Friday Night Firefight 22/Mar/2014
With a record headcount and the introduction of a new map, this week's friday session was an absolute blast (literally). Our assignment for the night was designed by Khaos who'd devised a horribly unforgiving yet awesomely intense mission on our newest map, Sangin (made by ArmaHolic user
SmokeDog3). The night's main event was completed with just under 50% casualties. Afterwards we embarked on a couple of prototype missions, all of which were unmitigated catastrophes.
Green Zone Gunfight
While the addition of a new map/mods caused a few delays getting started, we quickly realised it was a worthy endeavor as we geared up and set off toward our objective. This new 5x5km map was an enormous green zone with foliage dense as a fudge and countless fields intersected by rivers and dirt roads. Our platoon snaked toward the area of operations, everyone looking around into the thick green bush for a glimpse of our waiting enemy.
We had been warned about possible IEDs in the area, so our progress was halted occasionaly at the sight of anything even remotely suspicious. Eventually, our group came under fire near enough to the target compounds to begin our assault. Alpha squad spearheaded the attack and began clearing out the compounds ahead of Bravo. An epic series of firefights and flanking maneuvers continued until we were approached the last compound.
Our series of successes was cut brutally short just meters from the final hurdle when Alpha squad was all but wiped out. Our vigilance for IEDs failed to account for military grade anti personal mines and the lead squad paid the price when their leader, Sunburn, set off a POM-Z landmine. After Bravo watched Alpha be oblitered, they continued the mission and pressed on to victory, eventually locating and destroying the target objective.
Khaos, who built the mission and was killed early on this game had this to say:
"All around and over the past month or two of sessions, it was some of the best whole Platoon peformance I have seen which made the solo-spectating entertaining to watch."
Prototype Missions
Friday's large player turnout gave us the opportunity to test some new types of mission. First up was Sunburn's PVP maze. The unfinished version of the mission featured a complex and confusing maze constructed from sand barriers in which two teams entered from either end and swarmed toward eachother. Point blank confrontations and savage, CQC battles ensued quickly. The punishing speed and lack of learning curve was duley noted and the results from the test will be considered in the next iteration and future PVP missions.
The next game was something of Khaos' demented devising. Our 14 strong force was crammed into a headache inducing killhouse, choc full of tight coridoors and awkward bottlenecks. Like thick honey, we trickled through the course, plowing through the AI opposition. This clusterfuck taught us allot about CQC in ARMA... mainly that it doesn't work.
Saturday Night Lead Exchange - Singin' Sangin' Songin'
With saturday sessions quickly becoming as popular as the Friday Night Firefight, our main mission builder, Khaos, reinvented his mission from the night before in the form of an even harsher, green zone slog straight through a minefield. Knowing we'd be up against more than just IEDs this time, we came well equipped with mine clearing devices and insisted on good spacing between all our units. Though as we plowed into the fray, we quickly found mines to be the least of our worries.
With similar numbers to the night before, VW was split up into two squads, each comprising of two teams. Entering the AO in humvees, we split up and began clearing the area, meeting and destroying pockets of enemies in fast, compound to compound battles. The thick green scrubland caused accurate firefights to turn into disorientating suppression battles. Comunications became vital and and constant, lingering fear of landmines slowed the teams until they became dangerously separated.
Reassembling the team after a series of chaotic run and gun fights, the squad found itself pushing up a riverbed toward the final objective. Our progress was halted when Edward was incinerated by a landmine triggered by an enemy RPG. After witnessing this, we decided to start deploying minefield clearance equipment. The humvees were awkwardly lost to the river, so our final attack was made on foot through the path cleared by the APOBS system.
Once we had completed our mission, a final enemy onslaught appeared in the form of a helicopter, raining bullets on us from the air. We responded in kind and a storm of lead from each and every member eventually pulled the final menace from the sky.
Across the two sessions on friday and saturday, we had more people joining the fray than ever before. With numbers like these, crafting big enough missions and getting members sorted with mods and maps will be challenging. Though for more fun like we had this weekend, we know it's certainly worth the effort.
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