ratty goes to the apocolypse!

[glitterboy2098]

for those close to one, military and civilian boneyards would be a wonderful place to set up base. to use the two i've been too...

there is a civilian aircraft storage field near kingman arizona. it's used to store jet airliners that aren't in service, and it's got a small municipal airport section. it's also used as a refueling point for military transport planes sometimes. there isn't many people present, so clearing it wouldn't be hard, just time consuming. and those airliners would make wonderful housing.

the military boneyard in tuscon has a plethora of old military planes, many in various states of dismantled. if you can get a few semi's or towtrucks together, it wouldn't be hard to tow the chopped off wings and bodies of bombers around to contruct a fort. plus you have a major military base to raid for supplies, and a big city as well. not to mention the flyable planes at the civilian airports, and the air museum... (which is itself a place one might be able to turn into a good base)

[Tiree]

Another location that may be useful are the Mothball Fleets. Generally speaking what you have is a run down boat. It has walls, windows, and it floats. If your lucky you may even find a stash of drugs underwater next to it.

In either case it can be a starting point. There probably isn't much on these ships, so getting comfortable may take some time and effort. But Zombies would either need to learn how to swim, boat, or fly to get on board. It would be a good start to a colony of survivors, and if they have smaller boats, they can raid the local marina's for food, water and fuel.

Also - Boats - if your in need of fuel, raid the marina's! These boats generally have large tanks of fuel. You can probably top of two to three times before moving on to another vessel. If you utilize the Mothball Fleet you can use your new floating home to store large quantities of fuel and clean water.

[azazel1024]

Not sure the exact state of some of the ships in mothballs or the ghost ships, but a lot probably still have their electrical systems intact (though generators, engines, etc might have been removed). Fuel storage tanks are probably still on the ship, if empty.

If you can score a good source of gasoline or diesel hook up some generators to the main electrical system on the ship and drop your fuel in to the tanks for storage and your golden.

Alternately there is a lot of deck to mount solar panels if you can find any. More electrical work required to convert to AC and feed it in to the ships electrical system, along with needing battery storage for cloudy/night...but doable I'd think.

There are lots and lots of solar panels out there, road signs, monitoring stations some houses and businesses, etc.
-Matt

[rat_bastard]

I have a 120 watt set of solar panels and two inverters and deep cycle batteries, the house we are fortified in has a solar roof that we are scavenging and our 2 rvs have rv solar panels. When we flee for a more remote location we are definitely going to have some electricity and a scary stock of weapons. (Seriously, when people started dieing we cleared out Mac's RL gun shop and got all the materials to make several thousand bullets). Right now we need to loot the proper vehicles, as I am driving a Hyndai hatchback and store more fuel, and diesel seems a better choice than Gas as it stays stable longer and some local farms produce it.

[Razzinold]

Just had a thought this morning driving in to work. Landscaping companies. Hit those up. I mean who the heck is going to want to? They've got fertilizers (frequently), tons of gasoline in convient containers, tons to syphon from mowers, trimmers, etc. Also many have gardening implements such as hoes, rakes, shovels, etc. Perfect for some quickie and good hand weapons, gasoline for transport, fertilizer for crops and probably decent farming implements to farm with. Also most tend to use good pickup trucks to haul their stuff and to haul trailers. Great for some quick off roading vehicles and the trailers, if you don't have to off road, are going to be great to carry a bunch of extra supplies back to your hideaway. Some bigger landscaping companies might have a machine shop at their headquarters and also might have diesel/gasoline pumps/tanks. Many also have large pickup bed mounted water tanks that could be used for hauling a bunch of water (that they might already have on site) or else filled with gasoline (for a bit more temporary storage).
-Matt

Funny you should mention that, my uncle owns a landscaping company and he has some nice trucks I would go after for sure. The most basic he has a semi and a large trailer that he uses to haul his backhoe, or bulldozer, stuff like that. He has a couple of Bobcats with multiple front attachments. The best one has to be one he always called his boom truck. It was big (kinda like the large gravel dump trucks) but what made this cool was the crane it had attached to it, you could operate the crane from inside the cab, or from the ground. You could have some people in the back shooting at zombies. Secure the doors so it's harder for them to get to the driver, also they would have to climb a bit. You could grab a lot of the heavy equipment people have mentioned a lot easier. Pull up somewhere. two guys hop out, wrap a chain around the vending machine, guy in the cab lowers the crane, hook it up, jump back in the truck and the guy inside lifts it up and deposits it safely inside the bed.

