SOTA, LLC Presents Ash Bash IV: 13 March 2010

[PanzerFaust]

Outstanding game, SOTA!! I had an absolute blast today, what a way to break back into NW airsoft. It was great seeing and shooting at my old chums today, and finally giving the rest of AP a face to go with this screen name.

[shakespeare]

What a great day! It was great to play against you all. I would like to give special props to APST for thoroughly kicking our asses three times :P Those were good fights, so thank you.

I would like to thank Wombat and (I think I got the name right) the 2ic, Graham, for leading us and helping us get out of trouble.

I would also like to thank SOTA for putting on an awesome game and entertaining us Saturday night.

[KA-BAR]

good game was good.

pros. sustains.

excellent event staff.
food and water at spawns.
game organization.

cons. cut out.

weather.
field reset waiting times.



By far SOTA has impressed me very much with their Filed Maps, and the main logistics headquarters ran by Mrs. janecki. she fuckin war gammed the entire day via excellent admin radio coms. i watched her a lil of the end of the second round and the 3rd round. moving forces and marking sectors and points. she was a fuckin CHAMP. promoters take heed. you want logistics like this, BIG TIME. mad props to SOTA for a job well done.


i had alot of fun today rollin with mah hommies. got only one solo stalk on, but it was a doooosey. saw dan walking down one road, and was waiting, camping the spot timm he reached me. right as i took my safety off and was line up, i saw movement of two dudes comming down another road... and i thought to my self, i am just going to watch and let this happen. dan rounded the corner and these two dudes jumped out as tactically as possible from the cover they had and lit him the fu.ck up. i was laughing soo hard.


i also got within 30 yards of the rear log fort and camped 4 dudes there, till they found me and forced me out of cover, only to trip and fall and get all shot up in the butt. MMMM MUD!


andrew childs i am sooo glad to see you back. i didnt see any APST elements except for a short burst from braddock that almost nailed me in the legs near the log fort. was hoping to get more shots off on you guys.

see ya'all at ash bash v fo sho.

Beezy fo life



KA-BAR out

[Wombat Six]

Deleted rant. Not worth the buzz.

Good game. Want more wargaming. Did we get little army action figures on the war map?

[ogrejager]

I heard they had a big, green, old DnD miniature for me.

Oh, and the best they could get for you was an OSU beaver figure.

[Darius137]

Here's an after action review of the game from both an attendee and as a CO of one of the sides. After Lord of War II I spoke some with Pharoah6 about how we do AARs in the military and just trying a more comprehensive review to help hosts know what players think and any suggestions we have to make games better. I don't mean to sound arrogant, just trying to give my opinion and input with constructive criticism and well earned praise:


AAR:

What was supposed to happen:

SOTA hosting a game of approximately 200-250 people at Sniperzden, with a three-way battle using conventional forces and Special Forces teams that complete missions for extra CO abilities as well as additioanl points.

What happened:

Due to weather and flakes, the numbers were approximately half expected and the staff made do with what they were given. They had a three way battle and the SF teams did both SF missions as well as conventional fighting to make up for the lack of troops fighting for very spread out objectives, sectors, missile silos as well as SF missions.

Improves:

1) The map: The grids were not USGS nor UTM/Military and the gridding system was hard to follow and no real instruction on it's use was given. Also the admins using the map had one with the specific zones labeled, which the COs used to call in air strikes. When we pointed to a zone they asked us the number and our maps didn't have the number.
My solution:

Talk with a cartography nerd or military vet (a competent one) and get some advice on how to make one more uniform with the type most people that use maps are used to, for a more thorough map that raises the bar for future events from yourselves or others. A map that we know the TRPs (target reference points, such as zones or the names of commonly referenced structures, such as "circle fort". This is something that would benefit the community, as we use the same fields often, and it would cut down on reinventing the wheel if we knew that the circle fort was the fort in the city of Sniperzden near the road, and not the log fort to the East of the city, which some people believe) so that we can call in a TRP (which a real map or OP would have, as a military unit wouldn't go in until some S-shops overanalyzed the terrain and some scouts/recon went in and got some eyes on to assess the situation from another angle than a map), instead of having confusion and wasted time on the admin channel. I am more than willing to help you (SOTA) or Rick (Airsoft Ammo Supply) in any capacity that you'd like, up to my limited abilities, on this.
2) Cutting down wait times between rounds: Between rounds we had a lot of waiting going on, and this killed the buzz for some people who were on a roll. Also it made tool cold and he became a sad teddy bear and took it out on Amos later. Nobody wanted to see that.
My solution:

