Operation East Wind IV March 12-20 2011, NE Oklahoma

[Soviet_Kaz]

Announcement:

Operation East Wind IV dates and location have been set.

When: March 12th –20th 2011

What: Operation East Wind is a 9 day long 24 hour per day immersive milsim event set in the closing days of the Cold War. From the moment you arrive till the moment you leave, you are surrounded by and are part of an environment that life in the field during a Cold War alert.

You may choose to be part of either the NATO forces or the Warsaw Pact with each side having it’s own specific options, requirements, advantages, and disadvantages.

You may choose to participate either in the full experience, operating 24 hours a day living on site, 100% immersed in the event for the duration of your stay or if you prefer as a day player only playing during the daylight hours, camping at the campground on site or staying at in town at a motel.

As a full experience soldier you will know the feeling of walking out on a multi day patrol, the sound of a truck delivering your hot food (if you are lucky) and the sights and sounds of dark forest seemingly teeming with the enemy around your little patrol base in the black of night. You will use night vision, you will use mines, you will ride in military trucks and armored personnel carriers, you will be supported by armor and you will use period correct comms equipment. You will know the boredom of a 03:00 guard shift and the sinking feeling in your stomach when that shift suddenly STOPS being boring. You will know the true value of a hot drink on a cold rainy day, you will learn to lament T-rations, you will know the joy of walking into the mess tent and smelling hot A-rations. You will know how lonely the world can be when your little outpost is under attack and you know that the nearest help is way too far away. You will know how piercingly bright a parachute flare is on a moonless night. You will know the smell of a canvas tent on a sunny day. You will know how nice and cozy a stove is on a cold wet day. You will know what it is like to transition from peacetime, to alert, to war.

As a part time day player you can step into and out of one of the world’s best milsim events and get to see all of what goes into an event like this without having to commit yourself 100%. For a minimal cost comparable to most open play games, you get to see and be a part of daytime recon patrols behind enemy lines, anti-armor ambushes, deliberate attacks and fiercely fought defenses. You will fight shoulder to shoulder with the full time troops scraping and fighting for the same ground they are.

Either way, you will be surrounded by one of the most amazing events the world has to offer.

Who: Who may participate? Full experience troops must be 18 years of age or older unless pre-approved by event administration. Day players must be 16 or older with attendees under the age of 18 requiring parental consent.

How much does it cost?
The fee structure for Operation East Wind is broken into two categories:

The cost for full experience participants attending for 1-4
days is $165. For those attending from 5-9 days the cost is $200. Full experience attendees are provided with all meals, including snacks and drinks for the duration of the time they are in attendance. Additionally, full experience attendees are allowed to check mission equipment out from the supply tents including correct night vision systems, flares, IR systems, Claymore and POMZ mines, thermal imaging systems, radios, telephone systems etc.

Day time players who pre-register pay a fixed rate of $20 per day or $25 per day as walk-ons apart from day 1 and day 9 which are both free days since they involve a great deal of unit set up and tear down. Day time players are not provided with meals and are not allowed to check mission equipment out from the supply tents since most mission equipment goes out for night or multi-day missions.

Sign up for full experience troops will open November 1st, 2010. At signup, a non-refundable deposit of $50 is required with the balance due on March 1st 2011. Day player sign up will begin in February and will not require pre-payment or a deposit. Just tell us when you will be there so we can plan for you.

Where is East Wind IV being held.
This year, we are proud to announce that East Wind IV will be held at D-Day Adventure Park in Wyandotte, Oklahoma. No doubt, there are a great many of you who have played at D-Day before. It is an amazing facility with a lot of really impressive infrastructure. You might be tempted to think that you even know the D-Day Adventure Park pretty well… You will be quite surprised to see how much more there is to that property than you ever imagined. We will be operating on a 750 acre playing field with 45 miles of roads and trails. There are towns, an airfield, steep hills, green valleys, streams, ponds, and lots upon lots of space. If you have played at OK D-Day before you have probably seen a little bit of it but I assure you, it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Why?
Why 9 days?