[rat_bastard]

I figure people should hear about the actual game this thread is about, as I am going to play my second session I should probably talk about the first...

Ok, Game started one day before the wave, we went to work, cooked food had social engagements etc. Not really exciting but it established what we did before the wave, I worked 8 hours on Dulles Airport (construction) and pulled a quick 2 hour shift at my buddie's gun shop (he pays me in bullets, firearms and accessories if I help him with the drudgery of running a retail location).

Next Day I went to work, but about 20% of the crew was sick, we worked a full day, watched some netflix, worked in my garden.

third day work was cancelled because half of everyone had some sort of super flue and news networks where reporting that it was global, so I grabbed my personal "oh ****" kit and me and my roommate went to my friend's (and GM for this game's) house. Mac's place it our designated everything is going wrong place, it has a allot of survival food, bullets guns and emegency tools as well as solar shingles on the roof. Plus most of his neighbors are upper middle class so nearly all of them are at the hospital. We agree to loot the Gun Store and take it back to Mac's as we are expecting looting.

Next day people are dying. Well, this is not a sudden flu anymore, people are dying and this is extremely troubling. We decide to do some controlled looting and stealing as things are chaotic. Mac and his gunsmith steal 2 Deluxe RVs and buy several hunting stores out of their stocks of Bullet Primers and powder, meanwhile my buddy rick has arrived with his dead roommate's guns (and he has a truely scary amount.) while me and Aaron go door to door in Mac's Neighborhood, breaking into houses with Aaron's Locksmith tools and cataloging who has what in their homes (but not actual looting yet) and expanding Mac's backyard garden (food may become scarce in the future so we planted allot more. we also decided to keep a 24 hour looter watch.

The Next day the earth has roughly, 2-3.5 billion people, me and Aaron are burning corpses we find television and radio stations are mostly on the emergency broadcast channels. There are rolling blackouts but because of our solar panels we are not effected by them. we loot Aaron's parents house and burned his parents corpses (never got mine, or really know where they are... I have suspicions but nothing concrete.). Mac and the gunsmith turn one trailer into a workshop and J-Dubs (another player) arrives in his newly armored Diesel Pickup with about 500 gallons of diesel fuel and his wife, he then builds a armored guard position on Mac's roof, we move the watch to the roof.

The next day we are working on the garden listening to the emergency broadcasting system when we notice people shambling towards us. We wave to the fellow survivors and call out to them, they moan and shamble towards us. Mac who is on the roof watching them through a rifle scope warns us that they look kinda sick, their skin looks completely off and some of them are covered in blood. We Brandished weapons and yelled at the people and they continued to moan and walk towards us, I turned to my friends and said "they look like zombies" and my friends said "that's stupid" so I shot the closest one in the groin. I nine millimeter slug to the block and tackle had no effect on the zombie so my friends suddenly came to their senses and started shooting while Jay Dubs got into his armored pickup truck and decided to drive over the zombies.

I wish I could say this combat went smoothly but it went a little like this: the guys on the roof with the hunting rifles where deadly effective against the zombies, my accurate but low caliber pistol was largely ineffective and Running over two of the zombies with the pickup turned two slouchers into crawlers but otherwise left them un-bothered. This is where I ran into a problem, My friend rick decided to run up to the crawlers and shoot them point blank, to do this he ran between those of us who had guns and our targets and put himself withing striking distance of the zombies to deal killing blows. Not only did he decide to stop us all from shooting by being a dumb-ass but he got Zombie gunk all over himself.

