Post by Rekkon on Jun 11, 2010 15:24:34 GMT -5
Many thanks to everyone that put on this event and for having us out from the Midwest. It was clear a lot of effort went into things.
On to the AAR!
On Friday I was put in charge of the second German command consisting of the 3rd Panzergrenadiers and Cryonics’ three man group. Initially the FJs were with us as well, but Gerry appropriated them to guard his artillery crew before the event started. Kampfegruppe Voigt was tasked with securing the village of Clermont, so I spread my men out in to keep watch on all the likely approaches to town. Two French civilians approached along the main road. I checked their papers, and all seemed in order.
At game-on the guns opened fire, starting what was (at least for me) the coolest part of the event. The fire correction calls were an awesome touch, augmented by the cries of “Inkom!” when Ed started counterbattery fire with his mortar. It was good that this was entertaining, because the garrison got basically no action the first night. Once or twice I ventured down to the guns to report our readiness status to Gerry. Not until the very end did any Amis even get close. Cryonics abruptly opened fire from his post, and we shifted forces to that front. There was no way they were getting in after that. He threw two exploding pea grenades, and then we got the call that a police car had arrived due to a noise complaint over the cannon. By the time that was sorted out, the game was called for the night. Just when things were starting to get interesting.
Saturday started much more promising for me. I had not been feeling well (and the weather did not help) until right about when we started going again. The pickets were reestablished, but I figured we were in for a substantial wait again, so I gave the French waitress some money to deliver a round of drinks to my men. I know from previous events that roleplaying positions can get boring at times, so I figured it would be something to do.
Things were quite for a while until all of a sudden someone yelled a warning and gunfire erupted in the town. Two Allies had snuck in completely unnoticed. I went around the bus shot trench shotgun kid through a window. Otto was gunned down, then his killer and I popped around corners and sprayed each other simultaneously. Fortunately I was only wounded and Cryonics was nearby to aid me. My soldats seemed to relax now that the immediate threat was neutralized, but I ordered them to sweep the area and make sure everything was indeed clear. Nope. More gunfire, this time from outside the town, and I was struck down. Soon we realized the attackers were coming in from our left. They much have gone deep to avoid being spotted, and it worked. Fire was traded, then died down, so I respawned in the café, grabbed a couple guys and spread out to sweep the woods. Cryonics was quickly hit; Tom and I went to ground. He circled around behind the attackers while I went to ground. Soon I could hear brush noise and spotted two young Americans moving up. I waited for a good shot and squeezed off a short burst at close range. Both of them walked off dead, which surprised me since I though I had only hit one. Clearly our pickets on the left were inadequate, but Tom had found a good position a short distance into the woods, one he then ended up occupying for most of the event. To his credit, every time I went to check our left flank, he was standing (or rather lying) vigilant. More than once he returned with a prison or alerted us to a threat with sudden gunfire accompanied by Americans yelling “Hit!”
At some point earlier in the day, Cryonics’ son returned to town with a captured French partisan. I took custody and promptly executed him with his own rifle since he had no armband. It also new the Allies were struggling, and 30 minutes of POW time seemed excessive to me. Thus I “freed” him to go respawn.
After the excitement of the first American attack, it took a little while to realize that the guns were no longer firing. We saw our first dead artillery crewmen, so I started to organize the counter attack. We were going to swing a little left, and hopefully catch the enemy in the flank while they were exalting in their success. Unfortunately the maneuver aborted almost instantly. I was pegged by Garand fire almost as soon as I left our lines, and Cryonics’ son immediately fell back to the town. I did not get to see what happened to my other guys. Wound card says… Dead.
All the German forces now gathered to defend the town, and our respawn was kicked back to our HQ. Action was light, so shortly before lunch, we moved to retake the artillery pieces, not all of which had been destroyed. We got to the outskirts of the artillery clearing before taking fire from the right. An American contingent was deep on that flank along a stone wall outside town. I played whack-a-mole with an Ami for a while, unable to move, but hoping to pin him down so my kameraden could maneuver. After a while it seemed to work. One of the FJs kept moving and distracted my aggressor. I charged up and pelted him in the head before throwing a grenade, but was quickly cut down by another American hiding in the brush. Gerry then sent out word that we were standing down for lunch. I mistakenly believed we were ceasing hostilities for this activity, and announced it to everyone nearby. I felt bad for the Americans after I learned my error. They were surely doomed but deserved the right to fight to the death for the bit of real estate they had taken. Lunch was iron rations and mail call, which were both nice touches that really added to the event.
