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Post by neoptolemus on Apr 12, 2008 21:20:09 GMT -5
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Post by neoptolemus on Apr 12, 2008 21:27:25 GMT -5
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Post by neoptolemus on Apr 12, 2008 21:46:26 GMT -5
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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 Apr 12, 2008 21:50:52 GMT -5
A more in-depth report will follow but right now I wanted to post my favorite picture of the event. Weather was only one step better than horrendous. Two straight days of cold rain saturated the ground then it snowed and got colder with the wind ramping up on ocassion. It looks cold and miserable but the spirits of attendees stayed high. Thanks to everyone who braved the trip. The photo shows an old friend with a new facelift. This was one of the premieres. The other will have to show up in other photos. Lots of fun. Tired now. Will say more later. We wanted to make sure everyone would find the place too, so ba64 did some more of his sign magic.
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Post by neoptolemus on Apr 12, 2008 22:37:52 GMT -5
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Post by CPL. Mills 2nd Rangers on Apr 12, 2008 23:00:55 GMT -5
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2008 23:01:11 GMT -5
I'm sure it was cold, but it looks like one heck of a good looking AO for Eastern front action!
Jealous!
Nice impressions as well and a healthy turn out, bravo gents!
Tom THE REGIMENT
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Post by CharleyNovember on Apr 12, 2008 23:36:35 GMT -5
Wish I lived close enough to go. Looked like fun. I have to say I really dig those B&W pics guys.
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Post by neoptolemus on Apr 12, 2008 23:38:37 GMT -5
Mills, those pictures are AMAZING!!!!
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Lev
Private 1st Class
Posts: 454
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Post by Lev on Apr 13, 2008 10:20:49 GMT -5
The pics are great guys! Thanks so much for posting them.
This event was proof positive that some bad weather (horrible weather actually) cannot keep the most committed ww2 enthusiast down!
Garrick and I were first to arrive shortly before 5:00 PM on Friday, and to be completely frank, I was worried about attendance. The ground was already mush after many hours of blowing-cold rain and had recently switched to snow. Of course, Troy had already been hard at work hanging signs and getting the registration area ready. Garrick and I quickly went about getting the village Bierstube ready for action. Those who did make the trip would be rewarded with my home brew, served on tap, in the relatively dry comfort that only a roof and walls could provide.
Of course, the Ersatz brothers arrived next with their freshly painted PAK38 in tow. With some quick on-site air smithing coutesy of Garrick, the new portable air tank was hooked up and test fired. That would give the Russians a jolt the next day!
Slowly but surely more and more people arrived. It was great to see so many people turning out and the weather did nothing to stop smiles and a great attitude amongst comrades. By the time the sun started to fall, the village Kneipe was filled with Russians, Germans, and even a couple of Americans yanks, bonding over candlelit suds. The village provided a great little period hang out for the evening and saved us from total exposure to the elements.
Saturday's weather was dry, for the most part, but mud and snow still prevailed on the field giving us some great "eastfront" conditions to play in. There were over 30 players in attendance, with pretty good balance between the allied and axis players.
The fighting was great, but I will leave that part to others to describe.
This event had the potential to be a real stinker, but thanks to the great attitudes of the participants, it was an "A" event!
-Udo
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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 Apr 13, 2008 12:51:17 GMT -5
Once again, Thanks to our hosts (the 198th, Troy, Todd) for making the event possible. As always any event without injuries is a blessing and this one qualifies. The weather was terrible before the event but was decent enough on the day of to permit a lot of fun. Sure, it was muddy and cool but we didn't fight a constant rain and in the end the weather sort of added to the event as it simulated Russian Spring mud. The attendance was damn good! A bonus for the 3rd Panzergrenadiers was an influx of energetic new members. Scenarios - Concerning the first skirmish poor communication between the commanders caused confusion over who was to attack. The Russians understanding that there was no attack forthcoming sent out a small counterattack and it was eliminated. Shortly thereafter the scenario ended and gave way to the best scenario of the day. The moving of the Pak was a well thought out and extremely fun skirmish. The mission of this scenario was for the Germans to wheel their gun to within range of the Russian ammo dump and blow it up. The Russians tensed at its approach. The Russians yelling "Panzer" and getting excited upon spotting it certainly added to my enjoyment of the scenario and heightened adrenaline all around. This was not an easy attack. Are any? Russian defenders initially held us at bay and progress was slow. Our assault team attacked the Russian right and slogged it out in low woodlands. In the center we screened and our attack on the Russian left flank stalled in the cornfield. Seeing the malaise that was occurring I took charge of our right flank and led our grenadiers in a charge towards the tree line held by the Russians. Simultaneously, Otto Verkaufer