Disappointing to say the least, and I will not let my safety depend on him if he insists on giving up the advantage of range and getting in our firing line.

Later on another mass of zombies made its way towards us a little later and we dealt with it by using rifles.

Needless to say, looting is fully on now that we know whats going on and since we have a list of what the neighbors have we know who to hit for what, everyone's pantries where hit and moved to ours, we filled as many containers with gasoline and fuel preserver as possible and we fortified the base.

Right now we are in a largely abandoned suburban neighborhood with electricity, fuel, nearly a hundred guns, tens of thousands of bullets, nearly enough food for half a year (a great deal of it will last for years) and most of us are decent shots, so we are miles ahead of your basic survivor group. But we still have to get the F out of town, this house is till on the edge of one of the largest population centers on earth, we need to head towards the boonies where we can grow large amounts of food and be away from zombies, but first we need to loot everything that is not bolted down and use prybars to steal things that are bolted down.

and get some survivors, keeping the human race going is kinda a decent priority.

[rat_bastard]

So across the street from our little suburban Hideaway is a Hummer/BMW/Mini Dealership, so Ratty took his buddie and traded his 2005 Hyndai Accent in for a 2012 BMW Diesel SUV, then our Auto Mechanic and I reinforced it with a cow catcher and some basic armor plating increasing its AR and SDC, we then lost the back seats, put in a safe stuffed with ammo, batteries and some survival equipment as well as a container of enough Diesel fuel to refill the SUV once (giving it a range of 1000 miles).

Meanwhile Team B struck a Jackpot of Body Armor, BDUs and Combat Boots in the locked backroom of a Military surplus store and snuck it back to us (The store in question was buried in the back of a industrial park right off of a main road).

Both of these unrelated lootings make our Airport job next session much easier, but in-between that one of our players decided to see how close he could get to a zombie without alerting it to its presence... WITHOUT TELLING US! Se it was sunset, he and his partner where on roof watch (we improvised armored sniper tower on the roof) and he excused himself to walk out into the night and find some zombies... he then snuck up rather effectively to a group of four zombies, untill he got into their default sensing range and they howled and chased him... back to us.

I don't mind experimentation, but this is not the time to walk a tightrope without a net. Once his partner figured out what was going on we all took spaces on the roof with our preferred long range rifle, but things where pretty hairy for a while because this player decided to only bring a sword and other silent weapons.

We did learn that some Zombies can run, which was an unpleasant revelation, good thing they can't think, or talk...

[The Galactus Kid]

Rad.

[rat_bastard]

Its been a while since I've updated so I thought I would post about the last few sessions and some of my observations.

First off, the writers of dead reign have seen too many zombie movies. Shotguns are not my first choice for zombie killing weapons, they are my forth choice.

first off, the best shotgun has range issues, and every foot between you and your target is a good thing, second what happens when you've emptied your magazine? On most shotguns you insert each shell one at a time, meaning it can take 4-8 actions to reload your shotgun.

What you really want for fighting the undead is a Semi-automatic clip fed rifle, like a AR-15, a Ruger Mini-14, a M-14, a SKS or a Civilian AK-47. The advantage to these rifles is good range, relatively common ammunition types, good damage, quick reloading and often fairly easy to modify.

The next thing you want is a good scoped hunting rifle or several scoped hunting rifles. These are generally bolt action rifles with an internal 5 round magazine, so they are not ideal as battle rifles but they are great for when you can snipe zombies. See Zombies, don't duck for cover or shoot back so if you can get somewhere they cannot reach you, you can take a hunting rifle to a rooftop where they cannot reach and put a few boxes through the skulls of the living dead without much risk to yourself. The other advantage is that most hunter's have a decent amount of the correct ammunition on hand.

After that you want some pistols, they are compact, the clip fed ones are easy to reload, the only issue is most don't do as much damage and accuracy suffers for pistols. I think of my pistols like most people think of their Melee weapons, I don't want to use them but they are my fall back.

