Operation Zander 1st & 2nd July 2017

Deposit sent for an FJ space, thanks

Ive only just seen this. I missed it as its not on the main game page. I am now busy, but i have a fair few guys down in Cornwall looking for ww2 games, especially Mil-sim types. Ill make sure to check the 'other ww2 games' more often :

Hi, just a thought, why was this event on the main events calendar? and also a list of players attending, this may have helped with numbers attending, cheers.

I wondered that too I assumed the organiser wasn't part of the in crowd - a real shame. I'm seriously looking forward to it.

24 hrs playing dday +

A chance to have a really immersive game/experience.

Only a few days to go. Do we have a contact phone number?
Andy

Andy

all on fb

Ok, .......l don't do farce book, I think it's total #%^*!
Andy

Ok, .......l don't do farce book, I think it's total #%^*!
Andy

Neither do I it is a guaranteed way of being hacked. In fact it is part of what I do in my Job

I don`t know why people on here use it to promote their events it is aimed at the young which is fine but it is not the be all of communication leaving some of the more how should I say veteran aged people out.

Yes with fave book there is not a good way to archive material over a period of time and re access it ,not from what i have seen.
Most of what people post on there seems to be meaningless twoddle too"

Any way back to the game i will bring a car battery and imax b6 charger so it any body
Has a battery problem i will be able to sort it.
If any body is coming from the east like me then it seems best to use the prison
Post code OX25 1PZ

I don`t know why people on here use it to promote their events it is aimed at the young which is fine but it is not the be all of communication leaving some of the more how should I say veteran aged people out.

I think if it hadn't been promoted on fb it wouldn't have been going ahead tbh.

Promoted everywhere so young and "veteran" hopefully informed equally....

Actually I've quite enjoyed the fb page for it. but then I'm young

(coughs, at heart)

I know it is slightly awkward putting on a first event its like dipping your toe in the ocean. But what would help (As most people are like Sheep we like security) would be for the start of this thread to have a booking list updated as people book on. There is nowhere here which gets the ball rolling with no list it might be dismissed as "No one booked why should I ". Even if it was names we didn`t know if there was a list of Joe bloggs etc booked with numbers people might say "Hey they have 15 a side so the game is a goer so I will book"

July has always been a bit of a month and it is really close to another game plus the 24 Hour thing does put people off. It is a difficult one for a first game but as others have said there is interest it just needs to be nurtured.

Hope all goes well you can see from the May game there are numbers out there we had 80 something in the field that was with a few drop outs

Thanks all - I have noted all advice and will ignore all as usual

Seriously though - this was always going to be a smaller private battle and a chance to see how things go. I've been involved in organising previous 24hr events with Task Force Black Nights & IED Airsoft - both of whom competed with the likes of Tier 1 and Stirling but at a fraction of the cost. Sadly both Ed and Deano have hung up their spurs and I sort of get it. If you are trying to put on large scale 24hr events the planning and promotion that eats into your time is ridiculous (I know I'm preaching to the converted) - and you have to wonder should I be making ££££ for this . I'd rather try and put events for 30 - 40 and in that Facebook does have one advantage and that is the ability to easily bring other groups into the promotion.

All said - once again thanks for the good wishes and I'll fire a few photos up after the weekend

Ron

Put my back out yesterday.............,but I'm still going to turn up, and hobble around! not unusual for top to pop my knee or put the backbone out so no great worries will just have to use my stick, I have a generator that if, I can get it in the back of my car I'll bring it. also car is fitted with an inverter so can use a battery charger.
Andy

Well done lordelpus - the effort you put in was something else and showed a lot of the youngsters what real grit and determination is. How you managed to get through the 24 hrs as well as you did is beyond me.

Now to the game.

1. The site is simply awesome for such events very varied and very large, plenty of buildings, lots of open ground (some cut, some with tall grass) and woodland (the brambles weren't quite verville standard but give it a couple more months of summer....) Really couldn't fault it.
2. The scenarios were good but a few extra objectives for each side would have helped get us out and about more (see 4 below)
3. The gameplay (as always with ww2) was spot on - good hit taking, banter and laughs and I know I've made new friends from it.
4. The only bad point really was lack of numbers, we were let down last minute by some and then some had to leave meaning the allies were down to six at one point (until some germans became free French to help us), this meant we were reluctant to just go out to engage the enemy to often, as with such a small squad each engagement ended in a quick defeat. This was in no way a fault of the organisers but for those saying they would go and then not.