took pressure off of us by pushing the Pak down into range of Russian small arms. That action drew the attention and the fire of the Russian defenders and aided our charge immensely by distracting them at a crucial time. By now, the Russians were being enveloped on three flanks and the fighting became desperate. The front shield of the Pak was getting pounded with pb fire and Otto lost two assistant gunners (Udo was the first to die, followed by Paul Rech) in the push towards the ammo dump. Pete from St. Louis (Sir Veillance on these boards) then moved up to support the Pak and he too, died. The German assault troops now began making real progress and were pushing rapidly towards the same objective. Russian losses now became extensive and the German right, center and left met at the objective. It was a great skirmish with the gun ending up resting on its carriage within feet of the destroyed ammo dump. This was a classic pincer attack and the three elements (left, center, right) covered themselves with glory. The third scenario was the potato hunt. This brainchild of Gryphon's see-sawed back and forth. It provided plenty of trigger time for those hearty enough to see it thru to the end. There was miscommunication on this one too. The start horn wasn't heard by the Germans (or perhaps another Russian trick) because as we kicked off our advance to the village, Gryphon's shadowy form was already seen retreating into the mist towards the village. Obviously when we arrived at the village we were met with a warm Russian reception, our allotment of potatoes already in their greedy grimy hands. Tough battling at this point regained the village for the Germans and except for a few counterattacks by the Russian forces they settled into their standard defense of the bunker area. Several Russian forays against our supply depot caused casualties but produced no extra food for the Russians, not that needed any. Our assaults against their defenses were constant but hamstrung by a critical mistake that event organizers repeated of allowing objective areas to also be spawn points. When will we learn. With unlimited regens for both sides (since this was more about potatoes than men) no progress could be made. The scenario petered out and a group of weary but elated MOA members (and others) headed off to share stories and pack in the parking area. There was a highlight in this battle and I was on the losing end of it. Previous to the action a 4th ten lb bag of potatoes had gotten lost in the woods. It was decreed that should it be found, no side could claim it. During the action, the Germans did find it and we placed it at our spawn point near our legal potato hoard. Cpl. Mills spent a long time in flanking our supply dump and eventually crept in on both myself and Sir Veillance who were guarding (not really very well, it turned out) the stash. Cpl. Mills sprayed our position and immediately took me out. He and Sir Veillance then exchanged fire and Mills won. He was giddy with the success of his assault and he bounded towards the downed plane to raid our potatoes. Our real stash was buried within ten feet of the plane according to the scenario rules and Mills grabbed the illegal ten pound bag and ran off elated over his victory. Later he learned that those potatoes didn't contribute to the victory total. It didn't matter as he had two fresh seriously fun kills to remember. Our newer members all contributed in their own way and one of them (Paul Rech) constructed this nifty sign. I thought the class rules worked well for the first two scenarios. The third scenario negated them. There were some complaints of modern weapons firing on full auto and some complaints of people not calling hits. I'm not only hoping but I expect that as time passes, the MOA gets even more restrictive regarding repeat offenders of authenticity and weapons standards. It's my opinion that raising the bar will encourage growth of the right kind and that excess permissiveness discourages growth.
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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 Apr 13, 2008 13:29:03 GMT -5
My brother covered most of it. I just wanted to add a few things. First off, the grenade rules were fun. I know Gryphon bought the farm once and didn't even know it until the grenade tosser pointed to the grenade at his feet and said, "you're dead, no?" That was funny. Sonic grenades are still the wave of the future. Just have to get some of those added to the mix. Gryphon at least slapped some nice Soviet and German foam grenade packages together and for $10 you had a grenade that looked the part and couldn't hurt anyone beaned in the face with it. The second premiere was Gryphon's adaptation of a M-14 into a DP-28. Very convincing looking. He knows no bounds. I hope someone got photos. I know everyone is complimenting Cpl Mills for his B&W photography and yeah it is pretty good work but check these out: The American camp. 2nd Rangers were offered a heated basement spot for night accommodations but turned their noses up at the suggestion preferring instead these luxurious digs. Like a groundhog, Master Sergeant Tom checks for his shadow. It's 0600 hours and time to get moving soldiers. Seriously, they won the hardcore award in my book. I don't know how they do it. Not that I'm a wimp or anything. I'm pretty certain everyone agrees that my photos rank right up there. It was a great time. Shame on anyone who willingly sat this one out. Planning for August event is underway.
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Post by CPL. Mills 2nd Rangers on Apr 13, 2008 14:36:36 GMT -5
Great Pics Ersatzjack! I got a good laugh from your picture captions ;D I could just kick myself for not taking a picture of the camp. There was so much action going on I wanted to get it all.
