Incomplete Espionage
"The h*** with information - ammunition is ammunition!" ~Patch McGuire, tech
<<August 21, 1998>>
A light on the device hanging from your belt beeps, and you rush to the Southern edge of your base to receive the report your spy was about to give. Moments later you arrive, out of breath, and stare at a black-clad figure in similar condition. You recognize the face of the spy as a personal friend, but command had repeatedly denied your requests that he be permanently posted with you. After you've both caught your breaths, he begins to speak.
"Sir, there's an attack planned, 20 men, precise pattern of attack left up to their commander. I would have tried to stay with them and get the battle plans, but they're moving too quickly and I couldn't have made it back in time to warn you."
"What," you breath, "what weapons do they have?"
The spy takes a deep breath. "I couldn't find out. They were carrying them in large plastic buckets with lids, and an awful lot of them too. The only reliable thing would be for me to say that they couldn't supply the unit unless they received more supplies or most of the weapons were not XPs 250 and up or CPS 2000 and up."
Still breathless, you nonetheless turn back to your base to try to make preparations. You arrive and immediatley grab the defense statistics sheet off the tree and begin reading. The defense staff consisted of a total of 15 people including yourself.
WEAPONS:
50 x2
XP 40 x4
XP 70 x5
XP 250 x2
XXP 175 x2
XXP 275 x1
CPS 1000 x2
CPS 2000 x1
ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT:
10 gallon-size jugs of water
2 funnels
You look up at the structure of your defense. A pretty meager fortification, it consisted of a large platform bolted to the trunks of three trees with a waist-high railing going along the edge of it. It was positioned on the Southern edge of a light forest, with a slight upward slope further South, towards the enemy border which was but a hundred feet off. The forest cut backwards to the East and West, leaving an open horizon in both directions. The platform was accessible by a ladder attached to each of the three trees. Because there were no accessible branches on the trees and the platform could only accomodate 10 people, you had attached a rope around the outside of the three trees (forming a triangle) and hung a waterproof tarp over it, so a flexible barricade was in place, about waist-high, to supplement the main base.
The spy who reported runs up behind you and salutes. "Reporting for duty, sir!"
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Okay, I would split my group of 15 people up into 3 squads of 5 people that work together to beat the pants off the bad boys with water toys.
The first squad goes just outside the base, with the purpose of stopping people from getting in the base. Each of the guys in this squad has one of the XP 70's. Underarmed, I know. But they'll be close to the base so they have a lot of firing support, and they'll be a little fast, too. Their mission is to keep people OUT. These guys are the ones who keep the guys on top high and and dry. Let's call this squad the "outsiders"
The second squad is underneath the platform, kneeling down and protected by the tarp. With them is four gallons of water and one funnel, for refilling. The weapons for this squad are: XXP 275, XXP 175, XXP 175, SS 50 & XP 40, SS 50 & XP40 (The guys with the 50's use the 40's as sidearms). These guys have the job of covering the "outsiders", as well as keeping people away from the base in general. I'll call this squad the "bottom dwellers"
The third squad stands on the platform with the most powerful weapons. These guys have the job of blasting anyone who gets too close. They protect the whole base in general, not just ladders or other people. They get six gallons of water and one funnel. The weapons: CPS 2000, CPS 1000, CPS 1000, XP 250 & XP 40, XP 250 & XP 40. These guys will be known as the "topsiders."
Now that I have each squad described, armed, and named, here's the actual battle plan:
All squads take up their positions with guns loaded and pumped. The Topsiders, being the highest ones up, scan for oncoming enemies. When the enemies are spotted and in range, the topsiders open fire, pumping as they shoot. Givin' all they got until they got no more.
As the topsiders' pressure and water diminishes, the enemy will most likely advance on the base. This is when the bottom dwellers go into action, firing at the oncoming herd of horibles and slowing them down. Assuming the topsiders refilled (if neccessary) and repumped fast enough, they should be ready about the same time the bottom dwellers start to wear out. This time they take turns firing, going one or two at a time, then repumping while the other topsiders blast away. Meanwhile, as the enemy onslaught pours through, the outsiders use their smaller weapons as a bonus in agility, firing at anyone who tries to get in the base.
