Just to echo everyone else's sentiments, great game, great site, great organisation. Loved sneaking around the woods, even though the BD jacket only lasted as far as the CP. 
The amount of effort that everyone had put into the 'early war' look was amazing to see, and personally i think it looks great, so hope there'll be another 1940 game at some point, now we've all got the kit.
Just to point out:
Brits managed to get 11 out of the remaining 19 to escape the clutches of the Germans (although a horrendous cockup on the map front meant 8 were needlessly destined for the comfort of jerry POW camps
) . Hope the 11 got to the coast OK!
After following the 'wrong' map (Hope someone gets put on a charge for that error!), I got caught up in a firefight. Swiftly running out of ammo, and being cut off from the rest of the allies, I i headed back to the only 'safe zone' i knew, which i made it over the final border crossing to, and am now happily residing in Switzerland, eating cheese and awaiting a plane back to Blighty.
...and am now happily residing in Switzerland, eating cheese and awaiting a plane back to Blighty.
Switzerland?!! Bugger me, I'd have headed for Spain myself - just shows what the Brits will go through rather than raise the arms and give up.
...and am now happily residing in Switzerland, eating cheese and awaiting a plane back to Blighty.
Switzerland?!! Bugger me, I'd have headed for Spain myself - just shows what the Brits will go through rather than raise the arms and give up.
I didn't trust that Franco chap, or those damn communists! Rotten blighters, siding with old Adolf.
The amount of effort that everyone had put into the 'early war' look was amazing to see, and personally i think it looks great, so hope there'll be another 1940 game at some point, now we've all got the kit.
Hear, hear!
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
I sank thankfully into the "Bath of Pain" and hgaving dried myself off, I was treated not to the soggy puds and left in the overn Sunday Roast I fully expected, but to a very Oriental chicken and rice dish freshly prepared by my long suffering Lyndypops. Then the dark blanket of sleep covered me.................. it wasn't until 3am with the dog licking me face and Bravo belting out shoite that I arose from the sofa bound slumbers and trancelike shuffled upstairs to a real bed. I sank down and once again was enfolded in the arms of Morpheus.
But this time I was young again! Leaping through the sunlit forest like a deer. I was a German Soldier hunting the remnants of the BEF. Our officer was a hard taskmaster but the Junge of the Whermacht are disciplined and gladly accept hardship in the defence of the Reich......... All through the woods, Tommy stragglers and dense French Peasants made our life difficult (mind, one of them peasants was rather pretty 
) We harried them and chased them until the finally ran away or gave themselves up. "Fur Ihnen Das Krieg ist Endet" will ring in their ears for a long time.
As the sunlight streamed in through the window this morning I awoke with a start! Like a .4g in the buttocks it hit me! It wasn't a dream! it had been REAL!!!!!!! It all came flooding back to me. I'd been there.... ACTUALLY BEEN THERE! I'd done a CiA game! There they all were, all the famous names and faces and monikers from the forum - Headdanglos, Webshot, Scaleymonkey, Old Warner, Chomsteiner, all of them! WOWSERS! And I'd played!
I had actually witnessed a full day in the field, surrounded by very convincing players in period attire, all adhereing to the stipulated dress regs, carrying very good period weapons as per regs, a large amount of bolt action K98s on my team supplemented by an MG and MP40s. I took part in patrols, got bumped and did some bumping. we started out bottling some Brits up in a corner of the wood but my 4 man patrols was outnumbered and after sustaining 50% casualties withdrew. Discretion being the better part of valour we observed 6-7 of the enemy moving eastwards out of the bottleneck. We called out for our kameraden but dead men don't talk and these stuck to the rules. Back at the HauptQuartier, we reported ourengagement to the Herr Major and as we did so our kameraden, having bled out returned to base. we were tasked with patrolling the railway and as we did so, another contact erupted. Smoke was laid to confuse the enemy - It confused us too. Despite Seidler bagging one of the Tommies, they fought their way out and ran off into the hinterland. It was shaping up to be a good day.
