MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Discussion of past, present, and future water war events.
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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by HBWW » Fri Dec 23, 2016 12:23 am

I'm still a maybe and won't know until rather late. (Really depends on how much I feel like driving more and more.) If I do go, I'll have no more than a 2500, 10k, Gargantua, MD2k, and a few water containers.
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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by Drenchenator » Fri Dec 23, 2016 11:31 pm

Unfortunately I can't come now. I got a hamstring strain nearly 3 weeks ago (I think the day after my last post) and it's taking too long to heal. I can't run at the moment. And I need rest for it to heal correctly. I was looking forward to this battle, but I'm not gonna do any good injuring myself further. Hope everybody has fun, though!
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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by HBWW » Sat Dec 24, 2016 1:23 am

^ Hope you get better soon!

There's a small chance I'll have a +1 if I do end up going. Wil from Nerf, who Rob also knows. Scott and Ben, would either or both of you be okay with him sticking around?
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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by scottthewaterwarrior » Sat Dec 24, 2016 10:22 pm

So long as its not Drack I am fine with having a Nerfer in the mix.
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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by marauder » Tue Dec 27, 2016 9:49 am

Current forecast is for a high of 52 with 0% chance of precipitation Saturday. Not bad. Today it is getting up to 71.

Sam, what is the likelihood that you make the war? I really hope you can make it. Bring whoever you want. This is going to be a very special event. We haven't done a fire before to my knowledge. The weather should even be warm enough to do a night war. Is anyone interested in doing a night war in my yard? I have several lights, so it won't be pitch black, despite having close to a new moon. I can put up some mobstacles if anyone is interested.


*edit*
There are several bridges out due to Hurricane Matthew. For this reason I recommend taking exit 116 from I 95 and taking NC 42 to Clayton. Once in Clayton you can use your GPS again.
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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by SEAL » Tue Dec 27, 2016 1:00 pm

Weather sounds beautiful. With our type of water wars, you don't want it to be hot out. I am a little bit worried about the weather for the drive, as there might be snow and/or ice rain on Thursday in the northeast. It's probably not that big a deal since they put an ex-girlfriend's worth of salt on the roads when this happens, but it might be an issue if we're on the roads before the plows get to them.

As far as teams go, perhaps we could wait until the day before to pick them? Then we could split off into groups to plan. Might be a fun way to spend Friday evening. I think we should structure the teams so that each one has good chemistry. Individual skill isn't as important in longer battles.

As for night wars around the house, I want to do them while drunk, hahaha.

What are the sleeping arrangements? Are we just staying in marauder's house? Do you have enough room for everyone? Or are we camping outside? I'm fine with either, although camping gear does take up more space in the car.

I have an iPod, so I'll be making a playlist with around 20 songs to jam out to. Everyone else can bring their own music too! Let's rattle some windows.

I also bought a little baby fire siren that I could bring to set off at midnight to welcome the new year. Of course, when it comes to sirens, "little baby" means about the size of a bedside lamp. The wiring is kind of old and sketchy looking though, so we'll see. The seller claims it works.

I'll be on Discord most of today and tomorrow, so we can discuss stuff. Haven't been this excited about a war in a while.
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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by marauder » Tue Dec 27, 2016 1:19 pm

SEAL wrote:As far as teams go, perhaps we could wait until the day before to pick them? Then we could split off into groups to plan. Might be a fun way to spend Friday evening. I think we should structure the teams so that each one has good chemistry. Individual skill isn't as important in longer battles.
Interesting take. What I will probably do then is give everyone a sheet of paper and you can write your top 3 teammates in terms of fighting chemistry, ranked in order. Everyone will give me the papers, only I will see them, and then I will create teams based off this. This will be great to know for future reference as well.
SEAL wrote:What are the sleeping arrangements? Are we just staying in marauder's house? Do you have enough room for everyone? Or are we camping outside? I'm fine with either, although camping gear does take up more space in the car.
We have enough space at the house for everyone. I also have extra sleeping bags just in case.
SEAL wrote:I have an iPod, so I'll be making a playlist with around 20 songs to jam out to. Everyone else can bring their own music too! Let's rattle some windows.
We live in a neighborhood, and Tony and Danny will be here, so put songs on your ipod without cursing. We will have a number of people over, so maybe we should take everyone into account.

