AAR: ATS Halloween Nightmare - Oct 31st,2012

[R2zoo]

First off, want to thank ATS and everyone that came out for a fun time and a great experience!

This event in my mind was a great success despite some of the downfalls. Even with the cold, and the weather, we had a great turnout, and some great times. The scenario was interested, and well thought out, going as far to have the background story covering most of the safety rules. Like shooting zombies in the head was basically killed you due to the brain turning to infectious gas when shot, or something similar. Basically to protect the actors on the field, and minimize the chances of injury.

As far as the actors went, last minute, the backups for the event bailed, and we were left with a handful of volunteers. I must give props to these guys for doing a damn good job despite there only being a few.

First Game
First game was the scenario as outlined by ATS. We had a short briefing on the story, what were doing and how it was being done. Essentially we needed to push through the field, retrieve a doctor and extract them safely. The main group ended up with about 15-20 people with I think 6 zombies on the field. To bolster their numbers, several players had be privately briefed before hand, and pending a certain event in the scenario could switch to the zombie team and attack the team from the inside out.

The game pacing was quick, and for the most part it was picking zombies off one by one. We quickly retrieved the doctor and pulled him out, and were able to extract. That said, the very ending of the extract was probably the best part of the evening. All the actors had teamed up towards the end, and were swarming from the trees, and howling. One managed to crawl up the treeline and dart out across the road and almost took a few of us down. We managed to succeed regardless, but not without a few close calls.

Second/Third games

The second round, and third round were simplified to a simple "Search and destroy" type mission with groups of three proceeding about 5 minutes apart. This time instead of the entire group with lights, it was limited to one light per 3 man squad. This made it much more difficult to spot the zombies. Mid way through the second game, the rules had changed to being touched by a zombie made you a zombie in turn. Not knowing tis, my squad had just proceeded across the bridge towards our objective when the squad behind us bolted towards us. As I turned towards the noise, all my light illuminated was a zombie screaming as he grabbed me. Truly terrifying as I realized the 6 or so zombies had grown to a group of about 10. Having been converted we joined the horde and rushed the remainders, howling and screaming into the darkness.

Playing a zombie on the fly was quite a bit more fun then expected, especially when me and several other wandered up to another squad in the dark. The squad kept asking if we were friendly or zombies, and we did not answer. Was not until I reached out to grab them that they fired, but by that time we had them surrounded.


Overall this event was a great amount of fun, the field is far creepier at night with the stray flashlight bouncing off the trees as you go, and shadows moving through the trees. Given the actors had bailed on us last minute, everyone was a good sport, and playing as the zombie team was a blast. Definitely left me tired and exhausted for work, but would gladly come out for another event such as this. Good times all around, and a great way to spend Halloween night.

[ATS]

I purposely waited to see what type of response ended up on here.. I was afraid I would be burned in effigy when 12 actors and six players "flaked" bailing on me with LITERALLY NO WARNING.

As for the actors, I apologize to my players... No warning, no call, no response to texts.. they just did not show up. They were hired to play as actors and decided they weren't up for it, even though they are airsoft players, had been briefed by me on the dire need for any warning if they could not make it, and asked repeatedly up until the day of the event to let me know if they had changed thier minds.

That said, to mitigate the effect on play, I offerred players half-off discounts to participate as player, then as actors part way through the night, changing sides as they were infected.. Several took me up on it. This was in hopes of spicing it up, adn it worked! The zombie squad I did have were game and worked really hard to give everyone a thrill! I'd like to throw mad props out to the folks who did show, and note that the first game scenario, as posted, would have been a longer play - were there more actors..

As it was, Gunny had the team (as the "scratch" CO- commanding officer - called up to lead the forces to the Dr.). He led more than ably, putting everyone in line with zones of responsibility, overlapping fire sectors and good light discipline.. to the point that the team had any number of guns up, and on target, whenever a zombie was in attack mode! Really well planned, and well executed. The team performed exceptionaly!

* as a note - My zombies thought that against anything but a well trained unit, these tactics would have worked, and well. Gunny has all this skill as a small unit leader; determining appropriate tactics, imparting discipline and engaging his team, then leading that unit, and he claims to prefer running a DMR; being a sniper! Give this man a command! I have nothing else to say

So, as stated... the weather was bad, but not horrible. There was a few minutes of really light rain early on, then it cleared up and though cold, by 2:00 am when we ended the night, it was so well moon-lit that lighting had become superfluous!

We ran additional scenarios, as R2 stated above, and the guys had a great time playing zombies, turning randomly on thier compatriots.. something in all of us makes us want to be the "bad guy" now and then, and whats badder than a zombie, in the dark, on Halloween night, who was your right-hand-man and "cover" moments earlier!?!?

