Unification and Leadership

My role in Humans vs. Zombies, after my first semester of play, has been the decisive, vocal and educated leader. During Fall 2007 I was a pioneer in the unconventional warfare, examples of which include:

1. Duck Maneuver (I think we called it that) -. Nate Klessig and I left a the sieged Violette through a side door, coordinating an ambush on the door zombies with the humans still inside. Everyone made it.
2. Baldwin Radio Technician - A columned group of zombies rushed our four-man position, so I took the left flank and sprayed a Magstrike clip at eight zombies at once.

In Spring and Fall 2008 I was seen as an experienced player, a survivor, and a generally charismatic guy. Even as a zombie the other players needed me, and eventually expected me, to take a role as a general. I’ve had my good leadership calls and my bad, but they still trust me. This is probably due mostly to my tendency to stick my neck into danger for another’s survival, and it has certainly got me munched. This is a less favorable state for me since I’m a better human than zombie, and a better leader than follower. I haven’t studied zombie tactics as much as human tactics, so I’m most effective at the top of the human hierarchy.

In a given battle situation, a mob of zombies plows into the human position. Does Charlie hold his position to stun a few zombies, knowing he’ll save the comrades behind him but inevitably get munched? Or does he screw them and retreat 25 feet to a more survivable position? When four zombies semicircle around a retreating human such as Josh Hirner or Ben Shannon, do the rush knowing full well that they’re going to get stunned (and potentially not feed)? Or do they hesitate, hoping to wrap around the human for a more tactfully advantageous opportunity? My point is this: There is no higher cause that can justify a person to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. HvZ is not a political war game and it’s not La Revolución. It comes ultimately to survival of the individual. Then is the concept of a unified, cohesive army (on either side) achievable or just a fool’s dream?

Let’s look again at my game tendencies. As a human I escort humans, take dangerous parts of missions, and combat the zombies directly. As a zombie I organize the ambushes and lead charges. I go out of my way, putting myself in danger, to make sure that a few other players have less danger. Players see me as an effective leader, but they also see me as a way to minimize their own risk. To cite Fall 2008’s Baldwin-McClain lab technician massacre, I led the humans into a dangerous deathtrap and I lost control of them. I compromised their safety and they had to think for themselves. Uncontrollable chaos.

Now, let me say that I have been reading Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and will soon delve into books by Sun Pin, Machiavelli, and Clausewitz. Hypothetically speaking, if the humans had a unified mentality and were willing to work together without doubt beyond the reasonable constrains of human nature, I could very easily minimize (or negate!) casualties on missions and achieve victory in as many of them as possible. The contingency is that humans work together, and this requires that they put aside their survival instincts and individualism for the sake of the group.

It’s said that you have to die before you can live. Humans and zombies will not have to sacrifice their 15 minutes or their lives to a good general. They must, however, be willing to do so. This is where the trouble lies. I can’t tell my humans, “I promise you’ll make it out alive.” Then they won't expect danger. I can’t tell my humans, “Prepare to die for our side’s cause.” This forces the individual to compromise themselves, which no one will do. For this reason, the human cause will never be unified and will never live, but rather just survive.

Zombies have an easier time in masses because they each understand that death means a 15-minute downtime. In smaller skirmishes, though, zombies are either timid to rush (because their numbers and strength are small) or they lack confidence in their ability to tag one of the three humans they rush. The mentality that rushing is better than a free escape is the best mentality a zombie can have. The mentality that rushing is better than not rushing is the worst mentality a zombie can have. The latter gets into more global strategy, which I will not discuss at this time.

As a human leader, I have to work with the humans’ survival mentality. I’ll never have a total unification and, thus, a perfectly networked pyramidal system of teams, squads, platoons and armies can never be enacted. Victory will never be achieved with total organization and this is integral to understanding HvZ war dynamics. All I can do is show the army the preemptive battle plans, tell the army how the enemy is projected to respond, tell them how we can respond to achieve victory, and hope that they buy it. If they like it, great – we have a survivable game plan. If not, well – go with another plan and be ready to run when it turns sour. That, after all, is the mentality each of your players will have.

Humans and zombies are terribly indecisive creatures. The leader occasionally rises from the masses, but this isn’t because they need to lead – the leader could just as easily run away from trouble, maybe munch or stun a few people along the way, and make it to the next sunrise. Rather, the people need to be led. When a group needs a decisive person, the telltale sign is that they become disordered and separated. The leader role is created out of necessity and it is filled by the most eligible candidate at the time (see my side note at the end of the post).

For this reason, I will almost certainly avoid the position of widespread leader among the humans and the zombies. By the coming semester I will be very well qualified and very well trained, but there are certainly other people who would enjoy leading just as much as, if not more than, myself. If the necessity arises I can and will provide the leadership needed to keep my group alive. If someone steps up and suggests decisions that may be less favorable than those I would choose, I will not hesitate to bring mine up. If I’m in a small group that gets skirmished, I will shout tactical orders to keep us all alive. But I no longer need to be the general. My year-long reign is over.

