Tonight on this the day after the day after the day after Thanksgiving, it is my turn to give thanks to the 34 friends that went and celebrated the other proud American tradition of interactive electronic entertainment.
We managed to take out an inconceivable amount of enemy vehicles, and we only lost a whole fire-team to aeronautically technical difficulties once! A major success once again!
As always, comments are most welcome below, especially with regards to new missions for ideas to improve existing missions and make shiny new ones. Also, if you have a nice story be sure to tell it. Videos are always much appreciated, and will be appropriated by our propaganda departement if you tell us about them.
If you think commanding seems like fun, yet hesitate because you worry that you won't come up with a reasonable plan on such short notice, then check out our leadership programme.
If you want to test out an updater/launcher for all your mod needs look no further than our Comrade head's marvellous contraption.
Did you notice that some vehicles/players had way cool FA Tractors on them tonight? That's because of the power of our squad tags. Get yours whilst stocks last.
Your bi-weekly reminder of the FA patches is down here, where you are currently reading, you should consider clicking the link and maybe look at how nice they are. Just saying.
Lots of fun as always. The highlight of the night for me was "a brilliant strategy that failed immediately and succeeded gloriously." Aka, the session of Inter IV with Fer as our lead (7 attackers vs 4 defenders, I believe). He split our forces into two fire teams coming from different directions. The plan was for the smaller fire team of 3 to draw enemy attention whilst the larger fire team of 4 moved in. What actually happened was Fer got capped very early on and (since the defenders now knew about the larger fire team) we decided to switch roles, with the larger fire team making some noise whilst the smaller team slipped in. For the most part, it worked great.
Another good night, got some material for three videos! Landfall
Alpha 1 FTL
This mission is great, sitting in the troop compartment of the IFVs as they cross the bay, only hearing the rattle of bullets off the hull of the vehicle, listening to the comms for enemy call outs. Those few moments right before you hit the beach, when your SL gives final orders before jumping out, and your heart rate picks up. This play through was especially intense because as soon as we hit the beach we heard the "Bail! Bail! Bail!" meaning the vehicle was critically wounded. We jumped out into somewhat deep water which meant we couldn't sprint right away, and we just had to move as quick as we could away. The vehicle blew up, and three of my team went down, and the medic and the vehicle commander were killed immediately. One of the three of my guys bleed out quick, but we picked up the other two who went down and patched them up as well as we could without a proper medic. Explosions were all around us, everyone was shooting, but we quickly regrouped and went maybe 25 meters inland before getting pinned again by a SPAG. And we had no AT. Somehow the SPAG's turret went down, and eventually we were supported by CV. We pushed into the compound from the south, Bravo covered the west approach, and Charlie hit the compound from the east. After clearing it, and Kasmeister demonstrating improper base jumping techniques, we blew the artillery units and claimed our victory!
Huzzah II
Alpha 1 RAT
This mission was short for me, we reached our first point easily and found no contacts to clear out, so we set up inside of a construction site. I didn't see much until I was told two APCs were heading towards us. I got to the top floor but they were 800 meters out, way too far for my ability with the RPG. I stayed up there waiting for them to get closer, but I lost them in all the vegetation. That is, until suddenly the two APCs were 200 meters out and unloading HE onto the construction site. 4 of our team including me were shredded.
Fuel Charges
Alpha 2 AAR
We got a few buildings towards the enemy, there was some confusion on my part on where our team was going, Kefirz the FTL ended up on the other side of the street, which the enemy was firing down so I didn't want to cross. Very early on, Kefirz went down, and ZeCatnip took command. He was on the far side of the street too, and the other 4 of us were seperated by him. Enemies were already close to the north, and we engaged them and dropped a few. BeforeLife tried to make it to the buildings where the enemy were but pulled back because of a lot of fire from an MG to the south. He was killed crossing back. Fer had joined as our medic and got to our side of the street trying to reach BeforeLife before his death, but couldn't get there in time. We sat at a wall watch north and northwest, waiting for orders as ASL and A1 moved up. I though ZeCatnip had gone down, and at somepoint Fer started asking me if he should move up to where our previous contacts were, so I ended up taking Psuedo-Command of the team. We moved to the northern buildings and made sure they were clear, before continuuing along that Flank. We got about 3/4 of the way to the enemy gas station, ZeCatnip had rejoined at this point, before we got pinned down from heavy enemy fire. Cover was limited and avenues of advance were also limited. A1 and ASL seemed to be dead, and MMG was bugged into wounded state. I figured our only chance was to smoke and rush a nearby enemy position, but I was downed before I could give the order to assault. Cut off my recording before I could see a brilliant play by Fer and ZeCatnip, ZeCatnip laying down fire at Intel64Gamer? to keep him pinned while Fer rushed. It was gorgeous. At this point it was just Fer and ZeCatnip now, and soon our team was wiped out.
