This is just a bit of extreme what happens when boredom and a desire for some strange entertainment meet in a dark alley…. but at the end I will also show why this also has an Axis flavor to it.
The Zombie Apocalypse craze has just about run its course, at long last, but I was thinking about one of the few good things that came from that genre; the book called “World War Z”. (the BOOK, not the odd movie that claimed to be based on it)
The idea occurred to me; what would be a top-notch anti-Zombie military unit?
In the book, the USA turned the tide when there were only 70 million Americans left and they were backed-up as far as the West coast of the lower 48 states. They did this with a military adapted to the war that they were fighting, with limited resources and even more limited manufacturing ability (the only operational cannon-foundry in the US is located in Buffalo,. New York, for example, far from California).
What the Author came up with was this;
All straight-leg infantry, and that was pretty much all. The troops were given bite-proof uniforms that were apparently made of stiff denim and retained the blue color because camouflage was deemed to be a frill when fighting the Zombies.
The weapon was the S.I.R, or Standard Infantry Rifle. From the description it was a beefy sort of Mini-14 that was sturdy enough to be used as a club when empty and could only fire single-shot. A lot of ammo could perhaps be carried, but another piece of kit was a combination shovel/ax/mattock that was meant to be THE close-quarters weapon.
Other personal attached to the unit were comms and medics, and the later were of particular importance. The “Doc” was there to monitor the mental health of the troops, as well as the other kinds. He was authorized to pull any soldier out of the line at any time, and for whatever duration he saw fit.
How well did that work? Well, in the book, by the end of the story there were only two original members of the Platoon still active; the trooper doing the narration, and the Doc. But, somehow, they had won, and in fact made it all the way from Arizona to New York City…. on foot.
Apparently, it did take a couple of years.
The only mention of Supporting Arms was in relation to LMOE situations they ran into.
LMOE means Last Man On Earth, a term for isolated survivors that went bonkers under the stress of their… situation. There were some communities that survived and welcomed liberation, as you would expect. However, there were a few that did not react in a sane or even reasonable way to re-integration with the US. The narrator says that the only time he saw tanks was when they were deployed towards the Black Hills of South Dakota to tame a very stubborn group of autonomy-minded folk.
So, let’s take this at the level of the Platoon, and be judgmental.
Pros;
Cheap. It is conceivable that an unbroken line of such troops could be deployed across a very wide area. Wide enough to actually cleanse a continent? Perhaps.
Logistic support is incredibly easy. One caliber of ammo, one set of replacement parts for everything, food and some medicine is all there is to it. That, and shelter, apparently all-weather tents and stoves is what they were reliant on year-round. And the walking pace of the advance meant that you could use a Mule-train to take care of all of it, if you had to.
All those infantry will be very handy when it comes to the nastiest kind of operation in a war like this; the clearing of an Urban area infested with the undead. This is especially true if you want to preserve as much infrastructure as possible.
The semi-armored infantry is a brilliant idea, and sure to be a morale-booster, but see below …
Cons;
The 5.56mm/.233 round defines the absolute limit of the striking power of this unit. The idea was to engage the swarms of Zombies in a Napoleonic line and simply pick them off as they charged, as Zombies do. While certainly the most economical way to fight, it is a very inflexible way to fight a war, especially in an era when very little is remembered about that kind of warfare, even among most officers of the modern military. Formation fighting has not been practiced for generations, but that is exactly what this kind of unit will need to be highly proficient in.
The reliance on foot-bound infantry limits mobility to a Medieval level. It will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for this unit to react quickly to an emergency. They will never be able to do so in a timely way.
Emergencies include somewhat distant unit being over-run, the unit itself suddenly being in danger of being surrounded, or an unexpected threat coming out of “no-where”. Also, if an opportunity presents itself for a rescue or to seize something vital, the unit can only take advantage of it at a walking pace, and can only strike at targets a few hundred yards away.
The armor will also limit their mobility, both long-term and in a close combat. While bite-proof, it is not bullet-proof (friendly fire), does not prevent injury from other sources (such as broken bones) and any sort of armor is known to be a problem in hot or cold weather.
While efficient in terms of resources, this platoon represents a brutal and time-consuming way to fight this war. It is, however, feasible.
Overall, I give it a 50 out of a possible 100, and this is our baseline.
My challenge to you;
Build your own platoon. In my experience, the maximum size of a Platoon would be 50 men or 6 vehicles, or a combination of those.
TRY to use some AXIS equipment if you can. Mark Felton has recently made some vids about Axis weaponry in use after WW2, and there was a surprising amount of it out there for a long time. Some of it still is…. and I will be using some it for my own Platoon.
Yes, I have one of my own, actually a random collection that I will explain in detail, and I will give you a chance to pick it apart once I have had a chance to type it all out. That one will be for the folks that submit one of their own to judge, as I will judge yours.
Are you game?
