AAR: 10DEC05

[azsarge]

10DEC05
Four Peaks AO
(1) SEAL element, callsign MAKO
(1) QRF element, comprised of (2) Ranger Chalks, Chalk 01, Chalk 02
Unkown number of Taliban and AQ Fighters, both local and foreign.

[azsarge]

Let's make a list of what went right and what went wrong.

Right
- Separation of units into Ranger Chalks, and SEAL team went well.  
-  No IFF problems due to enemy fighters dressed in appropriate attire.
-  Terrain was difficult.

Wrong
- We started late, barely before civil twighlight.  That said, gameplay during pitch dark hours would have been dangerous.
- After first objective was completed, there was some confusion of subsequent objectives.  This was primarily caused by:
- POOR COMMUNICATION.  Anyone who does not have a FRS-capable radio, higher than 1 watt needs to get one ASAP!  Cheap FRS radios cannot reach the other end of the field.  Most of MAKO had Icom F4 radios, and some of the other players did.  Because of the poor range of others' radios, I had a very difficult time of relaying mission objectives to both the US Forces and enemy fighters.  Rolling scenarios are the only way to go, but it's hard when your radio sucks and you are unable to hear the commands.
- Respawn rules for US Forces were confusing, time-consuming, and tiring.  

Suggestions
- Better, higher power radios for all.
- Simpler respawn rules for US Forces.

[Cheeze_IZ_G00d]

Suggestion: Get some pics up!!!

Man, I want to salivate at what I missed.

[azsarge]

Suggestion: Get some pics up!!!

Man, I want to salivate at what I missed.

I only saw one guy taking photos all day.  

I toyed with the idea of bring CAG D's video camera, but decided against it.  It would be neat to have video of the rescue of MAKO30.

Whoever took the pics, let's see 'em!

[Lasivian]

Right:

#1 Good AO Map.

This was really nice to have, tho I did end up going a good 6 inches off the bottom of it. If we could get some GPS coordinate locations plotted on it so we know better exactly where to go that would help. (There was alot of, this hill or that hill? going on)

#2 Three Females present.

Ok, so only 2 of them played, but it was nice to see more out there than usual.


Wrong:

#1 No clear rules for what to do with the ammo dump.

Cone X-ray was placed after the US forces left base and I guess nobody heard my radio requests for Ammo dump info. Until I got back to camp I had no idea there were ammo cans to be retrieved.

#2 Poor assault tactics.

I made it to the enemies respawn area behind the ammo dump without being seen, seems most US forces went into a frontal assault and got clobbered. Now I know (And understand) most of you guys don't put on the mileage that I do and want more firefight time but i'd like to start forming a squad of the more "physically motivated" players to try and work on more realistic tactics.

#3 Friendly fire.

Some of the afghani forces were wearing camo as part of the outfit, I mistook one of the SEAL members for an afghani while he was walking away from the afghani base and fired on him. (partially this might be because some of us don't understand what the different types of camo are, a link to a listing would be nice.) not major but I figured i'd mention it.

#4 We're still losing things.

I know of a hat that got dropped out there, and somehow we lost a cone. Last game it was a pair of binoculars and an AK mag.

[Major Buttnuts]

As a dirty Taliban I thought the game was great.  Lots of shooting and action,
   There was nothing more as a team that we could have done right.  Great comunication on our side, I heard many times what side the US team was attacking on and an estimated size of attacking force.

  As for the US team, it seemed you did as good as you could attacking the hill, but the terrain was not on your side.
Also, If you had attacked us on our left flank right as the sun was coming up, you would of had an excelent chance of taking that hill earlier and with fewer causulties because the sun was completly blinding us.

I want to thank all who put this game together, it was outstanding.  I loved the roleplaing part.  Also, being at the AO that early and playing a predawn game should be done more often.

[Vince]

#1 No clear rules for what to do with the ammo dump.

Well, that was addressed in the AAR already. Other than because you were busy being a secret squirrel splinter cell, you don't have a very good radio, so, Christian couldn't communicate the objectives to you, and since you were in chalk two, you wouldn'tve received your orders from anyone else in your chalk since they didn't have good comms either. This is supposed to be military simulation, and, well, they don't really know what to do all the time before a mission in the military.

Cone X-ray was placed after the US forces left base and I guess nobody heard my radio requests for Ammo dump info. Until I got back to camp I had no idea there were ammo cans to be retrieved.

....no, Cone X-Ray was placed when Christian got in my passenger seat and I drove him out to the creek bed. This was before the game started.

#2 Poor assault tactics.

I made it to the enemies respawn area behind the ammo dump without being seen, seems most US forces went into a frontal assault and got clobbered. Now I know (And understand) most of you guys don't put on the mileage that I do and want more firefight time but i'd like to start forming a squad of the more "physically motivated" players to try and work on more realistic tactics.

