2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on May 3, 2014 13:32:59 GMT -5
If there is an ignition vs a piercing or valve opening you are definitely right as clearly it is pyro. The label "cool burning" is quite missleading as while not as intense as many form of pyro they still can start fires. Hopefully you will continue to be able to source them as they really do add a lot.
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Post by OMEGO on May 6, 2014 15:08:05 GMT -5
We had 172 airsofters at D-Day 2014 despite the nearly constant rain. My sources indicate that this operation had the highest attendance of any airsoft event in the history of Maine and was probably one of the largest WW2-themed airsoft events in New England. Among the 188 players who signed up in advance on the roll-call threads, we had 135 who ate the lunch that was included with their $10 admission fee. I still have dozens of turkey sandwiches left over that I’ll be eating for weeks to come, but it was all worth it! Thanks to the help of several generous volunteers, this event started exactly on time at 11:00. Memories were made, an opening ceremony was interrupted, air-raid sirens were screaming, smoke was deployed, thunderous blanks were fired, tens of thousands of BBs were unleashed, AEG batteries were drained, boots were muddied, ground was taken, flags were toppled, propaganda was disseminated, violence was raging, atrocities were committed, and it all ended with a horrific nazi being slain by a glorious hero! Here are the score sheets: Over the winter, I gave up video games and TV in order to work on this op. It was more successful than I ever imagined. Thank you all for your attendance and support!
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Post by OMEGO on Feb 15, 2015 21:09:44 GMT -5
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Feb 16, 2015 11:54:24 GMT -5
I knew this would be bad but wow...I had no idea! looks like a fun time was had by all but truthfully it was hard to watch. Paintball lives!
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Post by OMEGO on Feb 16, 2015 14:04:55 GMT -5
Hey, thank you for watching the video even though it was hard. Although the vast majority of loadouts, gameplay, and silliness were typical of any other big airsoft event that we have here at Harris, it was amazingly cool to see so many members of this forum in their full impressive kit. It was also wonderful to see Mark (Piper318) there with his WW2AA display as shown at the start of the vid. These were some very exciting firsts for our field, and I couldn’t have invited any of these fine folks if it weren’t for this website. Thank you for keeping this forum going and for letting me advertise our very loosely themed WW2-ish ops. We’d love to host a true WW2AA event at our field if any of you would be willing to spearhead it. I'm serious! Please message me if any of you are interested. Thanks again!
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Feb 16, 2015 14:40:58 GMT -5
That would be great and believe me we all relate to the challenges of balancing authenticity standards with turnout. My early efforts were only marginally better than what was shown in your clips and ignorance is bliss because I seemed to recall that we all had a fabulous time. At a recent event ( I put on ) most of the German merely had smocks, headgear and grey thrift shop pants East German web gear and only looked adequate via fleeting glances in the forest.
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Jerry-ADK
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Post by Jerry-ADK on Feb 16, 2015 19:40:28 GMT -5
Looks like you had a lot of fun! If I can make the next one I will try, I will know as that date gets closer. Does anyone up at your field have a period kit or is working on one?
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Post by OMEGO on Feb 17, 2015 4:56:58 GMT -5
Yes, several names come to mind including Fishman, Redrover, and Snipahz. I, too, have been working on one over the past three years. Recently, I picked up some proper collar tabs and jack boots. It's been fun to put together but somewhat expensive. Thank you for asking and expressing interest. We'd love to have you for D-Day 2015.
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Feb 17, 2015 16:39:49 GMT -5
If you have 150 players and even 30 showed up in period themed clothing you would find those numbers grow exponentially with each subsequent event. At least strive to have all of your staff and leadership personnel in costume. This creates a contagion which is a cool way to develope WW2 Airsoft.
To move in that direction I would urge you to have Allies in tan and German in OD or grey. Disallow woodland or modern camo altogether. On any given visit to a large thrift shop a staff player could throw together a costume for under 30.00. You can buy two dozen plastic German helmets for $6.00 each to issue out. Put a coat of paint on them and at a glance they look okay.
As it is, I'm missing the part where it is WW2
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Post by insterburger on Feb 17, 2015 17:51:43 GMT -5
I kind of surfed through the video. Low authenticity standards? Bring it on! A wild and wooly game with little in the way of period correct tactics? Hey, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. But when Captain America shows up? Hmmmmmm... you gotta draw the line somewhere.
