O.P. Blackout @ Battlezone

AAR for O.P. Blackout
September 8th, 2012

This event had many issue that cause few upset/unhappy players. Thunderstorms did cause delays in restarted the game play, however the safety of the players was in the minds of the Game Director and ref staff. Location of campsites, time lengths of breaks and delays, and the slow-to-ready of the players was the other main issue of lack of play time.

Many complain of the quaintly of play, but no one complained of the quality of play. The events main missions was simple recovery type missions. That was better than just having attack and hold locations. But having the domination points as side missions made many players have to hunt, claim, then move on to a new point.

At many of the GA event, safety is always top notch. This time I was less impressed with the amount of eyepro off with players in starting bases. Most time the refs are there to enforce safety rules, but the ones at this event had other thoughts on their mind. The other eyepro issue was during the begin at the paintball town, the Director and ref on the transport when down and back with no eyepro on. That causes me and 2 other season players to hold our breaths.

The event would have been much better if the issues in my Need Improvement section are thought and address for future events.

Overall, I had a great time. I got to play along side many that we have enjoyed shooting with and against. The game was simple but very well played.

Good:
1: Players
They had been a great selection of new and seasoned players. Only one time did I have to get on to a player for trying to call someone else’s hit.
Many did not have any issues with safety. They did a great job in making this game fun to play.
2: Event/mission
The event had been setup in a simple but entertaining way that made it more enjoyable for every one.
3: Location/field
The Battlezone field is a dynamic terrain for many future events.

Need Improvements:
1: Refs
The refs need to have unified understanding of the rules. Few of the refs were there to just set up in a spot and not move. Most of them did a great job of information deliver and clarification.
Also the two refs, in the question for eyepro, must lead by example. No excuses on that.
2: Start times, reload, and break times
This is the need to help in start time and restart breaks. With the amount of refs, you could have had one come down and do a count down at the lower campsite. It is easy to have the upper site stage up, when refs are up there. There were plenty of places that had canopies for shelter down at the river campsite.
3: Safety
Down at the river campsite, we had no issue with safety until we arrived at the tan HQ. At that time, we had to remind many of eyepro off with mags in, is not a good match. The refs need to enforce the rules more so. I had a player, during the afternoon match that I found to wear just normal Rx glasses. I told him to find a set of eyepro or he could not play. Thankfully, another player had a spare set on him. But that is something that must be monitored by the ref, on location…

I had a great time. I wish, like many, that the weather did stay good for us, but that is the way of the world.
This was a good event that just had the weather as a thorn in the side.

Thanks Ghost for the input. I agree with you on nearly every point. As to the occurance of myself and the other ref on the transport without eye pro, we had simply forgotten them at the Proshop and didn't have time to waste to run back up, get them, back down, start the game. Probably not the best call, but at that point we wanted to make sure we made up ground concerning play time as much as possible. I'll respond to each of your pro/cons and add my own:
Good:
1: Players
They had been a great selection of new and seasoned players. Only one time did I have to get on to a player for trying to call someone else’s hit.
Many did not have any issues with safety. They did a great job in making this game fun to play.- I very much agree. I didn't have a single report as to hit calling issues!
2: Event/mission
The event had been setup in a simple but entertaining way that made it more enjoyable for every one.-Simple was the objective!
3: Location/field
The Battlezone field is a dynamic terrain for many future events.-As always

Need Improvements:
1: Refs
The refs need to have unified understanding of the rules. Few of the refs were there to just set up in a spot and not move. Most of them did a great job of information deliver and clarification.
Also the two refs, in the question for eyepro, must lead by example. No excuses on that.-Yeah, like I said, we missed that one. I will say that the four refs I brought along were initially supposed to play, but due to cancellations of my staff, they stepped up.
2: Start times, reload, and break times
This is the need to help in start time and restart breaks. With the amount of refs, you could have had one come down and do a count down at the lower campsite. It is easy to have the upper site stage up, when refs are up there. There were plenty of places that had canopies for shelter down at the river campsite.- We did our best to get things kicked off. We were almost an hour late starting the pre-game brief due to players being sluggish. The round thing was something we did at OP:Riptide, that worked very well on our smaller field. However, I think it's just something that doesnt make a lot of sense on the larger venue of Battlezone.
3: Safety
Down at the river campsite, we had no issue with safety until we arrived at the tan HQ. At that time, we had to remind many of eyepro off with mags in, is not a good match. The refs need to enforce the rules more so. I had a player, during the afternoon match that I found to wear just normal Rx glasses. I told him to find a set of eyepro or he could not play. Thankfully, another player had a spare set on him. But that is something that must be monitored by the ref, on location…
I spent the majority of my time around the proshop with Gunner and driving the transport and was unaware of Safety issues like you're talking about. I agree, we need to ensure that safety remains the number 1 priority.

I posted this on the OP: Blackout page, but whatever.

jsts ghost wrote:First and foremost this is not combat. This is play. Second, I will come since I have yet to play when poop has not been in command. Third, kindness is how you talk to others. Not trying to show a loss of respect to others. Poop and Fallout did it well. Some others need a reminder sometimes. See you in the A.M.

I said real combat does not stop for crap weather, meaning that an airsoft day game in the rain is completely survivable. I know the difference. Sorry if I sounded rude or douchy. That was not my intention.

