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Post by ssgjoe on Jul 4, 2014 18:49:25 GMT -5
Ok then. Guess you could use one
Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
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Post by Nightwitch on Jul 14, 2014 23:30:53 GMT -5
Hi guys, figured I'd do a little intro here.
My name is Alina, I live in Madison, Wisconsin where I'm a graduate student in the department of Anthropology (archaeology/bioanth subfield). I'm 30 years old, and in my spare time I'm a competitive longbow archer, primitive skills geek, and frequent flight sim nerd. I enjoy shooting sports of all kinds from slingshots to rifles. I've never done airsoft or re-enacting but I'm excited to give it a try.
Extended intro for those who are bored and like to read textwalls:
I've been a history buff my whole life. My first WWII interest came about when I was 8. I loved military aviation back then (I wanted to be a fighter pilot when I was 5, but my vision wasn't up to snuff later on), and so I toured air shows and collected autographs. My two best are Gabby Gabreski and Tex Hill. They signed a book of WWII airplanes, and Tex signed his own P-40 replica's picture, while Gabby signed a "jug." Now that they've both passed, I really treasure those. In middle school, I read the Harry Turtledove World War alternate history series and was introduced to the Night Witches in the character of Lyudmila Gorbunova. This led me to research Soviet female pilots of the second world war as well as women who served in other roles, though this information wasn't as readily available back then.
In 2007, my interest in WW2 and aviation in particular had been rekindled, and I was again fascinated by the Night Witches and female aviators in the Soviet Union. So, I went and found Soviet female aviators who were visiting the states to air museums and interviewed them. I met two women from Raskova's regiments - Yelena Kulkova and Galina Brok-Beltsova. Yelena was a pilot and Galina was a navigator, both from the 587th Dive Bomber Aviation regiment, one of Raskova's three regiments of women-only pilots. The others were the 588th (later 46th Taman Guards) Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, known as the Night Witches, and the 586th IAP, fighter aviation regiment, later put on PVO (behind the lines) duty. Meeting these women led to me meeting the editor of Anna Yegorova's memoirs (Anna was the only female IL-2 Sturmovik pilot) and so I helped her by writing book reviews for it, including one that went out in the 99s news (Women Aviation magazine). This led to the editor inviting me to help make a quilt for Anna, which I gladly did. The quilt and letter had positive messages from Americans, letting her know that we appreciated her service, regardless of old cold war animosities. She received the quilt about 2 months before her death in 2009. I still treasure the picture I have of her receiving it at her home in Russia.
Since 2007, I've been channeling most of my WW2 interest towards flight sims as a Soviet pilot in a Soviet squadron. We basically did what you guys do, but we couldn't afford the replica Yaks and 109s, and so we flew online. However, we were dead serious about utilizing real military tactics and making the whole thing as real as possible. Given the realism of some of the sims, it was about as close as you could get to the real thing without a quarter of a million dollars for an airplane.
I left off flight sims about a year ago, as I was going to grad school and my competitive archery had picked up. However, as a competitive archer, I again found inspiration in the Soviet women of WW2, in the form of their snipers like Lyudmila Pavlichenko and Roza Shanina. That led me to do quite a bit of research on them as well. It was studying sniper tactics with an aim towards using them for archery that led me to look at airsoft and my first thought on seeing an airsoft sniper was "I want an airsoft mosin with a PU scope so bad I can taste it!" That led me to you guys and to the Midwest Ostfront folks.
You guys are doing an awesome thing here. Your impressions rock and your guns are out of this world (especially the custom ones you've posted in the forums). For the moment, I have a Soviet amoeba suit on order for a sniper impression, as well as the KWA TT-33 for my first airsoft gun. I'm hoping to be able to put together a sniper rifle eventually, and at least one or two more Soviet impressions. I think a female medic from the Naval Infantry commandos with PPSh-41 would be great (one was described in Viktor Leonov's memoirs of his commando days "Blood on the Shores"), and I'd love to do a downed Soviet pilot as well, though finding a replica black leather flying coat is going to be a bear.
Anyway, good to meet all of you, I've really been enjoying your site and all the information you've contributed over the years.