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Post by brownien on Feb 17, 2015 18:37:58 GMT -5
Being there. It was a really fun event. Very low standards for impressions, and we had to leave part way through. I felt it did lack about of coordination on the ground level tactically. The higher ups seemed to do a very good job on keeping the glow going and not letting things get too stale, but there were no individual squads with a leader for each, making coordination between the large groups of teammate difficult, and prevented any counterattacks from occuring. I think that by having one Lt. Commanding per side with Sgts with radio comms leading individual squads of 10-12, each squad with an LMG on auto and everyone else on semi, this would allow commanders to put troops where they need to be and exploit gaps in enemy lines. It would also allow commanders to pull their troops back if one team is pushing the combat along too fast. It would also make the event much more immersive for all
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Feb 17, 2015 18:39:54 GMT -5
i see it for what it is but also as a recruiting opportunity. Half the folks in attendance there will be thrilled to see folks in period uniforms. More importantly, 10% of the folks who show up will be quite psyched to see a group (even if quite small) who are in excellent impressions and seem to know what they are doing. these folks will exchange info and will want to put together a proper (or at least decent) impression. At an event with 170 players that's 17 recruits!
while in attendance, have fun, be informative ( but not judgemental) and just be the fun ambassators to our hobby that will make potential players feel welcome. Understand that 75% of the folks won't see the attraction and thats okay!
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Dracul
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Post by Dracul on Feb 18, 2015 10:30:47 GMT -5
Pretty much what happened to me and my guys at the OXCC Battle of the Bulge themed game in December.
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Post by OMEGO on Feb 18, 2015 20:50:23 GMT -5
You guys are all over this! I’ve been at work a lot for the past couple days but have been very eager to respond: To move in that direction I would urge you to have Allies in tan and German in OD or grey. Jerry and I exchanged posts about this within the original event thread linked HERE. I will propose this change to the local airsoft team leaders despite our multi-year precedent of Allies=green and Germans=tan. It’s all about taking baby steps with our most coveted serial events, so I think they might go for it this year. Disallow woodland or modern camo altogether. I don’t think we’re quite ready for this hard of a restriction—yet. Many of our players only own one set of camo, and it’s often a modern pattern. I fear that several of these players can’t afford or won’t be willing to pay even as little as $20 for a WW2-ish loadout. Sadly, we still have a lot of players who are attracted to the larger turnouts of our D-Day series but couldn’t care less about the theme and wouldn’t be willing to buy anything extra for it. The “cool-factor” of WW2 airsoft hasn’t yet caught on here, so I must continue to use gimmicky stuff like Rammstein and Captain America to draw a decent crowd. Nevertheless, it’s working. D-Day 2014 broke the airsoft attendance record in our state, and we’ve seen an average attendance increase for Harris Field from 36.25 players per event in 2013 to 40.56 players in 2014. I suspect that a lot of you value the quality of the participants over the quantity, but it’s important for us to build up our numbers at this stage of our community development in Maine. It breaks my heart to see so many people leave the hobby/sport each year because they run into financial hardship, move away, lose interest, or other reasons. I want everyone to feel welcome here especially for our flagship events. I’m apprehensive to make D-Day too exclusive too soon. You can buy two dozen plastic German helmets for $6.00 each to issue out. This is very helpful because the field has the money for them, and entry-level helmets are often one-size-fits-most instead of buying uniforms that fit only specific sizes. I actually searched the web for hours last year trying to find some inexpensive plastic German helmets (specifically M1935/40/42 types), but I couldn’t find prices anywhere close to that low. Currently, I see a shipped price of over $17 per helmet on Ebay and Amazon. Where, please, can I get them for only $6 each?A wild and wooly game with little in the way of period correct tactics? I felt it did lack about of coordination on the ground level tactically. I fully take the blame for this one with regard to my command of the German faction. My intention was to learn some historically accurate tactics and apply them effectively through solid communication during the battle. However, as is often the case with these larger events, I was in a crunch during the last month to finish making props, answer questions, update the roster, set up the field, prepare the lunches, refill last-minute staffing cancellations, and such. On game day, I was sleep deprived, not thinking clearly, easily distracted, and having to constantly drag props around the field rather than focusing on tactics or communication. There were several volunteers who helped tremendously to make it a success, and I allocated plenty of tasks to them. But, I guess, it still wasn’t enough. D-Day used to be small enough and less complicated to where I could organize it in advance and run it as the game master while simultaneously commanding a faction. So, I hope to have learned from my mistakes and will leave the tactical stuff to those with the knowledge/time to focus on it and direct the gameplay action properly. there were no individual squads with a leader for each, making coordination between the large groups of teammate difficult, and prevented any counterattacks from occuring. I think that by having one Lt. Commanding per side with Sgts with radio comms leading individual squads of 10-12, each squad with an LMG on auto and everyone else on semi, this would allow commanders to put troops where they need to be and exploit gaps in enemy lines. It would also allow commanders to pull their troops back if one team is pushing the combat along too fast. It would also make the event much more immersive for all You’re right; this needs to happen. If you look back at D-Day 2013, linked HERE, we had each faction broken down into smaller units/platoons with their own element leaders. For D-Day 2014, I was hoping that the established local airsoft teams would form their own elements because everyone likes to run with their buddies, right? Well, that certainly happened to a certain extent, but also it excluded a lot of new players who showed up to the game without knowing anyone else. And, again, my focus and communication as a CO were almost nonexistent, so it hindered the op’s immersion. I intend to correct this for D-Day 2015, and I really like what you’ve proposed, Brownien. It takes me a long time to think about and type up a post like this, and I won’t have as much time to do so as the start of our airsoft season gets closer. We’re opening with a massive cold war op called Red Breach. Nonetheless, I greatly appreciate the valuable input that each of you has contributed and look forward to hearing more of your ideas.
