22nd Sep 2011: Insurgent Airfield

Mission: INSURGENT AIRFIELD

Answering the call: Cav, Richard, Dan, Christian, Greg and Craig.

I sprinted down the hill toward the airfield. Taking the aircraft went like clockwork: both outside Ivans went down before I reached the runway, and I quickly disposed of both in the hangars.

Richard and Dan powered up the su25s, while I lifted the Hip8 and flew it back to hover above the rocks. The convoy arrived and massed between the control tower and the hangars. We all held fire, sticking to the plan, while our bombers streaked in.

BOOM! Fire blanketed the area. I saw one UAZ car launched higher than my helicopter, hurtling over paddocks to the NW of the airfield. Those of us on the hill spotted, directing the bombers' fire, while they roared in for pass after pass. Sometimes they carpeted Ivan with dumb-fire bombs, sometimes they surgically took out vehicles with missile strikes. One time they did both at once in a synchronised crossover that looked awesome, and I saw Dan hose the ground in a strafing run.

Meanwhile Craig "Capt Grumpy" came in with a freshly pressed uniform, and had exactly as much luck as the rest of us did the first time. He reported a green circle on his screen that I assumed was the command view reticle but later turned out to be his night vision goggles!

Above us Dan's weapons ran dry. He ejected right over us, the su25 spiralling down onto the runway while he drifted onto the hill via parachute.

We tried to get everyone into the chopper but couldn't get Craig in. In the end I was forced to leave him on the hill with the AI and flew the others back to the LZ where we exchanged various weapons for sniper rifles. When I lifted off Richard reported that he also was out of ordinance.

Destroying all aircraft triggered a large force in Krasnostav, so I wanted some insurance in case Ivan shot the chopper down. I asked Rich to land the su25 now that the airfield was (mostly) ours. He brought it down and then rolled off the runway into some trees. I eased down the Hip and picked him up, and flew us back to the radio tower:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1319944/pic/842357350/view?picmode=large&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&dir=asc

On the way we saw a couple of Ivans running full tilt down the hill and across the runway. Greg got both on the run with precise bursts, I'm sure one was even a single-shot kill!

Meanwhile Dan had been helping out Craig. He could now change weapon modes, but had a more serious problem: severe lag.

We all assembled at the top of the hill for a photo:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1319944/pic/1845020228/view?picmode=large&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&dir=asc

Craig, on the left of the photo, reached the top of the hill but couldn't see anyone(and to him, the chopper was frozen sideways in midair!).
A couple of us went over to talk to him. He could hear our voices but couldn't see us:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1319944/pic/1475812737/view?picmode=large&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&dir=asc

At that point I saved the game.

Time to deploy sniper teams. Craig exited to see if coming in again would fix the lag. While his marine was controlled by the AI, Richard ordered it into the chopper. I flew us to a point Christian had selected (WNW of the airfield) and they set about picking off a force of 10-15 insurgents. While Craig had an assault rifle, Ivan was out of his effective range.

I took off with Greg and Dan as door gunners, floating us over their group and around the hangars. Between the snipers picking them off from the hill and PKM fire pouring from above, the force had no chance against SPLAT!

After they'd been eradicated, I lifted us up for a recon and flew over the town. No threats were visible. Rich reminded us of another pickup that had been spotted south of the airfield, so I flew us over for a look.

It was parked with its nose against a telephone pole, not moving or firing. I thought it was empty, but when I attempted to land in front of it the 50 cal opened up on us! I bugged out of there, and our snipers began moving down from the airfield to take out the gunner.

Just then a large force was spotted to the north of the chopper, moving through the trees.

I puzzled over why the pickup had taken so long to fire, then remembered that once in the armory I'd used an insurgent pickup that didn't have a turret or tripod, just an MG mounted on the roof. It only fired forward. Just maybe...

I brought the chopper down in a tricky landing behind the pickup, between the telephone wires and some trees. Dan sprang from the helicopter. If I was wrong he would have been in extreme danger, but he swiftly dispatched the gunner and driver with two shots and climbed in. We had another armed vehicle!

Our snipers ran straight into Ivan's reinforcements. Craig was the first to take a bullet, Richard soon after as he attempted to revive him. The AI dropped like flies, followed by Christian, as Dan roared in with the pickup. He climbed up to the MG and hammered defiantly at Ivan as Greg and I swept in to help.

Greg blasted away. One Ivan ran at us along a road, so I dropped in front of him at only a couple of metres. Greg sprayed bullets everywhere but somehow this guy danced right through them all at point blank range. I swung the chopper round and almost smashed into a tree trying to not let him go, but he disappeared among some buildings. We flew over them to see where he went, and as Greg fired again his gun emptied with a click.

(Note: pretty sure both guns use a common pool of bullets, Need to confirm).

We had to try and rescue our squadmates in time. I slid us into a paddock near the ominously empty pickup, and we jumped out with our rifles. I shot about four insurgents, then tried to move forward and revive someone when I was killed. Didn't even see who did it.

At that point the game CRASHED. Right out to the desktop! A fittingly cataclysmic end to SPLAT's defeat.

20th Sep 2011: Insurgent Airfield

Mission: INSURGENT AIRFIELD

Those who served: Dan, Berklesnort, Caverick

I sprinted down the hill toward the airfield. Four insurgents still guarded the hangars- each had one outside and one inside, and the convoy was due any moment!

By the time I reached the lip of the airstrip, Dan had sniped the two outside each hangar. I ran to the closest hangar, caught my breath, then edged around the doorway until I could see a grey-camo leg, and shot it. "First hangar clear" I reported. "Moving to the second".

"No time!" Dan replied, sprinting across the grass. "Just get airborne!"

