Toys for Tots Event-OP: Brushfire (African modern), Dec 4th, Phenix City, AL

Fall-Stone Productions <TM> is proud to present.....

OPERATION BRUSHFIRE
This is a modern-era game covering an military coup in a fictional resource rich but endemically poor post-colonial sub-Saharan African nation, loosely based on the Cold War era brushfire proxy wars of the 1960's-80's. There are no “good guys” in this war, your side will be what you choose to make it.

Date: Saturday, December 4th, 2010, 9am - 7pm
Location: 4161 Old Seale Highway, Phenix City, AL (just 5 miles over the border from Columbus, GA)
+32° 22' 22.38", -85° 5' 11.24"

Cost: This is our annual Toys For Tots Charity Event. Entry for the event is free with the donation of any combination of new, unwrapped toys of at least $20.00 total value. You're on your honor. Please do remember that kids come in different ages and genders.
No toys? Then the cost is $25.
Pre-registration is requested for team balance, and to reserve your spot.
For more details and information please click here

Rules, Waivers, and Restrictions:
The minimum age is 14+ for this event.
Those age 14-17 must have a waiver signed AT THE FIELD by a parent or guardian, and they must wear a full sealing goggles and mouth protection (or a full face mask) to protect their teeth. Take it from me, losing a tooth is not fun. Those who are legal adults can accept that risk, those who are not can not.
As always, those 18 and over can sign their own waiver. Waivers will be provided at the event to sign before participating.
Fully sealed goggles (mesh okay) or face mask is required. No shooting glasses please.
All other standard Georgia Airsoft field rules apply, despite this not being the Georgia Airsoft field.

Uniforms and Teams:
Please sign up for either Zandian Loyalist Government forces (green side) OR Rebel Junta forces (tan side). You will need to show up in an appropriate uniform for the side you wish to join, both shirt/jacket and trousers. They don't have to match each other, but they do have to match your side's chosen color palette (i.e. tan shirt and ACU pants). Your load bearing equipment, plate carrier, vest, hat, helmet, cover, etc. does not have to match your uniform, however if it is complete opposite (lots of tan gear over a green T-shirt and pants, for instance) then you can reasonably expect to get shot by both sides all day long. Common sense goes a long way here.

Loyalist Government forces may wear ANY green based or green dominant camo or solid, include Woodland, Marpat, DPM, Flecktarn, OD, Feldgrau, KLMK, Tiger Stripe, Kamysh, VSR, Flora, Chinese Type 99, Danish M84, Flektar-D, Foliage Green, Italian Vegetata, Cadpat, Rastr, etc.

Rebel Junta may wear ANY tan/brown based or tan/brown dominant camo or solid, include Multicam, DCU 3 color, Chocolate Chip, Desert Marpat, Coyote Brown, Khaki, Strichtarn, Troppentarn, Sumptarn, TTsKO, Type 03, UCP/ACU, ABU, Hunting camo patterns (such as Realtree, MossyOak, Advantage Timber), Mixed civilian attire*, Urban patterns*, and Black*.

*Mixed civilian attire, Urban patterns, and Black may be used to better balance sides on game day, and hence may be switched as needed.
Don't see your camo listed? Ask!

What To Expect:
This event is intended for all levels of airsoft experience, with a heavy emphasis on safety, courtesy, respect, and fun, and light on hardcore milsim, bad attitudes, and "winning" (whatever the heck that is). In short, everyone is welcome and will have a good time. Expect to employ your brain, missions will require you to think ahead and accept consequences of your actions. The venue is large, over 65 acres of flat mixed terrain, so bring comfortable boots!

Please plan on being on the field for 3+ hours at a time. There will be NO scheduled breaks in activity other than the planned meal break. This means you may want to bring a can of ammo, a spare weapon, and some snacks onto the field with you. Bring plenty of water as well! You are, of course, free to leave the field at any time but respawn rules will apply if/when you return, and the action will continue on.

Primitive-style camping is available at the site for both Friday night (December 3rd) and Saturday night (December 4th). There are a few pole lights and limited running water taps available. Hotels can be found just a few miles up the road, along with many restaurants and military gear sellers (such as Ranger Joe's).

There are no weapon, magazine type, or ammo limits for this event, so bring that friend who wanted to give airsoft a try.
However, there will be NO RENTAL GUNS, you must have your own gun! Bring your own BB’s (and other supplies) too, as we cannot guarantee a vendor will be on site to sell you any.

If you have questions, feel free to post them.