After all of these things I would use a shotgun, but since I have a great deal of better choices I avoid it.

[azazel1024]

To me the only perks of a shotgun are that the ammunition is common among stores and homes and that you can cut one down as a 'last resort' weapon pretty easily. Also they can be used for hunting as well, which you might need to do after awhile.

Something like an Ithaca stakeout shotgun or something similar in 12 guage size loaded with OO or OOO buckshot. Only a few shots, but if you are using it as a backup weapon it could be pretty darned useful. Also very useful against the living if you need to get in close.

Finally a gas operated automatic drum feed shotgun would work really well, but again range issues.

Frankly I'd have two, a 'hunting' shotgun where I would use a really tight choke and a 'zombie' shotgun which would either be a cut down one or else a something like the Ithaca stakeout where it is already small in size. Shotguns with slug make great door knockers as well.
-Matt

[rat_bastard]

Another thing, I have fired multiple shotguns, all are fun to shoot but the fact is that after every trip to the range I felt like my shoulder had gone several rounds with a boxer. The idea of shooting a Fully automatic shotgun sounds painful at best, and the ammunition is 2-4 times heavier than rifle rounds.

[azazel1024]

I have no doubt about punishing your shoulder. Frankly I think it would take a very large guy (or woman, but frankly not to be sexist, but a huge woman) to really handle a 12 guage semi-auto shotgun and ever think it was a good idea. That and some padding on the butt stock.

If it was the difference between being zombie food and needing to rub bengay on my horribly bruised shoulder for a week afterwards, I'll take the bengay.
-Matt

[Thinyser]

So one of the people in my gaming group has decided to run a dead reign game, the premise is "its 2012 and you survived the wave".

so mild mannered construction worker rat_bastard is playing "mild mannered construction worker rat_bastard"

Here's the thing, of the four people likely playing this game three are gun collectors, one is a CIA "analyst", one owns a business that custom builds AR-15s and casts his own bullets, one is a freelance Union organizer (something with an incredibly broad and useful skill-set) and one is a SCA heavy combat fighter. Oh and did I mention that we kinda collect things that would be useful in a scenario where the world ends?

yeah, we are not your average Dead reign survivors.

So I thought I would have a continuing thread on ratty's insights into the world of the walking dead and the things he's doing to survive and thrive in a world gone mad.

Ok so quick clarification. You are construciton worker Ratty McRatz and said other players are doing there own personal skillset for their characters as well?

[rat_bastard]

So one of the people in my gaming group has decided to run a dead reign game, the premise is "its 2012 and you survived the wave".

so mild mannered construction worker rat_bastard is playing "mild mannered construction worker rat_bastard"

Here's the thing, of the four people likely playing this game three are gun collectors, one is a CIA "analyst", one owns a business that custom builds AR-15s and casts his own bullets, one is a freelance Union organizer (something with an incredibly broad and useful skill-set) and one is a SCA heavy combat fighter. Oh and did I mention that we kinda collect things that would be useful in a scenario where the world ends?

yeah, we are not your average Dead reign survivors.

So I thought I would have a continuing thread on ratty's insights into the world of the walking dead and the things he's doing to survive and thrive in a world gone mad.

Ok so quick clarification. You are construciton worker Ratty McRatz and said other players are doing there own personal skillset for their characters as well?

yes, rat_bastard is a construction worker and part time gun store clerk. both are pretty valuable.

[Thinyser]

Lets start with a talk about the all important melee weapons, I have to say in the world of dead reign the blunt weapon skill is truely king. And a Pry bar is probably the most important item you can have, its got a good swing and it will get you into most buildings and many vehicles.

I personally recommend the Dead On AN18 18-Inch Annihilator Utility and Wrecking Bar for both crushing zombie heads and breaking into homes and businesses for looting. I wear one in a belt loop and I have personally reinforced the rubberized handle with foam rubber and gorilla tape because the padded handle is not as thick as one needs for zombie Killing. Still, this is a very useful tool and good weapon, I recommend it or a similar device to anyone who wants to survive.