We had men and women playing, and all seemed to enjoy it. One young lady, who shall remain nameless, has such a bloodthirsty bent that she decided to go pure-zombie toward the end, disdaining even the appearance of being human! She definitely had her zombie-freak on, for Halloween night! - Seriously, we have the best players in any state, from any country, right here in Michigan! HEART! That word defines those who grab thier airsoft gear, plan ahead for a half day at work or school the following morning, then show up to a game running from a 10 p.m. start to a 2:00 a.m. close! And, they do so following the remains of a horrible tropical storm and three days of rain, when the weather calls for 31 degrees F! Thank you all, you make me LOVE what I do!

Reading R2's words above, and hearing from several players today, I feel safe in saying the event was a success. A resounding success in spite of the fails that accompanied it, which I will work on. It is totally worth repeating. This was the FIRST ANNUAL Halloween Night Zombie-Apocalypse, and NOT the last! (In the future, I will work harder to ensure we have the actors, by duct taping them and tossing them in the trunk, if necessary... which leads to my final note..

If you do commit to an event as a player... and you see your name listed in a roster of players... and the game host clearly states that attendance is extremely important, your appearance and attendance dictates the resources applied to the game .. show up. Just SHOW THE HELL UP! If something ACTUALLY happends to prevent it, and you really can't show up, at least have the respect for the business you are patronizing and TELL the host. This isnt Wal-Mart, we actually do what we do for each individual person we expect. Whether you learn a week, or just 1 damned hour in advance, or even if you just don't feel up to what you committed to.. be responsible enough to at least warn the event host, so that he or she will know and dont end up screwed by YOU in re: scheduling, team planning or resource re-payment issues (rent, referee fee, actors fee in this case, etc..). I lucked out, I had great players, willing to work with what we had... but if all of my zombies had shown, and the players who committed and totally flaked, had done the same, I would have been worse than in the hole! (climbing down off my high horse now)

As it is, the guys and gals who came turned this event into a success themselves, despite those who did not show. I thank each and every one of you, and I am devoted to holding better and better events... I will continue to listen, to learn and to improve each time I plan something, BECAUSE of YOU! Thanks!
Thadius

[Gunny87]

First, off a big thanks is definitely in order to Thadius for putting this event together. I thought the scenario was very well put together and definitely had me excited to attend this event.

For the 6 zombie actors that did show, I want to thank all of you for doing an outstanding job by willing to take the hits and for putting on a great performance. It was you guys who made it fun for all of us players.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone that showed up! Despite the cold weather, and late night you guys (and gals) are all troopers for showing up, not flaking out and contributing to a fun night of playing airsoft on Halloween.

Unfortunately the lack of zombie actors was really the only down side to the whole night. However it was the players who all stepped up and made the best of the night. Everyone should be commended for this.

Thad was willing to hear our suggestions as we made it harder for the players by tweaking the rules, and the scenarios and it actually worked. Instead of walking through the field 15-20 strong we broke down into groups of 3, and by the end of the 2nd round everyone had succumbed to the zombie horde!

I feel like the field and the scenario have so much potential for a really great game. In fact I had told my fiends and co-workers about what I was doing on Halloween night and I think I will be able to bring a friend or two with me next year if this happens again.

Hopefully Thad can have better luck securing reliable zombie actors for next year, as his original plan for using zombie actors from the haunted house fell though which I'm sure put a wrench in his plans. But Thad did a great job of getting back up on his feet and hosted a fun filled night of playing airsoft.

Also it was great meeting and playing with everyone.

Shadow and Impulse. It was great meeting the both of you and having a chance to sling plastic with you guys!

[steelfallenangel]

Damn sounded like a total blast. Sorry work screwed me out of this, this year. Didn't even get home from work til that night till after midnight. Always next year and theres at least shores of tripoli this sunday.

[Impulse]

I was there sneakin around with a camera - turns out everyone looked like trees, because none of these pictures have people in them. Exception: when i left the camera set up on a time delay in an attempt to shock people with the flash But still those aren't any good.

So about the event... it was cool, chiefly because it demonstrated the reliability of the core cadre of local players ATS has built up over the past few months. Despite losing our roster of zombies not once, but twice... the game went on, and targets were still provided. Only problem there - they didn't play 'zombie' so much as 'sneaky melee only airsofter' and were very adamant about avoiding bullets. But whatever, the game still went on decently.

The gametypes all worked out reasonably well; I couldn't honestly expect the first mission, a reinforced squad moving in one formation, to turn out too fairly once it was clear that everyone was going to be shining flashlights around. (I usually assume night missions won't involve flashlights, since that leads to being shot... but zombies don't shoot back.)

I thought the weather was perfect, a bit soupy in some parts of the field but it certainly wasn't rainy or all that cold... at least I didn't think so. Visibility was ok in the beginning, and by the end of the event it was good enough to identify targets well beyond pistol range. That's light pollution for ya.

The whole deal was pretty free-form and recreational, but it went well.

And back at cha, Gunny!