HSLD
TH2 Pilot
Tense run of this. Insertion went fine for my helicopter, but extraction was terrifying. Approaching LZ Sierra, TH1 was meant to go first but had some velocity malfunctions as well as vegetation interference. TH2 was next, and I was taking HMG fire so I wanted to get in quickly. I was on the ground waiting for a fireteam to load, and right as they loaded up an IFV rolled over the hill in front of us. Push to talk is wonderful, because all I said over comms was "TH2 outbound" but what you would have heard was "HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!." I tried to get out as quickly as possible, and thankfully we were spared any autocannon to vital helicopter equipment. I was struck however, I thought I was dead.
To whoever was on this helicopter on the way out, I know Fer and AJAX were, you guys may not know just how lucky you were. Had I not seen Intel land the helicopter while wounded last week, I would have probably killed all of you. There was a good 3 seconds after I was shot where I just thought, "well shit, I tried my best" not realizing I still had control in wounded state. Once I remembered that yes, I could still fly, I pulled us out of a dive and took us across the bay. Unfortunately when I set down the bullet that struck me had jammed my harness, and the Fireteam could not pull me out. I got them out safely which is what counts.
A Town Divided Coalition of South Agia Totally angry people CO, or CSAT CO
First time I've played my mission, I'm sure I gave Fer a minor headache trying to figure out what the hell all the names of the units meant. I tried to position everyone to cover the three most probable approaches, but the Northerners slipped through undetected, and had a decisive victory.
Inter IV
As mentioned above, things did not go quite as planned, and my group went down fairly quick. DC commanders group however did an amazing job approaching with the sun behind them, and took down all the defenders. A great spectator show .
Landfall FTL, Charlie 1 with AJAX (AR), Ralian (AR), Spanks (RAT), ZeCatnip (R) and intel64gamer (R)
Another day, another glorious assault in the name of the Party on those ideologically inferior pigs we call the enemy, eh Tovarisch? Today, the Party in its wisdom had provided us with floating IFVs to storm an enemy artillery base. Unfortunately, ours was somewhat damaged and so while Alpha and Bravo squads tore off for the horizon like the opening credits from that morally degenerate series on lax personal hygiene and worse fashion, Miami Vice, Charlie floated along at a more sedate, luxurious pace, gently rolling and bobbing with the swell and roll of the waves. We amused ourselves with discussions of the latest advances from the Party's Morale department, our new patches - only £7/€10/$10 at Comrade Tigershark's new enterprise, the Young People and Dropbear's Quartermaster Depot.
Sadly the rolling and bobbing finally got to some of us who started to see things turn a little green, but before we could finish relieving ourselves of the excess weight that was our last meal, and just before Fer finished swimming ashore having sunk his IFV using only the power of his testes, which Party metallurgists inform us have some very odd properties, we hit the beach and bailed out of Charlie Vic fully expecting annihilation in the first few seconds because the base was by now completely active, having engaged Alpha and Bravo squads some minutes earlier.
And indeed some of us found that annihilation - Ralian was down in seconds, intel and zecatnip seconds later and only at that point did we spot the large tigris on the docks and the 50cal HMG on the speedboat shooting at us. Comrade Carson eliminated the 50cal with UGL fire while Spanks shoved an RPG into a spot on the Tigris that the initial designer had not recommended for that purpose; and then the three remaining members of Charlie 1 pushed out of the rocks and up to the base. We killed a few EI as we pushed in and swept the northern half of the base and docks while alpha cleared the southern half and Charlie Vic pushed west to block incoming vehicles. Alpha started laying explosives on the artillery pieces once we'd cleared the base and Charlie pushed past them to the west to help block incoming reinforcements. AJAX got one rocket into an incoming Marshall but only hit the treads, while Charlie Vic was more successful and killed the other Marshall that had been rolling right at us. And then Alpha blew the artillery and the mission was called. Another glorious victory for the Party Comrades!