Before hostilities resumed, I moved out to mine the side trail that led toward town. I had not carried these things across the country for nothing, but the terrain did not really favor their use. I got four of them in place, and put another by the front corner of the bus, in case the enemy penetrated that far and tried to take cover there. Unfortunately all my effort was for naught. I only managed to kill the cameraman. Twice. The renewed American assault got underway with a mortar barrage. One round killed Otto. We could see Ed down the trail, and the enemy‘s infantry efforts seemed to be focused on our right. I was trying to convince Gerry to let me lead a strike on the left to knock out the mortar when gunfire on that flank signed hostile forces in the area. Soon the indirect attack was replaced by direct bazooka fire against Franz in our primary MG trench. I did not see how that turn out because I entrenched myself along the left trail to wait for Americans. I ended up uncomfortably forward of the German lines and realized I was without support. Hearing the enemy approach, I went prone and resolved to sell my life as dearly as possible. Two Amis crept across the trail not far away, and I gunned them both down. One of the casualties then began directing the men behind him to flank my position. I felt this was a rules violation, but did not wish to further give away my position by talking. Fire came my way, but a large log pile and heavy brush protected me. Several times I popped up to gun down a GI awkwardly trying to traverse the log pile. There were several cries of “Medic!” and I think I pegged at least one of them trying to aid his fallen comrades. The kid on the log pile must have gotten mediced, because he abruptly opened fire with his Thompson. I kissed the dirt, frantically scrambling to change my magazine. His aim must have been a little high, because I escaped unscathed and popped up to put him down a second time. The action died down as the American attack stalled, but I was still worried about one person hooking around to peg me in the back. As the lull continued, I gathered my discarded magazines and made a break for the town. No gunfire chased me, and I made a clean escape. That was easily my personal high point of the event.
I now took up a position behind the bus, waiting for the enemy to come in closer. Otto and Franz both became casualties, leaving our center a little thin. Without our MG in action, Americans started creeping up the main trail. My MP40 did not have the range, so I grabbed Franz’s Mauser to put a few rifle shots on them. This succeeded only in encouraging them to scatter. Gerry called out a French partisan on the left, so I shifted over there, confident I had the better rifle, but ran out of ammo. Frak this. I quickly ducked into the bus and loaded a clip for my Mauser. For the rest of the event, I carried both weapons, switching back and forth as necessary. I never did manage to peg that pesky partisan, though I forced his head down more than once. Several Americans pushed up the main trail, but were discouraged by automatic fire. I pegged one of the kids with my Mauser, but he did not feel/call it. This was really the only hit calling failure I personally witnessed the whole event, though a number of other Germans had complaints.
The fighting began to taper off, and it seemed clear to us that the enemy was getting tired and demoralized. Small actions continued here and there, but nothing that threatened the security of the town. Mike was making the evening meal and once had to dual wield his MP40 and the stew ladle. I kept moving around, filling gaps, and checking on the integrity of our perimeter. Gerry was hit once, and we would have been able to drag him to safety, if he had not pulled a DEAD wound card (one in a long string of them). Somewhat understandably the German defenders became lax. We had a steady string of prisoners, and reestablished our outer perimeter at the pre-Saturday positions. Suddenly grenades exploded in town, accompanied by cries of alarm and gunfire. A surprise American assault led by Piper slammed into us from the rear, cutting down numerous soldats. We reacted quickly however, and I moved to an outside building with the intent of flanking the assault force. Just on the other side, Piper was rushing toward the same corner. There was a brief moment of mutual surprise at very close range, culminating in short burst to an American gut. As the American commander writhed in the dirt, I spotted another young member of his force. I tracked him as he moved several yards left and crouched behind new cover. Cover from the other Germans, not from me. As soon as he stopped I dropped him. By now Piper had his wound out, so I took him prisoner. With BBs still flying back and forth, I hustled him to the stalag, knowing bagging an officer was a major coup. Cyronics arrived to perform more grenade spam (of which I heartily approve), and I finally managed to flank right, meeting up with Otto, who was returning from respawn. By then the last of Amis had been dispatched. Or so we thought. Tom marched in the last one as a POW to keep Piper company. This GI had snuck up on the left and had been about to take advantage of the chaos in our rear.
