Howdy All,
I second that on the heat. Even through a BDU sleeve, my arms felt like charred steak. Hehe, but if I went out in the Arizona desert, mid-day in the middle of Summer and expected it to be cool, then shame on me!
To The Boy,
Thanks for putting on the game my friend. It was an ambitious endeavor, and a great turnout. (About 50 people or so, so I think this was the largest game I've ever played so far). Game play turned out pretty good.
Before I go on further, I should point out something about my little sliver of the Op. Myself, my brother Ian, and 3 members of BFA were the Hostage Security Team for Green. After 2 of BFA went off to conduct recon on Tan base, it was just us three with the world's mouthiest hostage (heh).
We went WAY out in the sticks to keep this guy hidden, and I think the only reason he was never captured was because we never actually needed to walk that far into the middle of nowhere (shame on us).
The end result, and thus my own review of the game, was that it was a lot of walking in the heat, with very little trigger time. Now I obviously can't hold The Boy, the game play, or anything else responsible for that. It was our choice to do that. But the inevitable result is that I ranked my experience at this game at about average. With Hostage Guard duty for the first half, and me taking a knee beside a ridge to guard Green flag's flank for the second half, I don't think I ever shot at anyone the whole game.
Again, this is me describing my own little slice of the game. And I'm not trying to make this a complaint, or to reflect this onto The Boy or Operation Oasis in general. The only real reason that the game play was slow was because of my own choices. And while I did enjoy talking with Trevor of BFA and the hostage (who was clearly adopting his role), & doing actions to help the Green Team's cause, I suppose the only thing I can say about the game is that I would have preferred for the action to be a little more concentrated.
So, to The Boy, I have to say a few things. Ambitious game mate, with a great story, and I loved the turnout. The AO is amazing too! A hel*uva hike, but amazing opportunities for battle. And it sounds like other people had a great time (except for the heat, hehe). The only thing I would have preferred would have been to concentrate the movement of both teams towards each other. It seemed as though with a hostage to find, and a secret Green HQ to find, and a base with supplies to guard, Tan Team was forced to spread itself thin. Green also had the same issue: to protect the hostage (our job, hence the cross-country hike, hehe), protect the flag, and steal said supplies or trade the hostage for them.
My suggestion to concentrate firefights into a smaller area, and force confrontation, would be to make fewer objectives, or make their locations known. If the Green Flag stays secret for about half an hour, Green can move freely. But then maybe an admin (I think Kevin was Green's) would give a hint to Tan over the radio. I.E: Green Flag is located near a ridge to the West, along a wide wash to the South, or some other visual reference that can be seen from a good distance). This would force Green to consolidate on its Flag, give Tan a better chance at finding it, and thus the teams would butt heads more often.
Fewer objectives, or objectives that are located somewhat close to each other, is another way to concentrate the teams.
Another way is to break the Op up into separate phases. Instead of both teams defending and attacking at once, have one team attack and the other defend almost exclusively, for a part of the Op. Green's flag is secret for the first half, and are free to attack with almost 100% of their team. Tan is discouraged from attacking, and must defend their supplies with almost 100% of their team. If Green's attack fails, the phase switches to second half. Tan learns Green's Flag location, Green must pull back to defend, and Tan is more free to attack. Bottom Line: More numbers at each side instead of split in half both ways.
If Green needs an excuse to pull back, other than their flag's location being declared, maybe this. Tan Admin taps a few Green players to become NPCs. They're captured, go into Tan base. Tan broadcasts to Green Commander that those POWs will be killed if Green doesn't pull back, which Green Commander then tries to enforce. It also can fit within the story, because you can say the Green Flag's location was "beaten" out of the POWs. Plus a possible Green side mission is to now rescue their comrades.
These are just brain cells I'm burning out loud, and examples of ways to consolidate the action. That's all I really have to say about the game. Again, this isn't meant to tear it down at all. It was a good game overall, with a lot of impressive qualities. And I did have fun for a lot of it, just from conversations and the act of helping the cause. The only thing I can think to add to it would be to concoct clever ways to concentrate the action, while still making it part of the story.
Overall, I was glad I came out. Although if I do it again, I think I'll pack lighter. No more carrying everything but the kitchen sink in my gear to a day game in 114 degree weather, hehe. I gotta learn sometime, right?
Thanks for putting this game on The Boy. I did have fun, and would be glad to do it again. Peace out Brother!
~ D.W.
