Operation: Diamondback - 09-20-08, Bangor

[Canto]

First of all I would like to thank Gentner for hosting this event. This is just another example of how military simulation events can and will work in the state of Michigan.

Secondly, I would like to thank all the players who came out and braved the muddy, "monsoon weathered" field. You all were a hardcore bunch of players and that itself is admirable. This event was amazing and I'm happy to be a part of it both as a spectator, player, and a field administrator.

Knief - So we finally both put a face with the name.
Arc - Good to see you again, good luck in Alabama.
ActionMan - Next time, I'll be giving you herpes.
Shift - Thanks for stopping out, see you next Saturday.
Knife - You are a pretty little girl.
Tex - Soxy...

To everyone else, nice meeting and chatting with everyone. I always enjoy talking with everyone and finally meeting people.

Now, onto brass tacks...

As everyone on here knows, I'm not one to sugarcoat anything. So, I'll list the pros and cons of this event (in my opinion) for Gentner as well as some advise for future games. Now keep in mind Gentner that this kind of stuff comes with time and experience. So, in my normal way, I'll start with the cons.

Cons

- Vague briefing. Don't be afraid to go into detail about stuff.
- Speak louder at briefing.
- Downtime, way to much... Try and keep time in check as much as possible.
- Make sure you have everything before you leave.
- Five minute respawns, too short.

Pros

- Amazing game play and firefights.
- Interesting story and scenario.
- Excellent objectives for the first round.
- Interesting use of civilians as both a combat and non-combat contingency.
- Highly realistic behaviors; rules of engagement, search/frisking.
- A great bunch of attending players.
- Excellent props, loved the IED's.

Neutrals

- Flooding washed out bridges. We had to build four bridges in the early morning and place them.
- Waterlogged areas of the field.
- High creek water level.
- Disappearing field borders?...

Gentner, for your first event I say bravo. You did a great job hosting this and we would be more than happy to help you host your next at our field.

[Koko]

I agree. A great day of airsoft today from everyone. Could have been better, but could've been much worse then it was. Gentner, you nailed it man. Expect me (and probably a lot of the hellfish) to see you a lot more often if you keep hosting games like this.

Can't wait to see the action shots too.

[sh1fteh]

Ahhh AAR's, they never get old. Well I guess I'll give my pro, con, and improvement.

Pro:
- Things seemed well organized, and the staff was very helpful.

Con:
- Communication was a bit lacking at times. There was no real clear idea of when the last scenario was supposed to end.

Change:
- Nothing really. I had a great time. It was well worth the drive. It was great meeting everyone. Big thanks to Gentner and Canto for setting this up and running it.

[Knief]

Gentner,

We got to talk briefly before I left, so you know my only big complaints were the briefing and the down time. With that in mind, I neglected to mention that I haven't really ever been to an event that didn't have those problems. It's possible to do, but you kind of have to be an asshole on both subjects for it to work. And during your briefing, it didn't help that everybody wanted to have their side conversations, so a lot of that isn't your fault.

sh1ft brought up a good point that I had forgotten about. Communication in field was lacking. There were a lot of timing changes going on, but that information wasn't getting passed on. What I would have done in your shoes is use the civilians to pass the information along, because you can't cover the whole field by yourself. They're already mingling in with the combatants, so just have them tell everybody they come into contact with that the KBR dudes get executed at 1:00 instead of 12:30.

Which brings me to one last negative point--you did a lot of asking if it was ok to change the timing on stuff (from what I saw at least, maybe it was less than it appeared). As the event host, you have the power to change that kind of stuff without asking the team leaders if it's ok. If you can look at it with an unbiased perspective, and you think it would be more fair for game play in general to switch something minor around, just do it. The team leaders don't get a say, they just get to be told what is and what isn't.

All that said, this was still a lot of fun. You set up a game to allow for a bunch of different kinds of engagements, both teams had to move (eventually), and both teams got to try to breach that impossible clearing. It was a good game, and great for a first attempt. If I keep winning gas cards in the raffles, I'll keep driving 2 hours to play in your events.

[sh1fteh]

I'll give ya some advice I got in ROTC Gent. I've been in your shoes before, just not in airsoft.

"Even the best laid plans can go to shit. Communication is key." Just somethin to keep in mind for the future. Knief made a great suggestion. Use your civilians to pass on info. That would've made things flow a littler smoother. From what I heard you did a great job. Briefings will get easier the more you do them. And you'll never be perfect, cut out side conversation, or eliminate downtime.

[Lynxus]

Gentner great first op man, I haven't been to a lot but this was a very good first event in my opinion.

The only con I can list is that the team commanders should always have working headsets, but that is not your fault. Other than that GREAT game and expect me and the rest of T.R.U to come to your next.

[Knife]

haha, I am a pretty little girl. I definitely had a good time today, the field is very cool. The sound traveled... well, which made it very interesting as teams tried to sneak up on each other. For the part I experienced, it wasn't to muddy.