I jumped into my trusty Hip-8 and started the engine. As I lifted off the airstrip, I heard the powerful whine of turbo jets and the su25 eased out of the hangar. The sound mixed with that of approaching vehicles- the convoy was upon us!

I headed for the rocks, hearing Dan swing around and take off behind me. I eased the chopper down to pick up Greg, and hopped out for a look. The convoy had stopped in front of the hangars, making a nice juicy target. I radioed this to Dan, and he swept in for a run.

It was spectacular. The whole area erupted into fireballs the height of the hangars, and cleared into smoke and burning trucks. Dan swept over for a second pass, and more fire blossomed over the convoy. I punched the air. Convoy blown to smithereens and a town ripe for the taking! Surely nothing could stop us now!

I jumped back into the chopper, and Greg settled into the seat behind his PKM door gun. We lifted from the hill and swooped across the airfield to mop up the leftovers.
Nothing moved amid the blazing trucks. We swept past the hangar.. and the field beyond crawled with Ivans like ants! There must have been at least 30. Greg poured fire at them and we swung out over Krasnostav.

I radioed to Dan to switch to missiles and see what he could target. He was already ahead of me- a missile rocketed past and slammed into a pickup south of the airfield, launching it into the air.

Greg and I came in for a pass. I tried to give Greg a stable firing platform, but we were still too far away for accurate MG fire. Just then we received a mayday from Dan. It was to the northwest, more than two kilometres away! I swung the Hip around and poured on the speed to get there in time.

Dan had lost power making a turn and ploughed a deep scar into a smooth green hillside. Greg leaped from the chopper and ran to his aid, then took some photos of it:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/394442576/pic/1261764335/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/394442576/pic/609651094/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

Now armed with two door gunners, I took off again and flew over the hills toward our hot zone. Ivan still swarmed over the western end of the airfield. We crossed them at a fair height, guns blazing, and I had just begun to turn for another pass when tragedy struck. Greg fell from the chopper! (some kind of bug)

"No!" I screamed as he plummeted to the ground. He'd fallen close to Ivan's large force!

I circled overhead for a moment, wondering what to do. To get down among those guys was suicide, but we couldn't just fly away and leave him. And if we were going to attempt a rescue, it had to be done now...

"Dan, switch to the left gun".

"Copy that" Dan climbed across to the seat Greg had just fallen from. I curled away to the east, then lost altitude as we came back to the west end of the airfied.. We entered the field at about eight meters. I gave the Hip some rudder to keep Dan facing the troops.

At first Dan didn't see the men, then he opened up with fury. We almost hit a tree (I saw us clip one), but Dan had mown down at least six insurgents before I throttled up again. Having thinned their numbers, we zoomed over some trees and I brought us in for a fast landing in the backyard of one of the buildings. It was  to the south of the airfield, close to where Greg lay screaming.

Dan and I jumped from the chopper. Dan bravely ran to Greg and started reviving. I saw figures approaching through the trees, a LOT of them. I fired but don't think I hit anyone. It got their attention though, and bullets started tugging the air around me. As I dropped prone I caught a minor wound, but I saw Greg and Dan sprinting back to the copper.

"Get those guns working!" I cried. The rear one began to spray the trees. I bellied toward my bird but just as I crawled under the tail I was shot.

I lay there screaming and watching all the grey figures running around. Dan tried to revive me and was shot too, it looked like the end. But then I gasped for air as Greg pulled me back from the brink, and we crawled into the chopper as bullets hit it from all angles. We struggled into the air, and I sped us south. Woo-hoo!

"Now THAT, gentlemen," I said "is called teamwork".

We tried to come up with a plan. The only way I could see to even the odds was get to the other su25.

"It's too hot" Dan said. "We'd never make it".

"I'll get you there".

Now that we had escaped certain death I felt cocky. Or maybe I'm becoming more like a pilot. Our medevac under fire had lured the troops a little to the south, so I though we could do it.

I flew us in from the east, staying low to use the buildings to shield us. I flared the chopper and thumped her down at the western hangar door.

"Now?" said Dan.

"GO!"

As Dan jumped out the door bullets began to hit our bird again. I'd just started to throttle up when BOOM- an RPG round hit our rotors! Once again I thought we were toast, but she faithfully clawed us back into the air.

Dan rolled out of the hangar in the second su25 as the troops ran toward him. Now was the time he was vulnerable, so I kept us close and Greg let rip with 7.62mm. I know he got about six. He either suppressed the whole force or, at the very least, kept their attention on us. Dan swung the jet around, I punched the throttle, and I rode his wing all the way up the runway. It must have been an awesome view for Greg.

Once Dan was safely airborne Greg and I came back for another pass, but at long last the PKMs ran dry. We were only a transport now. As Dan started dropping ordinance, I flew us back to the ruins of the radio tower, landed and saved the game.

Greg and I had to switch back to infantry weapons, so I flew us back to the LZ. Greg picked a very nice grassy-looking sniper rifle, and I reloaded mine. I landed us on a hill on the west side of the airfield, and we got to work:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/394442576/pic/1464457275/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

We shot several as Dan made passes over them.  When it seemed like they were all gone, another patrol would come up from the south.

I glanced at the map and saw that they were flanking us, approaching using a dip in the hill as cover, so I checked with Greg and we withdrew, jumping back in the chopper. Once again we took off with the sound of bullets plinking though the metal skin. I flew us back to the rocks, where the AI had been patiently waiting the whole time.

Dan made more passes until his ordinance was spent, then he ejected and joined us at the rocks. We shot another couple of Ivans, but the rest lurked to the southwest where we couldn't see them because of the hangar. Just then we hit another weird bug where I looked like I was bing dragged but nobody could drag or revive me. In the end I got Dan to shoot and then revive me.

As we discussed plans,  I ran down to the airfield and returned driving a jeep I'd spotted. "Will this help?"