We run East Wind events for 9 days because in order to put together a quality event there is a certain minimum amount of time it takes to get everything all set up and settled in. If this was a weekend event, we would spend all day and night Saturday setting up and getting everyone settled in and then all day Sunday endexing. By running for 9 days we maximize our field time and get the most value out of our week’s vacation time (or spring break for you guys in school). If you cannot attend for the entire time, that’s fine; you can attend for as much or as little as you can fit into your schedule.

Why this degree of insanity/attention to detail?

Sure, we could camp in civvy tents instead of GP Mediums or real Soviet tents. We could use a Ford Tempo with a plywood turret instead of a real Diamler Ferret. We could move guys around in a short bed Chevy pickup instead of a M35A2, and we could certainly cook flapjacks on a 2 burner Coleman stove instead of using period correct field kitchens. Where would the fun be in all of that? At East Wind we seek to get everything right down to the smallest detail because this is how we immerse you into the event. You do not attend East Wind, you are part of it, you are inside the world that we create for you, you can “feelâ€

[Darius137]

Where is it at?

[Riddick]

What was the attendance like for the experiance this year?

How many stayed half the time?

How many stayed all 9 days?

[Wombat Six]

Where is it at?

Buried in the midst of the wall of text, OP mentions that it will be at D-Day Adventure Park (http://www.ddayadventurepark.com/) in Oklahoma. Looks like a sweet game, though.

March 2011 seems like far enough out for the truly organized player to make a showing, although I'd definitely want to do the "full experience" for the travel costs inherent to visiting Oklahoma.

[Darius137]

Yeah. A 9 day event would be pretty intense.

[Transition]

looks fun, but did you guys read the respawn rules and the equipment?

[Snowman]

Damn my age. I want use NODs.

[Darius137]

hah. Just after I get student loans for winter term..


.... this could be bad.

[Soviet_Kaz]

I apologize for the lack of a location overlooked that while posting.

Concerning the gear requirements. They are set to enhance and maintain the games historic integrity and immersion for the player. For example wouldn't you rather play against East Germans that ACTUALLY look the part? Depending on the side you want to go the kits are not really that cost prohibitive. A nearly complete East German kit can be purchased from one of the event organizers for about 70-100 dollars, plus you would need items to maintain yourself in the field for an extended period like sleeping bag,blankets,personal hygiene/care kit etc... US surplus from the 90's from what I have seen is pretty cheap as well.

As to the age there have been a few 16-17 year olds at past EW's. I think if you actually commit to getting the kit and traveling to the event you being younger then most of us is not much of a concern.

[Rabbit]

I went to this op for all nine days last year. I would stress this is a reenactment style airsoft game.


I was on the Soviet side last year and we didn't sleep more than a few hours a night since the Nato troops kept attacking us with a Ferret armored vehicle at 0-dark thirty. We had to react quick to repell there attacks or their armor could chew us to pieces, and we had very limited anti-armor weapons. I had to jump in the back of the BTR40 with nothing but boots, trousers, flak and my RPK. That being said There were also long cold patrols with no contact at all. Overall an interesting experience.


Feel free to PM if you have any questions you want answered from a third party prospective.

[VogonFord]

Hmmm..... I might actually go to this one, despite the price. 9 days of fun could be pretty sweet.

[pulsipher]

9 days would be hard to pull, I would need to see lots of pics if the field or previous events

[Rabbit]

If nine days is too much vacation to take off from work, I would suggest going for the last three days of the event. Those are typically the most action packed days.

[Prophet]

Ugh, if only I was eligable.

[aswayze]

Hi all!

I am Swayze, my partner Brett and I run the East Wind series events. I thought I’d drop on by and answer a few questions for you guys.


What was the attendance like for the experience this year?

How many stayed half the time?

How many stayed all 9 days?

This year was a tough year economically and in addition to that many of our core members were deployed playing “East Windâ€