Now the bottom dwellers open fire again, hitting anyone who goes for the outsiders, as well as anyone they can get a good shot at.
The outsiders, protected by the bottom dwellers, make every last effort to keep the enemies from getting in. If an enemy climbs a ladder, they get hit. If they get to close to the guys underneath, they get shot at.
And the whole time the guys on top fire away at the invading forces with their heavy cannons, until eventually the attackers run out of water and moral, forcing them back away from the base.
~Matt Lindsay
There are a few fundamental difficulties with this plan:
You also made the obvious mistake of failing to use all your resources -- the spy offered his services, which is something you don't usually have access to, so you should have either sent him out again or given him and gun and posted him somewhere! I think that if you re-read the POW you'll find that it should have been clear that he was not a normal defender, which means he brought up your troop tally to 16.
As for the plan itself, if the attackers get close enough for you to utilize your bottom dwellers element, the topsiders are going to be in range, and your outsiders have yet another blow to their importance. In addition, up in that fortress the only cover is the trees, which aren't going to protect 5 people at once.
My solution to POW 19 is:
Set up the defense staff like this.
CPS 2000 main, 50 backup (x1)
CPS 1000 main, XP40 backup (x1)
CPS 1000 main, 50 backup (x1)
Two XP40s (x1)
XXP275 main, XP40 backup (x1)
The remaining guns are distributed, one per person, between the remainder of the defense staff. Everyone with only one gun then gets a gallon jug for purpose of refills. The two funnels are shared by all, one on the ground and one on the platform.
This is the strategy to use: Place the person with the XXP275, both people with XXP175s, the person with the XXP250 and the person with the CPS 2000 on the ground, with everyone else on the platform. Then use a fire and retreat system where one round of people shoots while the next one refills.
~Nathan M G Hannon
First of all, the person with the XP 250 can't be on the ground because there is no XP 250! There was one other major error -- you've got a grand total of 19 weapons, all told -- even if you don't arm the spy and have him help defend, equiping 2 weapons each on 5 people only leaves 9 weapons left to share between 10 people. OOPS!
Also, if only 10 people fit on the platform, that not only gives you no room to maneuver, it gives you little or no cover, and the water jugs which people set down will probably end up being kicked off. Just because you CAN fill it up that much doesn't mean its a good idea.
I would have 5 people up in the fort with the cps 2000, both cps 1000's,the xxp 175 and the xxp 275 with 5 water bottles and 1 funnel. I would give the spy control of the rest of the people, who would take all the remaining supplies and hide in the light forest. When the enemy came, the people in the fort and half of the people in the forest would fire on the enemy, sniping off most of thier forces. After the people firing ran out of ammo, the other half of troops on the ground would charge at the enemy, fighting melee-style.
~jcool
All right, the first problem is your hiding spot. As I pointed out, the enemy border is to the south, and the spy arrived from the south. Furthermore, the south is the only direction from which an approching force would have cover. Therefore, it is only logical to assume that you will be attacked from the south.
Now, if you're going to be attacked from the south, then the light woods to the south is NOT a good hiding place for your defenders!
Secondly, holding back half of your ground troops isn't going to help. The point of a secret weapon (same basic idea) is to throw off your enemy's plan with something they weren't expecting. If you've already thrown off their plan, then its useless. Therefore, the first surprise (attacking from an unexpected concealed location) is going to do all the damage that's going to happen. Holding more troops back merely reduces your firepower until they attack.
Furthermore, "melee-style" water fighting was made obsolete with the introduction of weapons capable of shooting 15 feet. If you have two forces hiding in the same location, the force that attacks second has virtually no chance of getting that close without being shot down unless your battle plan is centered around it.
I should also point out that if you choose to conceal one force so that they can get closer to the enemy before the fighting starts, they would do better to have some of the heavier weapons.