Hi Guys
After our conversations at the training day and with a few on PMs i think its best to share this with everybody.
At the end of the month we're going to try something relatively new and have possibly the first UK WW2 skirmish that's laid out pretty much like real operations/living history. While we've tried living in the filed like ww2 soldiers we havnt tried doing a day with an authentic section line ups, 100 per cent historically accurate kit, squad discipline and most worryingly a civilian population that you really cannot be sure about all rolled into one.
The most important thing about this will be how you approach it.
We've written the day to have the main factions.
The communist partisans - it's their homeland they want the invaders out and grudgingly accept the aid of London as long as the cash keeps coming in.
The Chetnick partisans - These guys hate the above and will even support the germans to sell them out, they are not however adverse to killing germans or brits too.
Neutral civilians - who just want the bloody war to stop so they can go back to normal
The heer garrison - you've been there for years, you're bored and distrust the locals although some are ok.
The British commando - having been here for some months now the effective raids have lulled you into a flase sense of security
The SS- War weary eastern front vets deprived of their leave to sort out this mess.
We'll play several missions thoughout the day and these all are based around real military duties and objectives. It may be a recce patrol but it may equally be a vehicle checkpoint. Put yourself in the mind set of the soldier. If you're doing a checkpoint dont be ready to hose down the first civilian who doesnt get his papers out in seconds... you live with these people remember.
There will be many combat engagements over the day but its important not to walk into every scenario waiting for the moment to go 'weapons free' .
Equally ammo will be very limited, opening fire at extreme range with long bursts from an aeg is not only a bit pants and counter productive to what were doing but will see you over run by the enemies assault group pretty quickly when you run dry.
Similarly if you're tasked with a duty by an officer or nco then try and do it in character and not see some crafty advantage by misinterpreting what you've been asked to do. Some order might seem stupid or a disadvantage, for example you may be asked to march over to an area to pick up some supplies but to do so with slung weapons... while *you* know its an airsoft game and you'[re highly liekly to be attacked within half an hour the soldier you represent will have been doing that routes for months and wouldn't walk around town pointing his rifle at every tom dick and harry... he'd have got complacent.
I'm confident that everybody does want the same experience we've intended out of this but I thought it only fair to say in advance that while there will be plenty of action (in fact its the whole point of doing the combat mission system over regens - to avoid hours of trudging back and forth) we will have to get into the mindset of the time and place.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
Having experienced Op Varsity last year, I am very much looking forward to this one, Gagde.
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
In the event of roadblocks / civilian searches etc. I will be communicating with the enemy and any backsliding civilians purely in German.
Probably.
In the event of roadblocks / civilian searches etc. I will be communicating with the enemy and any backsliding civilians purely in German.
Probably.
That's ok, as partisans/civilians, we'll be speaking Serbo-Croat.
Probably.
at the social after a few drinks, we will all be talking bollox. definatly
In the event of roadblocks / civilian searches etc. I will be communicating with the enemy and any backsliding civilians purely in German.
Probably.
I'll try to do the same.
at the social after a few drinks, we will all be talking bollox. definatly
Talking foreign languages is easy - have a look
this rambles a bit when it gets to the end of the war, but the early bit is very interesting, i think this game will be a bit like a 3 way shoot out at times.
Sounds like Charlton Heston narrating it.
I had to give up after 3 minutes because the relentless dramatic music was putting my teeth on edge.
it does go into depth about the partisan/chetnick/ axis/ allied quagmire. most of it down to communist sympathizers in British intelligence altering reports to reflect badly on the chetnicks .
That's a shame. It's an excellent insight into the history of the country.
Heh... though if you read the comments on the video you can see there's a lot of hate there still!
During the Balkans war I made a very dull video for the UN about some aspect or other of the conflict (can't even remember what it was about). I do remember the producer explaining in great detail how most of the ethnic hatreds were down to who did what to who during WWII - a lot of unfinished business there.
there is a video linked from it that states the croatian nazis even upset the SS with there behaviour and murderious excesses,,,,, something like that doesnt go away over generations, never mind 70 years.
Probably didn't upset the Prinz Eugen division, though...
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
I am always suspicious of 'most experts agree' as a phrase, it is generally used to disguise clear political distinctions between experts.
Though I think this film grossly overstates the influence of communist spies in determining British policy. British policy was determined by personal meetings between Churchill and the liason officers in Bosnia, such as Brigadier Fitzroy Maclean.
Also the spurious 'was killing more Germans than the Chetniks' bit was intoned with a particularly irksome moral bombast. Mihailović and the Chetniks chose to marshal their resources, wait for the time to strike and oust the Germans, a very reasonable resistance tactic but only usable when the war is already won, whereas Tito's partisans engaged in more active resistance. These reports come from British liaison officers parachuted in and flown out to brief the government before they changed support to the partisans, not from decrypted messages, so it is not really accurate to discard these reports as just works of espionage.
I am always suspicious of 'most experts agree' as a phrase, it is generally used to disguise clear political distinctions between experts.
Though I think this film grossly overstates the influence of communist spies in determining British policy. British policy was determined by personal meetings between Churchill and the liason officers in Bosnia, such as Brigadier Fitzroy Maclean.
Also the spurious 'was killing more Germans than the Chetniks' bit was intoned with a particularly irksome moral bombast. Mihailović and the Chetniks chose to marshal their resources, wait for the time to strike and oust the Germans, a very reasonable resistance tactic but only usable when the war is already won, whereas Tito's partisans engaged in more active resistance. These reports come from British liaison officers parachuted in and flown out to brief the government before they changed support to the partisans, not from decrypted messages, so it is not really accurate to discard these reports as just works of espionage.
My favourite line in that documentary was, "When the West won the Cold War".......not an entirely historically accurate statement.
My favourite line in that documentary was, "When the West won the Cold War".......not an entirely historically accurate statement.
I did chuckle too. I actually find it rather frustrating. Film is a great way of showing history but the things are always done so badly. I have a DVD on the Polish forces that is interesting to watch but I put it on mute now so I don't get wound up by its bombast and total fabrications.
i just thought it might help people get into the spirit of the game by explaining the partisan subterfuge (spelling) bit.
No no, it's great. Give a good account of the lead-up to the German invasion.