Throughout the searing day, we sweated ALL OF US - and we played our parts. Orders were followed - the scenario was rather tightly scripted I felt but this wasn't a detriment - it ensured no one was left standing about too long without a target 
(or being a target!!!! 
) At the checkpoint we spotted Tommies observing our movements and engaged them immediately. A good firefight ensued with a number of them being despatched. The Blaggers saved the day by taking Tommy "in the rear" whichw as a relief as we had lost sight of our opponents and it ahd become a waiting game.
I had a very good 4 kill roll when, upon flanking a Tommy attack on the Checkpoint I found myself behind the main attack. Four Shots took out four Tommies and bagged me three prisoners. As I moved forwards for the fourth, I was slammed in the back by automatic fire - Well done that man! That'll teach me to think I'm Supernoodles! 
Back and forth it went all day. the atmosphere was all good - apart from those boring bastards going on and on and on and on about bloody zeltbahns!!! No - all round good eggs to be found that day!
So - apart from the intricacies of the gameplay and all that - What did I see?
I saw a lot of hard work had gone into planning and prep. I saw a bunch of people determined to have a good day out and to work fully together no matter which team they had elected to play on. I saw suspension of disbelief working very very well. I saw positive, can do attitudes and sportsmanship and fair play. I saw lines being blurred (lines I don't believe were ther in the first place) In short folks - I saw the future.
And I shot Chommers!
Thank you for allowing me to take part. Thank you for demonstrating (unconciously) that what I have thought for some time now is absolutely possible. Thank you for being the CiA/PBI gang! Top Marks.
LOOK! I ham now four meggle man!
A001
really enjoyed the morning, unfortunately the old sciatica was playing up and stopping moving at lunch made me seize up a bit making afternoon play a bad move with a heavy re-eancting event schedule on over the next few months that i cant cripple myslef for.
Fantastic looking kit with no camo in sight was a joy to behold in the morning.
If i could be constructively critical (as we all know it was very good and i thought so too) i'd say it did feel too heavily scripted at times, at times i felt we had some fairly excellent positions we were moved out of in order to be better targets and that firefights were 'scheduled' - now im not daft and i know that this is one of the ups and downs of regen games. Unlike engagements where it doesn't really matter if a side completes its objective and doesn't contact the enemy as its only 45 mins at a time, if you dont script it then you have the potential for no one t see anyone for six hours or the game to be won in 30 minutes by luck.
The only other thing i would pick up is that for a BEF forc eon the run i felt we were being bizarrely aggressive at times and attacking points that in reality should have been bypassed. I dint really feel on the defensive at all (this may have changed in the afternoon) and in fact felt like we were attacking and having the hun on the run - again that might just have been personal perspective.
But to say that is all i could really find even vaguely 'wrong' clearly means that its was a bit of a winner all round as a game. Well done lads and roll on more diverse games.
oh and i want entirely convinced by the big tent/ small tend divide, i could see the logic in it but we probably all could have fitted in the same area. On that note i was speaking to Evo about proposing a possible 'lights out' time for socials after which if you want to carry on drinking and shouting loudly about blanco or buttons you can do it 300 metres into the fucking woods so the rest of us who didnt elect to get trashed can actually get some benefit form going to bed before 3am....
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
So speaking as a first timer to one of your events I have to say, bloody well done folks ! I had am amazing time - by far my best day of airsoft since I got back into it and very possibly my best ever.
The kit standard was excellent. The site was amazingly atmospheric and very well used. The missions and orders were very well done, using the site in different ways and allowing it to unfold as the day went on. It also brought an element of there being a story unfolding as different objectives were achieved, rather than it simply being a succession of random missions. I know I have posted this elsewhere, but coming from a roleplaying background I really value the plot and character elements, and while I know this isn't live roleplaying, there was enough of a plot for me to feel immersed in things, and generally everyone played things in character, following orders and acting like squaddies, NCOs or officers as appropriate. So other than a bit of in depth background, that isn't far off what I'd call roleplaying.