...I won't even begin to touch on this. OK, maybe I will. You follow your chalk leader's orders. Realistics tactics aren't being John Rambo and leaving your chalk behind. Perhaps it was a chalk two problem, but chalk one was very switched on and made good progress. Skylar, Ryan, Ed, Robby, Matt and myself charged the hill, and neutralized most of the threat. I secured the prisoners and the objectives and, well, a win does not equal a clobbering. We took heavy casualties, but against a larger enemy force with high morale, high group, and a high number of guns in the fight, that is to be expected. For the most part we were dynamic and kept in the fight.

#3 Friendly fire.

Some of the afghani forces were wearing camo as part of the outfit, I mistook one of the SEAL members for an afghani while he was walking away from the afghani base and fired on him. (partially this might be because some of us don't understand what the different types of camo are, a link to a listing would be nice.) not major but I figured i'd mention it.

...why do you need to know what the different types of camo were? I didn't really see anyone on the OpFor wearing camo, I mean, if you mean like, the brown/green shemaghs, that isn't camoflauge. Everyone wearing camoflauge was on your team, ace.

#4 We're still losing things.

I know of a hat that got dropped out there, and somehow we lost a cone.

Well, you can't possibly know of the hat that got dropped out there, because, it was my hat, and it didn't get dropped, just misplaced. I found it, and was sure to let everyone know. We didn't lose a cone, Christian and I's carelessness lost a cone. Amends and reparations will be made.


On a more positive note, I had a very good time. Thanks for everyone who showed up and, time and time again, gave it their all to be honorable and make it a great time. Thank you.

Also, thanks to Christian, who, at great personal financial expense to himself, made this game one to remember with good props.

This was a very good time. Kobo, please remember to post the pictures you took.

[-MAD- SARGE]

 Also, If you had attacked us on our left flank right as the sun was coming up, you would of had an excelent chance of taking that hill earlier and with fewer causulties because the sun was completly blinding us.

We did attack from there as the sun was rising, but we ran into some resistance and you slowed our advance.  You guys defended well, And as you said we had some terrain issues but most I think were Com issues. We had like a 2 prong attack going on at one time but communication was poor and that attack suffered. Everyone ask for new radios  for christmas : ) And No throat mikes unless you can get the real stuff  :lol:

I dont think that the US respawn was confusing.  Though the time restraints put a small hurt on our attacks I think, until near the end.   But Like you said Christain "Don't get gun ho and get shot"  I think those respawns helped to enforce that mentality and helped the game over all.  The worst thing that can happen to me is to shoot someone and then as Im moving in on my position, to have to shoot the same guy again, because he was able to respawn quickly enough.

Yes, I agree we took a long time to get started, but at the same time I too think it would have been dangerous to play in the dark with the planned terrain.  It was great to have those dressing up and acting out the part!  I did notice that with the extra clothing some could not feel being hit.  But that is to be expected at any game, so just shoot them some more and they will soon see  I also about froze my feet off.  Got some catus in my legs, both kinds. Oh and got shot by a Friendly and I waved back kurtly   At least now I know what he means by "I got your back"    

Did I say that I had alot of fun!  I also like that we played alot of those attack/defend house games. Aslo I dont know if its the fact of throwing the smoke or the fact that Christian gets to say "Popping Smoke!" that entrigues him  

[Airsofter1]

C-bone hit all the points pretty well.  Lessons learned.  One thing I learned was its always a good idea to bring some toilet paper along, just in case.
Overall it was a great day of airsofting and exchanging bbs with some new faces and old friends!

[Cheeze_IZ_G00d]

One thing I learned was its always a good idea to bring some toilet paper along, just in case.

Yea, I learned that one the hard way at one point. Now I always have a roll of charmin in my gear bag .

[Lasivian]

#2 Poor assault tactics.

I made it to the enemies respawn area behind the ammo dump without being seen, seems most US forces went into a frontal assault and got clobbered. Now I know (And understand) most of you guys don't put on the mileage that I do and want more firefight time but i'd like to start forming a squad of the more "physically motivated" players to try and work on more realistic tactics.

...I won't even begin to touch on this. OK, maybe I will. You follow your chalk leader's orders. Realistics tactics aren't being John Rambo and leaving your chalk behind. Perhaps it was a chalk two problem, but chalk one was very switched on and made good progress. Skylar, Ryan, Ed, Robby, Matt and myself charged the hill, and neutralized most of the threat. I secured the prisoners and the objectives and, well, a win does not equal a clobbering. We took heavy casualties, but against a larger enemy force with high morale, high group, and a high number of guns in the fight, that is to be expected. For the most part we were dynamic and kept in the fight.

Chalk 2 was walking into their own deaths, I knew it but alot of you guys that want to give orders don't bother listening to anyone else, you just bark commands and run into the middle of a firefight. Considering the extended respawn time we had I decided to take off flanking way to the south and had I not been alone the afghanis would have been dead meat from their unguarded rear.

Am I going to try and go by my own tactics in the future? You betcha. And i'll be happy to take anyone with me that wants to go.

Taking heavy casualties was ok for you, but did you consult the rest of your team to see what they wanted to do?

But then, I thought airsoft was about having fun, not testing out for the service.

[Ivan]

I saw a lot of good in this game, I really enjoyed this one more than I have enjoyed a game in a while. Best sportsmanship I have seen in a while.