It was almost out of gas, but it would be enough for a charge. Dan took the 50 cal, I ordered the AI to advance and Greg accompanied them. I drove us up the runway, rounded the corder and screeched to a halt.

Dan opened up with the MG on the remaining ten or so Ivans. I'd just passed another jeep that looked serviceable, so I thought I'd get on its gun to help Dan. I ran back and found it was too damaged though. A bullet clipped me, so I dropped prone, lifted my sniper rifle and shot at least six.

The airfield, at last, fell silent.

Was Ivan really, finally gone? Time for a recon to find out. I took the jeep's wheel again, picked up Greg and we drove back to the trusty chopper:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/394442576/pic/573126058/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

I floated us gently over Krasnostav until we were completely sure that the enemy had been vanquished. After accumulating more than seventy kills between us, we'd done it!

Time to achieve the second objective. I eased the chopped down near a car so we'd have some transport, dropped the guys off, then got some height and ejected. I drifted down a happy man. Time to drive triumphantly to the exfil!

BOOM went my faithful Hip. The notification came up that the second objective was complete! All aircraft destroyed- now we had to take the town!

That's when the doors of Krasnostav flew open and ANOTHER large force swarmed out of the buildings! I was taken out as soon as my feet touched the ground. Greg and Dan ran for the hills to try and snipe, but were also cut down in moments. SPLAT was defeated.

9th Sep 2011: Insurgent Airfield

Mission: INSURGENT AIRFIELD

Squad Members Inserted: Cav, Greg, Christian, Dan.

I could tell right away that something was wrong.

As soon as the blackhawk lifted into the sky, the AI started saying they couldn't board it again. It had been set as the waypoint. Then Dan noticed that the first objective was already marked as complete. I definitely did not select "resume" when hosting the mission- what was going on?

We armed up and headed for the ambush point. Christian and I took up our positions while Dan herded cats and Greg entered. We scanned the hill, but the usual patrol wasn't there. There also wasn't a sniper on the tower. Could it be that the first objective was indeed complete?

There was one way to find out. I stepped out on the road and spotted two Ivans up the road near Olsha. Had a crack at one but missed. They entered the bush to the south and tried to get behind us, but were easy prey for SPLAT.

I then moved up to my grenade launching point on what could have been an empty hill, while the others waited at the bottom. When I got there I noticed at least three- sneaky Ivan! The hill was indeed in enemy hands. I turned to let the guys know, and saw an assault wave of reds charging SPLAT from the airfield!

Being up on the hill, I had a great field of fire. I dropped prone, brought up my assault rifle and dropped four of them. However I was also very visible to them. The rest turned their attention to me, and bullets started hissing through the grass all around me. I rolled like crazy to the right, taking a hit as I did so, then shot three more as the assault was repulsed.

I bandaged my wound, then proceeded assaulting the hill. I knelt to launch the grenade and was shot as I fired it. The grenade went wide, and I went down. At this point one or two of the Ivans came down the hill at us but were taken down (by Christian I believe). Someone (Dan?) climbed the hill, pulled me out of the fire and revived me.

There seemed to be one guy left behind the tower. I launched a couple of grenades at him to no effect, he must have been protected by the rocks. I went around to where he was and came up the hill firing (rather than waiting until I could see him), but was shot. Once I was revived again, the guy was gone and we'd taken the hill. We may have shot each other at the same time.

Now we were out of immediate danger, we took stock. I was almost out of grenades and Greg (who had come in late) only had an assault rifle, so the two of us ran the 1km back to the LZ as Christian and Dan scoped the airfield. Greg took an assault rifle with grenade launcher, and I swapped mine for a heavy SAW MG and 1000 rounds of ammunition. On the way back we received the notification that the convoy could be on its way. We abandoned all hope of taking the airfield and started to plan for the convoy, but it didn't show after waiting for a while.

We climbed to the road overlooking the airfield, and sized it up (still keeping an eye out for the convoy). One of the AI started to lose his nerve and blast away at the airfield even though he was way out of range. Dan ordered him to hold fire, but after a few seconds he kept shooting again. This started to get their snipers attention, and I considered executing the AI for insubordination.

Greg and Christian moved to the rocks, Dan and I crept a little south to the eastern edge of the airfield. I believe Ivan's snipers were taken out about this time. I edged out of the trees hoping to do some good with the MG but was driven back by some close fire. I followed the road down to the south to make sure no vehicles approached. I saw an Ivan sprinting across the field to the south of the airfield, as was able to take him down at a fair range with a squirt of the MG as Dan joined me. Christian and I were then on 8 kills each. I suggested we get a Legolas-Gimli thing going. He said a tank still only counts as one :).

The south of the airfield looked like a great assault position, the hills meant you could get very close to the airfield while in cover.  Dan moved the AI into position to assault from the east. I asked Greg to come down, because there was a big cluster of Ivans on the runway and assaulting from the south brought them within range of the grenade launcher. He launched grenades from total cover, and our sniper on the hill (Christian) could spot and range, and direct his fire. We didn't have any success with it this time, but I think it was a good idea and worth trying again.

Dan and I crept closer to the hangars, saw that they blocked all the Ivans from view, then ran up to them and flattened against the wall. We tried a couple of angles but couldn't get at the Ivans without being dangerously exposed. They were, however, not worried about us because Christian was still picking them off from the rocks. He easily beat me in the kill count.

Greg joined me and we went to the western hangar, while Dan took the eastern. I saw part of one guy sticking out of the hangar and drilled him with the MG, but we couldn't see out onto the runway because of a fence. There was a little building about 20m to the west and we ran for it, but as soon as we poked our heads out either side the ground was peppered with red lead. I ran back to help Dan.

