Another strong turnout with 50 comrades joining the fight and a marathon session lasting over four hours. Most remarkably, it was a session in which we were actually very good. So good, in fact, that the Party is concerned about the new survivability rates (because it hasn't ordered enough food for next month). As tonight's host, I'd like to thank everyone for the rapid slotting and great comms discipline during slotting and briefing - it's much appreciated!
Highway was a massacre, but in a good way: the enemy convoy was halted and quickly converted into a series of burning wrecks with enemy bodies strewn liberally around. Although Bravo lost men, overall our losses were light and soon our brave platoon of revolutionary fighters extracted to victory. Crateresistance was a tense affair, as comrade CO Ferrard Carson (defending) laid an effective trap that almost did for BLUFOR. Only a mad dash by BLUFOR survivors ensured a dramatic finale, as the two forces attempted to outflank each other, eventually swapping positions outright before Carson's men delivered the final blow. For tonight's run of Shilkas of Nur we eschewed Delta and daylight, opting for darkness and the support of an MGS Stryker. For the first half of the mission the platoon was a picture of effectiveness, clearing the southern half of the AO and cannon-sniping enemy Shilkas. Then an enemy Hind appeared and vaporised the CO and most of Bravo. After we got over their loss (and through at least one interim leader), we managed to destroy the last Shilka and clear Nur. It was epic.
In what may have been our first even player-platoon completion of puppeteer mission Broney, comrade CO Draakon managed to use his Bronnegruppa as both a BOF and transport element. Beginning as a simple line-sweep of the greenzone, Bravo squad was later sent on a hair-raising BMP ride (complete with RPG hits), so that the town could be attacked from two sides. Despite some serious murderising by comrade puppeteers Head and Ferrard Carson (in particular), and the trading of RPG shots on a seemingly industral scale, OPFOR eventually prevailed. In the afterparty, we played a very old mission, Guns of Nagarone, wherein comrade CO Dogface hatched a plan of complexity, pure logistical horror, and old school madnesss (but I was reminded of why the Party now enforces particular rules regarding transportation and ORBAT).
As ever, please post your thoughts, feedback, screenshots and video here - comrade YouTube Hero SuperU's FA doesn't just produce our video idents, but provides leadership and guidance to propaganda artists; more guidance on video editing for Folk ARPS is provided by comrade Ferrard Carson. Posts in the AAR threads really helps us (the hosts and mission makers), both with understanding how we can improve the experiences, and showing potential comrades what our sessions are like.
There are many ways to die gloriously for the good of the People and the Party.
This is not one of them.
Note: from the Shilkas mission. I especially like how our illustrious FTL immediately exits the vehicle and pilfers the fallen Black Mamba's pockets for spare change.
Last edited by Stoner on Mon Apr 15, 2013 2:06 pm, edited 6 times in total.
Highway Deployed as Alpha Squad Leader
The Takistanis are coming, the Takistanis are coming! Again! I seized my AK, kissed my goat goodbye, and assembled with my squad.
Then I raised my hand, shouted "SHAZAM!" and we teleported to our ambush position.
According to the plan, we were the anvil-shaped hammer to Bravo's hammer-shaped anvil. Curiously strong BTR-60's and curiously derpy BMP-2's slowly trundled their way over into our killzone, where Bravo opened fire, and promptly had half their number erased. Alpha crested on the ridgeline and poured fire down into the middle and rear of the convoy, while Charlie unloaded all their rawkets into the head of the mechanized column to help the beleaguered Bravo.
Then the silence fell. "Did we kill enough of them?" RAWKET! "Good hit... but he's still squirming. Put another into him." "One moment, getting one out of my ammo-mule's ruck..." "Any day now... *whistles*" RAWKET! "There we go. Mission accomplished!" "SHAZAM!" Victory screen!
Charlie and Alpha may have uncomfortably-stared each other down at one point. We grizzled, battle-hardened veterans of Alpha were questioning the smell of smores on Charlie's breath and the endearing henna tattoos they'd drawn on themselves whilst we were busy singing songs (patriotic songs!) and listening to Bravo die for our Socialist Agrarian Utopia.
Crateresistance Deployed as NAPA CO
There was a plan. A dastardly plan. A plan of wanton cruelty to CDF. PETA for humans would have cried. But we killed them.