I must take this time to acknowledge an observation concerning my zombifications. During Fall 2007 I never took an active leadership position on missions and I was one of nine on that helicopter. In Spring and Fall 2008 I took very vocal, very active leadership positions and I was munched during missions both semesters. Needless to say, I’ve noticed my tendency to survive more effectively alone despite the "protection" of fellow humans. I’ll certainly contribute when I see a loophole that could send a plan to hell. However, stunning individual zombies over a long period of time seems to be safer than surviving the big clashes, and I want to get back on the helicopter this semester. Thus, don't be surprised if I contribute to missions by staying away from the humans.

-John

A side note: Taylor Moody, an experienced player and an unconventional HvZ theologian, had an interesting social experiment of which I am supportive. The concept is this – throw the fledglings out of the nest and let them learn to fly. At the beginning of the first human mission, gather up experienced players and well-respected leaders and separate them from the masses. Then see which newbies step up as effective leaders among the chaos. Remove them from the masses to work with the more experienced players and repeat as necessary. By the end of Day 4, and assuming that leaders step up for all players as well as for smaller mission-specific teams, as many as 20 functional leaders could be revealed. Operation Fledgling is contingent on less than one third of the population being zombified on Day 1, of course.

Recapitulation

In the fall of 2007, Cody Sumter brought Humans vs. Zombies to Truman State University’s campus and, of the 120 registered players, 100 significantly contributed to the game. The Original Zombie, Wendy Morgan, successfully turned some very talented zombies who in turn made many of the Day 1 kills. I remember seeing Carl Schmidt at 9:00 am on that first day, wearing a headband across the quad, and realizing that people had already died. The adrenaline kicked in at that moment and I bolted from Ophelia Parrish to Baldwin. I crossed the bridge to McClain and he continued to follow me around the building outside. I actually had to hide behind couches, indoors, on the first day of this first game. That’s when HvZ really started for me.

We received survival missions such as searching campus for food, protecting radio technicians across campus, and even scrambling to the helipad to escape Kirksville on the night of the eighth day. Automatic guns were legalized along the way and I used this to my advantage, sporting one of the only machine guns that semester. I used the Magstrike, with a 10-dart clip ready to go at any time and three more strapped to my chest. I carried a duffel bag in my backpack to put all my guns, socks and ammo in during classes, and I strapped everything on in between. I was a knight in shining armor – zombies cowered at the thunderous rip of the emptying clip. The stretch between Magruder and Violette was always zombie-free for any travelers while I was on watch.

Morale was another victory during that game. I made a point to greet every fellow survivor when I saw them. These hails were few and far between by the fifth day, but they became more inspiring since it showed that other humans were still alive. Also, zombies were beginning to starve by that point. A particularly large partition of the population withered away by midday of the sixth day, and Truman’s campus became a ghost town Not allowing a sense of security, I stayed hidden despite the missing hoards. I guarantee that this added guard at all times, even when travel seemed safe, is what allowed me to make it onto the helicopter at the end of the game. The eighth day had ended and nine people survived.

The next night was Truman’s first Final Stand, starring Josh Hirner in the Pit. It has since become a staple of any Truman game.

In the spring of 2008, 140 people registered to play, approximately 115-120 of them contributing significantly. This game lasted seven days rather than the obscene eight and it finally introduced a proper story line. Also, two Original Zombies were chosen rather than one. Corey Johnson and Chris Jeffrey quickly added Sean Kamrey to their ranks at 12:30 am and the hoard began the reign of terror.

Missions for the humans included collecting biological samples from specific zombies, recovering genetic research tools, unlocking the military armory by killing the then-undead soldier with the keys, and eventually destroying the escape helicopter by which the mad scientist tried to escape. My head on a swivel, traveling between classes was again my bread-and-butter. I was untouchable on my own. Surviving a five-zombie ambush between Violette and Dobson on the fourth day (Nick Holtgrewe was munched by Sean after we took out the first four), I realized two things. First – the Firefly was the main member of my arsenal from then on. Second – my decisive battlefield leadership was the difference between life and death when it came to skirmishes and full-out battles.

The mission on the fifth day was when I became zombified, and by none other than Sean Kamrey. The humans were huddled between Violette and Magruder, backed against the parking lot with an 8-zombie wall in the cars to prevent a simple retreat. The hoard rounded the far corner of Magruder, marched into a formation, and charged. Magstrike blazing, I took to a flank to spray an entire clip and was gloriously overrun by a group of five zombies. That was the last time I ever touched my first gun, the blue automatic.

