7 Hours?!

[Haze]

Heres something I find weird. The combine were able to overpower humans within 7 hours?!

They managed to defeat every countries military forces, police departments and rebal forces within 7 hours? I find this hard to beleave, I have decided to compile some evedence to proove my case.

First of all, the weapons. From what I have seen in the game the Combine dont seem to have an impressive inventory.

The pistols they use are crap, and accept for having more ammunition per round, our Magnum is has a one shot kill!

The pulse rifle might outmatch our SMG, but its far weeker than the M16s the military carried in the first Half Life. Plus I find frag granades more effective than a fast bouncing ball (unless your in a tight area).

And what about their vehicals?
The only ground unit I have seen is the striders, sure they are good with that plasma doomsday device, but by the time they have it up and running our tanks would of shot out there little stalky legs!

As for air units, its impressive, but how does organic air units get passed human AA guns? They would rip them apart.

Anyone else have any evedence to add to prove my point or do you disagree?

 

[$kelet0r]

You are forgetting the Xen forces(gargs, controllers,grunts, vortigaunts), synths and other forces that were not shown in the game
Plus the walls of the Citadel are near impenetrable and their weaponry is more effective than human weapon (they improved it - everything you see that combine soldiers use is a human concept futuristically updated). Plus the combine soldiers are stronger and better than their human counterparts.
And earth was weakened by the mass migrations caused by the portal storms and of course political intrigue by traitors like Breen

 

[short recoil]

Well they had to make the units in the game suitably crap so you could actually play it.....i guess in the actual story earth would have been attacked with all sorts of combine tech....imagine massive gunships with shields e.t.c, i wouldn't imagine humans would give it up in 7 hours though.
I certainly wouldn't......i'd be in my bunker.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Well, sofar we've only seen the human combine forces in action; Overwatch, CP, Combine Elite, we have yet to see the real combines front warriors. Secondly, it ain't as much the size of the invading force, though I suspect it to have been massive, it is more the fact that they can materialize any kind of troop in any number anywhere in the whole world just like that. Imagine a whole line of tanks opening fire on a set of three strider, like you said, the tanks might win easily. But then, out of nowhere, six striders appear from thin air right behind them. Bye bye tanksies...
Plus there is also the element confusion held within not a two front attack, not a three front attack, but an everywhere front attack!
And also the citadels, suddenly digging holes and settling in in every major city just like that. Now a citadel pretty much eating up Manhattan, sending out troops and bombarding the whole city of New York, all within five minutes? That's some pretty darn good surprise strategy.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

No evidence that Xen were used as Combine forces, but there is the point that the Combine have only left a weedy peacekeeping force in HL2. The major Synth forces have probably gone off for other worlds.
Earth's forces were flattened, because the Combine outnumbered and outclassed us in every way. Fancy having an entire unified world/dimension attacking us, when we can't stop fighting each other.
The Combine Soldiers you fight in HL2 were created after the 7 hour war, which means that the majority of the invaders would have been Synth. And Synth are hard.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[the_stalker]

You are forgetting the Xen forces(gargs, controllers,grunts, vortigaunts), synths and other forces that were not shown in the game
Plus the walls of the Citadel are near impenetrable and their weaponry is more effective than human weapon (they improved it - everything you see that combine soldiers use is a human concept futuristically updated). Plus the combine soldiers are stronger and better than their human counterparts.
And earth was weakened by the mass migrations caused by the portal storms and of course political intrigue by traitors like Breen

So then howd they get wasted by a cart pusher?

 

[Jandor]

The Combine won because they had a number of good cards to play while we only had jokers. First they had removed the centre of all the major cities of the world and replaced them with Citadels, meaning it is highly likely that places of Governance where taken out of the picture in many countries, also they have Citadels full of there Synth forces: Striders, Gunships, Dropships, Mortars and Crabs.
All are pretty impressive and with 'first in command' for most countries removed there is no one commanding the Earths resistance, also, it would not have ended so soon was it not for Breen declaring the war lost.

So then howd they get wasted by a cart pusher?

If that is a reference to Gordon, Gordon wastes the Combine so easily because it is a game, watch the Citizens fight the Combine, they suck .

