zombie proof
Posted Apr 26, 2022, 11:30 PM UTC
18272
Plate armor gets hot
38
As someone whose fought in full plate, this, combined with the difficulty to breath properly when the visor is closed And it's extremely difficult/impossible to put full plate on yourself without help. (Knights had squires for a reason) make full plate not the best pick for a zombie apocalypse. Atleast not raditional full plate.
Since zombies only bite and scratch, really think padded armor like a gambeson combined with metal/thick studded leather leg guards/shoes and gauntlets, and a metal helmet with a nose guard (hoplite style helmet) would be perfectly acceptable as defense.
Combine that with an assault rifle and a knife for stabbing through eyes into the brain, maybe a pistol as a side arm, and you would basically be set. Assuming we are talking about walking dead zombies of course. 28 days later/world war Z runner zombies on the other hand, your probably just fucked if the infection and spreads to large portions of the population gets out of hand since they could easily overwhelm you and eventually get through your armor. Best bet would be find a fortifiable position, set up defenses, and only leave when you absolutely need to.
25
True. In any normal zombie movie, just a moderate amount of armour and the characters would be invulnerable to zombies.
But we have dumbasses in t-shirts and millitary gear(which protects vitals but leave limbs exposed. )
A large degree of suspension of disbelief is required.
27
Most zombie stories that I have seen focus on the early parts of an outbreak so it would make sense for most survivors to be unprepared. The real answer is that a story about a survivor that had figured it all out and become near indestructible would get boring pretty fast.
8
Any zombie movie needs a lot of suspension of disbelief. If we were following the rules of the real world, the best defense against an outbreak would be waiting 2 weeks.
In that time the bodies would have decomposed to the point they would certainly be unable to move.
Or if your movie is set in the US, where we have to issue permits to KEEP people from shooting things, an outbreak would be over in days, as we would run out of zombies well before rednecks.
There was a whole analysis of this many years ago during the peak of zombie games, and its a pretty funny one.
5
Oftentimes, while zombies are clearly decomposed, they’re usually not actively decomposing anymore because [insert in-universe reason here]. It’s honestly pretty rare for their decomposition to be an actual thing.
But yeah, the only way a zombie outbreak is happening and it causes the apocalypse is if the zombies are the definitely not fun ones like in WWZ (shudder), I am Legend (not technically zombies IIRC, but still), or The Last Of Us. Slow shuffling zombies wouldn’t cause what we see in most media, even if they do have infinite stamina and have strength in numbers—because they have to actually achieve the numbers to be a big issue.
2
I use to believe that until I had a nightmare about zombies. Think of someone super close to you, you run into them out of the blue it's like damn you don't look so well I think you need to see a doctor, and they come at you. You pull the hand on forehead move they're kinda short and can't reach you but are clawing at you and trying to bite. It's like woah dude you look like you need serious medical attention, to like what in the fuck? I mean I don't think I'd have it in me to straight up fight the corpse of my closest relatives and pulp them to death. It goes really fast from that doesn't seem right to "well it's normal to bash in my wives skull" in a movie. It's not like we're all married to Amber Heard.
2
All of this reminded me of the movie "Land of the Dead". In that movie the survivors have built a fortified city and cleared the surrounding area. They have guards that destroy the small groups of zombies that wander near and several armored vehicles that they use to go out and search for supply's. With all of this most danger in the movie comes from other survivors.
6
That’s a pretty general trend in modern zombie fiction. There’s a lot more focus nowadays on other survivors.
…and not calling them zombies, oddly enough. I get that it can come off as comical, but it’s getting kinda tiring seeing every piece of media come up with so many different names.
3
Studded leather isnt a thing. Its just what Garry Gygax thought was going on with brigandine armor
5
while plate armor is hard to get on and is quite hot, brigantine is as good as plate, cheaper and you can put it on yourself
4
I'd go with a good old, long sleeved chainmail vest, some plate gauntlets and stud my legs out or grab some more plate for them.
1
I think there is a set of plate armor in game in the newest update, unless I’m mistaken.
22
I heard you can find knight armor in mansions on display sets
25
i did find it!!!
11
That's awesome Ill keep a eye out myself for them
3
They have both real armor and weapons and replicas. Generally worth the risk to find it though. Good luck.
12
Plate armor has been in the game for years.
10
Has been as long as Ive played. You can even make it with high fabrication, the right recipe books (check libraries), and a working forge set up
4
Man, if I understood earlier how awesome museums are, my last run probably would of lasted longer.