The biggest thing I saw that slowed us down was communication between admins as to what was going to be checked as ready before the game resumed. I know it's overplanning (but that's what the Army loves to do), but possibly having a checklist of what needs to be set before each round begins so each sector can quickly call in and read off a list of what is ready or needs work, much likea 9-line MEDEVAC is called in to quickly get a helicopter off the ground with the proper supplies and support to help wounded. Also the missions for the subsequent rounds could have been kept with the sector admins instead of making poor, chain-smoking Shogun run up and down hills delivering manila envelopes.
3) Confusion on the field for specific rules. There was some confusion about specific rules. Sometimes, it just ended with a bunch of dead guys saying "Oh gee, I didn't know they had stimpacks" (We lost a bunch of IToA guys to the BZ SF team because of how fast the medic could respawn them), but it could also end up with Tombstone throat punching Duc (lack of clarification on grenade rules).
My solution:

Make a checklist of what you want to cover so you don't forget anything at the safety brief. Also more in depth for safety briefs, as you have to dumb down any brief to the lowest common demoninator, so there are no chances for people to act confused. Your brief was very good, but there was that one little assumption about past rules on frags into rooves, and there are always little things like that which pop up. I'd even go so far as to make this "open source" and make documents like these public on AP for people to chime in on and work towards a perfect safety brief and game planning matrix, so that new and seasoned game hosts could pull from the combined experience of AP and 4Chan.

Sustains:

1) Admins: SOTA has raised the bar with this game. They had admins at every major conflict and zone, and their radios worked across the entire Sniperzden field. With Cookies back at the HQ controlling the whole mess with a physical and preplanned method, you have admin'd a game better than I had ever thought possible. Also with the positive attitude and willingness to pitch in of every SOTA member says a lot about the professionalism and competency of the group as both an airsoft team and a hosting body. I will definitely come to your next game, and even bring my nooblet 14 year old neighbor (after I throw a Fancy Blue shirt on him, of course. )
2) Itinerary "Flow": You set a timeline, but you adapted the timeline to the realities of the day and the situation. Many game hosts are not able to do this, and instead of extending the time it takes to give a proper briefing or placement of troops, they rush through certain parts. This means that instead of only messing up one segment of the game (timeline), they mess up every subsequent portion of the game's execution. You adapted to the daylight saving's time, then pushed back the briefing to make sure it was thorough, then extended the playing time after the breaks between rounds unexpectedly went long, and then cut short the final round when you sensed that players dropping or losing the "fun" of the game began to reach critical mass.
3) Gameplay Mechanics: We all realize that airsofters are cheap and ugly bastards. They are willing to buy real gear for hundreds of dollars, but any game over $30 better have a helicopter and they better be flying it. You made a $30 game have not only inventive game mechanics (SF missions relating to overall success and also incentive abilities) but also made the game playable and fun--you didn't make rules up as you went along, and your game rules made sense. Too often in airsoft I see complicated rules that people add in an attempt to make a game seem complicated, when all it does is confuse the lower half of the players or break their sense of immersion.

Overall: Great job. A+ game and I'm looking forward to Ash Bash V. But if we're fighting at the tmie, then I'll silently not go and delete you off of Facebook.

[Bad Karma]

Closing Thoughts and Final Totals

First of all, I want to thank each and every person who came out today for their participation. Sportsmanship was generally outstanding, the turnout was better than I expected given the weather, and everyone did a great job. Although the scores don't necessarily reflect this, the fighting was actually very balanced, especially given how outnumbered some of the forces were. Sectors were frequently changing hands which was great to see.

Ultimately, the success or failure of an event rides upon the players and what they make of the situations they are given. There was a lot of mud, nearly impenetrable terrain, massive hills and plenty of rain, but most of you stuck it out until the end! From an administrative perspective, I can assure you that all of our staff did their best to provide you with smooth gameplay and a good value for your money. The game was certainly not without it's hiccups, and the concerns that have been voiced here and to us in person will absolutely be taken to heart and addressed at our next event. We truly appreciate the feedback, and your support and attendance, because this is our first time ever tackling a field of this size. We are used to working with smaller fields and smaller groups, and ABIV was a testbed to see how scalable some of our gameplay ideas were. Even with close to 15 administrators on hand, there is a lot of field to cover. By and large we thought the event was a success, and the positive comments here have re-affirmed that belief.