SEAL wrote:I'll be on Discord most of today and tomorrow, so we can discuss stuff. Haven't been this excited about a war in a while.
My discord is marauder4

SEAL wrote:It's probably not that big a deal since they put an ex-girlfriend's worth of salt on the roads when this happens, but it might be an issue if we're on the roads before the plows get to them.
lol
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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by SEAL » Tue Dec 27, 2016 6:41 pm

marauder wrote:Tony and Danny will be here, so put songs on your ipod without cursing.
...that leaves just one song out of those that I had in mind. Also I'm pretty sure your nephews have had a lifetime's worth of exposure to cussing just by being around Van James. :p But I understand that some of the tracks might be pretty violent, so I can leave those out for sure.

I invited you to the Discord chat room; check your PMs.
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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by marauder » Wed Dec 28, 2016 11:03 am

Current forecast is a high of 52 and partly cloudy for both days. Chance of precipitation is nil on Saturday and 10% on Sunday. Should be great. I am getting some local liquor and beers. Deep River Brewery and Distillery has been racking up awards lately. We will have plenty of non alcoholic options available as well. The brewery will be having live music and food trucks until 9 pm on Friday if anyone is interested in going.

I have been running some metrics on wars for 2015 and 2016 and have identified some patterns in how we allocate teams (even disregarding rivalry). I am interested in seeing if this is intentional or unintentional. I'm going to give everyone a paper to write down their own choice for who they feel they have best chemistry with.
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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by SEAL » Wed Dec 28, 2016 5:30 pm

Alright fools, here's my game plan. I'll attempt to pick DX up at 9:30, but it'll most likely be later than that depending on the roads. DX, I'll text you when I have a rough idea of when I'm getting there. After that it'll be smooth sailing down to Scott's place, where we'll spend the night and maybe have a few adventures. Friday, we'll get going to marauder's house whenever everyone's ready. We should definitely be there by the time marauder gets home at 18:00, but we could get there earlier for some scouting as well. Then over the weekend we'll run around in the woods with water guns and engage in all sorts of shenanigans. As of now I'm planning to leave Monday, but the return trip plan hasn't been finalized yet. It'll likely depend on the weather.

Do we have any plans for Sunday? Remember to chug water before going to bed to avoid hangovers!
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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by scottthewaterwarrior » Wed Dec 28, 2016 9:26 pm

Wait, aren't you guys picking up David too?
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Alex: "But the stream is cold." Me: "It's fine, my feet really hurt, now they're numb!"

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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by SEAL » Thu Dec 29, 2016 4:26 am

Last I heard, he's riding down with HBWW.

I'm eating breakfast right now, gonna head out at 5. If I die on the way to DX's house, just know that...I love all of you.

XD
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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by HBWW » Thu Dec 29, 2016 12:27 pm

Not sure when we'll roll out; what time do we need to be there?

Edit: Someone PM me the address, please.

Edit: Yesterday was a blast, thanks Ben and Tiffany for hosting!
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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by SEAL » Mon Jan 02, 2017 8:26 pm

Thanks to marauder for putting this war together. Definitely one of my favorites. I wish we didn't have to cut the battle short in the middle, but these things always seem to happen. I'm pretty sure we still got more hours of fighting per day than just about any other war however. Even if not all of it was fighting, it's still way better to spend downtime setting up ambushes and stalking the enemy than spending time standing around arguing. Hopefully the rest of you agree with me.

Unfortunately the party wasn't as lit as I was hoping. We did have a few fireworks, but most people didn't want to get turnt up. That moonshine was crazy though, haha. I sort of treated it like beer because we didn't have any of the latter and because it didn't really seem terribly strong to the taste. Not the best idea. XD
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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by marauder » Wed Jan 04, 2017 10:38 am

Thanks everyone for attending. I think we had a lot of fun.

I am officially requesting that Rob or Keith take some stills from the footage and post them on here. Also, did Scott get his footage to Rob & Keith?
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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by scottthewaterwarrior » Sun Jan 08, 2017 1:01 pm

Darn it we forgot about swapping footage! Oh well, my thanks go out to marauder for hosting, it was a great war. I too wish we had been able to go longer then we did, but a 3+ hour round is still twice anything we have done before. I'd like to get teams a little more balanced next time, but for being as outmatched as we were, I feel we put up a really good fight. I finished with three kills and three deaths, the highest K/D of my team, and I was at maybe 40%. The battlefield was really good, it would be nice to find a closer drop off point, but I think the long hike would be less of a problem if I wasn't sick.