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Post by insterburger on Feb 18, 2015 22:30:47 GMT -5
Omego, it sounds like you have the situation firmly in hand. If it's at all possible for me to get up there this year, I will. We do have a unit, and if other members come up we would naturally create a formation. But thanks to brownien's games we also have a LOT of experience bringing walk-ons into our fold, and would no doubt be willing to work with loners who are on the same page.
Keep up the good work!
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Feb 18, 2015 22:43:10 GMT -5
The $6.00 German helmets are costume items that would actually suit your purposes quite well. they are shiney black and definitely one size fits all. I bought a bunch of them and painted them and glued foam strips inside so they fit more correctly on peoples heads and were less prone to falling off. I have since started buying inexpensive camo covers and once in place I find them to be suitable for my purposes. head gear is a wonderful team differentiator and while at your low low entry fee there is no way you can buy enough for everyone, a couple dozen would be a big help.
To encourage their use allow an initial head hit to be ignored if the player has on a WW2 style helmet. entirely unrealistic of course but I used this ploy early on to promote the use of helmets and it worked. It also encouraged players to try and avoid head/ face shots. I charged considerably more than you do for events but had very cheap rates for people who showed up in impressions.
My largest WW2 event was well over 100 players with 100% in decent impressions. This evolved over many many years as early events were ecclectic to put it mildly.
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Jerry-ADK
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Post by Jerry-ADK on Feb 19, 2015 8:51:46 GMT -5
OMEGO,
we all fully appreciate the time and effort you have put into a large scale event like D-Day and the time you have taken to reach out and contact us and ask for our input. I'm not going to be able to make it this year as I am occupied on June 6th but I wish I could, It looks and sounds like tons of fun. And of course if some of us here start getting involved and help you out, it can only get better both historically and tactically. Keep up the good work! Also, we are tentatively planning a WW2 event for April 11 in Connecticut so keep your eyes peeled for that, That may be doable for some of you guys in Maine to get to.
Cheers!
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
Posts: 11,813
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Post by 2nd Bat on Feb 19, 2015 12:03:17 GMT -5
The super cheap pseudo German Helmets are sold through OPENTIP.com in their Halloween supplies. they are a rubberized ABS plastic and are currently offered at 6.18 each. Some Grey primer paint suitable for plastic will do wonders for their looks or a Normandy like mix of textured OD and africa Yellow. You will want to glue some thin strips of foam on the inside. I put on round disc on the top and four strips vertically up the inside corners so they stay on folks heads but still fit everyone.
A dozen of these will help set off your theme without breaking the bank.