Cache 1 was far in the north, in the midst of a forest on an incredibly gentle slope that would be a joy to sled down in the snow. Cache 2 was at the foot of a little forest-covered mole-hill standing 500 meters in the shadow of a truly massive cliff-face. Cache 3 was far to the south nestled in next to a line of forest that neatly followed the incredibly gentle ridge that sloped down to either side.
Guess which cache I decided to base my dastardly plan around?
Bravo was placed atop the 100 meter cliff-face. From 500 meters, they watched over Cache 2 and the little hillock beside it. At the base of the cliff, Alpha sat in the treeline, biding their time while CDF infantry wandered the Chernarussian countryside. In the distance, we heard Cache 3 go up in flames. Then we saw the MARPATs. 700 meters away, we glassed them for minutes while they ran from place to place across the fields and through the forests. When we saw what turned out to be CDF's Alpha Squad cross the "Kill Alley" and ensconce themselves on the hillock by Cache 2, we knew it was time.
Bravo exploded. Like a porcupine. Of automatic gunfire. Alpha ran. As Bravo's bullets churned the hillock and surrounding forest into lead-infused mud and turned part of BluFor Alpha into DeadFor Alpha, IndFor Alpha swept up on the CDF's left flank and finished the job.
Then I mis-read SuperU's intent and heard "Northeast" when Tigershark had said "Northwest," so I flooded my guys towards Lopatino itself. Between the CDF and NAPA, we ended up drawing a beautiful little pin-wheel on the map as we circled counter-clockwise around the edges of a wide-open field. Then I had Alpha cut the corner and come up behind the remaining CDF as they attempted to pacify the ammo-critical Bravo.
VICTORY!
Shilkas of Nur (at night) Deployed as Charlie 3 FTL
"You were with me last time we played this, Strang."
"Yes I was."
"You saw me get killed 5 seconds into the mission!"
"Yes I did."
"You're not taking bets, are you?"
"Yes I-- Why, I would never, glorious Ferrard-san sir!"
By dint of me not shutting my fool mouth, we in Charlie 3 got the unenviable task of babysitting the squad Humvee. .50 cal's are great, but they do make for a giant glowing neon sign reading "SHOOT ME!" Therefore, I spent as much time as I could with me and another member of the team dismounted!
Imagine my surprise when instead of running out of bits of the truck sticking to other bits of the truck, we ran out of bullets instead! I never knew that was possible with Humvees - I thought it was in the purchase contract that they were to all end in a blaze of glory, taking as many people with them in their secondary explosions as possible.
Charlie 3 advanced across the gentle, undulating hills of Nur (read: wide open kill-zones with just enough cover to bury your face in and hope to not get eviscerated by a bullet), Ice and the ma-deuce crewman sending a constant stream of high-caliber fire downrange. Strang managed to get his Shilka kill stolen by our Stryker buddies (Strang totally woulda killed the thing!), and we all managed to survive.
Even better - when Bravo did a marvelous impression of graphite markings to that Hind's industrial strength eraser, we in Charlie turned every gun, machine-gun, and wreck-mounted mini-gun on the blasted thing. Much damage was dealt, but the most important shot was revealed in my kill statistics:
Your kills:
Broney Deployed as Mujaheddin Puppetmaster #5Respawning Ninja #5 RPG Magnet #5
There are some interesting conflicting objectives presented by this mission. On the one hand, the successful response to a block-and-sweep operation was supposed to be "Escape." Our dictated response, however, was "Kill the infidels!" Well, who are we to question Allah?
Head, through his cross-country wanderings, determined that the rumored "blocking force" of BMP-2's had, in fact, ceased blocking our pathway to freedom. We could have waltzed out of that valley and back to our wife, kids, and goat-mistresses. But that would've been monumentally boring for OpFor, now wouldn't it?
I individually positioned all my guys inside just about every building in the south of town, then I set off Northeast into the valley on my lonesome. My plan? Put enough bullets over OpFor's heads to keep them slow and paranoid about moving forward, then fade away to another ambush spot.
"Oh shit, I hit him!"
Turns out, I was a little more effective with my fire than I had intended to be. Also turns out, the AKS is one hell of a sniper rifle with its zeroing. I either wounded or scared OpFor enough for them to pop smoke to escape my first ambush, and my second ambush... well, that's the first time I've gotten a scope-less one-shot kill from 500m. Security around the hillside Southeast of Nagara was also extremely lax, meaning that I shot a medic in the gut, and gave him a smoke grenade to chew on rather than finishing him off. Then I ran face-first into Draakon. We traded shots - I winged him, and he grazed my spine, but I was out of ammo, having spent it all trying and failing to fling bullets near (but not into) OpFor as they advanced.