Dan and Christian, meanwhile, took out the entire force on the runway. SPLAT had them in a crossfire, and they didn't know which way to look even when Christian ran out of ammo. Christian started running back to the LZ for more as Greg moved in on the western hangar and was shot by a red lurking under the wing of a Flanker. I went around the back of the eastern hangar and up the east side of the western. I couldn't get to Greg or I'd be shot too, but I figured if Greg had been cut down coming from the west then I had a chance approaching from the east.

I didn't have frags or smoke, but I had more than 900 rounds. The only plan I could think of was to start firing before I moved. I pressed the trigger and stepped out, a hail of bullets preceding me.
Ivan was still facing Greg. That was good. I had assumed Ivan would be standing up. That was bad. He spun toward me as I walked the fire downward, and cut him down. Phew!

There could have been more Ivans in the hangar, so I ran around the back and was able to drag Greg to safety and revive him:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1745231782/pic/729103669/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

We readied our weapons, leaped in and found our unguarded objective. We'd taken the hangar!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1745231782/pic/1673059343/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

However Dan had not been so fortunate. He also had been hit, and Ivan still lurked in the other hangar. Greg pumped a couple of grenades in but the map still showed Ivan in there. I suggested we treat it like a flashbang. I moved to the hangar door, nodded to Greg, he shot in a grenade, and in the smoke and confusion I jumped in firing. There was no need though, Greg's grenade had got him and taken the airfield!

Dan was revived and ran off to heal and organise the AI. I went over and claimed my baby:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1745231782/pic/985969430/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

First I thought it wasn't armed or that it couldn't fly, but it had a heavy PK-4 MG each side. Greg took a door gun, and we lifted off from SPLAT's airfield:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1745231782/pic/1257548187/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

We'd secured the airfield and I floated over the scene in our new bird. Life was good. I started to do a recon and find the convoy, but Dan had a good idea. Our mission was to blow up the flankers, so why not do so with the Hip's guns?
We flew back to the airfield, I steadied her a few feet above the grass and Greg hammered the planes with fire:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1745231782/pic/672773010/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

It looked awesome, but the Flankers didn't blow. Christian got to work with satchels while Greg and I did a recon.

We discovered the convoy on main street, Krasnostav:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1745231782/pic/1110486840/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

The sky suddenly filled with fire. I went evasive, juking and turning while tilting forward and punching the throttle to get us out of there. The chopper took hits as Greg poured 7.62mm back at them. I honestly expected us to fall out of the sky and explode then and there, it was a miracle we made it out.

I swung us out wide, and flew back out over the radio tower. Just then Dan and Christian blew the first flanker. You can see the smoke ahead of us as we flew back:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1745231782/pic/1539100275/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc


We needed more satchels, and most of the AI ran out of ammo during the airfield assault. Dan ordered everyone into the chopper, and I nervously took off with the whole squad aboard. On the way back we spotted a couple of troops in Olsha. I gently eased the Hip down to the LZ, and we all stocked up on weapons and ammo:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1745231782/pic/348890142/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

The LZ reminded one of the AI of home, and he developed post-traumatic stress. No matter what we did he wouldn't get in the chopper, so we had to leave him. I flew us back to the airfield, and Dan blew up the second flanker:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1745231782/pic/1105120498/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

However the "destroy the aircraft" objective was still not complete. When the time came, we'd have to put down my beautiful bird.
We then spotted a car to the north. Greg and I took off to investigate. I tried to keep her a little lower and faster this time, to minimise our time in Ivan's crosshairs.
I didn't even see the car, but 50 cal started punching into our bird. I saw at least one hit the engine. I tried to pull out of there, and a row of trees loomed ahead. I nosed up and hit throttle to gain sudden altitude, but the battered old girl didn't respond (the engine lost power). We hit the trees and flamed to the ground.

Objective complete.

We lay there for a while before Dan, Christian and the AI could reach us:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1745231782/pic/1409379348/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

I took a photo of our poor bird's final resting place:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1745231782/pic/47836583/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

It was now getting pretty late. Someone had the idea to see if I could save the game. I could, and did.

Because we were so close to the town, we thought we'd have a go at the convoy. I found a place to approach the town with good cover, saw a truck and squirted it just as they opened up on me. I took cover but I'd kicked a hornet's nest. I saw at least 20 Ivans on the map swarming everywhere, and we were wiped out in moments.

So next time, assuming that the resume works, we need to pull back and play a long game with snipers to try and whittle them down.

1st Sep 2011: Insurgent Airfield

Mission: INSURGENT AIRFIELD

The black hawk lifted into the sky. The SPLAT squad members who had answered the call sounded off:

"Plancake" : sniper/squad leader
Christian : sniper.
Dan : SMAW/rifleman.
Greg : Rifleman.
Caverick: Grenadier.

Dan and I scouted ahead while Richard herded his AI cats. I got a look at Dan's new face:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1699373353/pic/273946548/view?picmode=large&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&dir=asc

We stopped at the treeline and waited until we were all in position, then Christian picked off the tower sniper and everything hit the fan. We were assaulted by two forces: one at the bottom of the hill that advanced to close range, and another from the top of the hill.

It was pandemonium. When the first group moved in close I couldn't even see them. Bullets flew everywhere. A couple of grenades went off. Richard barked orders to the AI left and right. I was hit and crawled back into the gully (the reason why it's such a great ambush spot), then went over and revived Greg, then shot someone on the hill, then revived Greg again, then was hit bad. I bellied back into the gully and went to heal myself but the only option was "bandage wound". I did this and found that I couldn't walk- I'd stand up, take a step and come down again. Richard came over to revive me (I spotted an Ivan running through the trees and shot him as he did so), but I still couldn't walk.