I enjoyed it immensely it was the toughest 24 hours I've done in a long long time and I ache all over, but for me that was part of it.

I must thank Ron for his effort, planning, time etc All those that went that I talked to said the same as me. It was a quality weekend sir. Thankyou.

I had a great 24hrs and big thanks to Ron for organising the event.

I agree with the points made by Paule. It's a real shame the numbers were low as the site could easily have accommodated lots more players.

A link to some pics taken from the German perspective. https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtfiJqdyN4EkjTjbJKLe2MPMhGdq

Excellent event and site ,great weather,great play what more could you want.
If any body has lost the metal heel or seg,it looks like a small horse shoe,I can post it to them just google St George Armoury
If a load swords come on the screen you will know that's me and I will post it, if it is not easily replaceable.

Yes a great weekend, I second to all that been said, great weather, great site, and spot on org. By Ron and co.
Thanks to Paul's, for the drugs,......pain killers I hasten to add! That got me through, although today is payback time, walking about like a cast member of the "Walking dead".
Very good group to be with, enjoyed myself, I hope everyone else did too! I will definitely go to another, when Ron organises it.
Andy.

Is the site now hireable again? I ran a few games there through GASS when it operated the site regularly but it all went quite when the fob was being built. Looks great fun guys and I for one think ww2 24hr would be an amazing experience. Great stuff.

Is the site now hireable again? I ran a few games there through GASS when it operated the site regularly but it all went quite when the fob was being built. Looks great fun guys and I for one think ww2 24hr would be an amazing experience. Great stuff.

As far as I'm aware you'd have to go through Landmark if "official" channels are being followed. It wouldn't be something we could use regularly but we can arrange to use it while we have staff in positions at the site so maybe a couple more events over next 12-18 months. Drop me a PM if you fancy a chat.

OP Zander De-Brief

Firstly thanks to all those who attended and made the weekend a great deal of fun; thanks also to those who have commented and offered some really useful advice and heads-up.

To echo what Paule said above the most positive thing I found was the level of sportsmanship, lack of ego's and camaraderie being shown was better than any game I've ever attended - if that is true of most WW2 games then I'd be happy to put the effort in to arrange more. The site worked for the scenario perfectly IMHO as it mirrored (my understanding) of what trying to progress through "Bocage Country" was like. At first it appeared that there was only one road to progress down and that was were the early engagements took place. As the event moved on we worked more and more "rat runs" through the tortures bramble and hawthorn thickets and like some "Lost World" (The Sir Conan Doyle version if you please) scene we would find long abandoned and overgrown ammo compounds - probably about 8-10 on one morning patrol! Great news for objectives in the future!

I'm not going to give a blow by blow account of the skirmishes; I think as others have already said there was as much opportunity for trigger time (without it turning into a total "blat-fest") as there was for sneaky-beaky recce tactics.

The German forces managed to locate the additional Objective Map and achieved that at End-Ex (this was to hold a DZ with a set number of men in three positions and pop several smoke at 12:00) this brought the scores to FJ & Heer - 70 Points and the Allied Airborne to 40 points - no mean feat given we were down to 13 v 6 at one point. More players certainly would have helped, especially as there wasn't the opportunity to get any down/admin time it was 24hr of patrolling with 5hrs kip time. Given the average age of the players this was challenging and the comments reflect this !

I have several points away from the event for future planning but the main ones are:

(a) Don't assume players know what kit to pack for 24hrs - provide a comprehensive kit list
(b) Have sub-objectives for each day that can keep the game fresh and fluid
(c) Try and plan a good 5-6 months in advance if you want to maximise attendance

My feeling is one that for a 1st event this was more of an enjoyable positive start than a "Baptism of Fire"

I'll stick some more photos up but leave you with this final thought - and that is that if you have the right positive outlook you can achieve most things - like staking the enemy with a walking stick and Garand -- attachment is not available --

Sounds like it was a great day. I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled for the next game