Event Schedule:
8:30 - CHECK IN/CHRONO OPENS
9:30 - SAFETY AND RULES BRIEFING - If you miss this briefing you may have to wait until well after game start for another (your own personal) briefing
10:30 - GAME START
2:00 - LUNCH
3:00 - GAME BACK ON
7:00 - GAME OVER

Player Limit:
There will be a strict limit of 80 players. We will not accept any players after 80. To ensure that you have a spot on the field, please pre-register. If you choose not pre-register and instead choose to walk on you may be turned away. Please make sure that you pre-register or that you show up early if you are walking on.

Ammo:
Bring your own BBs.
Chrono will be done with .20, however any weight is acceptable on the field.

FPS limits:
400FPS @.20g (or equivalent) with 20' MED for AEGs
550FPS @.20g (or equivalent) with 100' MED for bolt action or semi auto only rifles. In addition, you will be required to field a sub 400FPS @.20g gun as a sidearm.
MEDS will be enforced, and there will be a distance judging test for the 100' MED before you are allowed to field any weapons over 400FPS. We will chronograph guns.

Hits and Medical Rules:
We will be using a casualty card and medical supplies based medic system. Each side may have up to 3 medics, each will be issued a pack containing a deck of wound result cards and biodegradeable medical supplies, and additional supplies can be obtained throughout the game. Any hit or hits on your body or gear (including gun) renders you wounded, and you must sit, kneel, or lie (non-combatant) for a mandatory 5 minute bleed out period and call for aid. All wounds are fatal after 5 minutes unless you receive medical attention. A medic may see to your wound, array the cards face down, and allow you to pick one (sight unseen). Simply follow the directions on the card, and bandage up the affected area using the provided supplies. Cards sometimes have debilitating instructions (such as being unable to use your right hand). There is no limit on the number of times you can receive medical treatment for wounds, however wound effects from multiple wounds ARE cumulative, and you may elect to die and go respawn rather than endure the effect of that first / second / third wound. Respawning also removes the effects of any previous wounds, and you may remove your bandages when you respawn…they simply serve to remind you of your wound.

RED KILL RAGS ARE REQUIRED!!! This is simply a bright red or orange piece of cloth at least 12” by 12” square. Get one at your local hardware store, auto parts store, department store (auto or hardware area), or fabric store. Since virtually every single airsoft venue, event, or team in the entire world requires these, there is no reason not to have one (or more).

Respawn Rules:
Each side will have a designated respawn location, which acts as your side’s primary “base” of operations. When you die simply walk to your designated respawn point and sit and wait for one other member of your side to return to the respawn as well. Once you have at least two of you, you may immediately respawn and be back in the game. Remove any bandages, and the effects of any previous wounds may now be forgotten.

Operation: Brushfire

By DALATOU MAMANE & TODD PITMAN
The Associated Press
updated 7:30 p.m. ET Feb. 18, 2011

Violence erupted today in the United Commonwealth of Zandia, as rebel military forces, backed by the neighboring People's Republic of Tannistan, staged a surprise coup against the government of this small West African nation.

Renegade soldiers in armored vehicles stormed Zandia's small presidential palace with a hail of gunfire in broad daylight in a bid to kidnap the country's popular leftist President Mamadou Tandja, and then appeared on state television to declare they had staged a successful coup. Smoke rose from the white-hued multistory palace complex and the echo of machine-gunfire for at least two hours sent frightened residents running for cover, emptying the tropical country's downtown boulevards at midday. Traore Amadou, a local journalist who was in the presidency when the shooting began, said President Tandja had just gathered government ministers for an important Cabinet meeting when the gunfire erupted outside. "Armored vehicles came into the palace and began shooting at the building," said Moussa Mounkaila, a palace driver. He said the mutinous troops had come from a military barracks at Maradi, about seven miles (12 kilometers) west of the capital. Mounkaila said he saw smoke rising from the damaged presidency before he jumped over a wall and fled. French radio station Radio France Internationale reported that the soldiers burst in and neutralized the presidential guard before politely escorting Tandja outside to a waiting car which drove him toward a military camp on the outskirts of the capital. His whereabouts remained unknown hours later when the junta took to the airwaves to announce the takeover. Loyalist government forces have since rallied in the capital and promise to see Tandja returned safely and the military junta crushed, as throngs took to the streets to show support for their beloved President.