Huzzah II ASL with Wilson (ASM)
Call me Comrade Ishmael tovarisch, for this mission was the story of the pursuit and hunting of an elusive and dangerous prey, the rare white Mora. Originally, alpha squad was to block at the end of town and act as a base of fire and blocking element for Bravo and Charlie who would charge into Katalaki in their IFVs and storm the town in short order. However, we hadn't counted on the presence of a Mora in the area. Alpha vic took hits early on, and while Fer was able to repair it, the Mora soon returned and incinerated Alpha Vic and proceeded to start pounding the mortar out of the building Alpha 1 was stationed in. In one five-second barrage, we lost half of Alpha 1 and our medic. We regrouped outside the building, noted that we still couldn't see the Mora, and then it opened up on us again before fading into the night like a ghost. I retrieved the AT asset from a fallen Alpha 1 soldier, and we dealt with some close contacts as enemy infantry attempted to capitalise on our destruction; then I went to rejoin CO and the Mora emerged from hiding and exploderised the ground all round me as I ran for cover.
WafflyCO wasn't much for catching breath, and pointed me and my purloined AT at the Mora who was chilling in a field 200m away. I edged round the corner, lined up, waited for it to hold still - I only had the one shot - and right as it presented its side as a perfect target, a second Mora charged into the field, spotted me and both immediately opened up on the corner of the building I was hiding behind. By the time I got back to my feet, both Moras had vanished off into the dark. We regrouped, decided there was no point in remaining where we were and we headed for Bravo and Charlie who were clearing katalaki against some serious opposition judging by the mountains of dead bodies we found. As we joined them, one of the remaining vics killed a Mora and now there was only one again but it was still out there in the dark, biding its time. We moved on through Katalaki and pushed north to the enemy compound. Charlie and Bravo led the way in with IFV3, and we followed behind, pausing only to kill a flanking enemy with UGL fire.
And then the Mora struck again, leaving CO injured and engaging IFV3. I ran for CO thinking the IFV was close by him, but only succeeded in being first scared by IFV's sudden appearance and then terrified by getting between the Mora and IFV3 as they exchanged fire. I stepped to one side, healed CO from the normal Tigershark Medic position, and then IFV2 exploded from another Mora hiding behind the burning wreckage left by the first one's tangle with IFV3. I still had one AT left, so I legged it north keeping the stadium stands between me and it, came around facing it from the side, IFV2 hit it with cannon and I finished it off with my RPG and got the kill. Sparks 1, Mora 0.
Then I discovered that all the rest of Alpha - the vic, FT1 and the medic - were all dead. I joined on CO who had some very judgemental attitudes towards squad leads who resisted field promotion, and we started clearing buildings. Then I rounded a corner, saw tracer fire coming out of the dark from some enemy infantryman, fired back, and then got exploderised by yet another Mora, who'd been hiding in the long grass all along... Sparks 1, Mora 1.
Eventually IFV3 engaged the Mora and got a bit pounded by it, but while pounding away at Netkev's, erm, turret, the Mora drove within ten metres of Bravo and Charlie and at that range even they couldn't miss more than once, and they blew it to pieces, winning the mission. Huzzah! (hey, is that why we called it that? Neat!)
Fuel Charges CO with Wilson (CM)
Well, I'd not CO'd in a while and it was overdue. I wanted a nice feinting defence, with MMG holding the main lane of fire, A1 reinforcing them and A2 being sneaky and end-running the engaged enemy.
And initially, it went well - we caught some of the enemy in the open and murderised them and pinned others down; A2 manouevered almost to a firing point; and while CO was taking accurate fire, I was doing fine right up until I slipped on the stairs, fell three feet and punched my head through a brick wall. I love this game. Wilson risked life and limb to revive me, then someone saw enemies on our gas station. Wilson covered, A1 covered, I charged. No enemies. Okay, reorient. Contact A2... and all of A2's silent and dead. What?