My biggest complaint has to do with the organization, the idea was for us to pack food and eat on the field, but marauder didn't have much food in the house for us to pack. Sleeping arrangements were also a bit of a problem, I always pack stuff just in case, so was able to provide David and myself blankets, pads, and pillows, but it seamed others were not aware they needed to pack such items. Tony ended up sleeping on the bare floor with no blanket Saturday night! Some of the guys went to get pizza for dinner Saturday too and ended up bringing back a grand total of one large to split between 7 people.
Of course I'm the guy who runs Soakemore (organization, what's that?), so I think organization is something we all need to work on.

David, HBWW, and I went back to my house Sunday as we weren't feeling up to battle anymore. We got a nice Thrifting run in on Monday, I got a few more movies, some Star Wars books, Lightsabers, and a big bag of LEGO Technic for $3.99, that I can only assume they didn't realize was LEGO, since their LEGO prices are usually worse then eBay! Wednesday David and I went downtown to the transportation exhibit at the American History Museum and then the Air and Space, got to show him the DC subway this way too. Friday we drove up to Baltimore to see the B&O Railway Museum, HBWW met us there later and drove back to NY with David.

Thanks again to all, and sorry to anyone I got sick,
"If you are wet at the end of a water war, you are doing it wrong"
Van: "What happened?" SEAL: "Scott Happened"
Alex: "But the stream is cold." Me: "It's fine, my feet really hurt, now they're numb!"

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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by Tim » Mon Jan 09, 2017 3:13 pm

Scott,

I realize I am likely out of line interjecting here, but...

This sounds very ungrateful to me. Why would you expect marauder to feed ~9 people on his dime? He didn't invite you to lunch; he invited you to an event. People traveled great distances to make it to marauder's house, but not all could travel to the pizza place or grocery store across town? A second food run was not possible after the single pizza was brought back?

I can see some people goofing and forgetting to bring blankets or a sleeping bag, but that's not marauder's fault or problem. The blankets you brought should not have been "just in case", they should have been "Plan A".

Marauder is not your mom. You guys are grown ass adults (I have no idea how old all of you are, but close enough), and you need to take care of yourselves rather than throwing your hands up in the air when someone doesn't provide for you.

I fully understand I don't have the backstory. For all I know, marauder said he was going to feed, bathe, and clothe you, but your statements look a little "entitled" to a passerby. Remember, this is an open forum, and perception is reality.

VR,

Tim

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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by marauder » Tue Jan 10, 2017 12:41 pm

scottthewaterwarrior wrote:My biggest complaint has to do with the organization, the idea was for us to pack food and eat on the field, but marauder didn't have much food in the house for us to pack.
A little note on this for everyone... if you are a picky eater... bring your own food.

I did have trail mix, various types of nuts, chocolate chip (raw/vegan) protein cookies, m&ms, beef jerky, and a few other things. I also had almond butter and jelly. It tastes pretty close to pb&j. If I did not offer these to you, or you could not find these, then I apologize.

Next time, let me know ahead of time what you will actually eat. Several people just had raw cereal at breakfast or tried something and then threw the rest of their food out because they did not like it.
scottthewaterwarrior wrote:Sleeping arrangements were also a bit of a problem, I always pack stuff just in case, so was able to provide David and myself blankets, pads, and pillows, but it seamed others were not aware they needed to pack such items. Tony ended up sleeping on the bare floor with no blanket Saturday night!
I had 2 extra sleeping bags and a closet full of blankets and pillows. Just ask. Basic social skills, people.
Tim wrote:I realize I am likely out of line interjecting here, but...

Tim
Tim, bro... please come to our next war. We made blackberry pancakes, sausage, bacon, fresh orange juice. Man, you would love it. Oh, and did I mention we had a water war?
Tim wrote:You guys are grown ass adults (I have no idea how old all of you are, but close enough)
13 to 29. If you include friends at the New Years Eve party that would be 13 to 33.