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Post by mentosfreshmaker on Jul 15, 2014 8:02:26 GMT -5
Welcome, Comrade Nightwitch! Take a moment to read "Notes of a Sniper", or if you prefer the fictionalized and Americanized version, "War of the Rats", I think you may enjoy them! For our purposes here in the Great Patriotic War, take a look for a PU-version M91/30, though you may wish to relegate your TT-33 to other impressions, than that of snayperskya. There is a Nagant 1895 revolver available, though not owning an airsoft version I cannot speak to it's qualities. Remember, though, if using the Nagant, unless you are officer of NKVD, you must only use it in single-action (cock before shoot), as only political comissars were issued the double-action version! (Also, added benefit of Nagant revolver is mechanical genius of special cylinder. When pistol is cocked, cylinder moves forward to seal the gap between barrel! No gas escape, so can muffle sound quite well by wrapping wool blanket around barrel, for silent killing!)
Amoeba will serve well for later war use, have you decided which period of RKKA you emulate?
Remember, Comrade Nightwitch, is most important have fun representing Rodina. Most here are Fascisti or Amerikanski Tovarishi, but are good people behind costumes. As fellow Soviet, hope to see you at event, we can share tin of Second Front!
(No, I don't actually speak like that anymore, Big Bird and Mr. Rodgers helped me learn English. And, for those that don't know, "Second Front" refers to canned hams, which were sent from America to the CCCP during the war. FDR promised to open a "Second Front" in Europe to take some of the pressure off of the Soviet Union as early as 1942. Rather than do so (until Overlord in '44), the primary foreign war aid that the CCCP received was canned hams.)
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Jerry-ADK
Private 1st Class
Unteroffizier, Heeresgruppe Nord-Ost
Posts: 418
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Post by Jerry-ADK on Jul 15, 2014 14:34:19 GMT -5
Welcome to WW2AA Nightwitch! Im sure you are going to love this forum it a great bunch of really helpful smart and creative people who really enjoy what they do and love military history. We would like to get a Eastern Front game going here in the Nord-Ost. Once we get our Western Front games up to snuff we will start doing that here as well. I would love to do a Russian Infantryman impression. Too bad dog fighting with real replica planes is so expensive, not to mention dangerous! But crawling around in the mud through the forest with a 91/30 is a bit more doable.
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Post by brownien on Jul 15, 2014 18:40:16 GMT -5
Welcome NightWitch! If you are doing a downed fighter pilot impression, I may be of some assistance! I have a mostly complete downed USAAF fighter pilot impression, and I am pretty good with most ww2 aviation type info. You may be able to get a replica A-2 jacket to use. Not absolutely sure, but some could have been sent over from the US as part of the Lend Lease act. Btw, what flight sim did you use? For the past couple of years I have been on AcesHigh2. Pretty good air combat sim.
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Post by volkssturm on Jul 15, 2014 19:34:49 GMT -5
Welcome, Nightwitch. A very impressive resume. For the record, the US sent Uncle Joe 480,000 tons of canned meat during the war. Not all of it was Spam, but a lot was. Also called "Roosevelt Sausage."
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Post by Nightwitch on Jul 15, 2014 21:09:07 GMT -5
Welcome NightWitch! If you are doing a downed fighter pilot impression, I may be of some assistance! I have a mostly complete downed USAAF fighter pilot impression, and I am pretty good with most ww2 aviation type info. You may be able to get a replica A-2 jacket to use. Not absolutely sure, but some could have been sent over from the US as part of the Lend Lease act. Btw, what flight sim did you use? For the past couple of years I have been on AcesHigh2. Pretty good air combat sim. I flew Il-2 primarily. The Soviets copied the A-2 late in the war. Earlier, they had no issued flight jacket beyond highly-coveted 30s vintage black leather trench coats. If you know where to get an A-2 that is cheap enough that I won't hate myself for rolling it in the mud, then I am all ears.
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Post by cblackthorne on Jul 18, 2014 8:11:06 GMT -5
Greetings,
My name is Chris and I recently joined the boards. I have been a historical re-enactor for almost 30 years. I have done both medieval and WWII.
Recently our WWII unit met some wonderful guys from Wisconsin at an event and we started talking about airsoft and its pros and cons for tactical battles. After a few months of discussion and research several members of the unit have decided to give it a try and see where it goes.