Great meeting some of you west siders, Canto and Sh1ft. Generally don't get to meet you guys way out there.

Also, a thanks to Gentner. You ran a good scenario outside of the aforementioned problems. It would be helpful to show an IED beforehand as neither team really knew what to look for.

I'd love to see pictures, and video (Canto.)

[cqbr]

I had fun today with everyone. It was nice to put more faces to names and fun shooting at everyone as usual.

There were the problems that usually exist but getting airsofters organized is like herding cats.

The only downtime I had to complain about was the downtime before the very first round. It was supposed to start at 9'ish, but we didn't get rolling till nearly 11.

It was also VERY FUN to see random bodies dissappear while running through the riverbed and seeing them come up with a stunned look on their face. Too bad they didn't have their swimsuits on.. I have nothing else to say

[sh1fteh]

Sept 20, 2008 22:15:25 GMT -5 Knife said:

Great meeting some of you west siders, Canto and Sh1ft. Generally don't get to meet you guys way out there.

Also, a thanks to Gentner. You ran a good scenario outside of the aforementioned problems. It would be helpful to show an IED beforehand as neither team really knew what to look for.

Nice meetin all the Hellfish. It was fun playin with you guys. I'll be out your way soon.

As for IED's, WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD I have nothing else to say! IED's can be created out of something as simple as a Pepsi can or a trash heap or a coffee can. The fact that they didn't tell you was a smart move. IED's are never known before hand, that's why we have to get out and search em. I'm not sure if they were planted or not since I didn't encounter them. I would say that if you're going to use an IED, make sure it's planted in a location and not messed with. The insurgents choose when to detonate it.

Sept 20, 2008 22:20:41 GMT -5 cqbr said:

It was also VERY FUN to see random bodies dissappear while running through the riverbed and seeing them come up with a stunned look on their face. Too bad they didn't have their swimsuits on.. I have nothing else to say

I have nothing else to say, I was one of those people. I was in a hurry and knew my fatass wouldn't make it across so I just hopped in. Much deeper and much colder than I expected. Thankfully my face was covered so it wasn't as embarassing.

[Reaper_BloodBlade (Immortal)]

I thought the op went well once it got started. falling through that stupid sink hole was the only part of the op I disliked. I had to leave before the game ended cause I wa hurting my jacked up knee running around, how did it end?

[Dingo™]

Well, I think everybody has just about covered the pros and cons. I had enough fun to justify Mongoose and I's 2 1/2 hour trip. Heck, I am always up for a trip for us Black Talons getting together and especially to hang out with Blindshot and his crazy drawings on the gravel. And when we payed him all our money to kill Tex, which he did...

But definitly the highlight of my day was when I was hammer killed. Now that doesn't happen much. Hey admins or anybody, is that a valid title I can hold- "The only guy who got Hammer Killed." But really when it happened I was pretty mad. Darn civilians...

Knief- it was nice meeting you (as we were pinned down behind the bunker);

Action Man- a pleasure working with you and all the Hellfish.

Gentner- not too bad a job man. Lots of good ideas...

Thanks guys!

[King]

Besides the aforementioned points, I think a big negative were some of the role players.

Honestly, I felt the civilians were immature and didn't act realisitcally at all. A few instances in particular; we had a situation where a civilian dropped an IED by some of our guys, killing them. After getting what we needed from the civilians we currently had running errands, we put in place a "shoot civilians that come withing 100 feet' policy. We told civis to stay back, and if they didn't, we shot them, just to keep them out of our hair. After that, the civilian's would be pissed at us, including the guys who dropped the IED, as if expecting we were going to be friendly after that move, which was legitimate, but why would we let you hang around us?

Civis would come up to me, one holding a flower in particular. I searched him, restrained him and told him to leave and have his friends free him. He just stood there like an idiot trying to be funny, and only left after threating a headshot from a nearby teammate with a 440FPS M14. In real life, if two men holding guns tell you to leave, and you have no way of harming us because you are restrained, you fucking leave. Also, I can't count on both hands how many times a civilian called us "Pussies" for not doing what they saw as a tactically good move.

Just venting about that

[Ghast]

Civilians were pissing me the fuck off. Nothing sucks worse than buying some off and then having them shoot you in the ass with a M93R 5 minutes later.

[Reaper_BloodBlade (Immortal)]

Nothing against Tex at all, he is a cool guy but I thought the fact that he was our commander AND our squads Medic was kinda messed up. I could see it working out if he stayed in the middle or back but he was up front all the time, which would have been great cause he can play but every time he was hit we lost our medic and our leader.

I had a blast working up the ridge to get to the Insurgents. took us awhile to open the side up but once we started moving up it went well.

[King]

To sum up my last post, I motion all key roleplayers be 18+, or at least behave like it.