 

[Jack Thomas]

Grrr..Dr.Breen made Earth to surrender. I think we whould have used nukes against them (only if they didnt took off the silo's first before attacking)

 

[ríomhaire]

The Combine pulled their main force out of Earth after a while, leaving the CP and Overwatch in charge.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Grrr..Dr.Breen made Earth to surrender. I think we whould have used nukes against them (only if they didnt took off the silo's first before attacking)

Being that the citadels were located at the centers of the most major of cities, do you think this would have been a good idea? You'd explode one hell of a lot of innocents. Damn, I'm glad you don't hold the trigger to the world's nukes.

Besides, from what I've read in Raising the Bar, when the Combine struck, they struck us where it would hurt the most. There was supposed to be a picture of a smouldering Pentagon - they blew up the folks who have the buttons to the nukes.

Although, in retrospect, it's probably a good idea they cut that image, considering the relations it has with 9/11...

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Jenga]

This has been discussed in other forums, and the general opinion is yeah, the Combine could've done it. They had surprise, which is a helluva weapon, especially in the hands of an alien race. By the way, remember all the synths you saw walking around in the citadel? The ones you didn't see outside? They're part of the Combine Army too, you just haven't seen them in action yet.

AJRimmer and riomhare are right, we haven't seen the Combine's full potential because they probably pulled out their shock troops. CP and the Overwatch are mostly modified humans, not the actual Combine troopers.

 

[cereal]

7 hours really is barely anything though. Considering its the whole world.

 

[Dancingwllamas]

Besides, from what I've read in Raising the Bar, when the Combine struck, they struck us where it would hurt the most. There was supposed to be a picture of a smouldering Pentagon - they blew up the folks who have the buttons to the nukes.

That would actually be the president with his "Nuclear Football."

 

[Adabiviak]

7 hours really is barely anything though. Considering its the whole world.

...only if you have to worry about transportation time. Remember, these guys have the resources to show up anywhere they want anytime. You couldn't keep them out of anywhere - they'd teleport right in. Throw a couple of striders (or other goodies that we didn't get to see) right into the middle of a military base during lunch. Think "Pearl Harbor". This show of force combined with Breens' "convincing" of the people to surrender is probably what helped the world to decide to go along with the surrender. Naturally, not every human was into doing this, just the leaders of the nations that as a whole would be considered representative of earth. I keep thinking of the death rays ("supression field") that you wade through on your way to the citadel for the first time. They could just turn that on and, well, I wouldn't go anywhere for a while.

 

[Haze]

Its still just 7 hours, against every military force and police force in the world. Plus, even if we did surrender, we would of had to of lost one hell of a lot to admit defeat.

 

[Sieg]

HL2 is just to give you a idea of the power of the combine,we will get to meet the real combine troops in HL3.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

7 hours does seem pretty low, until you remember that the military had been severely weakened from dealing with the results of the portal storm for a long while. Possibly years.
The entire world experienced pretty much the exact same amount of combat as Black Mesa, and look what happened to the soldiers there.

Then, the combine showed up with their armies of striders, gunships and the other synths, right in the middle of the biggest civilian populations. (They didn't have any humans yet though.)
So, against all that, I wouldn't be surprised if humanity would surrender before taking even more losses.

 

[Haze]

Well said, I hope to god we get rid of them in HL3, destroy all the portals and live as happy as we are now... Accept we would have wars on terror and suicide bombers to deal with instead x_x

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Remember, these guys have the resources to show up anywhere they want anytime.

Actually, Combine teleports take a long time to warm up (evidenced by Breen's ascent), so if you knew they were coming, you'd have some time to prepare.

Which is why they get Mossman to defect - she was helping them learn how to use the Xen relay technique thing, which is supposedly more efficient, and quicker.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[0mar]

Actually, Combine teleports take a long time to warm up (evidenced by Breen's ascent), so if you knew they were coming, you'd have some time to prepare.

Which is why they get Mossman to defect - she was helping them learn how to use the Xen relay technique thing, which is supposedly more efficient, and quicker.

