Games 'n stuff

Yes, good move - hopefully more people will get the message about good haircuts and stepping up to the minimum kit/weapons levels - approved by CiA

Exactly - haircut, and what you can afford kit/weapon wise a real winner

Hair-cut?

*DOES NOT COMPUTE*

CiA games have covered all sorts of game styles, scenarios, sites, theatres, kit levels, nations, medic rules.

As far as I am aware there are only two players who have been to all of them - Barrie and Anne (apart from Jay, Stephen, Guy and me). I'd like to think they were enjoyed in a different way each time but it's the Quins who have a unique position of giving an accurate overview.

Could I persuade you two to make some observations about each game?
Perhaps even add in D-Day, D-Day+2, Varsity, Haggard and Pocket too, for completeness?

and hurtgen...

Ah yes, they did that too!

I like Hurtgen - I won , I nearly captured Yith , and then got captured by him ! Plus i got to blow up big guns .. and shoot Josh ,
happy days

Could I persuade you two to make some observations about each game?

Will do - drafting something now.

I thoroughly enjoyed Op Husky, good weather, good turn out, good kit, great scenario, pyrotechnics, great site, a big charge by the Airborne across an open field and defending a hedgerow for an hour on the Sunday morning, hats off to the Germans who over ran us.

Wotan for me i love cbq and that has to be one of the best sites for it . Churchill's because of the extreme conditions and the camaraderie. TEHL great scenario and just plain fun. i must agree with Dave on keeping numbers down it defiantly makes for a better game.lets face it they have all been great.

Well you did ask for it so here goes. Have tried to give pros and cons for each event. Please accept the "against" comments in the spirit they're intended, that is, we're trying to help by pointing out things which, in our opinion, could be done differently next time...

Apologies for very long post - please skip to the executive summary at the end when boredom sets in.

Bulge
For - Hey, this is just like Call of Duty, only for real, cool! Teamwork with Tony & Co as Baker Squad.
Against - Attacking up the bloomin' hill all afternoon. Site was a bit of a one-trick pony with everything centred on Bastogne. Looking back, a good start but not as good as later games.
Note - Mortars were fun, whatever happenned to them? I thought they were a good way of breaking a stalemate if things got static.

Arnhem
For - Brilliant site. Moving off from the "landing zone" in squads. Attacking up the left flank and taking the bridge both with Gadge.
Against - The chap dual wielding an L96 and an MP5 didn't really "get" it but haven't seen him since. Went a bit static in the afternoon and the panzers maybe could have arrived a bit earlier to break the Brit defence. Still one of our favourites.

Churchills
For - Big site. Lots of patrolling etc. Our ambush on the truck. We liked the very open, go anywhere, gameplay but this hasn't really been revisited since.
Against - Bunch of slackers gave up in the face of a 1 in 200 year storm event (tail end of it anyway). Still, experience is a hard taskmistress, she gives the test first and the lesson afterwards. At least we've learned. So have CiA, as the new policy of getting tents up first has worked and we haven't had a repeat performance (except Haggard). Also, my squad mutinied!

Wotan
For - Scary and atmospheric site. Very different to anything we've done before. Capturing Hitler.
Against - Not big fans of cqb, or claustrophobic underground tunnels with inadequate lighting lol.
Note - cinema was an excellent idea and a lot of work went in to all the props.

D-Day
For - The beach bit. The landing craft didn't look like much on the outside, but inside was genuinely exciting waiting for the ramp to drop. US team really tried to implement squad tactics and command and control. Liked the stoppages to re-organise and get back into squads, and never really noticed the whistles. Our six man botched ambush against the whole german army was fun.
Against - The wild west fort was a bit open-dayish on day 2.

Hurtgen
For - Josh and the radios really made that game which otherwise could have been a bit flat. "Red Leg, Red Leg - attack right flank" etc. Good teamwork with radioman Spiers taking charge of red leg.
Against - Ended up just fighting over the village for most of the day.

Eagle has Landed
For - Nice flat site, less than an hour away. Slower paced start. Assault course and rifle range fun and games. Attacking the mortar position with added pyro effects. Clearing the buildings.
Against - Kind of petered out at the end and needed a big booming climax like in the movies.

Varsity
For - "Combat Mission" (tm) gameplay! Great teamwork. We were initially sceptical about the non-respawning but it really added a sense of danger and meant all the scenarios reached a definite conclusion. Good for a change but wouldn't want to play these rules every time. The bunker looked the business from 30m in a very wet ditch under a hail of bbs.
Against - Shame it was just a one-dayer, i.e. we weren't utterly exhausted at the end so could have gone on for longer. (Actually, it's probably a good thing to leave people wanting more...)

D-Day + 2
For - Attacking our first control point, with artillery and mortar support. Capturing Chomley.
Against - Getting shelled by our artillery and mortar support, just after attacking our first control point.
Notes - First big game to try the BF1942 Control Point gameplay. Jury is still out on this as it inevitably leaves some people (usually us) defending positions that aren't being attacked for ages.