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Post by sir veilance on Apr 14, 2008 10:02:38 GMT -5
I had a great time!! The eight hour drive was well worth it!! The hospitality was great!! I am still confused as to who was who??? I didn't realize there were two Ersatz Jack's, till I got there And Troy or was it Todd, tell your dad thanks for letting me sleep in the basement. I enjoyed Udo's beer on Friday and the snow was much better than rain or the mud that was underneath. The scenarios were fun and I enjoyed using the Mauser for the first time, since I bought it, with great success!! I loved the event site, probably the best field I have played airsoft on!! Mills the B&W photos were really cool!! Does anyone have a copy of the group photo of the whole German team? Thanks to everyone who made it such a fun event!!
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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 Apr 14, 2008 10:26:03 GMT -5
Here you go: Not my best side of course but you are pictured at far right. ;D Thanks for coming. Too bad it wasn't the next event. We talked it over and are going to start a travelers award. The person traveling the farthest will get some kind of award at the event. Don't know what but this time it would have been you. Sorry, no retroactive awards. You'll have to come back. Thanks also for making the effort to come as Heer. I know you left warmer impressions at home and suffered the cold because of it.
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gryphon
Master sergeant
shchi e kasha, pisha nasha.
Posts: 250
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Post by gryphon on Apr 14, 2008 10:49:30 GMT -5
Our official headcount for the event was 33, 16 Germans and 17 Soviets. I want to thank every single one of you for braving the weather to drive here, and slogging through the mud and slush right to the end of the day. It was a pleasure to see so many new faces in period gear! The photos are just amazing. I love watching Mills doing his "Combat Photographer" thing; I don't have to tell you all how good he is at it, his results speak for themselves.
Special thanks to Udo for the wonderful Friday night refreshments; and to the Ersatz Brothers for assuming command responsibilities, tolerating my planning gaffes, and fielding that gorgeous reworked PAK38.
My apologies for the scenario-specific communication problems - I believe we will have this issue well in hand by the next MOA event. My personal favorite scenario was the PAK assault, the German pincer attack was flawlessly executed but the undaunted Soviets fought on to the last patch of Russian Soil. We pounded that PAK with small arms fire to suppress its gun crew and succeeded in turning the left flank, but the right flankers fell on us like the Wrath of Capitalist Fascist Imperialism and all was lost.
If anyone is missing any gear or grenades, please PM me and we can scour the field. The only misplaced item so far has been a battery charger, which was found and is being returned as I write.
Hope to see everyone (and More) at our next MOA event, Baltic Summer, hosted by the Ersatz Brothers at Crane Lake on August 15-16!
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Post by sir veilance on Apr 14, 2008 15:01:38 GMT -5
Thanks for the group shot EJ!! Here's a couple of the photos that I took before my battery died! I also did a little photoshop adjustment to the group shot!!
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sprinkles
Private
Close and Personal for life
Posts: 31
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Post by sprinkles on Apr 15, 2008 1:49:14 GMT -5
Well this was my first WW2 airsoft recreation and I'll just say I had a blast. Granted the snow and water hazards were annoying but it was still fun. Cause everyone was a good sport about it.
I have never used so much ammo at an airsoft game ever.
P.S. I was the Russian Civ that came with Willie if you cared to know.
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ba64
Private
"Boris"
Posts: 53
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Post by ba64 on Apr 15, 2008 19:00:02 GMT -5
As the field host, I want to thank everyone for making my clean up work easy. There was very little trash to pickup in the parking / camping area and all I had to do in the village was close one door. It makes my job alot easier. As for the muddy ruts, we can blame Mother Nature for those! For the next event on my farm I will try to have a A/C power station setup in the camping area.
Thanks again for being great guests.
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Lev
Private 1st Class
Posts: 454
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Post by Lev on Apr 16, 2008 10:21:16 GMT -5
It really was our pleasure, Troy. I think I forgot a trash bag full of debris down in the village where the bar was set-up. Sorry about that I guess it's good that we at least had a trash can going... Looking forward to the next one!
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Post by Rekkon on Apr 21, 2008 19:37:54 GMT -5
I was asked to post my Porkhov AAR from the MOA forum, so here it is:
Going to thank everyone again for making Porkhov a really fun event and throw up my highlights of the day, now that I have gotten around to typing it all out.
First scenario. Entirely uneventful until that small Russian force pressed on the village. I used over half my mags skirmishing with them ineffectually until ze unteroffizier had us fall back to the building near the PAK. I was around a corner reloading mags when a Russian moved to one of the large trees near the open end of the village. I traded fire with him, but he was also engaging Kerrick’s squad to the north. Abruptly I heard a ‘whump!’ and saw a blur shoot past as the PAK opened fire. That was pretty cool.