I learned a lot from this one; about me and my kit mostly, but also on hot-weather RONs.

Start

• Bring an extra uniform + raingear; being wet in the field is fine, but not at camp.
  
• Bring better parachute supports, if the the chute is brought. Our rig did not hold up, and did not protect us from the elements.
  
• Chairs at camp; my butt can only take sitting on my helmet for so long.
  
• Buy new boots with insoles; the issued boot insoles are crap, and mine are modern boots. Plus they are a half size too big and a size too wide.
  
• Find more powerful, deet free bug spray. My deet allergy sucks because the bugs just don't seem to care about my weak bug-dope.
  
• Drinks in a cooler; we only brought water in a jug that sat in the sun.
  
• Actually utilizing the forum we set up. Green sides OP:Blackout forum went unused.
  
• I must upgrade my M16. It's pretty, and it's got a nice ROF, but it was nearly useless in the field with it's range and FPS.

Stop

• Showing up to OPs and games sick with no meds. 50% of all games I have attended, I have been sick, and this one was considerably the worst. I only played for about and hour and a half.
  
• Trying to use my 'Nam kit like a modern kit; I have to re-learn this every time, but my kit is best served for base defense, ambushing, and patrolling. Not rushing and base capturing.
  
• Leaving my BBs out, I left them at HQ, and when I went back to get them they were not there. It was an almost full bag of .20s with a clear speed loader in them.
  
• Waiting till the last second to pack up.
  
• Standing/ kneeling/ sitting in anthills. Ant's are the reason I first died. I yelled "HOLY CRAP! I JUST SAT DOWN IN A GIANT ANTHILL! JAMES, HELP ME GET THEM OFF!" Then blam - I was dead. We also had ants in our tent, shoes, garbage, fire-pit and just about everything. I think we even slept right on top of an active hill.
  
• Blowing all of my money on drinks and raffle tickets. I think I dropped like $20 on cold drinks and I know I dropped $50 on raffle tickets. I may have a gambling problem, but at least it went to the Wounded Warrior Project!

Continue

• Rockin' the 'Nam kit; me and Bassman got so many complements on our kits. Unfortunately, neither of us can attend OP: Masher, as I am leaving this state on the day it starts, and it's just a logistical nightmare for him.
  
• Making friends. I met a lot of great people, and I am quite sad that this will be the last time I get to airsoft with you guys for awhile. Unless of course you guys come visit Alaska!
  
• Epic music.
  
• Having the tank on our side. I am infinity happy that green team was not on the receiving end of that beast. It is crazy!
  
• Hydrating. I saw some tan kids walk off the field on the first round due to dehydration. If you are thirsty, you are dehydrated. I was good.

Okay, so I was sick, and only played the first game, and the after-rain game, but I'll do my best. I've never done this, so expect more of a "war-story" rather than an AAR. Here goes:

Green started out undermanned, so of course we had more medics. I was one of the fifteen, along with Bassman. Dusty told us to tag along with another team who were heading out towards the cabin/ chimney area, and then try to secure the area between the cabin and outpost two, as it was figured we could cover the road and ambush passing tan forces. We moved into postion, but we found that the area was overgrown. Fighting was occuring on the other side of the road, so we moved to the edge of the road. This is when I was attacked by a swarm of ticked off ants. Bassman medic-ed me and I went further down the road. Shortly after, I was hit by a lone BB flying over the bushes I was behind (son-of-a). I walked back to respawn, adjusted my gear, and headed back out. I arrived back at the place where I was killed, to find a complete absence of the green team, with the exception of the tank which was focusing it's fire to the right side of the road. I was along the left side, and I crouched down as six tan team members passed right by me. I spotted another tan member ahead of me, and I fired a few shots before crossing the road into the woods and heading toward gunshots. I figured that someone must be shooting at something, so there must be some friendlies around. I eventually found four green, three of which were dead. The dead walked back to respawn and I retreated with the fourth. I lost him, but ended up finding two alive green team at the entrance to CQB city. Like I stated, my M16 is just about useless in a fight, so I ended up spotting for the guys moving into the city (that, and I was crazy tired from sickness and weight. This kit is not a mobile kit). I medic-ed one guy on the road before walking into the now green-controlled CQB city. Within the last ten minutes, Spencer pointed out the missile, which had been an objective, just as Bassman came back from respawn. He arrived just as we recovered the missile from the thick thorn patch in which it had been thrown into. We tied it to his pack, swapped weapons, and ran it to HQ. We got it there within the last three minutes. Match ends.

After the first game, I decided that I was going to get a few drinks and go grab a snack or something. I ended up eating one of my MREs, so we missed standing around at the HQ waiting for the game to start. We just finished eating as the rain started coming down, so we geared up and rolled out, after a small photo op. Unfortunately, the game ended as we got to the pro-shop.

We waited around, and when they called to get in the transport to head to CQB city, we hopped in and rode down. For the first 15 minutes of the game, I guarded the corner of the road, pointing out tan guys to others with better weapons. I ended up trying to flank, only to find green guys retreating after encountering sturdy tan resistance. We rallied three of us and decided to flank left even further. We went way out of the way and only within the last 120 seconds did we actually see the tan base. Unfortunately, our pointman had a friendly fire incident and none of us killed a tan player.

Afterwards, I felt like crap, and sat out for the rest of the game.