A Pry bar with a Padded handle is a necessity for survival, it can get you food shelter and be used to kill zombies, but there are other weapons that are very useful in the apocalypse.

I also like the idea of having a Boar Spear. Peircing weapons are far from ideal, but I feel the boar spear is a special case, the barbs on the head hook onto the zombie's bones which enables you to keep 4 feet of wood and steel between you and the walking dead. It also allows you to push a zombie around with leverage (which helps counter its prodigious strength). If you are working with a team one guy can spear the zombie while the other crushes its skull fairly easily.

Like the boar spear idea and thats a good little tool...
but I'd just use a pair of good heavy ball peen hammers or maybe a hammer and a good hatchet, and then use one of these as a big mean weapon and door opener. Plus its named FuBar (just for that I'd give it sledge hammer damage without the extra attack ) might carry that smaller one you suggested as a backup though as it would be a good thing to have for smaller spaces.

Here is a review quoted from the Amazon page

i was surfing the web one day when i came across this glorious tool. i knew immediately that i had to have one. i waited a few days, calling around to local hardware stores to see if they carried it. unfortunately i could only find its smaller brothers. they were not for me, i needed the full size tool of destruction. so i looked online and amazon had the best price (plus i got free shipping!!!). i bought it and it arrived. i took it out and checked it out. pure awesomeness. i took it around with me. showed everyone i knew. they were all jealous of me for having something so awesome.

my buddy calls me one day and asks me to come over and help him take down the shed out behind his house. i go over there, fubar in hand, and i start destroying the thing. there is nothing so satisfying, as smashing things up. and this is definitely the tool to do it. i had half the thing down before my friend even got started.

i give this thing 5 stars. because it does exactly what its supposed to do. and it is perfect at what it does. so whether you're looking to demolish something...or you're getting weapons togeather for the zombie appocalypse...this tool is for you.

You can litterally twist out studs with that FuBar. I used one to demolish a farmhouse with my stepdad.

[Thinyser]

So one of the people in my gaming group has decided to run a dead reign game, the premise is "its 2012 and you survived the wave".

so mild mannered construction worker rat_bastard is playing "mild mannered construction worker rat_bastard"

Here's the thing, of the four people likely playing this game three are gun collectors, one is a CIA "analyst", one owns a business that custom builds AR-15s and casts his own bullets, one is a freelance Union organizer (something with an incredibly broad and useful skill-set) and one is a SCA heavy combat fighter. Oh and did I mention that we kinda collect things that would be useful in a scenario where the world ends?

yeah, we are not your average Dead reign survivors.

So I thought I would have a continuing thread on ratty's insights into the world of the walking dead and the things he's doing to survive and thrive in a world gone mad.

Ok so quick clarification. You are construciton worker Ratty McRatz and said other players are doing there own personal skillset for their characters as well?

yes, rat_bastard is a construction worker and part time gun store clerk. both are pretty valuable.

Awesome I wanna hook up with you when the zed's hit... but you're way out in Cali right?

[rat_bastard]

So one of the people in my gaming group has decided to run a dead reign game, the premise is "its 2012 and you survived the wave".

so mild mannered construction worker rat_bastard is playing "mild mannered construction worker rat_bastard"

Here's the thing, of the four people likely playing this game three are gun collectors, one is a CIA "analyst", one owns a business that custom builds AR-15s and casts his own bullets, one is a freelance Union organizer (something with an incredibly broad and useful skill-set) and one is a SCA heavy combat fighter. Oh and did I mention that we kinda collect things that would be useful in a scenario where the world ends?

yeah, we are not your average Dead reign survivors.

So I thought I would have a continuing thread on ratty's insights into the world of the walking dead and the things he's doing to survive and thrive in a world gone mad.