And thanks to the French resistance for attemping to let me know where the german snipers were hidden, even if it did get me killed
My top moment -myself and Johnny B holding up the final German advance while our fleeing collegues ran for their lives, him armed with only an empty .45 and me down to my last clip in the Thompson. And we escaped !
Thanks to you all for making us so welcome, and thanks to the organsiers for a brilliant experience. Despite now knowing you guys 2 days ago, and despite the immense heat and 2 broken rifles, I had a brilliant time and I will definitely be back if you will have me
I am 100% converted to WW2.
Now, time to buy more kit...
...and 2 broken rifles
That reminds me, really impressed that chaps who had guns go down (and there were a lot) didn't panic and run for the cars, they battled on as best they could with the little they had or could beg or borrow.
i'd say it did feel too heavily scripted at times, at times i felt we had some fairly excellent positions we were moved out of in order to be better targets and that firefights were 'scheduled' - now im not daft and i know that this is one of the ups and downs of regen games. Unlike engagements where it doesn't really matter if a side completes its objective and doesn't contact the enemy as its only 45 mins at a time, if you dont script it then you have the potential for no one t see anyone for six hours or the game to be won in 30 minutes by luck.
The only other thing i would pick up is that for a BEF forc eon the run i felt we were being bizarrely aggressive at times and attacking points that in reality should have been bypassed. I dint really feel on the defensive at all (this may have changed in the afternoon) and in fact felt like we were attacking and having the hun on the run - again that might just have been personal perspective.
oh and i want entirely convinced by the big tent/ small tend divide, i could see the logic in it but we probably all could have fitted in the same area. On that note i was speaking to Evo about proposing a possible 'lights out' time for socials after which if you want to carry on drinking and shouting loudly about blanco or buttons you can do it 300 metres into the fecking woods so the rest of us who didnt elect to get trashed can actually get some benefit form going to bed before 3am....
Strangely, this was the least scripted event ever! No scheduled firefights, no pre-planned attacks. All done on the fly based on information received. Old 'Un was most surprised to find out he had lost the entire railway at one point, I was dumbfounded when a German patrol caught us as we moved out from first base. Germans had tasks to do, Brits had to harass or disrupt their work. Simples. Blowing of the railway tunnel on the time fuse was clearly preplanned because there are safety issues and it signalled the beginning of the end but otherwise what you saw was commanders reacting to what they saw and were told by scouts.
Yes, the Brits could have just run for the escape route and we could have done than in half an hour and avoided all contact, plan was to cause some mischief before we went.
Tents could have been closer together - the bell tent owners arrived after the some of the others and we had to guess how much room they to leave for them, the intention wasn't to separate, rather manage the cleared flat space available. And yes, curfews would be a very good idea from my POV, others think otherwise!
The only bit we did 'manage' was at the end as we didn't want to end with the Brits just walking back to their cars; so we said that the Major had an old map that was wrong. The Germans had flanked us so widely that when we doubled back they were behind us!
And, we had to wait for the tide to come in before we could get any boats out of the harbour, so we HAD to give the Germans some stick!
But again, not preplanned or scripted, all happened real-time with commanders thinking on their feet.
Yup... and that was the only bit of the day I didn't really like. 
The rest was superb and I was commenting half way through that it was one of the best events I'd been to.
Kit quality was superb and something that really made it for me was my SMLE. It performed superbly. Even though I'd downgraded it to sub 350fps so I didn't need a backup pistol (brits didn't carry them) I was quite happily getting kills at long range and also at very close range without any fear of causing anyone any real pain or injury. I think I'll be downgrading my No4 to that level so that I can do line infantry more accurately as well.
Yup... and that was the only bit of the day I didn't really like.
On getting back to Blighty you have no doubt discovered that you are on a charge for challenging your superior officer's orders. Perhaps this might make you reflect on the required blind obedience to orders, no matter what the consequences!
Well I was given orders by a Major, which I followed to the letter and didn't bump into the Germans as I was absolutely told very firmly not to do. So I was damn right to be pissed off when a lower ranking officer then countermanded that perfectly good order and had us attack the Germans directly. As far as I could see neither officer survived the attack, so I probably would be okay for some time... 