By this time the first battle was over. We'd taken a lot of hits but somehow survived. Dan ran out of bullets and ran back to the LZ for more.

Everyone gathered round me. I was a bloody mess, and seemed to have been kneecapped. I started to belly up the hill when Richard said to stop. He had an idea. After a while he figured out how to order the AI medic to have a go at healing me. It didn't seem to work at first, but after a little more falling down I was able to walk again. A miracle!

We moved up on the hill. Christian had my back while I moved into firing position. I took my first shot at the north side of the tower just as Rich asked us to wait for the rest of the squad. Oops. I hit my target (I sent another one there for good measure), but he wasn't alone. There were at least three guys up there AND a pickup with 50 cal! I launched a grenade at the pickup just as someone shot me down (was it me that got it?).

As I was dragged back and revived, SPLAT finished taking the hill! We had a few casualties though. I revived an AI, Plancake tried to get to Dan and revive him but was too late. Christian climbed the tower for a look around, and I drove the pickup over to the tower to set up our group photo.

But it was not to be. As we waited for Dan to run back to us (this time with a sniper rifle), Plancake lost connection. This meant that we couldn't get him or the AI away from the tower, and we had to blow it up. I got a quick group photo:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1699373353/pic/1166696451/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

Then we cleared the area, hoped Richard was far enough away, and Christian set off the charge:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1699373353/pic/2134157075/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

Unfortunately this gave Richard (who I think was just reconnecting) a case of Cav Knee.

Dan jumped on the back of the pickup, and we drove down to the rock wall. As soon as I stopped at the wall, I was hit by one of the control tower snipers and had to run. Christian arrived and returned fire but couldn't get their range. I tried a few times to hit the pickup gunner but it was too far for my assault rifle to be accurate.
Once I found out Richard still couldn't walk I went back up to help him but didn't have the option to heal him. He was in a bad way:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1699373353/pic/1429055861/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

I moved to the top of the hill and kept trying to hit the pickup with no success. Three guys were headed our way though. Richard slowly arrived and I moved to help him, getting stuck behind a tree next to him as Ivan opened up with an MG. Wood splinters flew everywhere, it was really precarious. Richard, who wasn't able to exchange his pistol for his sniper rifle, got hit again. I grabbed him and slowly dragged him back, trying to keep the tree between us (not that I could even see Ivan). The tension was so intense. I was winged again dragging Rich across a road, but managed to get him back into the trees and revive him.

Once Richard was back with us we ran down to the rocks, and he began to put that sniper rifle to work. He took out the tower snipers and the pickup gunner. Christian and Dan also used their sniper rifles, and we fought back hard:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1699373353/pic/984824080/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

It reached a kind of stalemate. The range was difficult and once they crossed the airstrip they could get under our guns. Once they began to approach in force, It wasn't looking good.

Greg suggested we move our assault down the hill to the west. Richard stayed behind to cover. Greg and I went ahead of Dan, reasoning that he had the sniper rifle and was more valuable. I ran across an open field, managed to shoot an insurgent inside a hangar, and made it into a gully, where I verified that the second pickup had been taken out.

Just then I was hit, I didn't see who by. Greg said he'd come to get me. I told him not to because I didn't know where Ivan was. Greg said "What are my legs? Steel springs!" (from the movie "Gallipoli") and bravely sprinted across the open field to come to my aid:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1699373353/pic/4689244/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

About this time they finally got Richard.

Once I was revived I looked back at the pickup, and saw a man behind it. Then another, and another... a whole formation! I looked to my right to tell Greg, and saw both Greg and Dan ready. The three of us were in a good firing position, biding our time for the right moment.
"Fire!"

We cut them down. Ivan returned fire but they were dropped like bowling pins. I thought we were going to win until the pickup with 50 cal roared over the hill toward us. I shot at it a few times, but just couldn't hit the gunner. As it peppered us with bullets a truck came over the hill too, and we were overwhelmed.

25th Oct 2011: Insurgent Airfield

Mission: INSURGENT AIRFIELD

We geared up and proceeded about 20 degrees to the left of the radio tower, halting at the treeline before the road. One patrol was halfway up the hill to the right, and a couple more men were on the left. SPLAT took them down, then we moved up to the next group of trees and made it a fair way toward the airfield before being whittled down to screaming, foul-mouthed sunbakers.

I thought the second assault would be over before it began. While people geared up, I took the AI and Christian (packing an MG) up to the road to see if the large patrol was running along it (as I had seen previously). We took position but the insurgents (we need a shorter word for them) didn't eventuate. We followed the tree line to the west and came under fire from a large force, possibly the same guys I was looking for. They were right on top of us, we were taking casualties and our other members were still on the way. Thinking I was about to die I unloaded four rifle grenades and both my frags. Checking the map I saw that an insurgent was only a few metres away! I switched back from the map and clumsily started to fire at the man running toward me when he was cut down by Christian, shooting from the hip.

The rest of SPLAT arrived and hit them hard. As we took out the western force another group gave us fire from the hill, hitting Greg and Plancake. One rifleman in particular really seemed to have our range. I directed the AI to target him, then I was hit. Fortunately the AI revived Greg who then came to my aid. We returned fire, Plancake bravely running into the open to take out the last one.

We moved to the next group of trees. Dan and Plancake headed for Olsha to see if the truck was there. They found a car, but it needed more coal so they abandoned it.

Meanwhile the rest of us moved to the west toward the airfield:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1282578055/pic/2098989657/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

I tried to hit the sniper on the control tower but couldn't. The others moved up to have a go, and an enemy pickup with 50 cal came up the road almost on top of us. I directed the AI to shoot at it, I believe it was they who got the driver and gunner. Plancake then jumped behind the wheel and Dan took the gun:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1282578055/pic/1387635929/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

The sniper had been taken out by this time (not sure who did it), so they roared toward the hangars spitting fire. The rest of us moved with them but Dan was killed, I was hit and Plancake escaped the swiss-cheese pickup by the skin of his teeth. We fell back and Plancake revived me.