Ok so quick clarification. You are construciton worker Ratty McRatz and said other players are doing there own personal skillset for their characters as well?

yes, rat_bastard is a construction worker and part time gun store clerk. both are pretty valuable.

Awesome I wanna hook up with you when the zed's hit... but you're way out in Cali right?

Other side of the country, 25 miles from DC.

[Thinyser]

So one of the people in my gaming group has decided to run a dead reign game, the premise is "its 2012 and you survived the wave".

so mild mannered construction worker rat_bastard is playing "mild mannered construction worker rat_bastard"

Here's the thing, of the four people likely playing this game three are gun collectors, one is a CIA "analyst", one owns a business that custom builds AR-15s and casts his own bullets, one is a freelance Union organizer (something with an incredibly broad and useful skill-set) and one is a SCA heavy combat fighter. Oh and did I mention that we kinda collect things that would be useful in a scenario where the world ends?

yeah, we are not your average Dead reign survivors.

So I thought I would have a continuing thread on ratty's insights into the world of the walking dead and the things he's doing to survive and thrive in a world gone mad.

Ok so quick clarification. You are construciton worker Ratty McRatz and said other players are doing there own personal skillset for their characters as well?

yes, rat_bastard is a construction worker and part time gun store clerk. both are pretty valuable.

Awesome I wanna hook up with you when the zed's hit... but you're way out in Cali right?

Other side of the country, 25 miles from DC.

Hmm for some reason I thought you were in Cali... but I guess the CIA analyst was a good clue that you were east coast.

[Thinyser]

Another thin non-gun people probably do not know

A .357 revolver is a treasure anyplace where ammo is scarce

you know why? Because a .357 revolver can fire .38 ammunition without any modification whatsoever. The rounds are the same width, but the .357 bullets are a little longer (because they have more powder, the slug is essentially the same). Any gun that can happily use multiple common ammo types is more useful by definition than one that requires a specific shell.

its also cheap to take to the range because you can do your target shooting with the cheaper .38 rounds.

Also every .357 revolver I've seen has been solidly built of stainless steel, which means it can be used as a relatively efficient club if you need to.

This I did know. Usefull for sure.

[Thinyser]

I need the skills demolitions and basic electronics for an idea I came up with, basically since zombies are attracted to noise, light and movement and have no common sense.

It seems like outfitting satchel charges with strobes, Christmas lights and cheap music players (and possibly hamsters in a cage) to attract a crowd and then when it gets to be standing room only detonate the entire package.

seems like an efficient and spectacular way to thin the zombie population.

Only problem I see with that is the zeds only moan when they see human prey. They will investigate the sounds and light and even kill the hamsters... but unless they moan, which they wont do, you are only gonna get the few in the area that can hear and see the bomb not the entire 12 block radius like if they moan.

Good idea but limited in damage capabilities unless you play that they moan with every encounter of something alive... but I'm pretty sure its intended that the zeds moan only when they see live humans.




My buddy that is gonna start a DR as a player soon had the following idea.

First decapitate a zombie and take it somplace and weld it into a cage with it head inside then reattach it when its inside. Take the zed into town with a big tarp over the cage on the back of a truck which also has a big tank full of gasoline. Then drive around slowly with the tarp off and the zombie moaning its fool head off. You will soon collect a suffling train of slouchers... kinda like the pied piper leading out the vermin/children.

Drive just fast enough that the slouchers almost cannot keep up. After you have assembeled several hundred or even several thousand zeds following you, at a sedate pace (you've had several people siting on the truck that have been shooting the fast attackers and any that even look like they might be a thinker), drive onto a bridge over a deep and fast flowing river which has been previously strewn with hay and other dry tinder and as you drive over you spray the gasoline all over the tinder and the closest zombies. Then when you get them all on the bridge you accelerate off the bridge tip a couple of pre made baricades into place to prevent them from following you off the bridge. Using ropes tip over some other premade baracades to keep them from backing off and then ignite the gas soaked tinder with a flare gun or some of those electric matches they use for modle rockets and woomp roasted zeds...