Our unit is based in Missouri where the area is void of WWII re-enacting and airsoft, so I believe the slate is primed for a clean start for such things. We are based on the German 29th Panzergrenadier Regiment, 3rd Panzergrenadier Division which spent most of its time on the southern front in Italy. Just before the Battle of the Bulge, it was moved west to participate in the winter offensive. Eventually, the unit was destroyed in the Ruhr Valley.
I look forward to some informative and interesting conversations.
Regards, Chris
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jul 18, 2014 10:48:44 GMT -5
As a moderator I am informed about all newly registered members and try to greet all of them. The past several months there has been an explosion of new members from all over the US. if each can serve as a catalyst to stir up local interest the renewed growth of the hobby appears quite bright. The availability of period weapons (that work and are affordable) has really been our gratest limitation and that has gratly been remedied in the past few years which bodes well for all of us. The time is right!!!!!
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Post by nordicbear on Jul 18, 2014 11:45:58 GMT -5
I'm going to throw my hat in here as well. I've lurked around the forums enough, time to make an account.
I've been wanting to do a WW2 kit for a while now, and the time is finally right for me. Over the next few months I'll be putting together an early war US Army infantry kit. My starting plan for a weapon is the ICS M1 Garand, but I plan to add others to my collection as well.
I look forward to getting to know everyone!
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shiftysgarand
Corporal
BangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangPING
Posts: 1,165
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Post by shiftysgarand on Jul 19, 2014 17:04:54 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum! If you live in the northeast, brownien is organizing a D Day game for next weekend that's going to be a lot of fun.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jul 20, 2014 0:04:32 GMT -5
A "leg" infantryman armed with an m1 garand is the most universal and appropriate impression for a ww2 soldier. It is an impression we need to see more of. Please share pictures as you load out becomes more complete.
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Post by nordicbear on Jul 20, 2014 19:22:07 GMT -5
Shifty, thanks for the heads up. I'm in the Midwest, central Indiana to be exact, so no go unfortunately. I hope to travel a bit more later on depending on my work schedule, so I might make it out that way eventually.
2ndBat, I'll keep the boards posted. I love the weapon, so it was a natural choice now that there is a factory AEG I can pick up. I've seen the mods done to M14's to make them more appropriate, and even though I have the skills to do such a conversion, it was one of the things that kept me from building impression.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jul 20, 2014 20:14:17 GMT -5
I think there are a lot of people who have been in your exact situation so the recent infusion of new weapons is proving to be real boost to our hobby.
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ersatzjack2
Private 1st Class
"We can still win this thing, once the secret weapons arrive."
Posts: 612
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Post by ersatzjack2 on Jul 21, 2014 15:39:16 GMT -5
Greetings, My name is Chris and I recently joined the boards. I have been a historical re-enactor for almost 30 years. I have done both medieval and WWII. Recently our WWII unit met some wonderful guys from Wisconsin at an event and we started talking about airsoft and its pros and cons for tactical battles. After a few months of discussion and research several members of the unit have decided to give it a try and see where it goes. Our unit is based in Missouri where the area is void of WWII re-enacting and airsoft, so I believe the slate is primed for a clean start for such things. We are based on the German 29th Panzergrenadier Regiment, 3rd Panzergrenadier Division which spent most of its time on the southern front in Italy. Just before the Battle of the Bulge, it was moved west to participate in the winter offensive. Eventually, the unit was destroyed in the Ruhr Valley. I look forward to some informative and interesting conversations. Regards, Chris Chris and his group met some of our group at Weldon Springs (a blank fire tactical near St. Louis) earlier this Spring. Making the plunge into airsoft battles might ruin them for that kind of thing in the future. Glad to have you guys on these boards. Chris also makes crates and boxes and Mike and I picked up a few of them from him in March and will be adding some more in the upcoming future. He does quality work and if you're looking for that sort of thing to add to your impression/collection you might want to keep him in mind.
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Navy Doc
Private
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!
Posts: 38
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Post by Navy Doc on Jul 28, 2014 19:02:34 GMT -5
Name: Tracy Wallick Location: Laurel, MD Contact: wallicktn@gmail.com Impressions: [/i] and US Navy Corsair Pilot)[/ul] Weapons: M1A1 Thompson Other hobbies: LARP, camping, computers Other: I've been playing airsoft for a few years, but this is the first historical reenactment/themed airsoft group I've ever played with. I'm also active duty Navy (impatiently awaiting my overdue Petty Officer promotion package). You may also know my husband, Dracul. (aka Drackles )
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Dracul
Master sergeant
Posts: 1,341
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Post by Dracul on Jul 28, 2014 19:04:23 GMT -5
You forgot "Dracul's wife", or more dramatically, "The Wife of Dracul". haha.