By this time Gavin had moved up the hill on his own. I warned him against heading for the tower (Dan later said there were eight or so insurgents and a pickup there), so he found a good spot overlooking the airfield. Plancake joined him and the two snipers started thinning the herd.

The rest of SPLAT joined in, and we inflicted enough damage that the insurgents called for reinforcements from the town. I thought the announcement meant that the radio tower might now be clear, so I edged up to have a look, Christian watching my back.

The map said there were at least three still left. I spotted the pickup and killed the gunner, but the driver gunned the engine and started off down the hill. Christian and I were moving to intercept when someone at the base of the radio tower (hidden in some brown bushes) killed us both.

At this point the reinforcement CONVOY arrived. I watched Plancake fight to the end, then we tried another mission.

CLEAR THE WAY

Plancake left, and we were surprised by the appearance of Glenrock! We found ourselves at the eastern edge of the big city of Chernogorsk:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1282578055/pic/1177179323/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

The objectives were a little sketchy, it looked like a sweep and clear operation. We ran across a wide open field and took cover behind walls and pipes as we came under fire. Dan was caught in the open and killed by the insurgents. I couldn't even see them, but Christian and Glenrock took out a few. Christian then climbed to the roof of a building and was killed, I tried to retrieve him and was also killed. Everyone else was dead by this time, so we tried another mission. I know we'll do much better next time we try this one.

DAM BUSTERS
-----------
Dan took the wheel of an LAV, Greg took the guns, Christian hopped on a motorbike and I jumped on the back. We set off to scour black mountain for a missing pilot:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1282578055/pic/867697096/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

Christian and I had a merry old time riding through the forest, but didn't see a thing. Greg and Dan ran into 8 guys and an APC, and Greg took them all out. We ran into technical difficulties somewhere along the line, and had to restart. Christian had to go.

I followed the same pattern, riding around the hills on the bike. Dan and Greg somehow got their LAV stuck in Krasnostav surrounded by insurgents. When the one with (as Greg put it) a can opener came along, they were killed and respawned.

I arrived at the town a few minutes later, having hit too many trees and my bike dropped below walking pace. I shot two insurgents, then was wounded and dragged myself behind a tree. Greg and Dan came to the rescue:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1282578055/pic/977692278/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

...but we were all somehow killed a few minutes later, and Dan had to go.

PILOT/GUNNER TRAINING

I asked Greg if he wanted a quick spin at pilot/gunner training, and we ran a scenario I whipped up with the editor. I flew an Apache with Greg on the guns, and we had a great time completely failing to hit anything. The AI had no such problem:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1282578055/pic/600162871/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

We eventually figured out that you need to switch to hellfires (w) then target the tanks with (tab). The best moment was when I was watching the chopper in third person view only to see Greg get his keys mixed up and throw himself out of the chopper on a parachute! I ran the chopper into the trees I was laughing so hard.

But eventually we got it figured out and took out the tanks:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1282578055/pic/144662763/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

I then eased the Apache into Devil's Castle and landed for a photo to finish the evening:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1282578055/pic/1796877279/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

18th Oct 2011: Castillo/Insurgent Airfield

Mission: CASTILLO

Christian, Richard and I arrived at the castle and sprang into action. Richard took the APC and blocked the northern east gate (we found that he had to drive inside to do it), I took a hummer and blocked the southern east gate. When I got out I was outside the castle and the commies were closing fast, so I ran north.

Initially I planned to snuggle into some leaves and try to take down some infantry, but a few bullets chased me into the trees and I kept going, down a steep slope and across a quiet field. I found myself on the outskirts of Krasnostav, a large town to the northeast. I was now some way off from the fighting, and had an idea to run to the airfield and rain some death from above. After running for a while I discovered that it's just too far on foot and the town had no vehicles. I had to kill myself to get back into the action.

I grabbed a stinger, ran to the battlements and was hosed down by a tank. Then I grabbed a stinger, ran to the battlements and fell off. Then Richard reported an enemy soldier inside the barricade, so I found and killed him. The enemy soldier, that is. I then found the crack in the wall and shot a couple of soldiers before they shot me. On my next spawn I selected a grenade launcher to toss a few over the wall, but when I reached the wall there was another enemy soldier inside (at the same spot, beneath the tallest tower). I clumsily tried to get him with the launcher but he shot me, and when I came back we were overrun.

Mission: INSURGENT AIRFIELD

By this time we had Christian, Richard, Greg, Dan (joining us for his first game) and I. I got a group photo as we geared up:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1085243086/pic/1714411083/view?picmode=original&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&dir=asc

We set off. Christian and I, sniper rifles in hand, went straight for the objective with some AI while the others flanked to the south:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1085243086/pic/1714411083/view?picmode=original&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&dir=asc

I could see a pickup with 50 cal on the map that was very close to the others, but they couldn't see it. Christian and I took up position at the foot of the hill:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1085243086/pic/1714411083/view?picmode=original&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&dir=asc

The sniper wasn't on the tower, it was strange. Our southern force advanced so we moved up too, but we were all torn to pieces. Dang, that hill is hard.

On our second assault, Dan headed around to the north on his own while the rest of us followed Richard even further to the south. We reasoned that we could see them more easily on the gentler south-western slope. The sniper was back and got Dan early on, and with nobody to revive him he had an excruciating wait as the rest of us assaulted the hill. I don't know who fired first, but when everything went to hell I shot the sniper off the tower. I tried to fight the others but couldn't see any of them. Our guys were being hit left and right. I dragged one to safety and revived him, then used the map to throw a grenade toward an enemy and take him out (the map also said the 50 cal pickup was on the hill!). I dragged another of our guys under a tree and had started to heal him when two of the enemy shot me at short range.

