Grafton Park - Aug 2014 - take two

Could work. Finding a date when we're all available will he an issue.

Not sure I'd want to work with the 34th having met them. Plus Fireball's too small and I don't want to go back there. Grafton will work and we could get Josh and Craig in on that.

We'd have to check Grafton was available though...unless we just keep our date.

OK, I haven't met any of the 34th as far as I know, only corresponded.
Agree about Fireball site.
Dates would have to be either Josh's or ours. Possibly Josh's would be better as it is 'July' and there seem to be several regulars who couldn't make our dates and 34th are already running an 'August' event.
I'm available either weekend.
Graften would be an excellent 'new' location to WW2 airsofters.

Whatever we do, in fairness to those who have booked time off (or are planning to do) we need to make an announcement re Hut 9 (leaving aside any possible alternative plans) sooner rather than later.

Can't do Josh's date I'm afraid, my summer is pretty much set in stone now, leaving the days for Hut 9 the only ones available to me. I agree with Steve, and, I think most of the fireball guys are tools and I wouldn't want to work with them. They won't support a weekender as they're stuck in their own little comfort zone.

If we are going to can Hut 9, then we need a new scenario asap and, we need to word very carefully as to why we've changed things. Other than that, I pretty much completely agree with your initial post David, especially point "4".

Ah yes, that is another option - alternative scenario.

I omitted Pathfinders from prospective co-organisers. Stupid of me - of all the games ever put on theirs is closest to a CiA game style, pushing the boundaries.

Hehe, they (immersive group) are now talking about lowering kit levels to gets more players. It is going to end up as a mini version of the forum - loads of people wanting different things. Much better for organisers to have the balls to put on a show (and have to cancel) than try and do things by a committee of 50 people!

Anyway, back on topic.
Thinking about it, Pathfinders are in Wales and would be unlikely to organise an event in Peterborough. 34th have their own game days on the first weekend of a month I think, that's them out. Josh is running events every weekend so for him it would have to be the end of July date or nothing.

Plus, even if we ran another scenario there are several potential players who said they can't attend on our date anyway, so would it change anything.

Bugger, after trying to be positive, optimistic and finding a third way I find I'm talking myself out of it!

It would be pretty ironic to put on an "immersive" game and then see all of those knobbers not come. Part of me wants to put something up to make them shit or get off the pan, the bunch of hypocrites. I'm also sickened by the so called "organisers" sucking up on their seperatist section. Splitters!

Here's a thought. Why not invite pvtjohnny onto the board of CiA organisers?

Yeah, could do. He's in Newcastle, so that might be logistically odd for him.

Another thought. As we're paying for Grafton on a per head basis, if we can't get Hut 9 to sell enough places for the game to run properly, should we offer those that have booked the option of coming along for a day long game with a simpler scenario and then run it into a proper social in the evening??

Basically a bit of gameplay (this could even be cat-and-mouse style play with German escapees) then a big old piss up...

We could even run it as cost-only and give people a refund of the difference...

Seems a shame not to do anything now that people have booked time off.

OK, thinking about key features. Radial roads and perimeter boundary. Cottage and outbuildings. Bunker complex. Blast shelters. Water tower. Central core.

Central core used for cars & tents only and is safezone, out of bounds all day. Players have to work around not through it.
D-Day +1, 6am
Cottage is German command centre, coordinating coastal artillery. Artillery stationed at main bunker.
British airborne (can be para and glider) tasked to:
1. Disrupt communications between command and battery.
2. Eliminate comms centre
3. Clear and destroy battery

British on foot, lightly armed with rifles, smgs and grenades.
Germans mechanised, heavily armed.

British start at far end of site, Germans at cottage and patrolling forward. When cottage taken, Germans fall back to battery which becomes the next centre of action.

Not a fully worked out plan I know, just bare bones. But combines graft with guile, action with inaction. Plus loads of peeps have the kit. Germans can be very shooty-shooty (initially), British can be derring-do. If pushed we could add yankies but I am loath to do so if at all possible.

Friday night overnight for those wishing to travel Friday, 10am start Sat til 7pm. Social. Sat night overnight is they wish to travel back Sunday morning. 10 hours action, comfy tents, social.

Sounds like a good start. Alternatively place it in Market Garden with a similar scenario. Might allow for a bit more to-ing and fro-ing.

Sounds alright to me. But, will it get more to book on?

Rather than to-ing and fro-ing I was thinking more of sweeping round the site, saves fighting over the same ground and uses all the site.

More book on? Well, players seem to like their guns, we can make use of fearsome MG emplacements (MG users are heavily crippled these days, ammo-wise, no wonder they don't bother or sell 'em!). We can have transport. We can have Germans in uniforms. All uniforms, no 'no camo' rules. British can be sneaky 'commando' types with specific roles (radio, engineer, assault). A familiar scenario, no 'LARP' perception.