Second scenario. Lane and I were in the center of the German line, just to the left of the PAK. We moved up into the swampy area and traded some minor fire with stubborn Russian infantry. We pressed in closer as the line moved up and found ourselves alone on that side when the left flank was all eliminated. Fortunately Soviet defenses were shifting right, probably in response to the assault across the cornfield, and the two of us plus Ulrich (think it was him) were able to move across the wetlands. I picked off a guy that had his flank exposed, but the rest of the Russians that I fired upon were able to safely fall back. Lane was hit at some point. Ulrich and I advanced farther into the enemy flank. I could clearly see the fire pit and people milling about it. At least one spotted me, but that was the dead group, so they kept quiet. I stayed low and moved behind cover, expecting always to hear a sudden cry of “Germans on the right!” but it never came. I saw infantry rushing to their center, but while their flanks were exposed to us, the distance and brush were too great for confident kills, so I held my fire. Ulrich took a few shots without attracting attention, but then looked at his rifle and slung it. Great, now I am alone. With no one (alive) watching, I pulled a grenade and advanced on the firepit. Though the scenario rules did not include it, I moved to the ammo depot and lobbed in my potato masher, just so I could say I had if we lost the PAK. I got a good crate for cover and found myself behind what remained of the Russian line. I emptied my mag into their backs, getting 4-6 kills (was a bit busy to be counting), including Gryphon (woo!). One of the Americans was in a bunker on my left, but there seemed to be no one left to oppose us. I started waving my comraden forward about the time Alban did his ‘For the Fatherland!’ charge. Easily my highest point of the day.
Third scenario. Wee! Russians in the village! We advanced and got people behind the west buildings. I heard plenty of activity within, but glancing around I saw that none of the Germans near me had grenades, so I pulled one, moved to the building with the loft and tossed it in the back door. Pretty sure I heard two people call themselves out, perhaps a third. Hectic times. I heard fire from around the north corner of the same building and moved up to the whole bang kill incident. When I returned from respawning, there were still a few stubborn defenders left, including one in the loft, so I got below him and threw up my second grenade. Afterwards I think he said he was down to just his pistol. Chronologically most of the rest of the scenario is a blur, but there were some other good encounters.
At one point we hid quite a few guys in the village and prepared to ambush any Russians that strolled through the seemingly quiet area. After a few minutes I saw three of them approach from the northeast, but whomever was in that building was slacking and did not see them. I tried in vain to signal him silently, but the Americans tossed a pineapple into his abode. As they tried to move around the corner, I shot one and forced the other two behind the building. Everyone sat tight for a bit, and Dylan and at least one other came walking into town after respawning. I tried to signal that there were hostiles in the village, but he must have misinterpreted me and just waved back. “Alarm! Ivan!” There we go, up came the weapons. Kerrick moved against the doorway. I tried to keep fire on the door to cover him, but he moved out into my line of fire. I had to stop, and he nearly got shot by one of the Tommies inside. We traded more fire, and I managed to clip the offending player. Dylan and others enveloped the position and the area was secure.
Midgame we had several people in the swampy area north of the cornfield facing stiff resistence. A good sized force was to our left, so Lane wanted to assault through that path in the cornfield on our right and talked us into it. We collected Wellnitz and I think it was Neoptolemus and rushed the Soviet flank. Somehow we all made it, took up positions and forced the Russian back with casualties. We tried moving deeper into their backyard, but the proximity of their spawn eventually got us all killed.
Near the end we had another four go along the south side of the cornfield and again slip into the Russian rear. Lane and Ulrich came under fire while Neo and I worked our way down next to the road, moving stealthily. At one point one of the US players came patrolling through, close enough to shoot. I kept my weapon trained on him, but he never glanced our way and moved off. We were creeping ever closer to the Russian foxholes when the end game call game.
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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 Apr 21, 2008 19:55:28 GMT -5
I was asked to post my Porkhov AAR from the MOA forum. Guilty as charged. It's just that I like blow-by-blow write-ups and figured others would too. So sue me already.
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Post by Rekkon on Apr 21, 2008 21:04:51 GMT -5
He threatened to ship me to the Russian front if I did not comply.
Wait a minute...
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Post by Warlord on Apr 23, 2008 14:32:15 GMT -5
Wow. The game looks like it was amazing. Great attendance too, and the PAK! She looks beautiful!! I have no doubt that Josh sold her to the right people. Glad you were able to implement it into the game.
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