-Angry Lawyer

The Combine had the element of surprise and no one on Earth was expecting another alien invasion. When the citadels appeared in the middle of major cities, it broke us. We mounted a feeble response and the Combine crushed it.

The Combine probably withdrew the main wing of their attack because we were conquered. And remember, Gordon was just about the only person having any real sucess fighting the Combine. The rebels weren't exactly winning decisively. Plus, we haven't even touched some of the other Synths.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

Yeah, I agree with that. Still takes ages to warm up the gateways, and loads of power, which is why they don't use it to teleport from A to B while on Earth.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Jandor]

I don't think they can teleport from A to B on Earth, not a matter of choice.

 

[Ravioli]

Nuclear Heads........


Dumbass! Do you really think they fought america? they just nuced them, poff, gone

 

[Jandor]

I really think they fought America and I really think they won, due to two main points. You see Gunships attacking the UN Headquarters in New York, its on the Black Mesa note board.
Point two, America is not invincible, nor god like. In fact, if France found a way to disable your warheads, France could wipe you off the face of the planet.

 

[The Monkey]

Well all humanity was calloected ina mumber of cities after the attacks of Xen animals, so when the combines arrived, they just had to strike at a number of cities.

 

[DeusExMachina]

Once again Mr. Haze, you don't pay attention to the details in the game. Portal Storms had weakened the world as Xen aliens invaded Earth. Thus, people were forced into cities and barred from the world. The Combine show up and its practically taken care of for them. Their Citadels spring up in the cities and they're basically destroying the human race left and right. But, Dr. Breen saves the human race and surrender's Earth to them. He saw that the Combine would destroy everything if they didn't give up, so he hands Earth to them. The armies weren't much of anything after the Portal storms and Combine weaponry is far more advanced than the humans. And of course, humans weren't actually fighting the Transhuman forces, they were fighting real Combine. Crabs, Striders, Synths, and such.

 

[FireCrack]

who thinks mossman was a double agent all along?

 

[DeusExMachina]

Well Technically, she was always a good guy, even as a double agent. It was all to help Eli and the Resistance.

 

[DoctorWeeTodd]

1. The Aliens first appeared in New Mexico, USA and was fighting the USMC.
2. The picture of a smoldering U.N headquarters which is located in NYC.
3. The picture of a Pentagon shape of Ash.

If anything the United States would be the first to go, thus cutting off the world from it's biggest supply of nukes. Which would've been useless anyways. How the hell are you gonna bomb an enemy base whose location you don't know?

 

[MarcoPollo]

They probably used some sort ofgiant anti matter weapon on the big countries and raped the land of its resources and rounded up the remaining people (that they could) into western/eastern europe

 

[Jack Thomas]

Being that the citadels were located at the centers of the most major of cities, do you think this would have been a good idea? You'd explode one hell of a lot of innocents. Damn, I'm glad you don't hold the trigger to the world's nukes.-Angry Lawyer

I didn't mean the Citadels... and if you read my post carefuly, you should have noticed something I wrote at the end...

 

[15357]

Being that the citadels were located at the centers of the most major of cities, do you think this would have been a good idea? You'd explode one hell of a lot of innocents. Damn, I'm glad you don't hold the trigger to the world's nukes.-Angry Lawyer

sacrifice is a necceary(sp?) thing in all millitary operations

the deaths of 10,000 innocents is better than the annihlation or slavery of 6 billion people.

its the greater good.

 

[SimonomiS]

sacrifice is a necceary(sp?) thing in all millitary operations

the deaths of 10,000 innocents is better than the annihlation or slavery of 6 billion people.

its the greater good.

Woah, imagine having that on your conscience.

 

[15357]

that i have liberated earth?

good!

 

[Jack Thomas]

MUHAHAHAHAHAH!! ILL DESTROY THEM CITADELS WITH MY NUKES!

(press's the button, but nothing happens)

Noo!!

(Suddenly the screen starts flashing with a sign ''Warranty expired'')

Douh!

 

[Haze]

And, Mr. Ex, I think you will find that our weapons are far more advanced than theres. Our magnum owns their pistol, our crossbow owns their plasma rifles. Plus, the weapons the marines carried in the first game were a lot more powerfull than the ones the combine carry in this.

