Friday, Nov. 30th:
Our spirits were high as we began the 2-hour trip to CT. A bit of snow was falling, but by the time we got onto the Thruway, it was gone. I told DX that I planned to be at his house by 4:00 PM, but I never specified when I would be leaving. We actually left right after lunch, so we could arrive early and scout out Paine Open Space (we were also going to go to a surplus store, but the GPS pulled up like six addresses, and we didn't know which was the right one). We pulled into the Paine parking lot around 2:30, which gave us an hour and a half to explore. By the time we were done, we all had a good feel for the place, and formed a plan. M4 actually called me while we were looking around by the east entrance. Not yet wanting to give away what we were doing, I quickly made up that we were still in Newtown (yes, THAT Newtown), the next town over; since I figured it would take about 10-15 minutes to get back to the car, I pretended that we were around 10-15 minutes away.
I don't remember when we got back to the car, or even when we pulled into DX's driveway, but I'm pretty sure I timed it well. They weren't suspicous at all. We decided to warm up with a round or two in the yard, using "medium" guns.
Round 1, OHS:
My team:
Me (SEAL) w/ CPS 1200
Jon (boogieboard2) w/ Vanquisher
Keith (chief) w/ XP 270
vs.
Enemy team:
marauder w/ CPS 12K
Duxburian w/ CPS 12K
They had the weaponry advantage, while we had the number advantage. My team started near DX's garage where we stayed, where we could see our opponents as they went into the woods in the backyard to their starting point. There isn't much to say about this battle; my team opened by running into the backyard to the top of a slope (the woods began at the bottom), because we figured that they would attack, and we planned to cut them off. Well, they didn't exactly attack; I don't think they moved an inch since the game started. They were in the middle of the woods, with fallen logs and pricker bushes all around. There was barely any room to move, let alone fight. My brothers and I circled around looking for a suitable attacking point, but none presented itself. So we entered through the best possible spot we could find.
Keith and I tried to go in and lure them out, but they obviously weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Attacking would probably do nothing but lose us the battle. Terrain really makes a big difference; more so than some may think. It was very hard to move or dodge beneath the trees, so neither side did much other than trade a shot or two. We tried retreating in the hopes that they would follow us into the open, but to no avail. Finally we just brought the house, but even that didn't get us anywhere other than a couple of shots fired. After a few minutes of this, we called the round. It was still fairly light out, so we decided to have one more fight, this time in the front er... 'yard'.
Round 2, OHS:
Same teams and weapons as the first round
Okay, it wasn't exactly a yard; I'd call it a swamp. We hoped that this battle would be more eventful than the last. It was, but only about 10% more so. The swamp was also pretty hard to move in, with unstable ground and more thorn bushes. More shots were fired, but only one kill was made. I don't know how it happened, but while I was trading shots with DX, my brothers tried to attack M4, and Jon somehow got shot. Not exactly the kind of outcome I was hoping for, but there wasn't much I could do. Nothing more happened, and eventually it got too dark to see our streams, and we called it.
M4 left shortly afterwards, so we unpacked our stuff for the night. Scott arrived about when we were done. We then went out to eat at a sports bar-type place called Buffalo Bill's. We retired to the barn when we got back, and probably went to sleep a little after midnight.
One of the main attractions of the barn (or, as one of M4's nephews put it, "The weirdest thing in this room").
Saturday, Dec. 1st:
Next morning, M4 came back with his nephews and Tiff, we filled our guns, and drove out to Long Beach West. Now, to reach the abandoned buildings, we had to walk two miles along the beach. At least it warmed us all up, because it was pretty darn cold. So yeah, I won't bore you anymore; we got to the buildings, laid our stuff in the pavilion, got out our pistols, and walked over to the theater. I was very excited, as it was the first time that I would ever get to experience urban warfare.
Round 3, OHS:
Catskill Mountain SEALs:
Me w/ MD 4000
Jon w/ Viper
Keith w/ MD 3000 & Goblin
Scott w/ Cricket x2
vs.