The event was nearing completion, and the Germans were still a bit restless. We sensed weakness and wanted to counterattack the American positions. After some misdirection over the radio, Gerry finally led a mass charge down the main trail. I was near the front, firing my Mauser, as the Amis fled before us. One managed to tag me with a lucky shot (to the teeth no less, ow), but I was bandaged up and continued on. We got held up a bit near the bridge, so I flanked wide left, but by the time I found a way through, the action had concluded.
-----
In all honesty, I only had an OK time at this event, but that was mostly due to factors beyond the control of the event organizers, namely the distance we had to travel, the weather and the fact that I was not feeling well when we got there. I much prefer to wear my wool tunic, but I was feeling so borderline that I had to forego it. Fortunately I started to feel better Saturday and was able to get more enjoyment out of the event.
My two big criticisms of the setup itself was the lack of variety, which bit the Americans worse than us, and safety. I hear Feel Good Farms is huge, but we only played on a small portion of it, and the objectives never really changed for either side. The Americans always had the onus of attacking.
Safety was by far my biggest problem with the event. It started with a bad sign when I saw an event organizer drive up to us with a loaded weapon. The Minnesota or Wisconsin Airsoft Association guys would have had fits. Nothing was chronographed, and I never saw barrel blockers in the safe zone. Several incidents of goggles off during play (just that I witnessed), as well as mags-in and firing around people without eye protection.
Related to safety, I did not like the lack of red kill rags. While I understand the reasons for not using them, it seemed like it contributed to a lot of overkill in the heavy brush. People kept getting hit because it was nigh impossible to tell if their helmet/hat was on or off. Especially when coupled with the wound system (which, by itself, I liked) since people were continually moving around for their wound packets and then potentially returning to the fight after buddy aid. It did not help that I saw numerous people walk off ‘dead’ without removing their top.
And to end on a high note, the things I did like. I mentioned the iron rations and letters from home earlier. And of course the artillery pieces were extremely awesome, as were Cryonics’ exploding pea grenades. Their reports added to the authenticity, as did the fact that we were lobbing them into the brush when people tried to crawl up on our positions. The German HQ looked good, and a lot of the little touches, like the music in the café, really enriched the atmosphere. The land owners were very welcoming and had plenty of amenities for us. It was nice to see several Garands on the American team rather than 99% Thompsons. Mike’s stew was most excellent, and we got plenty of photos and video.
On to the AAR!
On Friday I was put in charge of the second German command consisting of the 3rd Panzergrenadiers and Cryonics’ three man group. Initially the FJs were with us as well, but Gerry appropriated them to guard his artillery crew before the event started. Kampfegruppe Voigt was tasked with securing the village of Clermont, so I spread my men out in to keep watch on all the likely approaches to town. Two French civilians approached along the main road. I checked their papers, and all seemed in order.
At game-on the guns opened fire, starting what was (at least for me) the coolest part of the event. The fire correction calls were an awesome touch, augmented by the cries of “Inkom!” when Ed started counterbattery fire with his mortar. It was good that this was entertaining, because the garrison got basically no action the first night. Once or twice I ventured down to the guns to report our readiness status to Gerry. Not until the very end did any Amis even get close. Cryonics abruptly opened fire from his post, and we shifted forces to that front. There was no way they were getting in after that. He threw two exploding pea grenades, and then we got the call that a police car had arrived due to a noise complaint over the cannon. By the time that was sorted out, the game was called for the night. Just when things were starting to get interesting.
Saturday started much more promising for me. I had not been feeling well (and the weather did not help) until right about when we started going again. The pickets were reestablished, but I figured we were in for a substantial wait again, so I gave the French waitress some money to deliver a round of drinks to my men. I know from previous events that roleplaying positions can get boring at times, so I figured it would be something to do.
Things were quite for a while until all of a sudden someone yelled a warning and gunfire erupted in the town. Two Allies had snuck in completely unnoticed. I went around the bus shot trench shotgun kid through a window. Otto was gunned down, then his killer and I popped around corners and sprayed each other simultaneously. Fortunately I was only wounded and Cryonics was nearby to aid me. My soldats seemed to relax now that the immediate threat was neutralized, but I ordered them to sweep the area and make sure everything was indeed clear. Nope. More gunfire, this time from outside the town, and I was struck down. Soon we realized the attackers were coming in from our left. They much have gone deep to avoid being spotted, and it worked. Fire was traded, then died down, so I respawned in the café, grabbed a couple guys and spread out to sweep the woods. Cryonics was quickly hit; Tom and I went to ground. He circled around behind the attackers while I went to ground. Soon I could hear brush noise and spotted two young Americans moving up. I waited for a good shot and squeezed off a short burst at close range. Both of them walked off dead, which surprised me since I though I had only hit one. Clearly our pickets on the left were inadequate, but Tom had found a good position a short distance into the woods, one he then ended up occupying for most of the event. To his credit, every time I went to check our left flank, he was standing (or rather lying) vigilant. More than once he returned with a prison or alerted us to a threat with sudden gunfire accompanied by Americans yelling “Hit!”