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Post by OMEGO on Feb 19, 2015 13:08:15 GMT -5
Very good! Thank you for the website. Their shipping fees hurt a bit, but it looks as though I can get them here for about $10 each if I buy ten or more. Unless anyone else knows of a better price for Rasta Impasta costume helmets, I’ll go with 2nd Bat’s suggestion. OMEGO, we all fully appreciate the time and effort you have put into a large scale event like D-Day and the time you have taken to reach out and contact us and ask for our input. I'm not going to be able to make it this year as I am occupied on June 6th but I wish I could, It looks and sounds like tons of fun. And of course if some of us here start getting involved and help you out, it can only get better both historically and tactically. Keep up the good work! Also, we are tentatively planning a WW2 event for April 11 in Connecticut so keep your eyes peeled for that, That may be doable for some of you guys in Maine to get to. Cheers! Hey, thank you for the kind words. And, thank you for the invitation to your event in Connecticut. It’s often difficult for me to get to anything out of state from April through October due to my responsibilities with co-managing Harris Field. Unfortunately, April 11 is particularly a killer because we already have a build day scheduled at Harris that I should assist with but can’t because I need to help my partner drive a dozen Colby College students up to Quebec City that weekend for a some kind of a sociocultural retreat. Nevertheless, I want to thank you very much for the invitation, and I hope it does really well. Often times, my work schedule prevents me from attending events that are more than a couple hours away, but I certainly want to experience more out-of-state airsoft operations. My home in Waterville, Maine, is about five hours away from central Connecticut, so it’s a doable driving distance whenever the work schedule permits. I want you all to know that I do get out of Maine once in a while. Late last year, we drove over four hours to Bourne, Mass, for a WW2-themed event that was postponed by the producers just before it was scheduled to start. They said too many key participants canceled on short notice, and the weather was rainy. I was already at the field, and about ten others showed up. Instead of running a smaller game, the event organizers asked us to help them shoot a short promotional film. So, I stuck around, got over my frustration, put on a Stahlhelm, and actually had a fun time helping them with the video. I never went back for the rescheduled op, but here’s how the trailer turned out:
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2nd Bat
Master sergeant
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Post by 2nd Bat on Feb 19, 2015 16:10:53 GMT -5
Pretty nice promtional video. Fun to watch.
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Jerry-ADK
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Post by Jerry-ADK on Feb 19, 2015 18:06:39 GMT -5
Interesting! Where the heck are these guys when we have our games? Are they forum members? Or is this the group that Raimund has been helping to promote? If ther is a "lost" group of WW2 air softers in the North East I'd love to start roping them into our events!
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Post by OMEGO on Feb 19, 2015 20:55:45 GMT -5
Our community is too fractionated with all of the different forums. And, a lot of folks are starting to spend most of their time on facebook which, I feel, isn't nearly as useful as the forums. Most of the guys in the video hang out at UBG, and some of them are on MAASF. As shown HERE, I encouraged them to advertise their event on WW2AA, but it appears that they never did. I believe CDI of Das Land Pirats is on both forums, and he attends events all over the place.
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Jerry-ADK
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Post by Jerry-ADK on Feb 20, 2015 9:44:52 GMT -5
Our community is too fractionated with all of the different forums. And, a lot of folks are starting to spend most of their time on facebook which, I feel, isn't nearly as useful as the forums. Most of the guys in the video hang out at UBG, and some of them are on MAASF. As shown HERE, I encouraged them to advertise their event on WW2AA, but it appears that they never did. I believe CDI of Das Land Pirats is on both forums, and he attends events all over the place. I just tried to register for the MAASF forum, but it wont accept my password and log in! Frustrating! well its something I must have done wrong, figure it out later. Could someone else try and get on there so we can put the word out to those folks in Mass about us. I bet some of them may come to our April game if we can get the word out.
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Post by OMEGO on Feb 20, 2015 11:21:06 GMT -5
Today, I started some new threads of four other forums to solicit community input about the possibility of switching faction colors for our D-Day series. If you’d like to track their responses, the threads are linked below: MaineAirsoftSpartanAssaultNEASGMAASF
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2nd Bat
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Post by 2nd Bat on Feb 20, 2015 13:16:32 GMT -5
It would facilitate the blending of realistic impression items which I assume is increasingly your goal. Obviously some shade of Olive was worn by everyone but for much of the war a khaki coat (field jacket, tanker coat or Mackinaw) along with the wool overcoat were primarily what you would see on US troops. I remember when a replica M41 field jacket was well over $100.00 but now they are priced about as cheaply as what you can buy a close stand in for at the Thrift shop.
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Post by OMEGO on May 10, 2015 21:07:39 GMT -5
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Jerry-ADK
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Post by Jerry-ADK on May 11, 2015 5:30:47 GMT -5
Baby steps! Great to hear! Are you going to post this years event details on the forum for us? I will try to make it if I can.
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Post by OMEGO on May 11, 2015 12:38:57 GMT -5
Thank you, yes, I'll post it right away!
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