Super Soaker Liberation Front:
marauder w/ MI Defender & MD 3000
Danny (marauder's nephew) w/ MD 3000
Duxburian w/ MD 4000 & MD 3000
Tiffany (marauder's fiancee) w/ Storm 760
Tony (marauder's other nephew) w/ MI Defender & XP 40
Needless to say, the theater was really cool. So naturally, nobody brought a camera. I was really pissed when I found out that we'd left ours in the car. Since this I've been triple-checking to see if one of us has it. Of course, there was no way anyone was going to walk back to get it. We picked out two doors on semi-opposite sides of the building for our starting locations (we started outside, where our spawn points were). Since we'd never been there before, we had to form our whole plan based on a couple of glances in at the interior of the theater. Since we were outnumbered, I told my team to find a defensive location and settle in. Since it was OHS, I really didn't want us to take many risks, as just one death on our side could result in a loss if we couldn't pull off any kills.
As Scott's stopwatch counted down, we got into position to sprint into the building to try and capture a good position before the enemy did. They did the same thing, but my team all ended up where I wanted them to be; Scott guarding a door to the rear, Keith behind me watching a hole in the wall, and Jon behind a wall next to me. I stood out in the open in a hallway, where I could see the opponent's door. We started out facing the entire enemy squad; but since the hallway was narrow and there was an old couch and some other junk between us, Jon and I were able to hold them back without a sweat. Eventually everyone but DX and M4 remained; the others having vanished out of sight. I wasn't too worried though, because I was fairly certain that all sides were covered.
From there it was nothing but a standoff; I traded a few shots with DX, while M4 and his nephews would pop in and out of view every once in a while. I'm not really sure what happened during this fight, as I pretty much stayed in that position the entire time. What I do know is, there was a small room up near the ceiling facing the stage (I think it was a projector house; I couldn't see it as I was in the hallway that circled around the seating half of the main room) that my team knew nothing about. Apparently Tiff and one (or both?) of M4's nephews had gone inside shortly after we'd lost sight of them, and were using it as a sniper's nest. According to DX afterwards, they were supposed to keep watch on us to make sure we didn't try to sneak around the theater room and attack DX and M4 from behind. At this point in the battle, Keith had gone to join Scott, and it was just Jon and me on DX (Jon also kept an eye on that hole in the wall).
All of a sudden, I see a stream come out of a doorway (which was pretty much right under the projector box), originating near the ceiling. That was when I figured out that there was some kind of balcony up there. I cautioned everyone about it. I still have no idea what the heck the shooter was trying to hit, unless they thought that they could hit me from there (the stream fell about 25 feet short though). After this I have no idea what happened. I remember once when M4 had rejoined DX and was putting some pressure on us, Scott suddenly burst out of the doorway, both Crickets blazing. I don't think he got anyone, but it sure as hell drove them back. Miraculously, he wasn't shot at by the people in the balcony. In the end, it was a 4-2 victory for the SEALs, but I'm not entirely sure how the kills were made. I remember that Keith snuck around behind DX without getting noticed, and shot him, but then was hit by M4 while trying to retreat. I remember Scott getting marauder's nephew once, but I can't remember any of the other kills. It didn't help that I stayed in the same spot for the whole battle, most of the time not being able to see anyone except DX and Jon. All I know is, I didn't get hit or hit anybody, but I did a good job of keeping DX occupied.
I let out a whoop of victory when the round ended, and high fives were issued all around. We didn't have long to celebrate though; it was time to switch sides, and we would get the side with the snipers nest. Before the battle I ran back to the pavilion to grab our other Goblin, 4000, and Scott's other Viper. Since the other team was keeping spares, I figured we would too. I piled them up outside our door. The teams and weapons were pretty much the same.
Round 4, OHS:
Catskill Mountain SEALs:
Me w/ MD 4000
Jon w/ Viper
Keith w/ Goblin
Scott w/ Cricket x2
vs.