Actually, it would be D-Day not D-Day +1, so the first wave of daylight assaults inland. Battery and control centre a couple of miles from the coast, I'll find a real one in the British sector. No FJ, mostly Heer, some SS caught in transit by the landings and screaming for the tank divisions to move down from the north.

If I can't find any plausible historical context for airborne pushing from inland towards the coast (gonna check what the Pegasus Bridge guys dive afterwards) then we could go for a Merville scenario or something like Longues-sur-Mer with the attack coming from the beach direction instead of from inland.

Hmm, could do Merville - don't even have to think of a game title. "The Longest Day" will do!

Might have found a scenario. Merville Battery was famously taken on D-Day (just been refreshing my memory, no idea how they did it, everything that could go wrong did go wrong!) but what probably isn't known is that the Germans re-took it later on D-Day.

During the chaos of D-Day, the Germans re-occupied the Battery. On D+1 a message was passed to the Commander of the 6th Airborne Division, Major-General Richard Gale, stating that the guns had opened fire. He was ordered to ensure that the Battery was silenced, and the task fell to Nos 4 and 5 Troops, No 3 Commando.

During the attack they found relatively few Germans in the Battery, but these fought to the death. The Commando casualties were light, but they suffered a bitter loss in Major John Pooley. Shortly after however, a counter-attack backed by overwhelming firepower caused heavy losses to the Commandos. The necessity of the Commando attack was questionable. They felt this at the time, and were very unhappy about it, especially as they did not have any explosives with which to destroy the guns either. Much controversy exists as to whether the guns did open fire on D-Day, and although the reasons why are still the subject of much debate, the overriding fact is that the Battery did not perform to anywhere near its capability. With the failure of the bombing, the only possible reason for this is the consequence of the 9th Battalion attack. As a result, many lives were saved on Sword beach.
Also
It was the men of No 3 Commando who would fight to retake the Merville battery.
On the morning of 7th June, as the 9th Battalion were heading to Le Plain on their next phase, artillery shell began to fall on the beach at Ouistreham Riva-Bella, Sword Beach. The British Headquarters thought that this could come only from the Merville battery, and ordered a second attack.
Led by Lieutenant Colonel Peter Young, the attack went in at midday. At the cost of many casualties, and having held on doggedly, the German guns were once again silenced. No 3 Commando penetrated into the casemates. The battery had fallen once more.
Also
Having moved forward for a while Lieutenant Colonel Otway halted. He did not want to risk losing yet more of his men. He would concentrate his force on the next priority mission; to take and hold a place called “Le Plain”. This was a strategic position because this portion of Normandy dominated the River Orne, the canal and the road that connected Caen to the coast. If this position was held by the Germans it would allow them to fire on the Allied bridgehead. Moreover, this was also the route that the Commandos would take to link up with the 9th Battalion and relieve them. Colonel Otway decided not to attack the radar station at Sallenelles. He gave revised orders and moved off in the direction of Le Plain.

So we have a D-Day +1 scenario, could use both commando and paras on the British side. Germans would be predominantly Heer by we could also have a detachment of SS in transit. SS players seem to have been excludes from a lot of games in recent times.

'The Silencing of Merville' or 'Le Plain' or 'The Next Longest Day' -

Yep, like it.

We need to work out how we sell this to people who've booked onto Hut 9 though, as they might not be up for that sort of game.

Yes, need to make clear this isn't just an assault/defend battle like all the others but a 'real time' game that involves all the elements of an immersive event. Well, a CiA event.

I reckon we need to start the game furthest away from the entrance and work the fighting in the entrance direction so that the finale will be the battle over the bunker. This will involve reconnoitre (the initial attack on the bunker was meticulously planned in advance with everyone knowing exact tasks, all went to pot as men and kit didn't make RVs on time. Our event the next day involved men going in cold and unprepared). We will also need sappers on the British side, signals (and telephones) on the German side, radio men on the British side, true snipers might be fun, MG crews, mortar crews. Germans or indeed British on bikes would be good. I think Craig might be disappointed somewhat as there isn't a role for a typewriter but if we keep this all squad-like all should be well.

OK, time to make an announcement?

Sorry chaps, as there aren't enough players booked to make this WW2 adventure work we are sadly having to bring the Hut 9 concept to a close.

But GOOD NEWS.

Graften Park is an excellent, interesting and historical site and it would be a mammoth shame to lose another WW2 airsoft game from the calendar.
So we are currently putting together a new plan that has all of the hallmarks of Comrades in Arms games we have enjoyed organising and playing over the years.
It will bring a scenario never done before, periods of beastly action interspersed with non-direct combat activity and require guile, cunning and expertise.
The emphasis will be on a more realistic approach to combat rather than how Hollywood depicts war, and will be gritty, challenging and fun.
Camping will all be in one place and there will be a jolly social in which to chat and unwind.
Grafton Park is a flat site so not a killer, bikes and vehicles are welcome.
Oh,and both sides will wear uniforms and have guns.