Its not perfect but its a good set up IMO especialy because if any jump/fall off into the water and extinguish the fire they will still probably end up miles away, as they cannot swim and would be at the mercy of the current, but would not start the town on fire.

[Thinyser]

Toy stores: Baseball bats, flashlights, personal gaming devices, walkies talkies, mountain bikes and squirt guns (combine a super soaker with lamp oil and have fun!) need I say more?

You can theoretically make a flamethrower out of a super soaker. But it won't last long before the heat melts the plastic and you have burning fluid falling at your feet.
Though if your char is handy, maybe he can replace some of the plastic bits with metal to make it work...

Actually they make pretty good ones with just a simple metal nose cone and nozzle but heavy duty aluminium foil will keep them intact for at least 2 bottles of fuel so long as you dont let the little plastic nozzle get melted by the flames.


However...

The ideal home-made flamethrower is a pump up garden sprayer with a metal wand and nozzle and one of those jet flame aim and flames they have now (you will have to extend the fuel delivery tube to get it out past the end of the sprayer nozzle) zip tied and/or duct taped to the wand.

Pull the trigger on the aim and flame then thumb the spayer and out gouts a 10-15 foot blaze. Thumb the spray nozzle first and you can blast a stream of fuel 20+ feet easy, then ignite it with the aim and flame and have the fire travel along it.

Pure awesome.

[Thinyser]

Another thin non-gun people probably do not know

A .357 revolver is a treasure anyplace where ammo is scarce

you know why? Because a .357 revolver can fire .38 ammunition without any modification whatsoever. The rounds are the same width, but the .357 bullets are a little longer (because they have more powder, the slug is essentially the same). Any gun that can happily use multiple common ammo types is more useful by definition than one that requires a specific shell.

its also cheap to take to the range because you can do your target shooting with the cheaper .38 rounds.

Also every .357 revolver I've seen has been solidly built of stainless steel, which means it can be used as a relatively efficient club if you need to.

I just found out that a .410 revolver (yes that would be a revolver that loads .410 shotgun shells) also loads .45 ammunition, presumably a .410 survival shotgun (single shot break action) could conceivably load .45 as well, but I'm not sure.

There is that revolver by Taurus that is chambered for .45 long colt can also shoot .410 shot shells but I'm pretty sure that .45 long colts wont work in a .410 even if it is break action... though I admit I could be dead wrong.

[Thinyser]

You should not forget your local municipal airport. It has a lot of things going for it.

1. Fencing - It is generally completely fenced in, unless it is a dirt strip.
2. Lots of open space - You can see the hordes of zombie's coming at you for a long while.
3. Control Tower - Easy to spot zombie's, sniper position, radio's, backup generator!
4. Restaurant - Generally there is a restaurant on site.
5. Hangars - What most folks don't know are the following little tidbits:
a) Machine Shop - between all the hangars, you will have a very sizeable machine shop. You can fabricate just about anything.
b) Materials - there is enough material there you can build just about anything
c) Chemicals - well, a high school lab might have things a bit more organized, but you can probably find all but the restricted items there (and even possibly some too!)
d) Hobbyists - most pilots who build an airplane are hobbyist. Not only do they have plane's in there hangar's but some older cars. Older cars are easier to maintain.
6. Fuel - Most Airports have fuel. High octane, non-oxygenated with MTBE or something else. Plus there is almost always a fuel truck!
7. Corporate Hangars - If the airport can support Jets, they have corporate hangars. These hangars are huge! They have offices! And because of that, can easily be reconfigured into a home. Usually if they are privately owned, they also have some rich man's toys - motorcycles, cars, boats. Not to mention private fuel tanks of jet fuel.
8. Government - Sometimes some airports will either have Military or Police located there. This is usually in your smaller airports for the Military Reservists, otherwise it is a Military Airport. Then you have the Paramedics, and if they have a life flight out of that airport, there are paramedic supplies.