Super Soaker Liberation Front:
marauder w/ MI Defender
Danny w/ MI Defender
Duxburian w/ MD 4000
Tiffany w/ Storm 760
Tony w/ MD 3000
I don't think any of us ever switched weapons during this round. Basically, the same strategy was to be followed, but our positions were to be different. Upon the beeping of Scott's watch, we ran into the building once again, ready for another victory. This time, Jon and I ran into the main theater room, and positioned ourselves just above the last row of seats. Scott covered the left, and Keith covered the right (M4's nephews were wondering why we didn't have anyone in the projector booth, but there was no way I was putting anyone in there). Our enemy began by running out onto the stage. Now that we were all dug in, the standoff began! We traded shots like usual, but nobody got hit. DX had taken position in the center of the stage, and the others guarded the sides, except for M4, who had disappeared. Early on I struck at the right side, landing a hit on Tony while Jon distracted DX. We led 1-0.
From there on not much happened, though Keith also scored a kill on Tony, upping our lead to 2-0. Now that we had the lead I had the team shift to the defensive, so no more kills were made. We traded a few shots, but that was about it. There was just one peculiar thing; M4 was nowhere to be seen. After he had disappeared early in the battle, he had not shown himself at all. I thought perhaps that he was sneaking around to the left to ambush Scott, but after minutes of nothing happening, I figured that couldn't be the case, as it wouldn't have taken him nearly that long. As it turned out, there was a small crawl space up in the rafters, and I don't think I need to tell you that he was up there. Still, I had no idea that it existed. While Keith skirmished with Danny and Tony, he said that they were going, "Nyah, nyah! Come and get us!" He therefore knew that M4 had to be around there somewhere.
However I didn't know this, so I still thought that he might've been trying to attack on Scott's side. However, as time went on, I got more and more suspicous. Surely M4 wouldn't remove himself from the fighting for that long. I knew him too well, and he definitely would be a bigger help to his team if he went on the offensive. I began to wonder if there was an upper floor or something that we knew nothing of. Finally, I noticed DX glance up at the ceiling and smile, and at that point I knew he had to be up there somewhere, maybe even on the roof. I called to everyone to watch the ceiling. Finally, I heard a commotion off to the right, then heard M4 yell, "Rob, your trigger sucks!" For he was using DX's nozzle-drilled Defender, which apparently requires the shooter to pull the trigger very fast and hard, otherwise it'll stick half open. That's exactly what happened here; M4 had tried to snipe Keith, but didn't pull the trigger right, and Keith was able to run away.
By the time M4 got down, time had expired and we claimed another 'W'. As it turned out, Keith did have a wet line running down his back, so M4 had actually got him. No matter, we still won 2-1. We headed back to the pavilion to have a CTF round with medium-sized guns. But before I get to that, I just want to say that the MD 4000 is probably one of the must underrated pistols out there. I always read people's posts that praise the 2000 and 3000, but I don't think the 4000 is ever mentioned. That's a real shame, because that thing is one of the most powerful pistols that I can think of, and probably the most powerful blaster of its size, period. A while ago, I measured the range of ours, which was something like 37 or 38 feet. I seriously doubt the 3000 can hit that, though I've never measured mine after I drilled out the nozzle. Our 2000 only hit around 32. The 4000 is only slightly bigger than the 3000, yet has a larger reservoir and superior range. I have known this all along, but ya'll didn't listen to me. I figured I would surprise the other team by using it and outranging their pistols (except the Defender, which borderlines on being a small assault rifle). Unfortunately DX found one at a thrift store and also discovered how good it is, haha.
But enough of that, it's time for CTF! The rules said that if the round went to 15 minutes without a flag capture, we'd call it and determine the winner based on kills. DX and M4 confused the hell out of me by wording it differently; they said it "changed to OHS after 15 minutes", so I thought that meant the game would continue on after 15 minutes. Sorry for being so stupid, haha.
Round 5, CTF:
Catskill Mountain SEALs:
Me w/ CPS 1200
Jon w/ XP 270
Keith w/ Vanquisher
Scott w/ Vindicator
vs.
