Post by danarchy on Sept 3, 2012 17:18:35 GMT -5
After nearly two months without an Airsfot Op, I was excited about Market Garden - the first game of the 2012-2013 Airsoft Season. Airsoft in Texas and the rest of the Southern US begins on Labor Day and ends on Memorial Day and usually that means milder weather; however, the weather reports indicated that this game was going to be played in Texas summer conditions: sunny and closing in on 100+. That brutalness explains why many that were supposed to show decided to roll over and spent the day playing Call of Duty in the air conditioning. And that was their loss, because it was a great game.
Cormac, T-Bone and I got up early to represent Midlothian AirSoft Club as the Dutch civilians caught between the German occupiers and the Allied invaders/liberators. We picked up Soap on the way who helped Dave as an admin. Our game plan was to be devious and switch between neutral (no arm band), to German-supporting Dutch SS (black arm band) to Dutch Resistance (orange arm band). Sometimes playing civilian gets annoying because both sides end up hating you and shooting you, but with the armband system, we were able to play and our "allies" knew whose side we were on without going through a dialogue or mock body search every time we encountered a different player on the battlefield. Besides, it is historically accurate.
We arrived early and occupied one of the central buildings in the town as our City Hall, including leaving a water cooler and a booby-trapped armory inside. Dave has done an incredible amount of work on the field with the central town expanding from the trenches almost all the way to his edge of the property. The new Golden Weasel concrete block building provides plenty of opportunity for CQB and makes a great defensive position (two Americans held it for a good chunk of the games against a much larger German force aided by us Dutch)
The safety briefing was adequate and not stupid long. The only thing that I would change - and maybe this was provided to the COs - but I think organizers should provide a grid map with key terrain features marked or drawn on (if they are not on Google maps). It makes it easier to communicate objectives visually, especially as some people seem verbally challenged. While this may seen needless for regulars, for players from other areas, it would be a huge help.
We Dutch started out with the Allies, because we expected the Germans to have a huge advantage in the form of a tank roaming the town. As Cormac had one of the few rocket launchers on the field, he wanted to confront the armor on both sides. Sadly, the German tank broke down, but we did get the experience of fighting alongside the Allies early in the game. (Video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaDQyjdvyjY ). After that, my Google cam said the memory was full; however, later found that wasn’t correct.
We soon found out that the Germans had a non-functioning tank and one of their commanders had to step off the field. Having been a CO at a summer game, I can sympathize. As higher cognitive functions are the first thing to suffer with dehydration and heat exhaustion sets in, when one tries to think and command under those conditions, one becomes acutely aware how "off" one really is. Which is why maps with pictures are helpful. And crayons; lots of crayons.
From then on, we Dutch were either neutral (generally when we wanted to roam the field or hang out at City Hall and reload) or wearing the black armband of the Dutch SS. We had some good moments -held the new tower closest to the Golden Weasel for a long stretch, made some crazy charges and Cormac took down the Allies' tank on its first roll through town.
As always, Dave was a great host and players came from far away to join the game to experience the expanded field, free hot meal and prize drawing with real WW2 memorabilia.
Cormac, T-Bone and I got up early to represent Midlothian AirSoft Club as the Dutch civilians caught between the German occupiers and the Allied invaders/liberators. We picked up Soap on the way who helped Dave as an admin. Our game plan was to be devious and switch between neutral (no arm band), to German-supporting Dutch SS (black arm band) to Dutch Resistance (orange arm band). Sometimes playing civilian gets annoying because both sides end up hating you and shooting you, but with the armband system, we were able to play and our "allies" knew whose side we were on without going through a dialogue or mock body search every time we encountered a different player on the battlefield. Besides, it is historically accurate.
We arrived early and occupied one of the central buildings in the town as our City Hall, including leaving a water cooler and a booby-trapped armory inside. Dave has done an incredible amount of work on the field with the central town expanding from the trenches almost all the way to his edge of the property. The new Golden Weasel concrete block building provides plenty of opportunity for CQB and makes a great defensive position (two Americans held it for a good chunk of the games against a much larger German force aided by us Dutch)
The safety briefing was adequate and not stupid long. The only thing that I would change - and maybe this was provided to the COs - but I think organizers should provide a grid map with key terrain features marked or drawn on (if they are not on Google maps). It makes it easier to communicate objectives visually, especially as some people seem verbally challenged. While this may seen needless for regulars, for players from other areas, it would be a huge help.
We Dutch started out with the Allies, because we expected the Germans to have a huge advantage in the form of a tank roaming the town. As Cormac had one of the few rocket launchers on the field, he wanted to confront the armor on both sides. Sadly, the German tank broke down, but we did get the experience of fighting alongside the Allies early in the game. (Video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaDQyjdvyjY ). After that, my Google cam said the memory was full; however, later found that wasn’t correct.
We soon found out that the Germans had a non-functioning tank and one of their commanders had to step off the field. Having been a CO at a summer game, I can sympathize. As higher cognitive functions are the first thing to suffer with dehydration and heat exhaustion sets in, when one tries to think and command under those conditions, one becomes acutely aware how "off" one really is. Which is why maps with pictures are helpful. And crayons; lots of crayons.
From then on, we Dutch were either neutral (generally when we wanted to roam the field or hang out at City Hall and reload) or wearing the black armband of the Dutch SS. We had some good moments -held the new tower closest to the Golden Weasel for a long stretch, made some crazy charges and Cormac took down the Allies' tank on its first roll through town.
As always, Dave was a great host and players came from far away to join the game to experience the expanded field, free hot meal and prize drawing with real WW2 memorabilia.