But, logistics aside, this was a great war, and I want to thank everyone who came. It will be even better next time.
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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by marauder » Thu Jan 12, 2017 12:25 pm

Did everyone like the battleground? Would you like to use the battleground again? Some of us fought on Sunday further upstream. I think that would make a good area for night fighting. Let me know any ideas and thoughts you have on the battleground. I am considering hosting a war later on this year. We might even camp out.
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Re: MOAB 2016 (Official Thread)

Post by SEAL » Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:03 pm

Damn, savage.

I always bring my own food, and in the past have suggested that others do the same. It takes up more space, but you don't have to worry about looking around for places to eat or whatever (which wastes time). Also you can bring your food of choice and not have to worry about getting something you don't like.

Here's my review of the war:

The location was very good. The long and narrow shape made enemy encounters frequent enough to be interesting, but it was also thick enough to where you could avoid being found if you wanted to. Thorns were a nuisance, but not a deal-breaker, and I think St. John's Woods was worse. I feel like the creek controlled much of the battle. There were only a few crossings, and almost all of them were rather sketchy so getting across the stream took planning. Alternatively it was shallow enough to where you could just dash through the water in emergency situations. It was a cool dynamic.

I think my least favorite part of the field was the open sections under the bridges. It looked pretty awesome and having heavy traffic thundering overhead made it easy to sneak around without being heard, but there was no cover aside from the columns. A lot of the action kept gravitating toward these areas, which wouldn't have been so bad if we were playing airsoft or something, but water wars and open areas are like husband and mother-in-law. I do like having open sections to switch up the pace a little bit, but as a place to avoid, not as a place to be drawn to. But overall it was one of my favorite battlefields. Familiarity breeds contempt, so I wouldn't rely on it for all future NC wars, but it's most definitely worth coming back to.

I enjoyed the gametype too. I think the whole invasion thing goes very well with all-day fighting. I like having a defending team that gets to show up early and plan out how they're going to stop the invaders. I do think the roles should have been switched however; our team should have gone on offense. That said, I think the final score was 10-5 or something, so it wasn't as big an imbalance as you'd think. The enemy team basically conceded after hearing what the teams would be. That's not the attitude to have. If you go in assuming the loss, then you most likely will lose. When we did rivalry, my team was basically the underdog, but we were determined as hell to win, and for the most part we did. It also made for more intense fighting. I definitely think the enemy team this war could've pulled off the W.

I still think choosing teams based on chemistry is a good idea, but I suppose some post-selection balancing wouldn't hurt. If one team gets too many good players, some of them could be traded to the other team. But you'd still take chemistry into account when deciding who to trade for whom. Teams could also be sorted to north vs. south, water warriors vs. nerfers, etc. I feel like doing stuff like that makes for more fun than balancing simply based on individual skill. Slight imbalances in weaponry or numbers helps promote action too.

Back to the battle, it was a blast, and I can't think of any serious negatives to it other than the fact that I wish it was a little longer. Communicating with cell phones was awesome and really helped our team make plays. Walkie-talkie headsets would be even better. There was lots of stealth and ambushing, and while there were some Mexican standoffs, particularly in the open areas, for the most part it was kept to a minimum. It would have been sweet to make teams ahead of time and do some planning online, but I suppose that's difficult if you don't know who's coming for sure.

Having a war without splitting the fighting up into small rounds is great because even during "downtime," you're still in danger of being attacked at any time. Nobody ever sits around doing nothing or arguing over what to play next, what teams to use, etc. It also becomes more of a strategy game than a shooting game, which I really enjoy. Water warfare doesn't really work as a shooting game except in close quarters like the portable labyrinth. In places like that, shorter battles are okay.

Although to be honest I'm not interested in playing short rounds in small areas anymore. Maybe it's 'cause I'm in my 20s now (echoing what DX said in the original Downpour thread back when he was my age, haha), but I want a challenge. Give me a war that lasts all day (or multiple days) in a rugged forest, an abandoned insane asylum, a huge cave, etc. Give me frightening opposition and raise the stakes. Victory at all costs! Running around in a tight space for several 15-minute intervals per day? I'll pass... Don't mean to sound like a snob, but that's just my preference.

Overall it was definitely a top 3 war for me. This is what the first MOAB should have been.
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