Super Soaker Liberation Front:
marauder w/ CPS 12K
Danny w/ CPS 21K
Duxburian w/ CPS 12K
Tony w/ CPS 21K
Now the first thing most people will notice (aside from the fact that Tiff is missing; I think she was feeling sick or something) is the huge weaponry advantage that the other team appears to have. Originally I was going to make a stink about it if the other team used K-modded guns (remember, it was supposed to be no greater than 5X), but then I remembered that K-modded guns' streams break up a lot. It was windy. They're also harder to pump. There were two young kids on the team. After rolling those sentences through my mind a few times, I just smiled and kept my mouth shut.
The pavilion was shaped, as M4 posted, like this: =O= The circle in the middle was an open area with a ton of columns, and the equal signs are enclosed areas with locker rooms and bathrooms. Each team started next to their flag in the bathroom on their side. The spawn points were on the top and bottom of the 'O'. We had a minute or two to discuss strategy. Our plan was to have Scott and I attack the opponents, while my brothers would guard the building at different points. I thought that we could break through the enemy defenses and steal the flag, but I didn't know the battleground that well when I made up that plan...
As soon as Scott's watch beeped, he and I took off like we'd been stung by bees. We made it out into the 'O' only to find that the enemy had done the same thing and came out at about the same time. The only thing was, they brought everybody out, leaving nobody guarding the flag (though I think M4's nephews were inside a concession booth which faced the 'O'). Seeing this, I called Keith out to help knock our opponents out of the way so someone could grab the flag. And that's when we found out that stealing a flag in this place was going to be virtually impossible. There were two doors on each side I believe. On my side, Keith was guarding the right and Scott was on the left. On the enemy side we were facing DX on the right and M4 on the left, with the young 'uns in the middle (they swiched sides constantly). I was trying to break through DX to get a path to the flag, but after fighting for a bit I realized that it just wasn't going to happen.
I had forced DX back into the doorway, and from there he was pretty much impossible to hit. I also had to deal with either of M4's nephews whenever they focused their attention on my side. I called Jon out midway hoping that he could help us break through, but to no avail. We racked up quite a few kills, but there was always at least one person between us and our target. In order to claim victory, we would have to pretty much eliminate the entire enemy side at once, then sprint in, grab the Goblin, and sprint out without getting intercepted by an enemy coming back from their spawn point. Yeah, it was hard. Luckily it was the same for the other side, right?
At this point we were just hoping to wait out the clock and win the game by points, because we had amassed quite a lead. Then it all went wrong. DX managed to get free from the doorway with the help of Tony. Around while I was trying to fight both of them off, M4 somehow got through our defenses and ran into our building. I still have absolutley no idea how he got in; I think he told me that he got in through a door around the back, but I don't remember seeing one. How he got past Scott is a mystery to me. Either way, he got in, and started shouting for help. Of course, help wasn't available at the time, because at that point I was taking on all three of the remaining people at once. How I managed to avoid taking a hit is beyond me, though there were some really close calls and they kept driving me farther and farther back until I was practically standing on my spawn point.
It was actually really awesome and intense; I can't recall ever experiencing such an adrenaline rush in any other sport/activity. Maybe in baseball, but it was still nothing compared to this. We have a video of the whole battle (DX had a camera taped to his gun; we couldn't do this in the pistol round for obvious reasons), but you really had to be there to get the full experience. I was taking on three people at once, M4 kept yelling for help, and DX kept shouting back, "I'm a little busy here!" Haha. I don't remember where the rest of my team was; I know my brothers were inside near the flag, and Keith got killed by M4 because he didn't know that he had gotten in (he said he thought M4 was me). Then Jon or Scott (can't remember which) killed M4 and all seemed to be okay. Keith helped me drive back my foes. Whew. We still had it under control, right?