Now I have not read Dead Reign, and I am not sure how far a Zombie can sense. But a medium sized airport with about 4 to 6 runways will be a fairly good size piece of real estate. Maybe a square mile. It would have fencing all around - most rent a cars and trucks usually use the parking lot, good supply of vehicles big and small. Then of course the airport will have its own set of vehicles including emergency vehicles such as firetrucks.

If you are looking for a vehicle, I am thinking a plug in hybrid of sorts. Utilize those Solar Cells to charge the battery pack when gasoline is scarce. You can't drive fast, but when your in a scavenging world you may not want to, unless your trying to get away.

Wow I truly cannot believe I did not think of these things myself.

The non-oxygenated high octane fuel alone would be worth the trip. Stores longer and burns better than pump gas.

One of the places I will hit up is the race track. Not to burn the fuel in a vehicle but for the nitromethane funny car fuel. 80ml of that mixed with 480 grams of pure nitrogen firtilizer will detonate at about 20,000 feet per second which is almost as fast as the C-4... and like C-4 it is stable even a round from an 30-06 wont set it off. My buddy and I went in on a book and video on how to make improvized C-4... I also have a book that teaches me how to make impact detonation warheads for home made rockets.

[rat_bastard]

Another thin non-gun people probably do not know

A .357 revolver is a treasure anyplace where ammo is scarce

you know why? Because a .357 revolver can fire .38 ammunition without any modification whatsoever. The rounds are the same width, but the .357 bullets are a little longer (because they have more powder, the slug is essentially the same). Any gun that can happily use multiple common ammo types is more useful by definition than one that requires a specific shell.

its also cheap to take to the range because you can do your target shooting with the cheaper .38 rounds.

Also every .357 revolver I've seen has been solidly built of stainless steel, which means it can be used as a relatively efficient club if you need to.

I just found out that a .410 revolver (yes that would be a revolver that loads .410 shotgun shells) also loads .45 ammunition, presumably a .410 survival shotgun (single shot break action) could conceivably load .45 as well, but I'm not sure.

There is that revolver by Taurus that is chambered for .45 long colt can also shoot .410 shot shells but I'm pretty sure that .45 long colts wont work in a .410 even if it is break action... though I admit I could be dead wrong.

you are Correct, the Taurus Judge. One of my fellow survivors uses one. It does not have nearly the kick you would expect.

[Thinyser]

Another thin non-gun people probably do not know

A .357 revolver is a treasure anyplace where ammo is scarce

you know why? Because a .357 revolver can fire .38 ammunition without any modification whatsoever. The rounds are the same width, but the .357 bullets are a little longer (because they have more powder, the slug is essentially the same). Any gun that can happily use multiple common ammo types is more useful by definition than one that requires a specific shell.

its also cheap to take to the range because you can do your target shooting with the cheaper .38 rounds.

Also every .357 revolver I've seen has been solidly built of stainless steel, which means it can be used as a relatively efficient club if you need to.

I just found out that a .410 revolver (yes that would be a revolver that loads .410 shotgun shells) also loads .45 ammunition, presumably a .410 survival shotgun (single shot break action) could conceivably load .45 as well, but I'm not sure.

There is that revolver by Taurus that is chambered for .45 long colt can also shoot .410 shot shells but I'm pretty sure that .45 long colts wont work in a .410 even if it is break action... though I admit I could be dead wrong.

you are Correct, the Taurus Judge. One of my fellow survivors uses one. It does not have nearly the kick you would expect.

I've often wondered about the recoil thanks for the lowdown on that.

[rat_bastard]

As for Ratty's personal gear, Ratty has a custom Mosin Nagant, a stubby .357 revolver, a m1911 and a AR-15. I have almost allways used the AR except when I am doing rooftop guard duty, which I use the Nagant for. Because of the bonus to aim, combined with the various gun customization-whathaveus and my training the zombie Armor rating is a bit less threatening.

[rat_bastard]

Hrm, bolt action and small magazine. Not my first choice, but not tremendously bad.