Pics-post time!
GK fronts with the baddest M249 action around.
Munin demonstrates how, one time, he had to cut a bitch, ninja styles.
GK's squad, Assault One, headed to the right flank upon game start. There was a lull at first, so I pulled out the camera. Here,
Hadoken takes a look around.
Firelotus scans the foliage for US soldiers. Around this point, the "field-wide audio effects" kicked in. Jungle noises and
Samuel L. Jackson in combat added to the natural wind and bird sounds. Definitely different, the loudspeakers sometimes obscured the noise players made crunching through the underbrush. After the hundredth loop, though, I think we all got pretty sick of it.
Suddenly, we were under attack. As medic, I was at the rear of our formation and a bit late in realizing that the battle was on. I snapped one last shot,
Firelotus engaging the enemy, before falling back to cover.
...much later...
A mixed squad of Michigan Airsofters await the wave-style respawn timer to expire. Many took the much-needed rest time to reload, drink water, eat a snack, or adjust gear. Left to right,
Hawkeye,
Mandor, an unknown (to me) guy from SOCOM, and
Snoopy.
After many engagements and shootin' shenanigans later, GK formed up, plus a few others, and went on a patrol deep into enemy territory. There we found it ominously empty -- nobody in the US in-bounds hospital or even within earshot.
More:
Along the pond, a battle erupted close to the US force's last remaining MASH unit (which allowed fast respawns close to Antogan-held territory). Here,
Mandor lays down covering fire for rebel units on the move.
Here's a shot of the MASH assault in progress. Seven Antogan units on the attack here, if you look closely. Notice the great field setup, replete with barriers and lots of cover. I stayed to the rear of the battle while friendlies brought back the wounded for me to heal. Of the four-odd times I've played a medic, this Op had, by far, the best teamwork as far as getting the wounded to medics. Often I end up having to rush into a firefight to give aid to teammates, under fire the whole time. Not so at
Safari Strike; they kept me safe and in the game, able to keep us at full strength. Great teamwork, fellas!
It was a very long day in Ohio, with clear but hot weather. With the end of the game in sight, a four-man unit of Geist Kompanie contents itself with an entrenched holding operation. Low on water, some of us feeling the effects of heatstroke, all of us feeling the exhaustion of a hard day's effort, the break was well-earned.
Munin prone,
Firelotus in the "Tactical Log-Sittin'" position.
Enkidu (me) at the '60. I humped this Pig around the field for a good 2/3 of the day after my MP5k malfunctioned. As a medic, I didn't expect to do a whole lot of shooting. Forced by mechanical maladies into a gunner's role, I did indeed shoot many a round before the day was out. More than a few times I got a weird look when I ran up to a wounded man with the M60 in hand. "You're a medic?!", they'd say, pointing at the machine-gun and I would laugh. Meanwhile, my arms, shoulders, and back expressed their distaste with my weapon choice all day and into the next.
And that's all the pics worth posting. The game ended soon after, but not the fun. The raffle was bad-ass, a template to which all other Airsoft Op raffles will be judged. TAC managed to have more raffle prizes than attendees, fer cryin' out loud! I won twice, a total of $60 in gift certificates. All in all, a superb day out.