Bryansk
For - Big site, open gameplay. Convoy attacks. Katyusha. Bolt action game. Suicide charge. Hooking up with the IED chaps. Anne's favourite so far.
Against - Tough terrain was getting frustrating towards the end.

Haggard
For - Good site with camping right next to the cars. Lots of tense "are they around the next corner" type play. Had fun capturing the "spiv".
Against - Light shower on Sunday cut the numbers down. US side suffered when we couldn't find anyone in radio contact.
Note - Control Point gameplay with an attempt to solve the pointless defending dilemma by focussing on one or two Points at a set time. A good idea that might have worked better with more radios on each side (regardless of farbiness).

Husky
For - Superb, open site made a refreshing change to woodland. Brit teamwork and leadership best ever. Rolling objectives and spawn points worked really well and kept the action concentrated. Especially enjoyed clearing the small pockets of germans before the assault on Mt Etna. Rabbit stew. Barrie's favourite so far. The glider landing was fun and everyone joined in.
Against - We were knackered after the first half hour! Perhaps consider not kicking off with an assault up a 1 in 4 hill.

In the Pocket
For - German surprise attack at the start. Jeeps and the truck. The convoy attack just after lunch.
Against - We were rubbish! US teamwork never really got going and lacked leadership (quite literally, Webby was the medic and we had no-one in charge).

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Anne's Favourite games - Arnhem, Bryansk, Husky
Barrie's Favourite games - Arnhem, Varsity, Husky

Thanks for going to all that time and trouble B&A, made me realise what a variety of games the three of us have played over the last two years!

FWIW, the next CiA game will involve strategy and teamwork. The site isn't physically demanding like Bryansk nor undemanding like Matlock but there will be a lot of legwork and should be a 'slow burner', players willing. Brush up on observation and patrolling skills, hand signals, co-ordinated assaults and cast-iron defences and, above all, complete and accurate reporting to commanders, whether directly or via a chain.

My fave CIA game to date was Arnhem, mainly cos it just looked the part completely... game play did stagnate a bit in the afternoon but that's cos we hadn't learnt to have multiple contingency plans by then,

For me the best WWII airsoft game i've done to date has to be Varsity and that obviously because Yith, Evo and I planned it to be *everything* we wanted out of wwii gaming.

Quick run down.

Bulge: Well we proved it could be done and i was amazed by the turn out kit wise, mortar rules got a bit illy when players started to spot a marhsall and leg it as they new a strike was inbound... but again learning curve and the end of hi-vis marshalls!

Arnhem: Again i'm biased as i pushed for this one and wrote a lot of the player briefs etc, to me i was pleased we had a more themed and realistic event. Downer was the chav lad having the injury and cutting the game short. Also in retrospect the 'occupation' markers were overlooked by many and a canny player could own the entire site by racing around and flipping them over at the last minute!

CR: Possibly my least fave game to date but mainly because i was in incredible pain with a prolapsed vertebrae at the time, no fault of the game planning but i didn't really like the site that much and felt that the weather seriously dampened the spirits of many of the players.

Wotan: Possibly my second fave cia game. amazing atmosphere and props, great objectives. The only thing that would have made this a better game for me would have been making it say US rangers and oss versus a german garrison unit. In retrospect it just seems a bit bizzare having tank crew chasing paratroopers through tunnels... I remember the back story to justify it all and it didnt really matter given how good the gaming was but I'd like to think if it were done again it might feel better if it was slightly tighter themed.

D-Day:Initial beach bit great fun, as were the dunes. second day was pants and felt like a total set up when it was called short an hour early. Worth doing for the beach experience... standard of player honestly sadly lacking in the evening play unfortunately.

Hurtgen
Pretty ok day, again in a lot of pain for this one post surgery so couldn't play much of a part.

Eagle has Landed
Excellent game, very good fun and light hearted without being ridiculous, personally I'd like to see game s more polarised into 'historical' and 'fantasy'. This being a perfect example of a good 'fantasy' game. Theming it to US vs FJ was an excellent call. I really dont think players mind given enough time to buy/beg/borrow kit... especially when civvie roles are put in.

Varsity
Well as said.. I sort of got my own way on this one

D-Day + 2
Wasnt there cant comment.

Bryansk
As above

Haggard
Excellent game to be part of. For a first game by some veteran players it was excellent, some really good ideas for objectives, very good site. I'd like to do a 'combat mission' game on this site if it wasnt so bloody far away.

Husky
Great to play in a really motivated and drilled section. Site was great but a little too open in places. Atmosphere, briefings and feel were top notch. personally felt the final attack on etna became a little farcical given the regen point on top of the objective. Might have been one of those times to limit the Germans to a set number of bandages so that attrition could eventually wipe them out. I think if it hadn't had been for incredible luck in legging it with the enigma we'd have been there all day.