Also, the Black Mesa incident was contained. Once under control Xen creatures are nothing compared to us, the marines owned them in the first game, plus a simple scientist was able to wipe half of them out.

The worlds military against Xen creatures would of been easy, the only reson we lost was becouse the combine interveened.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

And, Mr. Ex, I think you will find that our weapons are far more advanced than theres. Our magnum owns their pistol, our crossbow owns their plasma rifles. Plus, the weapons the marines carried in the first game were a lot more powerfull than the ones the combine carry in this.

Also, the Black Mesa incident was contained. Once under control Xen creatures are nothing compared to us, the marines owned them in the first game, plus a simple scientist was able to wipe half of them out.

The worlds military against Xen creatures would of been easy, the only reson we lost was becouse the combine interveened.

The BMRF incident was not contained, after Black Mesa got nuked, portal storms swept the earth and teleported headcrabs, gargs, bullsquids and load of shit everywhere around the globe, forcing the humans to flee into major cities, where they could defend themselves. And that's when the combine showed up.
About Xen animals being owned by marines in HL, did they? I seem to remember talk about pulling out, taking heavy losses and stuff like that.

 

[Overwatch]

Just becuase it's called the 7 Hour War, doesn't mean it lasted 7 hours!

I think the 7 hours everyone is talking about had passed from the official declaration of war against the Combine till Breen declared Earth surrendered.

Of course not everyone just gave up at the seventh hour, and some military or police forces probably tried to fight for few more hours (or days) until the Synth annihilated them.

However I think most of the military gave up seeing the power of the Combine and understanding the futility of continied battle. Dr Breen probably made a speech on TV explain the human losses were caused by "a misunderstanding", explaining the Combine actually wanted humans only good. People were scared after the portal storms and probably wanted someone to protect them, so some/most of them did probably believe the Combine.

Still i refuse to believe that at 7:00 hours after the first Synth stepped (or slided) on Earth's soil everyone who opposed the Combine was dead. Rather the war is officially known as the 7 hour war.

Look at the war in Iraq, that was declared as won by that idiot Bush many months ago. Did the rebels stop fighting? NO.

So the conclusion is THE 7 HOUR WAR DIDN'T LAST 7 HOURS.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Just becuase it's called the 7 Hour War, doesn't mean it lasted 7 hours!

I think the 7 hours everyone is talking about had passed from the official declaration of war against the Combine till Breen declared Earth surrendered.

Of course not everyone just gave up at the seventh hour, and some military or police forces probably tried to fight for few more hours (or days) until the Synth annihilated them.

However I think most of the military gave up seeing the power of the Combine and understanding the futility of continied battle. Dr Breen probably made a speech on TV explain the human losses were caused by "a misunderstanding", explaining the Combine actually wanted humans only good. People were scared after the portal storms and probably wanted someone to protect them, so some/most of them did probably believe the Combine.

Still i refuse to believe that at 7:00 hours after the first Synth stepped (or slided) on Earth's soil everyone who opposed the Combine was dead. Rather the war is officially known as the 7 hour war.

Look at the war in Iraq, that was declared as won by that idiot Bush many months ago. Did the rebels stop fighting? NO.

So the conclusion is THE 7 HOUR WAR DIDN'T LAST 7 HOURS.

Maybe it depends on which timezone you're in.

 

[Mediocrity]

And, Mr. Ex, I think you will find that our weapons are far more advanced than theres. Our magnum owns their pistol, our crossbow owns their plasma rifles. Plus, the weapons the marines carried in the first game were a lot more powerfull than the ones the combine carry in this.

Apart from the Pulse Rifle, you don't actually see any Combine small arms in the game; their pistol is a USP Match, manufactured on earth. Why would you need a uber-powerful army to police a few million starving refugees when you can easily control them by converting many of them into their own occupying force?

Oh, and the issue with the Marine weapons in HL being more powerful is a game balance issue. Personally, and judging by your post you'd agree, I think the Combine troops are too easy, even on hard.