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Navy Doc
Private
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!
Posts: 38
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Post by Navy Doc on Jul 28, 2014 19:06:48 GMT -5
Added, dear. lol
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Post by cblackthorne on Jul 28, 2014 19:47:13 GMT -5
Greetings, My name is Chris and I recently joined the boards. I have been a historical re-enactor for almost 30 years. I have done both medieval and WWII. Recently our WWII unit met some wonderful guys from Wisconsin at an event and we started talking about airsoft and its pros and cons for tactical battles. After a few months of discussion and research several members of the unit have decided to give it a try and see where it goes. Our unit is based in Missouri where the area is void of WWII re-enacting and airsoft, so I believe the slate is primed for a clean start for such things. We are based on the German 29th Panzergrenadier Regiment, 3rd Panzergrenadier Division which spent most of its time on the southern front in Italy. Just before the Battle of the Bulge, it was moved west to participate in the winter offensive. Eventually, the unit was destroyed in the Ruhr Valley. I look forward to some informative and interesting conversations. Regards, Chris Chris and his group met some of our group at Weldon Springs (a blank fire tactical near St. Louis) earlier this Spring. Making the plunge into airsoft battles might ruin them for that kind of thing in the future. Glad to have you guys on these boards. Chris also makes crates and boxes and Mike and I picked up a few of them from him in March and will be adding some more in the upcoming future. He does quality work and if you're looking for that sort of thing to add to your impression/collection you might want to keep him in mind. Thanks ersatzjack2 for the review. Regards, Chris
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Post by ssgjoe on Jul 28, 2014 19:55:00 GMT -5
Drackles. I like it
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Post by reichelderfer on Dec 14, 2014 17:24:18 GMT -5
Hello all! I recently moved to Murfreesboro, TN from Spokane, WA. Being on the East side of these United States has now rekindled my want/desire to do WW2 airsofting.
Who am I? My name is Robert (you can call me Rob though) and my screen name, Reichelderfer, is used in honor of my Great Cousin, Robert H. Reichelderfer who was a P-47 pilot during WW2 and went MIA over Northern Italy in the last months of the war. (My avatar is a picture of him).
What are my plans? As of right now, research, research, research as well as verbally survey people in TN and the surrounding states on joining a group or sparking an interest in a group.
What might be my first impression and what do I own? I own nothing at the moment and as far as impressions go, something US or British based and then move on from there.
Airsoft history about me? I have been playing for 8 years and have been airsoft teching for 4. I have been to only 3 modern milsim events in my life, all of which were fantastic. I have pondered and done only two impressions over my life, 2004-2005 NSW Recon and Winter kits, both of which are non-existent in my gear closet now.
How I plan on tackling my first WW2 impression: I saw you fellows made a thread about what’s more important to get when creating and impression/kit. I completely agree 100%, uni and some gear, then gun, that’s how I did my first two kits.
What’s my contribution? I plan to contribute here with questions that may have never been asked or answered. But I think my biggest contributions, as I am an airsoft tech, is offering advice and help on your internal builds and or diff ways/methods/procedures if you’re creating or modifying something externally.
What do I want? As far as generics go, I might just pick up a M1 Garand (after the uni and some gear of course) because that’s the rifleman’s go to gun, and a semi-auto M1 Carbine is not readily available.
What do I want to DIY? I would absolutely love to make a sheet metal or PVC based M1919A4 if my future budget allows (I plan on using the M249 gearbox and an AK47 style hop up. If this isn’t feasible, I would love my try at making a Reising M50, learn from that and then make a M55 (this would probably utilize an on the market 9mm/.45 style stick mag). I’d also like to make a NBB single shot De Lisle Carbine (hopefully utilizing a lot of the M1911 internals on this) and that’s it for now.
Last notes: I’ve been lurking on this site for a good 2ish years and have finally made the plunge into making an account and being active. Thanks to 2nd Bat for the warm welcome the night I registered.