Then began a series of increasingly short lives, as I was first GP'd, then rocketed, then rocketed again, then rocketed a third time. Seriously - just about every building I was in (including that minaret) was reduced to the consistency of fine powder by explosive devices after everyone was done with me! Apparently the one great weakness of Ferrard == Rawkets.
Guns of Nagarone (afterparty) Deployed as Echo FTL confused guy whose game glitched out on him
So... map markers are notoriously unhelpful when you start with the game initiating spectator script right after we get kicked into the map screen. One hard-reset of ArmA II later, and I was able to see the markers that had been placed before I came in! But not the ones afterwards. Combined with the logistical nightmare that is this mission, I ended up telling my driver, "Follow them!" After we had roared into position to begin our sweep, ma-deuces tearing the night in twain with their .50 caliber tracers, I was told to set up a hasty ambush on 4 dudes walking on the road 50 meters away using only the dudes in my fire-team who had suppressed weapons. "Don't let them know we're here!" someone shouted over the ringing of my ear-drums as echoes of the .50 cal fire rolled through the valley.
Turns out, "4 dudes on the road" turned out to be "4 dudes hidden in the bushes" and "50 meters away" turned out to be off by a factor of ten. In an unfriendly direction.
~ Ferrard
"Take a boat in the air you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turnin' of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurtin' before she keels... makes her home."
I individually positioned all my guys inside just about every building in the south of town, then I set off Northeast into the valley on my lonesome. My plan? Put enough bullets over OpFor's heads to keep them slow and paranoid about moving forward, then fade away to another ambush spot.
"Oh shit, I hit him!"
Turns out, I was a little more effective with my fire than I had intended to be. Also turns out, the AKS is one hell of a sniper rifle with its zeroing. I either wounded or scared OpFor enough for them to pop smoke to escape my first ambush, and my second ambush... well, that's the first time I've gotten a scope-less one-shot kill from 500m.
Oh Ferrard, the order was specifically to shoot over their heads and make an enjoyable experience for HUMANFOR, not you.
At least you apologized
P.S Is that JSRS or that other sound mod? because mine sounds nothing like that.
''I am not going against tanks'' - Tryteyker, MAT gunner.
''Downboated so much, it's an u-boat now.'' - Boberro.
''Sorry, I meant hon hon hon baguette baguette Eiffel Tower'' - Mabbott
Ferrard Carson wrote:"Oh shit, I hit him!" ~ Ferrard
Decoy smoke, Comrade. Decoy smoke. Although, iirc, you did wound the AT in our fireteam, it was quite a bit before that. When Toppo popped the smoke, we were already going down the valley, and you shot that empty position while we were moving in the open.
Pretty accurate fire, though. I was sure you were using an RPK. And I messed up my spotting, as I thought you were on that hill, behind you (where you ended up ninja'ing quite a few dudes later, and dodged my distant fire every time. Damn it.)
By the way, I haven't been able to get around for the workshops much, but it's a real pleasure to see a lot more of suppressing fire, bounding, two men teams and stuff. I really can see every week the benefits of your work. Greatly done, Comrades.
Now, the greatest moment of that session, from the point of view of C1 (was I C1? or C3?), in Shilkas of Nur. We somehow lost our FTL, and as the AR, I'm in charge. Soon, we're told to move down a road to support another squad having contacts. It's still pretty early in the mission.
As I had told daf before, I was, errr, tired. So we run down this road, and I see a bunch of dudes running alongside me, ten meters in front of me. As I know the whole squad is moving, I don't even pay attention to people this close. I'm even starting to think Goddamn, we're supposed to be the left flank, why is that fireteam stepping on us?. I am now in the middle of them.
Then I notice the helmet. The camo pattern. Or rather the absence of camo pattern. Fun fact: my two other teammates didn't realize either. I shoot two down, literally at point blank, and some schmuck shoots me in the back. My whole fireteam was gone even before the first serious engagement.
Kefirz wrote:P.S Is that JSRS or that other sound mod? because mine sounds nothing like that.