Thank you to the commanders for your excellent work today. We rely upon you more than we'd like to admit, because a good field commanders are imperative for balanced gameplay and creating a good time. You all did a fine job, and we'd be happy to have you back to command in the future.

To the campers, and really everyone, thank you for policing your areas. There was very little left to clean up after you all left, which makes things so much easier for us. Trust me when I say we wanted to leave as badly or worse than you all did, especially after that torrential downpour during round III.

As always, SOTA looks forward to organizing and hosting our next game, and in keeping with our tradition and reputation will continue to attempt to bring the northwest airsoft community innovative, affordable and enjoyable events.

Best,

SOTA, LLC.


--------------------------------------------------

Round 1

APFP: 100
BZ: 2350
ITA: 1700

Round 2

APFP: 950
BZ: 950
ITA: 1900

Round 3

APFP: 800
BZ: 450
ITA: 2050

Cumulative Totals

APFP: 1850
BZ: 3750
ITA: 5650

[Darius137]

VICTORY WAS GUARANTEED BY ANDREW CHILDS RETURNING FROM MORDOR.

[Snowman]

Cumulative Totals

APFP: 1850
BZ: 3750
ITA: 5650

OH BAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWW

That village was OURS. Then you 'naded us. CHEATS!!! :P

[[HARPER]]

Wow we won?! haha sweet! but ehh i just liked the game. Haza!

[Eudorus]

I'm really sorry I missed this one. All the feedback from people I listen to has been hugely positive. On the other hand between my work schedule and the mud this probably would have killed me. Well done to SOTA though.

[RBeran]

Excellent event!! In spite of the fact that I was only able to play round 1 due to a knee injury, this was one of the better OPs I've attended.

It was a blast rolling with a full compliment of my APST bro's...we truly went "Where no man has gone before" and it payed off.

SOTA, you guys did an excellent job today! Having an admin imbedded with us was a good idea...the adrenaline/medic rule was pretty cool for the SF team.

Reading Karma's post game spin-down, I thought SOTA did an outstanding job scaling up to a field the size of Sniperzden. I have seen OP's go down there with three admins, and you guys had what...15? Nice!

Very well run, good game scenario, worth every penny!!

Thanks SOTA!!

[~Thunder~]

Had a great time. Thanks to everyone that had a hand in making this happen.

Thanks to Phantom Fury for letting me tag along. Running with you guys made for the most fun i've had at an Op in quite a while.
Overtaking the octogon fort then pushing through the orchard was EPIC. Anyone who witnessed that run knows exactly what i'm talking about.

Nice meeting you Bulldog. Having a front row seat to watch you hold the fort was beyond entertaining. Too bad there's no video to show what you did....no one would believe it, lol.

[sig]

Thanks SOTA for running a great event.

Had a great time with the others on ITA even though we were short handed we stuck with it until the end.

Also APST you guys kicked a$$ as for the team. Thanks for putting up with me on the radio relaying your info to Darius.

[Hard_Drive]

Most of the game was pretty slow for me. However, I did get my best hardest earned kill though. Me and a few others were in spawn point 2 (or whichever one was running next to the creek below the hill). We spotted one guy at the top looking down on us and then he disappeared when a large contingent of our forces were swinging around to take our base back. Later I found out that they were slaughtered. I thought I would go up that steep, muddy hill and see what I could see. So I dropped my M4 and decided to use my Mac11. In hindsight I should have just taken the M4.
When I got to the top I didn’t see anybody, so I continued to the orchard. Then I saw our slaughtered teammates gathered in a group with about 5 of the enemy taking cover behind trees and probably waiting for more to come from the same direction as the other teammates. So I got a little closer and made sure my Mac11 was on full. I’m pretty sure at least one of them saw me but since Marpat and Woodland look the same when covered with mud I’m sure they thought I was one of their teammates. When none of them were looking at me I opened up. I got one kill and then my mag ran out of gas. So I did what any brave warrior would do in that situation. I ran like hell back into the forest with 1 or more guys on my tail. I’m 6’2” and about 250 so I’m sure it looked roughly like a hippo running to the river to munch on some river grass.
With little white bbs flying all around, I ran (and slid) back down that hill. I changed mags in my mac11 and was able to fire back a couple of times. Then as I was reaching the bottom my team put down cover fire for me.
If you were one of the guys chasing me and you hit me on the back, I apologize as I was so filled with adrenaline that I’m sure I wouldn’t have felt just about anything short of a real bullet.
Thanks to SOTA for hosting the event. I just wish the weather was a little better.