...Not exactly. After M4 respawned, he ran around to the back of our base. I saw him, and cautioned my team to watch out for another attack. A minute later M4 ran back into his base. I didn't think too much of it, as I was busy with DX and the kids. Then I thought I heard someone yelling, "We won!" I thought I was imagining things, but a few seconds after that M4 came out of one of the doors holding both Goblins. For a moment I was speechless; there was no way he could've gotten in there and out again without getting shot. Then we started arguing. We all wanted to know just how he did that. I then remembered seeing him run around behind our base, and got very suspicious. Keith and I ran back into our base to find just what I expected; there was a hole in the rearmost wall of our side (on the end of the equal sign).
I first thought that M4 had thrown the flag out the hole after getting hit, instead of dropping it where he was hit like the rules say, but apparently when he first got in, he simply threw it out, then got killled trying to escape. After he respawned he simply ran around back and picked it up. We had no idea he even had it. After much heated discussion, we decided that it was indeed legal. Because of that we lost the round, but I am not ashamed of it; we outscored them 6-1 with lower-class weaponry, and the only reason they won was because there happened to be a hole in the wall on our side (there could have been one on the other side too, but we didn't see). It was kind of a freak thing.
That was our last round on Long Beach West. We walked another two miles back to the cars, then drove back to DX's house. After eating lunch (I posted an update while I was doing so), we prepared for the big round. The one that actually mattered. The one that we created this whole rivalry thing for. The only one that I really cared about winning. This was... The 3-hour OHS battle. Of course, we were a little behind schedule, so it ended up being about half that length, but whatever. I haven't had a round where camo actually matters since Downpour 2011. Needless to say, I was looking forward to this immensely.
Round 6, OHS:
Catskill Mountain SEALs:
Me w/ CPS 1200
Jon w/ CPS 1000
Keith w/ Vanquisher
Scott w/ Vindicator & Cricket x2
vs.
Super Soaker Liberation Front:
M4 w/ CPS 10K & Vindicator
Danny w/ CPS 21K
Duxburian w/ CPS 12K
Tony w/ CPS 21K
As previously mentioned, my brothers and I had arrived an hour and a half early and thoroughly scouted out Paine Open Space. It was a huge help in forming our battle plan, and it made it so we didn't have as much of a disadvantage as we did in LBW. We took our cars to parking lots on opposite sides of the park, with a few minutes to get ready. When we pulled into the parking lot, we got our stuff ready as quickly as possible before going over the plan one more time and running into the woods. Unfortunately we were so worried about getting ready quickly that I forgot my cell phone and my gloves. Our plan revolved around getting to a very tall hill that we found, from which we could see a very long way, and easily fend off attackers. Unfortunately, it was closer to the other team's side, so we had to run.
Once again, the beeping of Scott's watch sent us sprinting forward. Except this time we did not stop. Not until we were at the base of the hill we were supposed to be on. I have to admit that it wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do, and I was almost out of breath by the time we reached our destination. It's funny how one can go from being able to run 6 miles, to having trouble getting 1 just by not running for more than a week. But we got to the hill without seeing any resistance, so I took out my small pair of camo binoculars and began searching for movement.
That's what I'm doing here. A nice view of everybody's rear ends.
Not a minute after I started looking, the enemy was sighted! They were walking up the trail from their starting point, headed right towards our hill. At this point Keith had gone off to the bathroom, and had no idea they were there. He got back as our opponents were starting to come up the hill. We all started frantically whispering to him to get down, but he didn't get the hint for a good few seconds. Miraculously, the enemy didn't notice, but they were headed straight for our location. I didn't want to move a muscle; they were practically looking right at us. How they didn't see us is beyond me, but I knew at any second they would notice the four people laying on the rock. When they were about 60-70 feet away, and DX was looking almost directly at me, I gritted my teeth and leaped up, charging them while firing a burst of rapid shots from my 1200.
Man, you shoulda seen the looks on their faces, haha. But alas I wasn't quite close enough to get anyone; there was a nearby tree that I could've hid behind until they were a lot closer, but I couldn't move to it for fear of being heard or noticed. As it was, they all yelled, "Retreat! Retreat!" DX ran with Danny and Tony down the hill, while M4 stayed behind to hold us back. We gave pursuit, and tried to cut them off at a cliff. Unfortunately they were out of our range. At this point we called a time-out so M4 could take some pictures (probably just trying to stall us so the others could get away, but I didn't really care).