Tandja first took power in democratic elections in 2003 that followed a lengthy era of post-colonial coups and rebellions, promising sweeping economic, educational, and land reforms in this endemically poverty riddled nation. Instead of stepping down at the end of his second and final term as mandated by law on Dec. 22, the increasingly socialist Tandja triggered a political crisis by dissolving the legislature and declaring a new constitution in August that removed term limits and gave him near-totalitarian powers. Tandja also declared that his populist reforms were being stymied by "entrenched autocratic, tribal, and corporate interests, rampant corruption, and long-standing sweetheart deals that rob the nation and its people blind," and declared "Our nation must recover its ownership of strategic sectors if it is ever to be prosperous and respectable." He then moved to nationalize most industries in the nation by sending in government troops, declared that Zandia would stop paying on what he described as "usurious foreign debt", and expelled the IMF, the World Bank, and a number of western transnational corporations active in the country. He also indicated an interest in developing closer ties to Russia, China, Cuba, and Venezuela, whose leader Hugo Chavez praised Tandja's actions. Tandja claimed he was only pushing to stay in power because his people have demanded it. He says they want him to finish several mammoth projects worth billions of dollars that have begun in recent months, including a hydroelectric dam, an oil refinery and what will be the largest uranium mine in Africa.

The Commonwealth of Zandia has become increasingly isolated since then, with the 15-nation regional bloc of West African states suspending it from its ranks and the U.S. government cutting off non-humanitarian aid and imposing travel restrictions on some government officials. Perpetually poverty-riddled but Uranium-rich Zandia is ranked at the bottom on the U.N.'s worldwide human development index and has an astounding 73 percent illiteracy rate. The nation on the Sahara's southern edge has been perpetually battered by drought and desertification.

The rebels, led by former Tandja supporter and military strongman Colonel Mutare Mobobo, also said Thursday on state TV that the country's constitution had been suspended and all its institutions dissolved. Mobobo declared that the country is now being led by the "Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy" and asked their countrymen and the international community to have faith in their ideals which "could turn Zandia into an example of strong leadership and good governance." It was Mobobo that led the 2003 coup, seizing power after the country's former military strongman was gunned down in an incident that was dubbed "an accident." Mobobo, however, organized democratic elections less than a year later which Tandja won. A diplomat who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said that Mobobo controls a sizeable army faction that is deeply disillusioned with Tandja for violating the faith the military had placed in him when they ceded power to him in elections 9 years ago, and his recent authoritarian and socialist direction for the country. He also said that Mobobo's forces are receiving assistance from the neighboring autocratic People's Republic of Tannistan and backing from transnational corporations and influential wealthy families within the Commonwealth of Zandia. It was not immediately possible to confirm the diplomat's account.

The US State Department expressed grave concerns regarding the direction Tandja's government had been heading in the months leading up to the coup, and expressed an interest in working closely with the new Mobobo government, while Amnesty International and Red Cross humanitarian aid workers working within the country have accused the Mobobo junta of atrocities, including mass raping, murder of captured prisoners and unarmed villagers, and wholesale theft and pillaging of the countryside as they take advantage of the chaos to enrich themselves. A group of UN observers have been dispatched to the nation to observe and report on the smoldering conflict. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was closely following developments and receiving regular updates from his Special Representative for West Africa, U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.

The ease with which Zandia's fledgling democratic institutions have been swept aside has marked a setback for a region struggling to shake off successions of autocratic rulers. In Guinea, a military junta seized power in December 2008 after the death of the country's longtime dictator, only to have the junta leader go into voluntary exile after he survived an assassination attempt a year later.

In their broadcast on state TV, the soldiers said the country was now under a curfew and that all its borders had been sealed. An Air France flight that was scheduled to land on Thursday afternoon was diverted to neighboring Tannistan, said a company spokeswoman. So was the private plane of the Senegalese foreign minister who had been dispatched by Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade and who was prevented from landing in Zandia by the army, said Senegalese government spokesman Bamba Ndiaye. Just days before Thursday's coup, Wade had been named mediator for Zandia's political crisis by ECOWAS, a regional bloc of 15 West African countries.

After three coups hit Zandia between 1984 and 2003, Tandja twice won votes deemed fair. But in the waning months of his final term, critics say he went down the path of many long-serving African despots, breaking a promise he had frequently made to step down when his term expired in December. Opposition leaders say Tandja morphed from democrat to dictator over the course of several months last year. In May 2010, he dissolved the national assembly because it opposed his plan to hold a referendum removing term limits. The move was legal but the following month he invoked extraordinary powers to rule by decree, dissolving the constitutional court that also opposed his plan. The two bodies represented the only real checks on his power. The last obstacle was the constitution itself, which contained a clause saying that the two-term limit could not be amended. In August, Tandja forced through a referendum boycotted by the opposition that created a new constitution. It gave him greatly boosted powers and an unprecedented three-year extension of his rule before another round of elections can be held. The Aug. 4 vote came despite opposition from international donors who could cut crucial aid and from critics at home who say the nation's nascent democracy has been hijacked by a new African populist strongman.