User blog comment:Undead RVD/RED Team vs Dinosauriergruppe/@comment-4661256-20140624021629

El Alamein's Edges:

Assault: The Soldier vs. Kurt Streicher
 Close Range: Shovel vs. Knife:  A shovel can certainly be a damning tool that can bludgeon a man to death (I remember the E-Tool from Green Beret vs. Spetsnaz in particular), but it's an improvised weapon that's messy and unwieldy. The knife - plain, simple, raw, and efficient at what it does. It can slash or stab, and it will outmaneuver the Soldier's shovel in an all-out melee brawl.

Edge: Kurt Streicher

 Mid Range: Shotgun vs. MP40:  The shotgun is already short-ranged, but sawing off the barrel is only going to lessen that reach at the marginal benefit of increased spread - which, to me, isn't a good tradeoff, especially in a military situation. The MP40 has much longer range (100 m vs. 40 m), a faster rate of fire (full-auto can go 550 rds/min, and it's up against a pump-action weapon), and a larger magazine that can reload faster (32-round box mag vs. 6-round internal magazine). The shotgun's only advantage, really, is its all-out stopping power, but I don't see that as enough to overcome the sheer volume of lead that the MP40 is pumping out.

Edge: Kurt Streicher

 Long Range: Rocket Launcher vs. K98:  I'm intrigued by this comparison. The Rocket Launcher has a huge advantage in the fact that it's not a single-shot weapon - four warheads are going to wreak havoc across the battlefield. The only hangup I have over that is the reload process - it's an internal tube, and if it takes a long time to reload one warhead, it'd be a nightmare stuffing four of those things down the tube. The K98 has the advantage of longer range (500 m vs. 200 m) and greater accuracy (I can safely assume this, given sniper rifle > bazooka when it comes to a sniper's weapon), and one more round per magazine (which is kinda negligible here). It's a difficult comparison to make, and my conclusion screams that everything I'm saying is dumb, but this isn't a real weapon, so I have to get over it. The versatility that the rocket launcher offers - and its raw firepower - give it a huge edge over the precision of the K98.

Edge: The Soldier

WINNER: KURT STREICHER

It was so, so close. The problem I have with the Soldier is that he doesn't have formal training to back up his skills, while Streicher is an elite Wehrmacht trooper and a member of the Dinosauriergruppe - no small feat in and of itself. Yeah, the Soldier singlehandedly killed a bunch of Nazis, but I guarantee that they weren't Dinosauriergruppe. On top of that, aside from the Rocket Launcher the Soldier isn't packing a lot of battle-efficient weapons, whereas Streicher's MP40 and hand grenades give him versatility in the battle space. Rockets and explosions are noisy and attract attention - snipers and SMGs are considerably lower-profile. The Soldier can rocket-jump all he likes, but it won't save him from a hail of MP40 rounds or one well-placed shot from a Mauser round.

Harassment: The Scout vs. Velociraptor
 Close Range: Baseball Bat vs. Claws:  The thing about the baseball bat is that it's a rather large weapon to use in a melee fight. The Velociraptor is built on speed, and unless if the Scout can nail that one critical hit when the dinosaur leaps in close, his melee game is nil. On top of that, I have my doubts that one hit will be enough to take down a 'raptor, even if it hits the head, simply because of its wiry and limber build. But if the dinosaur gets on top of the Scout, claws extended, it's game over.

Edge: Velociraptor

 Mid Range: Pistol and Scattergun vs. Bite:  The Scout is going to have to rely heavily on his ranged game if he wants to beat his foe. The pistol is accurate against stationary targets - a PPK will be very difficult to use against a zigzagging (heck, even against a charging) foe with the size of the Velociraptor. The Scattergun is a different story - it gives the Scout the close-ranged punch he needs (heck, he doesn't even need to aim, just point in the general direction of his charging attacker and blast away). The bite is just another savage melee option that renders the Velociraptor useless at a distance and redundant up-close.

Edge: The Scout

WINNER: THE SCOUT

The thing about the 'raptor, is that, well... it's a 'raptor. Savage and fierce, yeah, but no training, no strategy, and no human-level intellect (and I don't mean book smarts by that, but something as basic as "aim for the head and not the legs," for instance). If it comes to a melee encounter, the Scout is done for - that bat is too big and too slow to beat the charging dinosaur. But I don't really see it coming down to that. With two firearms, one of which is a point-and-shoot hand cannon, the Scout can blast away at his foe and put the Velociraptor on the ground before it can close the distance and make good of its superior physical build.