I helped my fellow zombies hunt between classes and I was a member of the mob-like rushes during the missions after, but I was new to being a zombie. I didn’t have the tactics down and I couldn’t contribute like the veteran soldiers around me. I was slow, timid, and bad at dodging darts. For the first time since that mad dash from Carl Schmidt, I was a newbie.

The humans destroyed their means of escape because the bad guy got on the helicopter first. Missing that mission – I think I actually had a date that night – I rejoined my flesh-hungry brethren for Truman’s second Final Stand. An admirable group of rag-tag, heat-packing survivors stood on a hill with every weapon in the pantheon of legendary foam dart guns – the Rapid Fire 20, the Tommy 20, the Dual-Wielding Magstrikes, and others. Each one of them bit the dust as the hoard melted over their hilltop position. Yummy brains.

In the fall of 2008, 305 people registered on the site. This population explosion, unpredicted by the moderators or any of the veteran players, provided a dangerous unforeseen element to the eventual five-day game. Five Original Zombies massacred that population, a majority being inexperienced players. Ivan Lenov had fresh zombies lure humans to him. Drew Clark earned trust, actually escorting humans to their (inconspicuous) locations where he munched them. Steve Bermudez eventually worked with Ivan. Jimmy Wiley kept a particularly low profile for much of the day, hiding his status as an Original Zombie until he could take full advantage of unsuspecting humans. Kevin Sack – I never saw the man in action, but his OZ status was one of the first confirmed. Nate Klessig was not an Original Zombie, but he was the single highest-suspected human that day.

The Original Zombies killed 45 people that day. Nearly 100 people altogether were members of the hoard at the end of the first day. The remaining humans were in a panic. The zombies had high-profile names, but many freshmen who’d never seen the game before also. The comfort of their potential lack of talent was overshadowed by the fear of their raw numbers – 1/3 of the population dead in 24 hours.

The missions trudged dangerously and the humans lost more and more players. I was munched on the third day during the single biggest victory for the zombie side. During that transition hour I walked with the zombies, learning their ways and becoming excited about the prospects of hunting. This time, I realized my position in the hoard. I can’t run fast, I can’t dodge bullets, and I can’t give intimidating roars. But I sure as hell can mobilize and direct a hoard.

My successful conquests included:

1. Surrounding Magruder AND the SUB, simultaneously, with 40 zombies for over 2 hours
2. Surrounding Kirk later that night for 2 hours with about 35 zombies
3. Staging a camp-out outside of Kirk for 4 hours, with the entire zombie hoard, during which time we played games, sang songs, gained friends, and really demonstrated the camaraderie of the hoard. Stories echoing in the halls of legends come from that night, and there is nowhere I’d rather have been than in a circle of Human, Human, OZ on a Saturday night.
4. Leading a third of the hoard to victory on the mission of the fourth day
5. Leading a third of the hoard to victory on the mission of the fifth (and final) day

Of the 20 humans left for the mission on the fifth day, 3 made it into Kirk (from the West Campus Suites, to Ophelia Parrish, to Barnett, and to Kirk without going into ANY other buildings). In the storyline, the humans induced cryostasis upon themselves to out-live the hoard. In real life, 3 humans survived the deadliest game of HvZ to date and themselves became legends.

I look back with mixed feelings, unresolved sentiments, hypothetical answers to countless situations, and restlessness. Let me clarify - I've loved every minute of the game. But one can't give a year and a half to this experience without wondering how things could have gone differently. This is coupled with reasons as to why the upcoming game will be significantly different from any other:

1. Cody Sumter, chief moderator and the game’s originator at Truman, is finally playing.
2. The other moderators have full control over what happens, and veteran players are stepping up to fill Cody’s shoes. The storyline and missions will get crazy.
   
3. This will be the biggest game we've seen, with the 300 people from last semester and the inevitable population swell of spring from fall.
   
4. Spring 2009 will parallel the game during which Goucher’s documentary was filmed, and there is already talk about our own similar attempts.
5. Blogging the game, which started with one man in Fall 2007 and has since become the primary means of portraying the greatest stories of HvZ, will potentially propel the game into mass media. This will affect an exponentially-growing population outside the game and will have real-world ramifications. (I found out last week that Goucher students were reading my Zombie Journals last semester… simply epic)
6. Tactics, strategies, survival seminars, squads, politics, alliances and enemies, potential innovations to the game, and other abstract ideas are falling out of the existence of this game. And 300+ people can make a lot of it happen.

My next post, ideally, will concern my philosophies on psychology and leadership in Humans vs. Zombies. Following that post will be a series of episodic explorations into varies aspects of the game – success and failure precedents for both sides of the game, zombie tactics, human tactics, and even my overall vision for human survival. I may at times cite specific scenarios from previous games, but none of what I plan to contribute is set in stone. My posts are not plans of mine but purely resources, and my reasoning for this will be further explained in my next installment.

So brace yourselves. Things are about to go unexpectedly.

-John