In the Pocket
Again wasnt there.

I'll fill in the one for D Day+2; a good event I thought, well thought out objectives and positions, good leadership and the radios (especially on a site so big) really added to the experience, especially with calling in artillery strikes and actually hearing the guns go off in the distance before the rounds come in. It was a long day on Saturday with a lot of waiting for snipers to be flushed out (the Germans really hammered us on the range front with the Allies not having many long guns to compete with the K98's).
The Mortars were great and really helped with the game play, one minute you could be holding a position well and next a mortar round drops in and the balance sways over to the opposing side.
Sunday was a bit slower, gameplay wasn't as good and I imagine every ally was a bit unimpressed with the turn out after the Germans won in the last minute, capturing the mortar pit with two dead germans and 1 wounded one and the allied players all got a dose of CS gas to start the day off which was nice.
Other than that, top event, really enjoyed it.

On another note, there was Marshalls in hi vis and it does take away from the experience a little when a guy in modern camo, sunglasses and a hi vis walks across your line of sight.

Wotan, although my least favourite game, was hailed by many as the best ever, err... so that makes it my favourite game! Great atmosphere but I don't like CQB and would have preferred that players were more sneaky-beaky than contenting themselves with blatting down long corridors.

allied were sneaky, Lewis and i were walking round a corner near our regen talking, round the bend right in to a full british section all sat, very silent, pointing guns at us. i had time to think "oh shit" then got totally hammered with BB fire. (worst ive been hit at a ww2 game)

27th panzer were the opposite, we spent ages running up corridors stamping our feet as hard as we could making ourselfs sound like a running battallion, only to run in to a dead end room and find 7 allied players all hiding and pointing guns at the doorway, again another BB stormcloud errupted , and down i went again

"Take that you rotton helping of strawberry flan!"
Joseph Porta to "strawberrys and cream", in the sven hassel book ,ogpu prison

 

Arnhem
Against - The chap dual wielding an L96 and an MP5 didn't really "get" it but haven't seen him since.

Husky

he Certanly did "GET IT" right in the BACK

on the video you see him get whacked in the lower back by a marksman as he stood by the mechanics hut

whoever took that shot ...................well done

D-Day
First ever WW2 event, loved the beach assault despite my goggles steaming up after reaching the dunes, dont trust so called Non fogging goggles. In the actualy dunes, the second part of the first day was not so enjoywable did'nt realy move could'nt get in range and wind blew Bb's well off also got shot in the bottom lip wich was caught on film with me being taunted by said sniper lol. Night time partol was simply amazing completley heart pounding despite not firing a single shot explosions, flares and fireworks aswell as proper military style of patroling made for an extremely atmospheric game. Second day I also enjoyed because I was in the fort which was incredibly intence also loved annihilating everyone who got out the back of Guy's landrover

Bryansk
Amazing site realy beutifull, made the mistake of bringing a greatcoat but hey I looked good in it, loved the effort barrie and anne put in on their kit, aswell as Pete, loved the ambushes, loved hiding in a ditch with some guy for ages with germans above us then ambushing them just to be told they were already dead, soviet stlye insane charge was great also being shot in the head, katusha was awsome pyro was awsome set dressing was awsome probably my favourite site I have ever seen.

Haggard
Site was great everyone on the US team was in squads airborne who semed to all know eachother and infatry who I mostly knew already the jeep was awsome the objectives were awsome site felt a bit more vietnam than WW2 in some places, but the US base was spot on, jeep charge was amazing, shame about people leavign on the second day because of a bit of tiney rain which kind of annoyed me because it kind of ruins it for everyone else and is a bit selfish realy, but we still had fun.

Husky
Loved the site despite it being realy open in parts you could still work your way between cover, being in the British squad was amazing Gadge is a great squad leader even with his battle wound, the glider bit was surreal everyone looked great in their kit the battle by the pond was intence as was the charging enemy positions on top of hills, loved the small pistol game, loved the defending on the second day my favourite event for gameplay.

Note these were all 24 hour games which I always think are more memorable and eventfull than 1 day games and much more conveniant for people traveling as far as me annyway.

Look forward to some more games and hope to try being in the German team next time.

Husky
being in the British squad was amazing Gadge is a great squad leader even with his battle wound,

* blushes * ah twas a mere fleshwound... I did my final exercise on my combat infantry course at catterick with compacted vertebrae!

In all seriousness cheers for saying that but I really think its more to do with the fact that PBI *all* pull out all the stops at events and really take the training sessions to heart too.

Oh and i heartily recommend playing on the axis game for the odd game every now and then, really helps you get to know the whole player base properly.

Yes sorry I failed to mention the rest of the team, all played exceptionaly well, and dont forget the moustaches the part where we were all down behind the bankment of the pond being supressed by the germans in the bunker was very intence and memorable. I am planning to play as german sometime this year just need a few bits and bobs first then il be totaly ready, which will mean I have a kit for each group then US, British and German