We are GOING to take that hill.

Mission: CASTILLO, reprise.

This time I took a hummer and made a run for the airbase. I followed the route I'd travelled on foot earlier, reasoning that it would be clear. I'd just reached Krasnostav when I was blown apart by a shell or something. I then did my usual flailing around the castle with no clear plan or coordination until we were overrun.

When we restarted, I drove south following a route I've taken a few times. I almost always make it through the cordon, but this time proved to be an "almost". Long range shots from a BMP went through my engine, and it idled to a stop. Knowing from experience what was coming next, I jumped out and ran like hell for a tree, diving under it as the hummer exploded.
Again, I was too far away to make it to the airfield on foot, and the castle was surrounded by enemies, so I looked at the map and saw that I could come pretty close to one of the three enemy bases by staying among the trees. I worked my way through the forest, hearing Richard taking out tanks from the tower.

Soon the base was in sight:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1085243086/pic/1714411083/view?picmode=original&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&dir=asc

I slowly bellied out to it and was treated to the awesome sight of Dan soaring over the trees in a tank! Unfortunately he was launched the hard way.

Soon I reached the base:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1085243086/pic/1714411083/view?picmode=original&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&dir=asc

It mainly consisted of two trucks- one supporting the radar and one powering it. I wriggled in and placed a satchel charge under each, then bellied back across the field toward the forest. I pressed the button but was too close, and went up in the blast.

When I appeared back in the castle it was overrun again, and kept dying without even getting to see where I was.

Everyone was annoyed at this point, it was time to try something new. I tried one called "we were soldiers", but it took so long to load on everyone's pc I thought it had crashed and cancelled it. I then found that I hadn't downloaded any of the other cool missions I've put in the yahoo group database. I tried the mission wizard but that was mostly deathmatch, and somehow I ended up cancelling the server and kicking everyone out.

Everyone seemed to have left at that point except Greg, so I loaded up the little 2 player mission I had called Energy War.

Mission: ENERGY WAR

One of the players starts with a Stinger. Good thing too, because there's an enemy chopper inbound and you have to get your act together. I managed to bring it down:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1085243086/pic/1714411083/view?picmode=original&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&dir=asc

Greg and I then climbed into an APC. I drove, he took the guns. The mission was to take out some officers at the very same castle used in Castillo, but with very different fortifications. We drove in and gave 'em hell:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/splat_squadron/photos/album/1085243086/pic/1714411083/view?picmode=original&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&dir=asc

We took out pretty much all of them. I got overconfident and tried to pop out and use the gun on the top. They shot me before I could even gain control. Greg then switched seats and tried to finish off the stragglers but I had to go, so I left the server on while I did stuff around the house. When we came back it looked like we won, but I couldn't tell.

11th Oct 2011: Our first ArmA II mission.

Mission: CASTILLO

It had reached half past and nobody had joined the game, so I thought I'd start up Castillo and see if I could reach the air support. I sprinted for a hummer, sped through the forest and made it through the enemy cordon (only just- a few bullets spanged off my armour and a shell shook the earth behind me as I went over a hill).

After threading my way through forests, fields and a couple of roads, I saw that Greg had joined the game. I then saw "Greg was killed" a couple of times. I felt a little guilty that I'd left him to face the hordes alone, but there was no going back.

When I reached the airfield I found Greg! I don't know how he spawned at the airfield (maybe it was the closest spawn point to the other player(s)?) or how he'd been killed twice.

At the airfield was a smorgasboard of air power: an AH-1Z chopper and several fixed wings: A-10, F-35 and an Av8 (the VTOL one). I jumped into the AH-1Z, Greg took the guns and we lifted into the air. It was awesome fun floating over the beautiful forests and villages. We found some enemy tanks and were moving to engage them when we were blown out of the sky.

We respawned back at the castle and were killed a lot- the enemy had taken the respawn point, so we restarted.

At this point Gavin joined the game (by proxy- his son David started off), and we had a surprise appearance from Plancake. We all then flubbled around for a while trying to figure out what the hell we were doing. We picked up rocket launchers and didn't know how to equip them (there are a couple of different ways), people joined but didn't have mikes, or didn't know how to type chat... it was total chaos, and the enemy rolled right over us. I also discovered that "multiple lives" must mean "you can come back if a teammate revives you". Moving around by twos is going to be critical.

Highlights of that part for me included:

-Finding an APC out the front of the castle! I took the wheel, David took the guns but we were rocketed into oblivion before we could do any good.
-I took out five guys and thought I was doing pretty good, then I saw the server stats and noticed that Plancake had taken out THIRTY SIX! I assume a couple of his rockets hit APCs or something. Or he's just awesome. I saw a lot of explosions in the field to the east, it looked like he was scoring long range rocket hits.
-Being on one side of a wall and seeing the helmets of three enemy soldiers go past on the other side. They were running along together and talking to each other. Unfortunately I couldn't hit them at the angle they were on.

The moral of the story with Castillo seems to be that it asks the impossible, we need more men. And to block the entrances with hummers and apcs, then rain death from the battlements. There's also a spot where two walls don't quite meet where you can pop off a lot of infantry.

After a lot of this chaos it was clear that everyone was sick of lying around on the ground, so I suggested a new mission. I'd downloaded a cool sounding POW breakout mission but couldn't find it in my menu, so I went for Insurgent Airfield.