You can actually refuse to carry out orders you believe to be bonkers....
Sgts have been known to relieve officers of their command in such cases in the past
(or in the case of Col H Jones of the paras... the lads shot him...)
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
Well I was given orders by a Major, which I followed to the letter and didn't bump into the Germans as I was absolutely told very firmly not to do. So I was damn right to be pissed off when a lower ranking officer then countermanded that perfectly good order and had us attack the Germans directly. As far as I could see neither officer survived the attack, so I probably would be okay for some time...
Our Major had decided to hide in a bush and had given me the order to pass on. Bloody wimp! 
Well I was given orders by a Major, which I followed to the letter and didn't bump into the Germans as I was absolutely told very firmly not to do. So I was damn right to be pissed off when a lower ranking officer then countermanded that perfectly good order and had us attack the Germans directly. As far as I could see neither officer survived the attack, so I probably would be okay for some time...
Hehe, officers were captured. Whether we will be able to file reports before the war ends, who knows? Until that day comes it will always be there in the back of your mind, niggling away. The day you legged it to save your own skin when you could have been helping save the lives of your fellow soldiers. You may well comfort yourself with the fact that you lead some to safety and that may well form part of your defence when the shit hits the fan.
You can actually refuse to carry out orders you believe to be bonkers....
Sgts have been known to relieve officers of their command in such cases in the past
Doesn't stop you having to account for your actions afterwards!
Well I was given orders by a Major, which I followed to the letter and didn't bump into the Germans as I was absolutely told very firmly not to do. So I was damn right to be pissed off when a lower ranking officer then countermanded that perfectly good order and had us attack the Germans directly. As far as I could see neither officer survived the attack, so I probably would be okay for some time...
Our Major had decided to hide in a bush and had given me the order to pass on. Bloody wimp!
I was at the tail end of the column and got nearly straffed by a lone man on the railway line. Took cover and formed a one man ambush for the advancing jerries. Slotted TIny good and proper.
Should have been with the Germans , none of this nonsense , I gave the orders , they carried them out superbly , no squabbling for us .
Would have posted sooner but, as soon as I got home I had to go to bed, I was so exhausted. I dragged myself out about an hour ago! I would have stayed to help the clean up but I physically was not up to it. Part of this was self inflicted, having been one of the last to bed after the social. I managed about 1 hours sleep and was up at 0400hrs, well before anyone else!
I'd like to add my thanks to all of CiA, Tyreal for the use of the site and to all of the players for a great event. I think the record for "bar raising" has been broken! Great to see such a high level of kit, both uniform and weapon wise, not an AK in sight! My particular thanks to Headshot for having me and my Bro' in his "sneaky squad", surely our successes were what gave Mr Churchill the inspiration to open Commando schools. The tension as we evaded the German patrols was amazing.
I'd disagree slightly about anything being "scripted", as commanders were reacting to information being fed to them and I didn't see anyone getting bogged into pointless, gay firefights, they stayed "on task". A better way to put it is that there was a framework and everyone was within it, not running around the edges, ballsing it all up. An organisational triumph is what I call it, coupled with a very high calibre of player. If everyone there is there to have a good time, it will and did happen.
When I want your opinion - I'll tell you what it is!
And so time for a funny moment. I sent out a two man team of engineers to find and sever jerry telephone communications. Off they vanished with orders not to engage and to keep on-task. A good while later they returned, unsuccessful in cutting the line but had scouted the line run from sentry to HQ. Later the were re-tasked to repeat the mission and off they went, now armed with knowledge and so thus able to hatch a plan of action by themselves. I was gob smacked to find them back at our HQ not only having severed the line but also brought back meters of the stuff, so making a simple line repair tricky for jerry.
BTW, I heard many people remarking on not only how little ammunition they had used but also how few people they had shot during the day - which I think shows how little 'airsofter' mentality there was that day and how much chaps were 'into the zone'. Life preservation and mission accomplishment was paramount, not hiding behind trees and emptying mag after mag in pointless firefights. I personally used less than 150 rounds all day and I only hit one jerry!
