Operation Cardinal Tempest

[kaboose1]

This was the Egg Heads very first organized game that was organized by us for the airsofting community of Illinois. As a moderator and a role player I have to say this was the best event I have ever gone to. There was very little cheating accusations. We didn't even have our clocks but the players spawned at the correct time with out a moderator even being at the spawn.

The players were very involved in the game. Although some didn't look the part, they definitely played the part. The Egg Heads role played well enough to keep the NATO team always on their toes when they saw a civilian. They always made sure that the civilian was not armed before allowing them to come near.

Over all I must say I thank you to all those who came to support Armory Airsoft Illinois at our first game.

[Chaplain Grill Sgt.]

All in all, an absolute success! Every role player stayed in character perfectly, and even some people who were not role players got in on the action. Everyone from the Governor, General Kaboose, the Doc, the Civilians, and, of course, the USRP leaders: Vladimir Pusczynski and Kiril Dragomir.

Recap:
The game started a little last as was to be expected. During the USRP briefing the USRP Leader, Vladimir Pusczynski (played by me), made a speech to get his men fired up against the NATO Forces. After shooting one of his own men dead, in a blatant display of the hardships that were to endure for the day, the 2 leaders left their team to do some business with the Ukrainian Governor. Game play then started with the USRP quickly capturing the main base and some weapons ordinance. However, the very strong NATO Forces almost immediately took control of the high ground, thus preventing the USRP from making any kind of advancements. NATO continued to hold strong and assault the USRP stronghold. A rogue mission sent out by the USRP proved successful with the capture of the fleeing Ukrainian Governor. After some intense firefights and strategically place airstrikes, one USRP Sniper emerged holding the NATO General (Kaboose) hostage. Doc Roe (Fernando Flores) tried to plead with the USRP rebel to let the General free. NATO surrounded the General and his captor and prepared to engage the enemy. The USRP sniper threw the General towards his own men and disappeared into the thick brush, amazingly avoiding the high volume of gun fire. The NATO forces were then able to push into the main camp and hold the camp against numerous USRP blitzes.
A mistimed lunch break was then taken complete with hotdogs, water, and pop.
At the restart of the game, the respawn points were switched and adjusted, along with some boundary markers. The USRP was able to recover a HEAVY!! tactical nuke, but did not have the detonation codes, nor were they in the proper area to launch the nuke. Using the aerial support of some well planed airstrikes, the USRP was able to successfully recover the detonator and begin moving the nuke to the launch zone. 4 men were constantly needed on the nuke in order to move it because of the weight of the missile. With some intense fighting and mad rushes carrying the nuke, the USRP was finally able to arm the nuke at the launch area. As the nuke was begining to fire, the NATO forces launched an airstrike on the nearby base containing the primary USRP force. Luckily for the USRP, the foresight by their Commanding Officer to recognize a possible airstrike and evacuate the area allowed for almost all the soldiers to remain in battle. With the nuclear launch quickly approaching, the USRP CO ordered all his men to evacuate the immediate area, except for two brave soldiers who gave their lives to ensure the security of the nuke launch.
Shortly after the nuke launch, the USRP leaders, Vladimir Pusczynski and Kiril Dragomir arrived on site to take care of some business. What would ensue was a firefight that no one left unharmed. The USRP quickly and efficiently got the leaders to the first base, and were almost immediately surrounded by NATO forces, looking to capture the VIPs. After a mixture of stealth and dynamic movement by the USRP and the VIPs, the VIPs had almost reached their final destination. Upon arriving just outside of the base, the CO and VIPs discovered it was heavily guarded by NATO marksmen. The CO was shot dead while defending his leaders, but his death was quickly forgotten as the VIPs fought for their lives. Finally, the NATO forces moved in on the VIPs and began to secure them. The VIPs, having served in the Russian KGB, were not about to go down without a fight. Dragomir had his throat slashed by a NATO soldier, but was stabilized with help of the expertise of Doc Roe. NATO evacuated Dragomir to a hospital for further medical attention. Dragomir made a run for it but was shot down and once again captured by the NATO forces. The UN ruled that Pusczynski must be released by the NATO forces. While being escorted back to base, Pusczynski was shot in the leg and began fighting numerous NATO forces. After being secured by 6 soldiers Pusczynski was taken by the NATO forces to face trial for what he had done.
The finishing gun was fired off as both teams rejoiced in a seemingly victorious battle
During the debriefing by Kaboose, the USRP was declared the victors for the battle, but he also revealed that there was a much larger war still to be fought! YES, there WILL be a Operation Cardinal Tempest 2!!