Like Draakon notes, I use the ACE sound mod instead - I don't like how JSRS treats sound at a distance (especially since it starts attenuating sound so damn quickly), and the distinctive sounds of different guns in ACEX_SM is really really helpful.
Black Mamba wrote:Decoy smoke, Comrade. Decoy smoke.
Black Mamba wrote:By the way, I haven't been able to get around for the workshops much, but it's a real pleasure to see a lot more of suppressing fire, bounding, two men teams and stuff. I really can see every week the benefits of your work. Greatly done, Comrades.
This pleases me! (though it does significantly shorten my life-span - "Well, they've definitely got the Base of Fire part down!")
Black Mamba wrote:Then I notice the helmet. The camo pattern. Or rather the absence of camo pattern. Fun fact: my two other teammates didn't realize either. I shoot two down, literally at point blank, and some schmuck shoots me in the back. My whole fireteam was gone even before the first serious engagement.
Yeah, you were C1 - we were trundling along, and Cam says something along the lines of "C1? Are you there? Oh, they're gone." I turn to look at him (CSL is right next to C3 right now) and I just see all dem bodies strewn across the road.
~ Ferrard
"Take a boat in the air you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turnin' of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurtin' before she keels... makes her home."
Ferrard Carson wrote:Like Draakon notes, I use the ACE sound mod instead - I don't like how JSRS treats sound at a distance (especially since it starts attenuating sound so damn quickly), and the distinctive sounds of different guns in ACEX_SM is really really helpful.
Have you trid the latest JSRS, though? The distance script is now near perfect, and it's really easy to judge the distance. Plus it brings some new stuff, such as the ability to know if the shooter is in a building or not. Which can be helpful when you have to hunt down a Lee Enfield wielding Head, for instance.
The new sounds are quite easy to distinguish as well, although maybe not as much as in ACEX_SM.
Stoner wrote:from the Shilkas mission. I especially like how our illustrious FTL immediately exits the vehicle and pilfers the fallen Black Mamba's pockets for spare change.
No idea what this witchcraft is, but that's definitely not me dying there, seeing as I did in even more ridiculous circumstances. Though it might be why I somehow found myself in charge of my fireteam.
It was partially my fault - I could hear someone walking close to the HMMWV but panning doesn't help when driving in them as I can only really see straight ahead or slightly to my right. :/
Definitely a winner for the best exaggerated bounce off a car award. (or at least running up)
- It is here to wipe out most of Bravo squad, that's what!
********
It's funny how we were discussing that exact scene shown in the picture, right after the beginning of the session. I don't even remember how the subject was brought up in the first place. Somebody cracked a joke about how that Hind in MGS supposedly took out two F-16s all by it's lonesome self, and we all laughed about it. Clearly, the ArmA hind gods did not take kindly to those remarks, but they stayed quiet, biding their time and plotting revenge. And then.........
Shilkas of Nur (at night) Bravo 3 AAR
The mission was going pretty well for us at bravo (Aside from some car accidents, and SuperU dieing under mysterious circumstances ). We were maneuvering and firing pretty well. Alpha Squad to our right seemed to always run into trouble before we did, which helped. I almost feel sorry for them....almost.
........And then the morning never came for most of us! It started with the distinct sound of a helicopter. Our SL ordered everyone to take cover, which we calmly and promptly did thinking it will have to search and locate us first before engaging us with machine guns probably. Ooooooo no, that thing was headed straight for us. That pilot didn't even miss a beat before engaging us with rockets, or I should say flattening us and the poor trees we hid under to the ground. It was a surreal moment, I for one went into the whole time-is-slowing-down thing and for moment I thought I would survive this. I wonder if there is any video evidence or eye witnesses to confirm this, but it seemed to me that attack run was not a WWII style forward strafe, but rather his first rockets hit way to our left and then he pitched his nose down so that his rockets actually moved backwards towards us. Either way, the result is the same. That is, all the rest of Bluefor had their screen fill up with a blue wall of [ARGH]s and [AHH]s. Bravo Squad was no more
I never knew that was possible with Humvees - I thought it was in the purchase contract that they were to all end in a blaze of glory, taking as many people with them in their secondary explosions as possible.
~ Ferrard
). We were maneuvering and firing pretty well. Alpha Squad to our right seemed to always run into trouble before we did, which helped. I almost feel sorry for them....almost.