Mission: INSURGENT AIRFIELD

Those dastardly insurgents had some air assets at an airfield, we had to take them out. A Blackhawk dropped us off about a click from a radio tower, our first objective. We hiked through the forest and up a hill toward the tower when we suddenly came under fire and took casualties.. There was total confusion for a second, nobody knew where the fire was coming from. For lack of a better plan I told everyone to shoot at the tower, which we did, and that turned out to be where he was- his body fell like an extra in a western. I felt pretty good about that for a couple of seconds until his mates flanked us and we were wiped out to a man. About then was when Christian came in.

Dammit, we had to take that hill.

On our second try, I investigated the ammo boxes we'd been left and found a great sniper rifle.
SPLAT halted at the bottom of the hill this time, and took up positions. I shot the sniper off the tower, and the main force of the enemy came down the hill at us. We were set, they were skylined, and SPLAT cut them down like chaff.

"Is that it?" said Gavin, holding position.

There was one way to find out. I took point, everyone else moved up behind me. I'd started to crest the hill when I was shot. I then discovered that when you've been shot you can switch your POV to any of your team (when you're *killed* you can switch your POV to any of the enemy!). I thus saw multiple members of SPLAT:
1)Crawl up to me .
2)Think they'll take out the threat before reviving me.
3)Go a little bit past me and get shot.

This was rinsed and repeated until we were all dead :) I was screaming into the headset for people to drop smoke grenades and drag the wounded back, but when you're hit nobody can hear you (the reason why some arma players use ventrilo or teamspeak).

Third assault. This time Plankcake suggested a flank attack. He took the main force around to the north. Something weird was going on- I'd made him squad leader but his name didn't come up on the cursor. Poor Christian's computer also kept kicking him out and he had to come in again and again.

Greg and I went to assault the hill to open them up to Richard's attack. He had a sniper rifle, I had an assault rifle with a better scope. We overconfidently tried to pick off the sniper from extreme range, and had exactly as much success as we would have in real life. We crawled closer.
Just as I shot the sniper I heard a vehicle approaching from the north. It came under fire from Richard's force, but I couldn't see what happened because there were a few insurgents close by. By the time we'd finished them off and I could get over to Richard he was dead (and logged out).

Around that time Gavin had to go and Christian had to leave so he could take a cricket bat to his computer. Greg and I were left and the hill was still untaken. We had to avenge our comrades!
This time instead of going straight up the hill we skirted to the left (south) and spiraled up it. I resolved not to die this time with grenades still on my belt, threw them toward the tower and led the assault. And was cut down again. Greg made it up there, apparently cleared the top of the hill, climbed the tower to look around and was shot. Fortunately he ALSO fell like a western extra and so an AI was able to revive him (and me). We'd taken the hill!

Greg and I had no way to blow up the tower, and the AI wouldn't listen to us, so we left them there and headed to the airstrip by ourselves. We noticed a patrolling car with a .50 cal in the back. I saw that it stopped for a moment at a T-Intersection, so Greg and I spent AGES following the tree line down and getting into position to attack the car. We buried ourselves in the bushes beside the road. Soon the engine could be heard getting louder...

And he mowed both of us down before I even saw him.

"That went well" said Greg.

And we left, vowing to return.

(Plancake's POV):

Well, my experience was pretty illuminating.

CASTILLO

When soloing this mission I had previously tried a couple of tactics to take out the tanks. Primary one was to swap whatever weapons I was carrying for a Stinger and 2 missles, run like crazy out the side of the Castle down to the edge of the forrest and try to target the T-90's inbound. Unfortunately in practice it's much harder than that. Whenever I've targetted a T-90 with a Stinger the missile has missed the tank (don't know why, must investigate locking on target somehow). So, from there I switched to targetting the BMP's that were in the camp and took two out (+ their 6 crew!). Then I started taking up a vantage point in the top of the tower to see if I could hit the T-90's from there, but couldn't. But I could target more artillery and ground placements! That's where the 36 kills came from - cannon fodder!

I reckon from the top of the tower early on in the mission I could take out at least 2 T-90's en-route if I can work out how to lock on. Then from the top of tower I also believe with a decent MG you could sweep the approaching hordes of soldiers. But, there are hordes and hordes of them. I'm tempted to try and edit the mission to reduce the amount of insurgents to a reasonable level... stay tuned...

INSURGENT AIRFIELD

This battlefield made me feel tired just watching my avatar run for miles to get to the first hill! (Oh, btw, if people are using WASD to control movement, W = Run, double tap W = Sprint - until you're too buggered to sprint or you try sprinting up a hill carrying a 30kg pack and mg! What a wuss these guys are!)

Anyway, first time around I saw guys getting cut down, dropped and took Cav's advice and sprayed the top of the tower with the SAW... cutting down the man at the top (sorry for the pun! - and in all likelihood it wasn't me who hit him, but anyway, never let the truth get in the way of a good story!). Then I saw Cav and others get hit, spent ages crawling up to him to avoid getting shot, selected "Revive" from the menu, only for my dumb avatar to stand up to administer first aid! Fool! A bullet to the side of the head ended that little manu (which is my text chat shorthand way of writing maneuver, which I can never remember how to spell in the heat of the battle! - to text chat in game, btw, type "/" and the chat box comes up - can't do anything else while typing - except get shot!).

Second time around I was Team Leader! This means I get to shout random commands to people who's typical response is "Huh? Who? What? Where?". Anyway, I manage to herd my group of cats (cats as in directionless, ownerless, disobedient creatures [yes, I know one saved your life Cav, but they still have staff, not owners] not cool guys from the 70s!) around the north side of the hill. Things were silent on the voice channel apart from Christian talking to himself, and no one responded to my text chats. Then I saw a guy running across the field off to the south, heard the sound of a motor and saw a truck head up to the hill. I tried to fire a few shots at the driver as he careened past, but failed. With no responses to my chats and it getting late and a trip to the supermarket waiting, I decided to logoff.