All I can say is WOW!! I have never had so much fun at an event. The cheating accusations were simply "I think I hit that guy." The moderators only needed to intervene on hitting calling on 1 or 2 occasions, and the issues were quickly solved. This was my first time being a role player, and HOLY SHIT it was fun (although every part of my body hurts from getting my ass kicked by numerous NATO players) Everyone took the game seriously, but still had fun with it and constantly kept safety as the top priority. I truly hope to see everyone who was out there yesterday at the next Operation Cardinal Tempest so we can continue this friendly rivalry!

A huge THANKS to every single one of you who came out and made the first Chicago EggHead/ Armor Airsoft Illinois event a huge success. We could never have done it without you guys. Thanks again.

Kevin Pustz
USRP Leader - Vladimir Pusczynski

[glassarchitect]

www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2455010&id=12120955&l=b71cb077f2
Some photos... video to come soon!

[Master_Oki_Akai]

The Trip
Heat, Traffic, Bugs...NEVER AGAIN! Jesus H. Christ on a crusty cracker we have NEVER seen bugs like that!


The Field
First off, the managers and support made a real good show of their business, and that is something I have not seen in any of the MI fields I've been to. I appreciated the clear and present assistance of the refs and the well developed staging area.

Now we didn't see all of the field, so we missed out on their apparently highly developed paintball field. The part we did see, was not very impressive to me. As an IL player mentioned, it wasn't very player friendly with the underbrush and the heinous amount of thorns. But the main sections was relatively clear and full of trails. But the best part was the 4 2-floor towers. I believe that if more similar large and solid structures are added, and even if 2 or 3 of those towers were to be made into larger forts, the field could have much more character.
It felt like a flatter and less diverse but better developed Schoolcraft.


The Game
FANTASTIC! The players that showed up played the game we were really hoping for.
Based on the comments about the IL players I was expecting a lot more green-grass kids with springers, scratching their heads trying to understand the new rules. But what I saw was a lot of well loaded up and gung-ho boys and men out there to kick-ass!

Now from what I could tell, the tactics used were all offensive rushes, counter snipe, drop back, then rush again. What little defensive game there was seemed to be solely focused on the towers. I really think the folks there need to revisit how to set a perimeter, how to search and sweep, and what the words "flat footed" mean.
But since everyone kept running around, there really weren't many choke-up times and props moved around the field for the most part unharassed.

Our role-players, excellent job. They just kept taking people by surprise. Hopefully that'll teach folks to be more vigilant, but it's also a lesson in making sure that Role Players be presented properly. The confusion caused when Kaboose changed roles was very distressing when he went from friend to foe. Which is fine by itself, but it is worth mentioning that different characters roaming around need to be clearly understood as being different, even if it means switching between costumes, including goggles -> face mask. But otherwise, Doc, you did a great job bub!

As a medic for the first half I was almost totally blind! My goggles didn't fog but dammit my glasses did and just stayed that way. Thanks to Eric for the fan. But we implemented some things to the medic system that went over VERY well in game and will probably continue on here at home. These things can help keep your medics safe and secure while giving your teammates a more active role in keeping each other alive.

Stabilization: No medic nearby? Get a teammate to go hands-on (meaning they can't fire) and they can delay your bleedout until a medic comes along.

2-man drag: Talked about this before. A medic can carry 1 man by himself, but 2 non medics can carry a downed player to a nearby safe spot.

Main point being, the IL players brought the level of energy and enthusiasm we LOVE to see! They got up, ran out, yelled, shouted, rolled prone and used excellent radio communication. I think we would be HAPPY to play with these folks in the future. I saw energy, motivation, and optimism in these kids so I have high hopes for them and the Egg Heads.