That being said, I'm currently very steadily & systematically making my way towards the center of a very large city to reach a museum. . . Next to a dojo, a book store, & a pawn shop lol
18
By the time you get there, you will not need the budget steel cavalry saber you're going to find inside.
19
You're definitely right. But its still a fun goal in the mean time.
My blacksmith who arrived at the wrong reenactment society definitely doesn't need what he'll find there. But the real treasure are the books looted along the way
12
Speaking of Museums, they have amazing loot, if you can find them early game without many zombies nearby, you'll get some pretty decent melee weapons and some good earlygame armor if you're lucky.
12
And last I looted one, you can get in through a busted skylight if you can get on the rooftop. And zombies dont seem able to bust the door down, so you're free to loot and get kitted out until you're ready to bust out
2
Pauldrons (poor fit)
Cuirass (poor fit)
Grieves (poor fit)
12
Plate armor is a terrible idea to wear in a zombie apocalypse, unless you are very well trained with it. It will exhaust you, make a lot of noise that zombies will hear, and you still can get grappled and basically pinned down until you die of exhaustion or a zombie able to get through your armor shows up.
On the plus side it looks cool, and if you're probably going to die anyway and it fits - why not try it out?
In practical terms though, being able to avoid bites or other zombie attacks through armor is significantly less important than the ability to avoid zombies and kill them from a distance where they cannot harm you in the first place. Armor hurts with avoiding them, doesn't help with killing them from a distance (slows you down, so might even make it worse), and will actively exhaust you and make you less able to move/scavenge/find food and do other survival things.
Even in CDDA, plate armor is so heavy that I wouldn't wear it unless absolutely necessary.
Broadswords are quite good though, as are the zweihanders and such.
5
that is assuming in said zombie apocalypse the zombies don't have HumanDetecto™ Radar Ears built in like in CDDA. always bothered me that they can pinpoint humans exactly from non-human noises but are never drawn to any other noisy things
edit: meant to say zombies in most media. in CDDA, I know they're attracted to any noise
9
Huh - in my limited CDDA experience, zombies are absolutely drawn to any noise.
It’s the smell that usually lets them find you accurately.
8
CDDA zombies are indeed attracted to any sound; turrets shooting, grenades going off, car crashes, buildings collapsing...
If I recall correctly they'll go for whatever they can see, if they can't see anything they'll investigate noise, if there isn't any noise or enemies to see, they'll track the player's scent trail (only the player leaves a scent trail, for performance reasons)
6
It’s pretty funny seeing a horde around a turret. The constant “hostile detected” and empty clicks keep the zombies around, but they can’t damage it, so it’s an eternal struggle between no ammo and no sufficient melee.
2
They are actually drawn to a variety of noises, even those unattached to player action.
Ever notice how every zed on the block runs for the burning house mostly after the fire has started? The smashing noises are what's luring more than the light of the fire.
Every turret popping off, every bot opening fire, any screechy zeds, other monsters breaking glass ... All acted upon independently.
5
Which is why I'd honestly prefer thick padded armor like a gambeson. It's light, easy enough to move in, quiet, and strong enough to resist bites and scratches. Would suck to wear in summer though, but, so would most armor.
7
Plate armor is a terrible idea to wear in a zombie apocalypse, unless you are very well trained with it.
Sauce? On it requiring a lot of training.
2
For one thing, plate armour is heavy. While the weight is evenly distributed, rather than leaning heavily on one side like the Jousting suits, Medieval Knights would've been trained in fighting, moving around AND wearing the armour for at least a sizeable chunk of their lives. Plus they had serfs whose purpose it was to help do up and unbuckle their masters' armour. Their armour also had to be cleaned daily, more than once, to make sure it didn't rust or cut into the wearer's skin.
By contrast, these are survivalists who would've picked this up and worn it around for at least a few weeks. Time is not typically something most Zombie Apocalypse survivors have in abundance, nor do they have trained servants to help remove & clean their armour. The armour typically worn by Medieval Enthusiasts are not authentic for this exact reason; real medieval armour is insanely difficult to put on and take off by yourself, hence why they have to rely on reproduction suits with modern locking tabs or buckles. They also don't have to deal with cleaning blood stains, dirt or stray flecks of gore after every battle.
4
Nothing about that would make it ineffective. And 20 kg is not that heavy.
2
No, but try walking around with 20 kg steel plates all over your body, with chainmail underneath and padding to make sure the chainmail doesn't cause skin rash, while you're being chased by a horde of zombies.