P.S. I was at the Bad Karma Charity game back in October and met and briefly spoke to a WW2 US Army Big Red 1 impressionist, you had a pretty squared away kit and had the Matrix or Echo1 M1918 BAR, if you’re on this site it be good to know and meet up with you at the next regular skirmish and talk WW2 stuff over and such.
If you have questions for me, I’d be glad to be of service.
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Post by patrickl29th on Dec 14, 2014 17:35:42 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum, If your building a US GI impression and have any questions you can ask me.
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shiftysgarand
Corporal
BangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangPING
Posts: 1,165
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Post by shiftysgarand on Dec 14, 2014 18:02:46 GMT -5
Welcome aboard! Just so you know, there are some semi automatic M1 Carbines (made by Marushin) available. Most of them have durability issues, but the CO2 version I have heard is pretty good.
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Post by Big_Pete on Jan 21, 2015 16:55:44 GMT -5
Hey guys, I'm Peter. I'm almost 17, and I've been airsofting for about 4 years now. I just got into WWII airsoft this past fall after teetering on the edge on and off for the last 2 years. I live in Muskego, Wisconsin, which is a semi-rural suburb smack in between Waukesha and Milwaukee. I decided to drop my modern loadout and pick up this one due to constant urgings from one of my friends, (who has a pretty superb USMC impression), as well as inspiration from The Pacific.
Although I only just decided to start WWII airsoft, between using my last paycheck from the farm season and Christmas money, my impression's buildup has been swift and fairly thorough. As I have hinted but never said directly yet, I do a 1943(ish) Marine Officer impression. I would say that it looks more reminiscent of a Raider than regular infantry, but I will hear what you guys have to say about it! My weapons are a Cybergun Thompson "1928", on which I will be putting on a horizontal foregrip tomorrow (using Sgt. Squid's method) to make it closer to a 1928a1; and an Elite Force 1911a1. During the winter I use a quasi-Korean War impression. Once it's warm enough to ditch my overcoat for airsoft I'll post some pics of me in my WWII gear.
For me, the Thompson 1928"a1" is a slight compromise; what I'd really love is an M1 Carbine. However, I'm holding out for an AEG because a) my play style dictates a little more firepower, and b) that Wisconsin's wildly varying temperatures would force me to use an AEG almost 5 months of the year anyways.
Besides airsoft, I'm also a musician and a baseball player. I'm playing bari sax and clarinet in the pit orchestra for my high school's musical this year. My family goes camping pretty often, and I play ukulele during campfire singalongs. During the summer I work as a farmhand and play catcher in the city's baseball league.
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Ersatzjack
Corporal
"That silly Franz... he thinks we are winning."
Posts: 1,093
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Post by Ersatzjack on Jan 22, 2015 1:46:55 GMT -5
Welcome abroad Big_Pete. There is a pretty active WWII group in Wisconsin called Midwest Ostfront Airsoft and when you have time please check out our site. We do mostly Soviet/German battles but welcome anyone in WWII kit and who knows, you might catch the bug and want to build another impression. Anyway, being 17, you are probably driving and will soon be 18 which allows you entry into all our games if you choose.
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nemo
Private
Posts: 1
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Post by nemo on Jan 22, 2015 5:21:23 GMT -5
I'm new to this site, but love everything I've read so far, especially the posts by 2ndbat. Being a historian, I find his (and most others) enjoyable to read and learn. I have always loved history and have specialized my studies during the period between 1936. - 1975.. I have a special interest in WW II not only because my father served in Europe during the War, but the event had such a monumental affect on the course of our history. I look forward to reading the posts and maybe even participate!
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Post by patrickl29th on Jan 22, 2015 14:53:03 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum
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Post by Zelmaranth on Apr 14, 2015 0:28:51 GMT -5
Hello all. I'm Will, 18, from Georgia. I've gotten into airsoft in the past year and only yesterday found this place. I've always been interested in re-enacting, but the lack of groups in my area deterred me. I plan on doing a German impression to start out with, and would gladly take any advice offered. Also, if anyone's in the middle-south Georgia or northern Florida areas, I would love to meet up, join your group, or maybe start one with you.
I look forward to having fun and learning a lot.
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stuka
Sergeant
The one and only
Posts: 1,205
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Post by stuka on Apr 14, 2015 0:38:46 GMT -5
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Post by Zelmaranth on Apr 14, 2015 22:56:11 GMT -5
Thanks for the link! I've requested to join and waiting on approval.
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