Post by ersatzjack2 on Oct 24, 2010 1:42:32 GMT -5
Whew! Totally exhausting event for me. The one thing that our six yearly MOA events have never had to deal with finally arrived on Saturday at Dukla Pass. Having played in all kinds of weather like snow, and heat and even an occasional nice day, none of our events had ever been blessed with a steady and constant misting downpour of rain. We got that at Dukla. By the end of the day I like most others was soaked thru and thru but felt a certain sense of achievement by having gutted it out and fought in these inhospitable conditions. In fact, not one player bugged out early or complained (ok, maybe they complained) about the conditions. One thing for sure, you can do this. The rain caused quite a few additional problems but they were problems for both sides. For the Germans, the Pak quit being of use as the barrel became wetter and wetter and the nerfs simply couldn't exit efficiently. The Russians had the same problem with their mortar. Small arms were greatly effected as the heavier periods of rain caused normal bb flight to veer erratically and ranges for all were greatly reduced. Add constantly blurred goggle vision and overall great general discomfort and you have some idea of the conditions. They were pretty horrible. But, it was done and I'm no longer apprehensive about fighting another day long affair during a "soaker" midwestern rainfall. I'm sure the real troops did it and us airsofters got a bitter taste of it yesterday. ON to the AAR.
I'll be using the same scale that I have been using, (1-5) and discussing six categories.
Historical Ambiance and Immersion Quality - (3.5)
The Neillsville events tend to have a higher percentage of younger players who have yet to acquire picture perfect impressions. Still, they also have the benefit of attracting additional players and newer younger players who help the group grow. There were 27 players in total and I would say that 20 had pretty decent impressions, maybe five with weak beginning impressions and two that detracted. In particular, the one warrior wearing white tennis shoes stands out and could at least have worn a dark colored boot.
Mission Variety and Balance - (4.5)
The battle was one long continuous six hour engagement with multiple objectives on the field. There were six geographic locations, the German HQ, the hayfield, the village, the Russian ammo dump, the Russian fuel dump, and the Russian HQ. Each location was randomly assigned a point value. Three objectives were worth one pt., two were worth two pts., and one was worth three pts. Nobody knew the values. Each location had a spawn point located close but not on top of the objective and respawns were in ten minute increments. This kind of Mission works well at Neillsville and the game was quite fun. There was ebb and flow early on until about noon but then the tide started turning against the Russians and "Natasha" (ba64's armored car) couldn't be everywhere at once and eventually the Russian team was swept away from every objective and spawn point. Frankly, I didn't even think the German team would prevail in the beginning with the rain pounding down and facing armor with a Pak that wasn't working optimally. We did have one panzerfaust and mines and panzerwurfmines but we had forgotten to bring a second panzerfaust that our team usually fields and I guess the weather just had me thinking negatively. But I had failed to understand that the Russian team had its own problems. They had the armor and experienced leadership but they had a larger contingent of green young airsofters and were outgunned in the small arms department. But, I digress, this is Mission variety and balance. It worked a lot better than I thought it was going to.
Facilities and Gaming Site - (5)
The Neillsville location is an excellent place to play. Troy (ba-64) is always the perfect host. Ample parking, an area to camp, outhouses, wonderful terrain features, etc. There are downed planes, wrecked vehicles, bunkers, town structures, need I say more?
Weather - (2.5)
Did I mention that it rained? The grade would be lower except for the fact that aside from the actual battle, the weather was great. The Friday camping, campfire and camaraderie evening was pleasant with higher than normal seasonal temperatures and even the Saturday breakfast and briefing times were overcast and not wet. The rain started at game on time (10am) and only stopped right near the end of the day with the last twenty minutes or so being free of the stuff. But like I've already said, it gave the group an experience that we hadn't had to endure until Dukla.
Planning and Event Organization - (4.5)
Every organizer does things a little differently. Gerry in NY made period rations and holds a raffle to mention a few. Mike and I plan vehicle excursions to local establishments and have provided feedbags for players. Troy has a barn filled with second hand gear to help newbies get equipped for games and organizes after event pizza runs. He gets help from Gryphon too. They do what they have to to provide us with an event. Thanks guys.
Safety - (5)
Safety briefing done before the game, guns chronographed if they were suspect and once again, no injuries that I was made aware of.
Overall - (4)
A very, very decent event. The battle was amazingly fun despite the fact that for the better part of three hours I was smack dab in the middle of the hayfield with no protection from the elements engaging in a semi-stalemate type action with Russian snipers and occasionally being visited by Natasha in adrenalin spiking confrontations. I was hoping to stick in the woods knowing there was at least a small chance of keeping drier but that didn't happen. The weather was interesting to me. I certainly wouldn't want a regular diet of rain games yet having braved the elements with the other 26 players, I now know it can be done and an event can proceed thru six hours of rainfall.
I'll leave it for Rekkon to provide the blow by blow but I will mention my highlight. I generally get killed more than I kill and today was no exception. I think I got hit six or seven times and got only 5-6 kills in return which isn't too bad because I don't see things as well as the younger guys. About midday the Russians made a fairly good push into the hayfield with six or seven infantry and their armor. It was beaten back, the armor eliminated and three Russians retreated to their chokepoint by the barn which was guarding their fuel depot. We made an immediate counterattack and captured the chokepoint. In that counterattack I dispatched two Russians and sent a third scurrying thru the marsh like a frightened rabbit. Lots of fun. Just one of those right place, right time kind of engagements.