At some point earlier in the day, Cryonics’ son returned to town with a captured French partisan. I took custody and promptly executed him with his own rifle since he had no armband. It also new the Allies were struggling, and 30 minutes of POW time seemed excessive to me. Thus I “freed” him to go respawn.
After the excitement of the first American attack, it took a little while to realize that the guns were no longer firing. We saw our first dead artillery crewmen, so I started to organize the counter attack. We were going to swing a little left, and hopefully catch the enemy in the flank while they were exalting in their success. Unfortunately the maneuver aborted almost instantly. I was pegged by Garand fire almost as soon as I left our lines, and Cryonics’ son immediately fell back to the town. I did not get to see what happened to my other guys. Wound card says… Dead.
All the German forces now gathered to defend the town, and our respawn was kicked back to our HQ. Action was light, so shortly before lunch, we moved to retake the artillery pieces, not all of which had been destroyed. We got to the outskirts of the artillery clearing before taking fire from the right. An American contingent was deep on that flank along a stone wall outside town. I played whack-a-mole with an Ami for a while, unable to move, but hoping to pin him down so my kameraden could maneuver. After a while it seemed to work. One of the FJs kept moving and distracted my aggressor. I charged up and pelted him in the head before throwing a grenade, but was quickly cut down by another American hiding in the brush. Gerry then sent out word that we were standing down for lunch. I mistakenly believed we were ceasing hostilities for this activity, and announced it to everyone nearby. I felt bad for the Americans after I learned my error. They were surely doomed but deserved the right to fight to the death for the bit of real estate they had taken. Lunch was iron rations and mail call, which were both nice touches that really added to the event.
Before hostilities resumed, I moved out to mine the side trail that led toward town. I had not carried these things across the country for nothing, but the terrain did not really favor their use. I got four of them in place, and put another by the front corner of the bus, in case the enemy penetrated that far and tried to take cover there. Unfortunately all my effort was for naught. I only managed to kill the cameraman. Twice. The renewed American assault got underway with a mortar barrage. One round killed Otto. We could see Ed down the trail, and the enemy‘s infantry efforts seemed to be focused on our right. I was trying to convince Gerry to let me lead a strike on the left to knock out the mortar when gunfire on that flank signed hostile forces in the area. Soon the indirect attack was replaced by direct bazooka fire against Franz in our primary MG trench. I did not see how that turn out because I entrenched myself along the left trail to wait for Americans. I ended up uncomfortably forward of the German lines and realized I was without support. Hearing the enemy approach, I went prone and resolved to sell my life as dearly as possible. Two Amis crept across the trail not far away, and I gunned them both down. One of the casualties then began directing the men behind him to flank my position. I felt this was a rules violation, but did not wish to further give away my position by talking. Fire came my way, but a large log pile and heavy brush protected me. Several times I popped up to gun down a GI awkwardly trying to traverse the log pile. There were several cries of “Medic!” and I think I pegged at least one of them trying to aid his fallen comrades. The kid on the log pile must have gotten mediced, because he abruptly opened fire with his Thompson. I kissed the dirt, frantically scrambling to change my magazine. His aim must have been a little high, because I escaped unscathed and popped up to put him down a second time. The action died down as the American attack stalled, but I was still worried about one person hooking around to peg me in the back. As the lull continued, I gathered my discarded magazines and made a break for the town. No gunfire chased me, and I made a clean escape. That was easily my personal high point of the event.
