AAR Rebel Training Camp: Northern Resistance Game 4
March 24, 2014
Well, if I thought Game 3 was hard I was certainly in for a fight in Game 4 because for this mission Josh’s team would have all 3 vehicles and I would have 1 RPG complete with 2 reloads as well as two packs of C4, all of which I was supposedly able to resupply during the game through the game staff. After seeing the deftness with which Josh’s team was able to take apart my vehicle formations I felt confident my team could do the same. Fate was not to be completely on my side for this game however…
In addition to switching out vehicles for explosives, we were also switching sides so that each team had the same exact objectives (marked as red X’s) and field layout to make the days events as fair as possible. You can see the starting positions in the photo below which was created with total awesomeness in a program you’ve probably never heard of before called MS Paint. Josh’s Team is shown below starting in the green box whereas my team is shown starting in the orange box.
Now judging from my post game discussions with Josh, Craig Levy, and supporting game staff as well as a thorough review of action footage, I can now surmise that I did not focus as much on personally leading my anti-armor teams around as Josh did. This would seem to account for the quick destruction of my vehicles by Josh’s forces in the previous game. I did, however, stay in contact with my anti-armor teams, direct them by radio, and focused most of my efforts on moving the bulk of my forces to where I thought Josh’s team would concentrate their assault. This inevitably turned out to be a winning strategy on my part but on the ground I had a hard time telling whether or not I was winning or losing. There were so many people running around, vehicles driving back and forth, C4 packets being lost, rocket launchers breaking, etc. to be able to clearly keep track of everything.
Thusly, I was equal parts surprised and proud of my rebels to have been able to repulse Josh’s first attack on both the Airport and Tokyo Marui Sushi. I was even personally able to get right up to the edge of Tokyo Marui Sushi and dispatch a number of Josh’s troopers with my TM M870 gas shotgun before I was shot. It was a stupid risk as I could have easily been captured, but I wanted-no I NEEDED- to get some kills with my shotgun before the game was over.
As far as the effectiveness of my anti armor teams there were a few things working both for and against me. Firstly, I requested that Greg “Spartan117GW” Wong tote the Rocket Launcher, that Greg’s friend US Army Ranger Steven Bell carry one C4 packet, and Arwin “MilsimJunkie” Siador carry the other. Now, Greg was effective with the two shots he was able to get off with the Rocket launcher but sometime during the reloading process the capsule that holds the C02 powering the rocket launcher broke off, thereby rendering the rocket launcher useless. Thusly, we were now without the most effective component of our anti-armor teams only halfway into this mission. And here’s where it gets a little more interesting…
[Photo below is Sgt. Steven Bell shooting high so that Arwin “MilsimJunkie” Siador can move forward into cover]
Arwin AKA “MilsimJunkie” was cutoff from radio contact for a few minutes but was able to score a kill on an armored vehicle with his packet of C4. Both before AND after MilsimJunkie’s armor kill, United States Army Ranger Steven Bell was able to get 2 armor kills with the same C4 packet (after it was resupplied to him by Gamepod Staff as per the scenario rules).
[Photo below is MilsimJunkie covering Sgt. Steven Bell’s movement forward from cover]
I have been told that this was actually Steven Bell’s first full-on Airsoft operation and after reviewing the footage I was somewhat in awe of the man. I mean he honestly leapt up and through a window in less than a second at an almost 90 degree angle, was able to sprint most of the field in less than 10 seconds and generally looked like a beast running around the field taking on Armor single-handedly. I could not have been more thankful that Greg befriended him but also that he convinced him to come out for our game. Heck! He even helped one of the Special Forces instructors teach the younger kids about urban combat during one of our training evolutions. It seemed to me that our instructors really got along with him once they established his Ranger creds.
[This photo shows Greg “Spartan117GW” Wong and Sgt. Steven Bell dishing out BB justice]
Full Disclosure: Sgt. Steven A Bell spent four years in the 3rd Ranger Battalion and 2 years in the Army National Guard. He also did 2 tours in OEF and 3 tours in OIF. You can find an in depth interview of Sgt. Steven Bell done by none other than our good friend Greg “Spartan117GW” Wong at Off Duty Gamers by clicking on the following link: http://www.offdutygamers.com/2012/10/steven-bell-controller-mohw/
[Disposition of Josh’s forces marked in green before he shifted them to assault histwo other objectives. Bob’s defending forces are marked in orange]
After our sporadic, yet somewhat effective, efforts at destroying enemy armor, Josh decided to shift his forces to assault the two intel crates located in the Coffee Shop and the Cell shop. Seeing this, I quickly shifted as much of my force over to defend those two locations and used the remaining forces on 3rd and 4th street to push straight toward the enemy respawn. I was hoping that this would put enough pressure on Josh’s forces assaulting out of their spawn that he would not only have a tough time getting enough troops up to secure his objectives but also that it would prevent his forces from easily bringing objectives back into his base. Luckily, this strategy seemed to have worked as Josh’s troops had a tough time choosing whether to sprint for the objective or fight for breathing room at their home base.
[The photo below shows the disposition of Josh’s forces after he moved them toward his secondary objectives while I moved my forces to counter his assault. My forces are colored orange, and Josh’s are colored green]
By the end of the evolution, Josh’s forces had secured intel crates in two building but were unable to bring them back to their respawn, thereby denying him the points for those objectives.
Final Scores for the entire day of Bob’s Rebel Training Camp: Northern Resistance were as follows:
Josh’s Team: 6 points
Bob’s Team: 13 points
I personally had one heck of an amazing time at Gamepod Combat Zone for this Rebel Training Camp. The staff, facility, and players were second to none and I was so utterly pleased to see newcomers to the airsoft scene use tactics and skills with great effectiveness that they had been taught only hours prior. Once again, it was not only an honor to play at a world class facility, with distinguished military and law enforcement veterans, but also with Airsoft players from all over the United States of America. I, for one, absolutely cannot wait to come back!
