Weekly Update #3

Friday Night Firefight  31/Jan/2014

This friday's session saw our biggest turnout yet, with 3 new players joining the fray! Two full length missions ran the course of the night, the first mission having been built by Khaos while the second was Forest's dubiously awaited creation. After some delays getting started, the first mission went smoothly with only a couple of casualites. High on that success, we charged merrily into the second mission and all died.

---

First Mission - Fueled Fever

Around 40% of our missions are made by Khaos and while there are certain things we have come to expect from them (ie. an enemy QRF), they're generally nicely varied. This means knowing what to expect can be difficult. So with a full 15 man squad we geared up and set off on a search and destroy mission in an refinery complex.

Do to an unusual AI error, our approach to the AO was uninhibited and we were able to carefully arrange a tactical assault on the target. Queuing teams to enter, one after the other, we kicked off the action with some AT. Charlie element came into contact first and their AR ZanB unleashed a unholy torrent of lead on the unwitting enemy. Alpha and Bravo proceeded further into the compound before splitting up. Bravo then became entangled in a intense CQC fight as they pushed forward.

The intermittent firefight continued for a while as pockets of resistance were mopped up by the three separated fireteams. Bravo then found themselves clearing a building choc full of hostiles while the rest of the squad regrouped in preparation to demolish the target. Satchels were planted on the target T34 tanks before the whole squad retreated to a safe distance. Having successfully destroyed the objective, the disorganized retreat was cut short by the arrival of an enemy tank. Though it was quickly dispatched by AT.


At the loss of Death to enemy fire and new recruit Aerolus to a careless teammate, the remaining squad successfully retreated to the humvees and completed the mission. While the action left a little more carnage to be desired, the true triumph was felt as our plus size squad finished its mission with minimal casualties. Squad leader, Wrath, had this to say about the group's performance:

To everybody’s credit, from the outset, the Terrain outside, and the confusing nature of the Nango Factory Complex made the relatively simple mission objective that much harder, due to lack of reconnaissance capability and a vast array of sectors to cover. Each team showed initiative in some areas, and marksmanship and weight of fire was impressive whenever contact erupted. However, teams performed poorly at keeping sectors covered, moving quickly and under covering fire, keeping command informed of their position and orientation and minding their dispersion. Though it was a good effort by everybody, and a mission success, for future missions, each and every player must make sure that he is fulfilling his roles within the fireteam, watching his sectors, communicating with his team, moving quickly and with purpose and ensuring that no man is ever caught in open ground without support. However, the mission was a blast and as usual it was a pleasure playing with everybody.

---

Second Mission - Ben's Mission

Those who know Forest personally have good reason to be apprehensive about the idea of him building anything designed to be enjoyed in any way by others. For a while now, we've been awaiting 'his mission'. Expecting either an ill conceived sniper shootout or a aircraft packed clusterfuck. As we settled into the mission brief, the mention of an airborne insertion caused us to fear the latter...

Our 13 man squad was flown to the LZ in a Black Hawk piloted by Khaos with Forest on the door gun. We were dumped a little further from the AO than we would have liked, but nonetheless we proceeded on foot toward a hill that was between us and an unknown enemy force. On our way, the familiar purr of the Black Hawk's minigun growled in the sky above us. Previous missions with CAS gave us concerns that we were about to walk into a mass grave of enemies and our ground team have nothing to do. This was not the case.

Moments before we crested the hill, our Black Hawk was shot out of the sky. Deciding to complete our objective in the town ahead before going to rescue the crew, the ground force proceeded over the hill. Almost immediately, people started dying. Within minutes, the squad leader was killed and moments later Charlie team was cut of by a flanking enemy. AT weapons started deploying all directions, destroying everything except the enemy. As our casualties mounted, the teams started blurring to form a last stand. All the while, the Black Hawk crew had left their wrecked helicopter and proceeded into town where they mounted their own assault on the objective. While the countless enemy infantry were doing a fine job of cutting us down, a hostile Hind gunship rolled in to finish us off.

Half the squad had already been wiped out before the enemy air support arrived. Survivors scattered as the gunship onslaught picked off our remaining members. Amidst all the chaos, team member Ferret had managed to escape into the target town and hid in a building to avoid the gunship. From the spectator lobby, the rest of the group enjoyed the lone survivor's last bid for freedom as he jumped in numerous vehicles, trying to outrun the enemy Hind. It eventually caught him and the mission was concluded as complete failure.

---

A 15 player strong squad was a great turnout and despite early fears about communication issues, the session turned into a complete blast. Hopefully we'll have similar numbers next week!