[jwflowersii]

Vince,

I would have to disagree with you on Chalk 2 tactics.  The problem was that Chalk 1 was supposed to go after ammo dump.  Chalk 2 took a long time to get into position because we had to hump over some difficult terrain and a little further down the road.  By the time we got near the hill, you guys already begun the attack.  We then heard over the radio that you had extracted the hostages.  At that point, Chalk 2 had no idea what the next objectives were.  We were all coming back down the hill to regroup when we told to locate the ammo dump.  However, we were left on our own.  Chalk 1 and MAKO had already attacked.  We had no choice.  Second, my gun was not working properly and therefore I became rather useless.  My gun would only fire for about 5 rounds and then go about 10 feet.  I think the main problem was communication and timing.  

Anyway, other than my gun not working, I had a lot of fun.

[azsarge]

#2 Poor assault tactics.

I made it to the enemies respawn area behind the ammo dump without being seen, seems most US forces went into a frontal assault and got clobbered. Now I know (And understand) most of you guys don't put on the mileage that I do and want more firefight time but i'd like to start forming a squad of the more "physically motivated" players to try and work on more realistic tactics.

...I won't even begin to touch on this. OK, maybe I will. You follow your chalk leader's orders. Realistics tactics aren't being John Rambo and leaving your chalk behind. Perhaps it was a chalk two problem, but chalk one was very switched on and made good progress. Skylar, Ryan, Ed, Robby, Matt and myself charged the hill, and neutralized most of the threat. I secured the prisoners and the objectives and, well, a win does not equal a clobbering. We took heavy casualties, but against a larger enemy force with high morale, high group, and a high number of guns in the fight, that is to be expected. For the most part we were dynamic and kept in the fight.

Chalk 2 was walking into their own deaths, I knew it but alot of you guys that want to give orders don't bother listening to anyone else, you just bark commands and run into the middle of a firefight. Considering the extended respawn time we had I decided to take off flanking way to the south and had I not been alone the afghanis would have been dead meat from their unguarded rear.

Am I going to try and go by my own tactics in the future? You betcha. And i'll be happy to take anyone with me that wants to go.

Taking heavy casualties was ok for you, but did you consult the rest of your team to see what they wanted to do?

But then, I thought airsoft was about having fun, not testing out for the service.

This was a MilSim game, and you did your own thing.

Testing out for the service?  Not at all.  But I DID want to give you all a taste of what it's like.  Fog of War is a bitch.

I can see by your actions and your remarks that you did not enjoy the MilSim aspect, so I suggest to you that you either stick to games other than mine, or play paintball.  From the get-go, I said this game would be unlike any other.  Leadership positions at lower levels, confusing orders, and squad-sized casualties is how it is at National OPs.  Now I see why you aren't an airsoft "veteran."

And that brings up another issue.  Despite every single other player on the field notifying me beforehand, and being on the roster, YOU somehow managed to disregarsd that request and show up on your own.  IN 3 color nonetheless.  I had requested that any extranneous players show up in civvies, but being an individual, you decided to do whatever you wanted.  Other than the fact that you would have been better suited for the Afghan team with your individual tactics and dislike for US military-style organization, this does not bother me.

My goal was for everyone to have a good time.  I think you would have had a better time on the other team.  That is why I had everyone register first.

[Vince]

Chalk 2 was walking into their own deaths, I knew it but alot of you guys that want to give orders don't bother listening to anyone else, you just bark commands and run into the middle of a firefight. Considering the extended respawn time we had I decided to take off flanking way to the south and had I not been alone the afghanis would have been dead meat from their unguarded rear.

Am I going to try and go by my own tactics in the future? You betcha. And i'll be happy to take anyone with me that wants to go.

Taking heavy casualties was ok for you, but did you consult the rest of your team to see what they wanted to do?

But then, I thought airsoft was about having fun, not testing out for the service.

See, I'm not in leadership for a reason. Sure, I hold my own, but there are people who like to organize attacks and plan things. I'm not one of them. So, the pronouns you're using in this statement are in err.

Without sounding way too like, GotX/LF, the casualties aren't the issue, it's about winning the fight. So, if the only way to win the fight is to get wrecked, oh well. Again, you say :

but did you consult the rest of your team to see what they wanted to do?

It wasn't a plan of my own creation, however, the person whose plan it was told the group the plan, and since we are all warriors, it was naturally well-received and accepted.

Airsoft is about having fun, and for me the MilSim aspect is the fun. I don't play to do some Sam Fisher bullshit. I play to work in concert with my friends and to apply what I've learned over the last few months in a practical application.

But then, I thought airsoft was about having fun, not testing out for the service

Well, you are right, and thank God and Gaston Glock that you are. If airsoft was testing out for the service, oh man, I can't even think of what you would be. Probably like 57E or 02G or something.

Have you EVER had fun at an airsoft game (one you were actually able to play in)? 80% of the things you say about the games you attend, to quote Jules Winnfield, is that it's all "f*cked up repugnant ass bullshit". Maybe you should start having your own games and running them how you like.