Thanks again to the hosts, Troy and Gryphon, to our leader Garrick for managing and balancing the multiple fronts (not an easy task) to the Russian team for being good sports and fun players and the 6th SS from Northern Illinois whose numbers have helped the German team maintain numerical parity over the past few events. Keep coming guys, we need you and your young aggressive style of play.
I'll be using the same scale that I have been using, (1-5) and discussing six categories.
Historical Ambiance and Immersion Quality - (3.5)
The Neillsville events tend to have a higher percentage of younger players who have yet to acquire picture perfect impressions. Still, they also have the benefit of attracting additional players and newer younger players who help the group grow. There were 27 players in total and I would say that 20 had pretty decent impressions, maybe five with weak beginning impressions and two that detracted. In particular, the one warrior wearing white tennis shoes stands out and could at least have worn a dark colored boot.
Mission Variety and Balance - (4.5)
The battle was one long continuous six hour engagement with multiple objectives on the field. There were six geographic locations, the German HQ, the hayfield, the village, the Russian ammo dump, the Russian fuel dump, and the Russian HQ. Each location was randomly assigned a point value. Three objectives were worth one pt., two were worth two pts., and one was worth three pts. Nobody knew the values. Each location had a spawn point located close but not on top of the objective and respawns were in ten minute increments. This kind of Mission works well at Neillsville and the game was quite fun. There was ebb and flow early on until about noon but then the tide started turning against the Russians and "Natasha" (ba64's armored car) couldn't be everywhere at once and eventually the Russian team was swept away from every objective and spawn point. Frankly, I didn't even think the German team would prevail in the beginning with the rain pounding down and facing armor with a Pak that wasn't working optimally. We did have one panzerfaust and mines and panzerwurfmines but we had forgotten to bring a second panzerfaust that our team usually fields and I guess the weather just had me thinking negatively. But I had failed to understand that the Russian team had its own problems. They had the armor and experienced leadership but they had a larger contingent of green young airsofters and were outgunned in the small arms department. But, I digress, this is Mission variety and balance. It worked a lot better than I thought it was going to.
Facilities and Gaming Site - (5)
The Neillsville location is an excellent place to play. Troy (ba-64) is always the perfect host. Ample parking, an area to camp, outhouses, wonderful terrain features, etc. There are downed planes, wrecked vehicles, bunkers, town structures, need I say more?
Weather - (2.5)
Did I mention that it rained? The grade would be lower except for the fact that aside from the actual battle, the weather was great. The Friday camping, campfire and camaraderie evening was pleasant with higher than normal seasonal temperatures and even the Saturday breakfast and briefing times were overcast and not wet. The rain started at game on time (10am) and only stopped right near the end of the day with the last twenty minutes or so being free of the stuff. But like I've already said, it gave the group an experience that we hadn't had to endure until Dukla.
Planning and Event Organization - (4.5)
Every organizer does things a little differently. Gerry in NY made period rations and holds a raffle to mention a few. Mike and I plan vehicle excursions to local establishments and have provided feedbags for players. Troy has a barn filled with second hand gear to help newbies get equipped for games and organizes after event pizza runs. He gets help from Gryphon too. They do what they have to to provide us with an event. Thanks guys.
Safety - (5)
Safety briefing done before the game, guns chronographed if they were suspect and once again, no injuries that I was made aware of.
Overall - (4)
A very, very decent event. The battle was amazingly fun despite the fact that for the better part of three hours I was smack dab in the middle of the hayfield with no protection from the elements engaging in a semi-stalemate type action with Russian snipers and occasionally being visited by Natasha in adrenalin spiking confrontations. I was hoping to stick in the woods knowing there was at least a small chance of keeping drier but that didn't happen. The weather was interesting to me. I certainly wouldn't want a regular diet of rain games yet having braved the elements with the other 26 players, I now know it can be done and an event can proceed thru six hours of rainfall.
I'll leave it for Rekkon to provide the blow by blow but I will mention my highlight. I generally get killed more than I kill and today was no exception. I think I got hit six or seven times and got only 5-6 kills in return which isn't too bad because I don't see things as well as the younger guys. About midday the Russians made a fairly good push into the hayfield with six or seven infantry and their armor. It was beaten back, the armor eliminated and three Russians retreated to their chokepoint by the barn which was guarding their fuel depot. We made an immediate counterattack and captured the chokepoint. In that counterattack I dispatched two Russians and sent a third scurrying thru the marsh like a frightened rabbit. Lots of fun. Just one of those right place, right time kind of engagements.
Thanks again to the hosts, Troy and Gryphon, to our leader Garrick for managing and balancing the multiple fronts (not an easy task) to the Russian team for being good sports and fun players and the 6th SS from Northern Illinois whose numbers have helped the German team maintain numerical parity over the past few events. Keep coming guys, we need you and your young aggressive style of play.