3
You gotta be in a very good shape to carry that weight while fighting multiple zombies, or you'll get tired eventually quick. Getting tired is a pretty common way to die. Plate armors were made to protect yourself against sharp steel, it's probably too much against putrid zombie teeth. A lighter, more comfortable option would be more viable if you want to be able to make a run for it when the shit hits the fan.
1
I mean, its 20kg. Not nothing, certainly, but the average modern soldier's kit is around about 50kg, so... yeah.
That said, you're right on the money in terms of the difficulty in putting on full plate. Not only that, the stuff had to be tailored pretty closely to someone's measurements to fit right without hurting them or limiting movement.
Ive always felt that armor should be a bigger deal in zombie scenarios though. It doesn't have to be military gear or anything, with a knife, something to use as an awl, some tough string, and some time, you could sew tire treads or similar to the sleeves and legs of your clothes. That aught to prove pretty damn good protection from what amounts to dumb unarmed combatants
1
Assuming none of them randomly pull a helmet or glove off, I just imagine them buried under a pile of zombies. Starving to death because they can't move and the Zeds won't leave.
3
There's actually tire based Armor pieces in CDDA now with the latest Experimental load out. They're pretty great but bulky AF.
1
The grappling aspect is severely underestimated by a lot of people. If even a handful of zombies get a hold of you, you’re going to be stuck until you die of thirst without an act of god. You may be invincible—though that’s debatable too as there are a lot of pieces to armor that can eventually be worn down that aren’t the plates—but good luck trying to actually take advantage of that.
Now you could be an abuse sponge with an armed partner, but the risk of that is accidentally getting shot.
1
I love Medieval Armour. I love Armour in general. And Medieval European Armour, despite common myth, is actually fairly easy to move around in once you've gotten the hang of it. Especially since the weight is evenly distributed, rather than heavier on one side or the other.
That being said, it is also not a perfect means of resisting zombie hordes. Those gaps in the armour, while useful for moving around, also means that they can reach into those gaps and inflict some serious damage. If a regular spear can incapacitate a fully-armoured Medieval Knight, chances are a pissed off Zombie (or a horde of them) can do much, much worse. That's why you also need a means of attacking at both long-range and medium-range, like how most Medieval Knights actually engaged in combat.
3
Assuming zombies tend to claw and bite randomly alot worse is absolutely false.
Both of those attacks require space to inflict damage. The worst a zombie can manage is a finger or two with no leverage to pierce any kind of under armour in the gap. And thats if the zombie even knows to target weakspots. There is a distinct chance of being crushed to death but being pierced through a weakspot is unlikely.
5
One zombie, sure. But if watching any zombie movie has taught me anything, loud noises attract entire hordes to your position. And if they see someone struggling to push off a Zombie, it doesn't matter if that person's wearing armour or not, they have a numerical advantage.
2
Well you have to take a risk anyway. An armor like that mean you are at no risk of getting bitten which mean death but you are slowed, on the other hand weaker armor mean you can die from your wounds but you are mobile. I would say a scouting mission before getting into a battle with such armor give you the best chance to survive clearing an area of zombies.
2
That's actually a great tactical move. Maybe throw in giving the armoured unit long-range weaponry, like spears or pikes behind a Shield Wall, which reduces the chances of being overwhelmed.
2
In an actual zombie apocalypse, why would you wear heavy restrictive plate armor over just... A leather jacket? It's not like vanilla zombies could bite you through leather anyway.
Also, let's propose a scenario: you're wearing your Tin Can of +1 Invincibility, sweating like a pig, barely able to see around you, exhausting yourself with the weight (therefore needing more food and water, and are you carrying a backpack on top of everything else?), and suddenly, a zombie horde catches up to you. You fail to run away fast enough due to the heavy armor, and you're pushed to the ground.
You're safe! Your armor protects you, and you laugh at the two dozen zombies trying to get into your armor. Until you try to get up, and you realize you can't.
You stay calm, trying to wrestle your arm out from beneath a zombie so you can fetch your dagger (the sword clearly would be too unwieldy), but more zombies approach, attracted by the noise. You're already tired and very thirsty, and surrounded by over a hundred corpses trying to get into your armor.
You die a day later of dehydration. But hey! At least they didn't bite you, right?
2
#winning is all that matters
1
It was made for a particular person a couple hundred years ago, it wouldn't fit a random survivor.
1
Because there are billions of people and maybe thousands of museums.
1
In the zombie movie they would just have a zombie puke into the armor and have armored zombie be a boss for the main character.