Camp Pendleton

[kdalton]

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base is a little over an hour drive from L.A. With the helicopter in working order now, wouldn't it be prudent to fly out there and check for munitions, weapons, etc?

We know minigun and .50 cal fire kills Little Ones, and if Michael intends to take the fight to the guy in the pin-striped suit they are going to need a lot more than the C4 loaded onto KODI.

For all they know there could be some Marines held up there as well. Just because Irwin may not have had any contact doesn't mean there were not survivors. That's probably the highest concentration of military weaponry in California. Burt would probably have at least been on post a few times and be able to give them the layout.

C'mon KC, give us some hints!

[Cabbage Patch]

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base is a little over an hour drive from L.A. With the helicopter in working order now, wouldn't it be prudent to fly out there and check for munitions, weapons, etc?...
...C'mon KC, give us some hints!

Pendleton did get mentioned briefly in Chapter 18, Part 2. When Michael and Pegs first got to the Colony Tanya asked them if they were from San Diego or Camp Pendleton, and was surprised to hear that they were from LA. I assumed that meant that the Colony had taken in survivors from those locations.

Camp Pendleton doesn't strike me as being particularly defensible. It sits right along the major freeway running between LA and San Diego, and the urban area runs right up to the base gates. If the Marines were ready I'm sure they might have been able to establish and hold a perimeter on the base, but given how quickly the outbreak occurred, and how confused the initial military response was, it seems like a long shot to me.

[LiamKerrington]

Camp Pendleton doesn't strike me as being particularly defensible. It sits right along the major freeway running between LA and San Diego, and the urban area runs right up to the base gates. If the Marines were ready I'm sure they might have been able to establish and hold a perimeter on the base, but given how quickly the outbreak occurred, and how confused the initial military response was, it seems like a long shot to me.

I would like to toss in the idea that the outbreak is over and the threat from zeehs has decreased. So, although the camp probably is down, this does not necessarily mean there is no ammo anymore. Therefore it could be an option to send out a scavenging party to the camp and check if there is still stuff around which could be used in any attempt to attack the zeehs.

@kdalton:
Maybe it would be a wise decision, to use the tricks the survivors have developed over time in order to kill the main figures of the zeehs - which would be Ink, Randy and the Smart Ones. Trick no #1: cover in zeeh goo and therefloor 'blend in'; trick no #2: sweat bombs for distracting the dumb zeeh masses and draw them away from the primary targets; trick no #3: it could be possible to make CODI move right into the middle of the zeeh-horde without any problem, because a) the zeehs don't know what it is and maybe b) would not attack it, because it does not fit the prey-menu.
Now, why attack the primaries? Over the span of all seasons we have encountered two kinds of zeehs: on the one side disorganized smaller and greater groups which can be easily avoided or fought and on the other the organized zeehs under the command of Ink or (sub-)command of Smart Ones. This means: Killing the leader(s) may lead to the falling apart of the zombie army. Considering the few survivors and guns they have I think Michael and friends will try to take out the leaders; afterwards they could deal with the other zeehs after all.

All the best!
Liam

[scbubba]

Camp Pendleton doesn't strike me as being particularly defensible. It sits right along the major freeway running between LA and San Diego, and the urban area runs right up to the base gates. If the Marines were ready I'm sure they might have been able to establish and hold a perimeter on the base, but given how quickly the outbreak occurred, and how confused the initial military response was, it seems like a long shot to me.

I've been to Camp Pendleton a couple of times and had the same thought as CP when I read this thread: No way to hold it against a numerous and determined enemy on such a short notice.

As to what's there now... Hmmm. Being that there is/was a pretty big population nearby, I would assume that, at least for some amount of time, there were some survivors with the will and the means to fight. They would have been trying to get stuff from the base. Who knows how much they got, but it would have mainly been small arms, supplies, and food stuff.

If they had someone with them with some experience, they may have gotten some of the bigger things: vehicles (like Hummers) and other man-portable weapons and ordinance that don't just go bang when the trigger is pulled.

That being said, there may be some stuff there that could be of use to a few trained soldiers. But getting it the 80 - 90 miles from Pendleton to LA could be a problem. Even airlifting with the helo might not be a good idea because every time they take to the air near a population center, they are going to draw a lot of attention. And in a Zed infestation, attention can be a bad thing....

Good thread!

