The No-Win Scenario

07-08-08

The No-Win Scenario

Force-on-Force Notebook

Set this one up like the murder that Chip has previously described:
Defender starts facing "door." (Door is still locked and cannot be used as escape or cover.) Two attackers, 20-25 feet to each side (IIRC), one beside a "dumpster", the other having stepped from behind some "bushes." They have the drop on defender. Defender has been ordered to drop his wallet where he is standing.

(At this point, the man Chip knew was shot dead.)

Defender will initiate action by dropping the wallet; after that he takes whatever action he thinks will get him out alive.

The second thing that came to mind was this one would be painful, no matter what.

For those of you who do not know, the Kobayashi Maru is a scenario from the original Star Trek TV series from the late 1960s. Briefly, it is a no-win scenario with two choices: attempt to rescue the vessel Kobayashi's crew and passengers, which involves violating the Neutral Zone and potentially provoking the Klingons into hostile action or an all-out war; or abandon the Kobayashi, preventing war but leaving the crew and passengers to die.  Both choices lead to death for someone--kind of like my experience running this scenario.

The scenario was run at the Warrior's Forge in Manassas, VA with help from Dino Zervos and Ashley Weakley as well as a couple willing victims for me to shoot. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into picking this scenario out of all the others on the forum but I was about to find out.

We set up outside of The Forge with two of the patrons acting as my assailants. I had arranged the participants in the manner described in the scenario posted on the forum and we had the same trigger, my wallet hitting the pavement. My assailants were very large guys, power lifters from The Forge. Big targets are easy to hit, right? Right?  I hoped they couldn't shoot. That was false hope, indeed.

We started the scenario and I exploded off the X as hard and fast as I could, presenting my pistol as I moved. I managed to get off a few rounds, hitting one of my opponents and within a half second I took three or four hits to my support hand. I might have survived but I'd have lost a couple fingers at the very least. Definitely not the outcome I expected.

We reset for the second round and I should have thought to find new assailants. I'd regret my mistake shortly. As I dropped my wallet, the assailants just opened up on me, hitting me multiple times in multiple places.  I didn't have a chance to get my pistol into play before they anticipated what I was planning on doing. OK, that didn't work. I had to rethink the element of surprise.

For the final round, I just started without warning. I managed to hit both my assailants, but again, I took multiple incoming rounds to the hands and forearms.  This is not how it was supposed to end at all! I was supposed to be victorious, standing triumphantly over my vanquished foes. Not today, not this time. I considered a couple other options but decided I had experienced enough pain for one afternoon.

Even in defeat we learned quite a bit. First off, two on one is a bad situation. Even with dynamic movement, trying to defeat two assailants with drawn pistols is a complete gamble. If you do everything right, you may very well still get shot. My assailants appeared to be gun focused with their shooting. I took a very large percentage of the hits in my hands and forearms regardless of the positioning of the gun in relation to my torso. Make sure you don't get so focused in on the gun that you give up good torso or head hits.

In a situation such as the one we examined, what you do is purely a gamble. If you comply, you might walk away. You might end up just like the man in the original post, murdered in cold blood. If you do fight back, you might run off less determined attackers or find yourself in a fight to the death. There may be some telltale signs or some sort of backstory to help you make the decision to fight or comply. It may be that inner voice telling you that you are dead either way and to go out in a blaze of glory. My good friend Gabe Suarez came up with an appropriate phrase for just this kind of situation: “Flip ‘em the bird and die like a Viking.” I think I'd prefer that to the alternative. It appeals to my warrior nature.

Hopefully none of us will ever find ourselves in our own Kobayashi Maru scenario. If we do, I suggest we all take a page from Star Trek's James T. Kirk, and cheat if the opportunity presents itself.

I'd like to thank the participants in my little experiment and once again thank Dino and Ashley for the use of their facility for the article. They love this stuff as much as I do.

Next month we will be talking about a possible paradigm shift in the 21 foot rule. It should be an interesting discussion.

 Dino Zervos
Ashley Weakley
Team Ruthless
7049 Gateway Court
Manassas, VA 20109
http://www.teamruthless.com

Dear Friend,

I hope you enjoyed this complimentary article from the United States Concealed Carry Association.

Take care and stay safe,


Tim Schmidt
Founder, US Concealed Carry
Publisher, Concealed Carry Magazine
Publisher, USCCA Inner Circle

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