Right. Don't know how much they're attrited by, but we no longer have assets to both defend and attack. Fall back, go defensive. We know they have to be trying to push along A2's route, and MMG1 and CO element have good lines of fire there; better if CO moves up, which we did and held with MMG1. Unfortunately, MMG1's spotter was injured and as I was healing him, someone who'd watched the beach medics in saving private ryan shot him in the head. Gah. I threw all of his grenades at them, got an accurate position from their muzzle flashes, and hosed down that general area and threw more grenades. One of those grenades apparently killed Wilson somehow Sorry Wilson
A1 was still holding by this stage as was MMG1. I figured with the grenades and smoke and suppressing fire, the enemy on A2's route might have their heads down and so I charged north to try to get in close to shoot them. Unfortunately their heads weren't down enough and I caught a few rounds with my liver. While bleeding out on the grass, I ordered a last-minute defensive fallback to the gas station, and then caught someone's grenade with my teeth.
And then I watched as the last three attackers charged MMG1. A1 caught one of them; intelgamer MMG'd another; but he pulled back as Fer charged forward and while he had cover behind a low wall and was oriented right at Fer's last charge, he turned away at the critical second and Fer emptied a magazine into his back. And now there were only two defenders across the road from the gas station and one A1 attacker (suicideking) trying to end-run the enemy station. Fer charged...
...and was dropped by A1! A glorious victory comrades! Huzzah! (oh, wait, that was the last one...)
HSLD II CO
So I did a CO stint with HS;LD 1 a while ago that was... a little more aggressive in the placement of LZs. I also had a plan for HS;LD 2 and this was the first chance I got to try it out (I actually had an even more aggressive plan which we might try someday). The idea was simple; Helos drop ground troops at one end of the compound, right at the door; the troops fight through the compound ahead of the reinforcements coming at them from the rear, destroying caches as they go in one single straight fast pass; and the helos lift them out of the other end of the compound from a secured LZ.
In practice... actually, it could have gone worse. TH1's initial insert was an overshoot, but okay, we could work with that. One of the caches was AWOL - all five locations were searched for it to no avail, which slowed everything down and let the reinforcements get way too close. As a result, TH2 caught fire from a ninja IFV that popped up right in front of it at the LZ but Costno got his chalk away and landed them safely before dying a hero. TH1 and TH3 lifted out everyone else, with TH3 using a fallback LZ for the last few troops. There was... an incident just outside the base right at the end, but it was right at the end, so it could have been far far worse.
However, it does raise a point for consideration Comrades. As Comrade Carson mentioned in the immediate aftermathdebriefing, we don't have rules on who gets to fly. Some groups do; but it's not our way. We don't do qualification tests or any of that stuff. But we kindof do expect that if you step up and take a helo slot, especially a transport helo slot, that you'll remember in your bones that you're taking responsibility for getting your chalk to their LZ intact and alive. Once they're off the helo, they're on their own, but if you crash into a cliff on the way in, seven or more people have just sat through twenty minutes of slotting and briefing and your mistake meant they didn't get more than a few seconds of looking about from the skids before their game ended. That's no fun for them. So before you grab the joystick (Comrade Tigershark, no, that's not... /sigh) please go train your guts out flying all manner of crazy-ass shit in the editor and then fly in the most conservative and boring manner you can in the mission. Yes, you could fly into the LZ doing 200kph in an MH9 three metres off the deck, kick the MH9 into a 90 degree roll with the rotors kicking dust off the ground with bare centimeters of clearance, dump all your speed that way then recover in a 180 yaw and drop the last inch onto the LZ pointed towards your exfil heading. You might even be able to do it through the lag and the server FPS drops seven or eight times out of ten. But it's a lot more likely that some router in turkmenistan will drop a packet being routed to you, Arma will hiccup because of it, and you'll put the MH9, yourself and seven others into a burning hole in the LZ. So don't do it.
Remember Tovarisch - FLY BORING!
(No, the dull one, not the drill bit one... oh dear).
AFTERPARTY
A Town Divided
Now that is how you do a defensive team and a sneaky attacking team on the same side
Sorry for almost murderising you CO, but in my defence... er... you surprised me? I thought someone had found a route from the river bed through the house you were in
Inter IV (M14s)
UAVing is fun and surprisingly challenging when trying to match what you're seeing with the map.
Sneaking about in tall grass with a pretty low-power graphics setup and trying to tell which blocky set of pixels isn't a shrubbery on the other hand... is not as much fun. Nice level of tension though.
guns.ie ● stochasticgeometry.ie ● weak.ie
Don't tell mom I'm a pilot, she thinks I play piano in a whorehouse
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