After the battle

Sorry I've not posted on the thread, I've been hit with a proper, full-on bout of the flu and a secondary chest infection since Monday and have been laid up with a fever and terrible pains in my joints.

People's complaints so far seem to be about game play and the terrain. German complaints about the bridge being uncrossable because of the mud are complete bollocks because at least 10 allies got across there and fought up the hill despite being knee-deep in mud.

Also their resolve after lunch was somewhat lax. They could have been across the bridges and into cover before we even got to the river area, but weren't.

And as for complaints about Thompsons. I'm sick to death of hearing this. Many people use mid/low caps now. And how are TM Thompsons suddenly capable of outranging German weapons?! My Thompson does 280 fps. From what I've heard Chinese MP40s do around 320.

Regarding the issue of being over-shot. I think this is simply down to people not calling hits loudly enough, or at all. Chomley and I were shooting at a German who was moving towards the bridge, he ran into our line of fire, turned around and ran off whilst we were still both shooting him in the back and didn't call hit at all. WTF??!!? Also noticed three of the blaggers on the bridge at the end with their hands in the air taking a good long look at where Allies were before rejoining the game from there......

As for Dayglowfroggy, I think he needs spoonfeeding. To say our briefing wasn't clear enough when I asked three times if people could hear and had understood the rules to postive responses, then I think that's bollocks.

*EDIT - I notice on Porta's video that there is evidence of Blaggers' regens from the bridge after watching our movements, as well as comments that a grenade that is clearly five metres from players that is thrown onto a flat piece of ground whilst all the Allies are down a slope, and therefore behind hard cover (I was one of them), is said to be 'a couple of feet away'. Ah well, people will always complain....

Well, looks like a few of us have had the bug. Feeling like absolute shite at the moment. Hell, with a 15 tog duvet,fleece blanket & wool blanket on top of it, i was still shivering like a bastard when trying to sleep last night. Then, to top it all, had to do the rear pads and brake discs on the car today. In the cold. When still feeling like crap.

Anyhoo, thoughts on the game:

1: Dayglowfroggy Is a complete fucktard. Doesn't know his history though (which I do, specifically 1st and 2nd SS during the Ardennes Offensive) Tends to shut the fuck up when you tell him he's fucking wrong.

2: Ammo conservation is a fucking joke on the German side. They need to get a fucking grip.

3: You REALLY need to keep on top of them and shout at them to get them to head in the right direction.

4: Del was *well* out of it. Never seen him acting so monged before!

5: Some players did do what they were told - but very much in the minority.

6: Shooting dead players. I spent a lot of time shouting at dead players to get their fucking hands up if they've been hit.

Suggestions:

1: Split the Germans down into squads and give them an assigned NCO. Make it abundantly fucking clear that they are to do what they're told - after all, if they profess to love the MilSim so much, they should be able to fucking stick to it.

2: Regen flags might not be a bad idea. Could have done with one by the Bridge. Makes it completely obvious where a Regen point is, and hopefully stop people camping on it.

3: Mortar was fun, but fuck all use in the trees really, and is a right cunt to carry around. Also just discovered some pretty catastrophic damage to the barrel clamp that must have happened after the Brits/Yanks acquired it. Will probably dump the 81mm and build a Jerry 5cm and Yank 60mm M2 instead - more portable. More useful.

4: Make it totally clear that the game is designed for THEM, but it will only work if THEY stick to the fucking plan - no soloing, no fucking off, no engaging the enemy when that ISN'T their mission.

Meh, I'm going to go and die on the sofa in front of the TV with a Lemsip Max in one hand and a large shot of Scotch in the other.

Don't dump the mortar. Perhaps we could use it in a fixed position instead of moveable...

Funny how we've all got this bug. Che had it at the game, but I didn't spend much time near him to have picked it up. I could barely get up the stairs on Monday and have been off work all week. Looks like I'm going to miss the work Christmas do tomorrow too.

I'm not going to dump the 8 Cm mortar - i've got enough spare material to repair it, but as a prop it's just to big to move around. As a static prop, job's a good un.