODI, but on a grand scale. Let's hope that Michael shared the sweat lure idea with Boulder, that they've laid in a stock of sweat bottles, and that it works on Inklings! The athletic fields at the University of Colorado campus would make a wonderful killing ground.
[category]places[/category]