[LiamKerrington]

Not to mention the fuel-topic - especially for helos. If the survivors are going for the camp, they probably would do it with hybrids ...

[Cabbage Patch]

I think a shopping trip is definitely in order, and Camp Pendleton is a prime destination. It's a shame that the humans no longer have a foothold in Colorado, since there are a number of military bases there that could have supplied arms and ammo while the conventional biters were frozen. I can't think of any place comparable in California...darn our moderate climate!

[Kc]

In Z times... that's a LONG way away. But continue on with your theories ;)

[kdalton]

You have a helo. There are helos at Pendleton. There is fuel at Pendleton.

I like the idea with the sweat decoys. Same thing we did in Vietnam with LRRP and SOG teams. Multiple helos simulated multiple landings in multiple LZs with an SOG team went in to confuse the enemy as to which one was the real thing.

Have the Helo drop some vials in decoy locations with a little bit of C4 and a remote control detonator, then on command pop the vials.

Send out a couple of cars to do the same thing. Bet Burt knows the base. Bet he can tell you where the armories are, the ammo depots, etc.

Never been to Pendleton, but they wouldn't have to hold the entire base. Get some Texas barriers and some guard towers up and form a perimeter.

How'm I doing, KC?

[Sixgun_Symphony]

I would definitely go to Camp Pendleton for the shopping.

[Duffusmonkey]

KC is Army he will refuse to call in the Marines no matter how bad it gets

[Unit]

Pendleton may very well be a long way away from LA and the Colony in Z-time, but the score might be worth the trip. Even for fuel for the chopper alone. I remember always seeing the Marines running drills with their choppers out there when I was a kid. And the ammo score might be worth it if there is still any left to be had. It seems like if there were more fuel for the chopper that some of the scouting and supply runs to farther off locations could be done much easier, and you would have another emergency exit plan like they used it for when Irwin when boom.

Plus it doesn't seem like we have heard of any venturing too far south of the colony (that doesn't mean they haven't been doing it of course, just that we haven't heard about it). There are a lot of gas stations in Orange County that could be siphoned to help with the fuel shortages. If they could head inland too towards Corona/Norco there are a lot of fruit orchards and some cattle/horse ranches still. Not sure how many animals would still be alive at this point, but relocating some more trees and the possibility of picking up some more livestock to have a more sustainable food source could be worth the trip. Lots of options really.

[masnyder4]

The only thing I have against the Camp Pendelton theory is if they went there at this stage of the game, I don't think there would be a lot left. Even with how fast it spread a large amount resources would have been equiped with the Marines there. Now lets say that they got overran very quickly. That still leaves a long timeline for others to go in and scavenge anything they could find. From active military that survived long enough to former military to people from that area. I mean Burt had a gun shop and we saw how long that went until it was raided almost clean! Granted some places on Pendelton have Ammunition Supply Points that are heavier than Burt's vault, but that would still be difficult to get into. Personally if they went there and got packed out like that scene in The Matrix where all the guns racks, I think I'd have to pull the BS card...

[Grognaurd]

I can see it play out either way. There seems to be something different going on in the story. Very few people seem to turn. One claymore mine turns the tide at the tower early in season one. That means tens of biters, not thousands from the millions that lived in LA. Second, although very few biters are created, nearly everyone dies. More than five million in LA and the survivors are in the low hundreds.

This mix creates an interesting dynamic, there are not a lot of humans left to consume ammo and there is not a lot of stuff to shoot. Second, until the fall of Denver, there was not a pressing need for the heavy stuff. Standard personal weapons were enough. This is probably why Denver was overrun so quickly.

Heavy weapons bring a few big problems. Who wants to hump a SAW or heavier for day to day patrol duty when an MP5 seems to get the job done? Who wants a long gun when most of the hard contact is in close quarters? Not to mention the over penetration problem the heavy weapons bring to a civilian suburbia.

Like I said, I can see it play out either way. We do not really know as much as we think we do. We can make a lot of assumptions based on TEOTWAWKI genre, but KC has enough talent to change things up on us.

In summary, in the We're Alive Story, there really are not many people left, they died within the first few hours to days and there is not much to shoot. Five million people in LA, about 100 survivors. Not many more, because for a long while the tower was the only place with lights on and survivors would be able to see that for miles and miles. When the tower is attacked by biters, it is tens of enemy, not thousands.