I now took up a position behind the bus, waiting for the enemy to come in closer. Otto and Franz both became casualties, leaving our center a little thin. Without our MG in action, Americans started creeping up the main trail. My MP40 did not have the range, so I grabbed Franz’s Mauser to put a few rifle shots on them. This succeeded only in encouraging them to scatter. Gerry called out a French partisan on the left, so I shifted over there, confident I had the better rifle, but ran out of ammo. Frak this. I quickly ducked into the bus and loaded a clip for my Mauser. For the rest of the event, I carried both weapons, switching back and forth as necessary. I never did manage to peg that pesky partisan, though I forced his head down more than once. Several Americans pushed up the main trail, but were discouraged by automatic fire. I pegged one of the kids with my Mauser, but he did not feel/call it. This was really the only hit calling failure I personally witnessed the whole event, though a number of other Germans had complaints.
The fighting began to taper off, and it seemed clear to us that the enemy was getting tired and demoralized. Small actions continued here and there, but nothing that threatened the security of the town. Mike was making the evening meal and once had to dual wield his MP40 and the stew ladle. I kept moving around, filling gaps, and checking on the integrity of our perimeter. Gerry was hit once, and we would have been able to drag him to safety, if he had not pulled a DEAD wound card (one in a long string of them). Somewhat understandably the German defenders became lax. We had a steady string of prisoners, and reestablished our outer perimeter at the pre-Saturday positions. Suddenly grenades exploded in town, accompanied by cries of alarm and gunfire. A surprise American assault led by Piper slammed into us from the rear, cutting down numerous soldats. We reacted quickly however, and I moved to an outside building with the intent of flanking the assault force. Just on the other side, Piper was rushing toward the same corner. There was a brief moment of mutual surprise at very close range, culminating in short burst to an American gut. As the American commander writhed in the dirt, I spotted another young member of his force. I tracked him as he moved several yards left and crouched behind new cover. Cover from the other Germans, not from me. As soon as he stopped I dropped him. By now Piper had his wound out, so I took him prisoner. With BBs still flying back and forth, I hustled him to the stalag, knowing bagging an officer was a major coup. Cyronics arrived to perform more grenade spam (of which I heartily approve), and I finally managed to flank right, meeting up with Otto, who was returning from respawn. By then the last of Amis had been dispatched. Or so we thought. Tom marched in the last one as a POW to keep Piper company. This GI had snuck up on the left and had been about to take advantage of the chaos in our rear.
The event was nearing completion, and the Germans were still a bit restless. We sensed weakness and wanted to counterattack the American positions. After some misdirection over the radio, Gerry finally led a mass charge down the main trail. I was near the front, firing my Mauser, as the Amis fled before us. One managed to tag me with a lucky shot (to the teeth no less, ow), but I was bandaged up and continued on. We got held up a bit near the bridge, so I flanked wide left, but by the time I found a way through, the action had concluded.
-----
In all honesty, I only had an OK time at this event, but that was mostly due to factors beyond the control of the event organizers, namely the distance we had to travel, the weather and the fact that I was not feeling well when we got there. I much prefer to wear my wool tunic, but I was feeling so borderline that I had to forego it. Fortunately I started to feel better Saturday and was able to get more enjoyment out of the event.
My two big criticisms of the setup itself was the lack of variety, which bit the Americans worse than us, and safety. I hear Feel Good Farms is huge, but we only played on a small portion of it, and the objectives never really changed for either side. The Americans always had the onus of attacking.
Safety was by far my biggest problem with the event. It started with a bad sign when I saw an event organizer drive up to us with a loaded weapon. The Minnesota or Wisconsin Airsoft Association guys would have had fits. Nothing was chronographed, and I never saw barrel blockers in the safe zone. Several incidents of goggles off during play (just that I witnessed), as well as mags-in and firing around people without eye protection.
Related to safety, I did not like the lack of red kill rags. While I understand the reasons for not using them, it seemed like it contributed to a lot of overkill in the heavy brush. People kept getting hit because it was nigh impossible to tell if their helmet/hat was on or off. Especially when coupled with the wound system (which, by itself, I liked) since people were continually moving around for their wound packets and then potentially returning to the fight after buddy aid. It did not help that I saw numerous people walk off ‘dead’ without removing their top.
And to end on a high note, the things I did like. I mentioned the iron rations and letters from home earlier. And of course the artillery pieces were extremely awesome, as were Cryonics’ exploding pea grenades. Their reports added to the authenticity, as did the fact that we were lobbing them into the brush when people tried to crawl up on our positions. The German HQ looked good, and a lot of the little touches, like the music in the café, really enriched the atmosphere. The land owners were very welcoming and had plenty of amenities for us. It was nice to see several Garands on the American team rather than 99% Thompsons. Mike’s stew was most excellent, and we got plenty of photos and video.