The deadliest water warfare team in the League!
This was the cliff that we tried to cut them off at.
Just to be nice, we let M4 join his team before we went on the prowl again. Expecting an ambush, we were extra careful, posting people at "overwatch" points to look out for enemies where our advancing members could not see (it was very hilly). Turns out all of this fancy stuff was unnecessary, as we found them a few minutes later on the island. Ah, yes. The island. Oh, I have been waiting to write about this since the battle ended. First, I must tell you that in the middle of the battlefield, pretty much right next to the hills, there was a large lake. About 40 feet from the shore closest to the hills, was a small island with a narrow wooden bridge leading to it. We had seen it the previous day, and were thinking about hiding there when we got the lead, because it was almost impossible to get to without taking a hit. Unfortunately our opponents had the same idea.
We exchanged a few shots across the water, but the island was just out of range of the shore (if we had more powerful guns it might have been different). It was obvious that we couldn't get to them, and it made me really wish I had my Douchenator. I decided the only way for us to get anywhere was to lure them off. After all, we were tied at 0. Scott and I stayed back while Keith and Jon made their getaway, then followed them. Not that they tried to chase us anyway. We went to the top of one of the hills, and waited. Nothing happened. Looking back on it I think we shouldn't have let the other team know that we were there. As it was, we ended up shouting a bunch of dumb (yet funny) insults at each other. Oh well, you learn something with each battle.
After a while, we agreed that they weren't going to go anywhere as long as they knew we were sitting there, so we backed down the hill. With the sounds of M4's nephews' high-pitched voices filling the air with insults, we went back up the same hill that we initially claimed. After a while everything was silent. It must have dawned on them that we were no longer on top of the hill. We planned to ambush them if they came off looking for us, but they never did. What happened to that old fighting spirit that I was used to seeing out of DX and M4? Hell, they charged us from low ground in Thunder Gulch at Downpour 2011. It was almost shocking to see them camping out in such a cowardly manner.
Eventually they did come off the island, but only after it was nearly dark (and the round was supposed to end at dark), and then they went back to their parking lot. DX tried to call me to say the round was over, but like I said earlier, I left my phone in the car due to my haste. So the round that should have been the most epic ended up in a 0-0 draw. My team was pretty annoyed, but I didn't really mind so much. It just meant that our opponents were scared of us because they knew we were the better team.
I actually felt pretty good about it, though I was still slightly disappointed that we didn't get much of a fight. However the ambush was pretty exciting, and I got it all on DX's "gun-cam". I feel like we got our revenge from the time they ambushed us in 2011, as the teams were pretty much the same (too bad wetmonkey wasn't there) as the OHK teams then. I really want to have rounds like this every war. In my opinion, it's water warfare in its purest state. But of course, we didn't know that they'd left for the parking lot, so after it started getting dark we went down to the island to end the battle. Of course we found nobody. We guessed they'd gone back, but we were still slightly cautious. We made our way back to our parking lot, at first in formation with guns at the ready, but once it started getting really dark we forgot about it. When we were almost there, when we saw a light moving through the woods ahead. At first we thought it was some weirdo, and thoughts of a strange dream I had about this war earlier (it involved us fighting at night, but instead of an enemy team there this extremely creepy hooded figure that made these horrible screams and was going to kill me or something, but I woke up before then; one of the scariest dreams I've had in a while) wouldn't leave my mind. Fortunately it was just DX. Since he couldn't get a hold of my phone, he went looking for us with a flashlight.
Our extreme-ass team, still fighting after it got dark.
Unfortunately M4 and crew had to leave, so we didn't get to say goodbye, and I forgot to give M4 my old Aquapak (though I got it to him a week later). I was also going to show Danny and Tony my Douchenator, but it never ended up leaving the back of the car. We prepared to spend another night in the barn. Jon brought a CPS 2100 MK1 from DX, but it was pump-shooting, so we decided to do that "modding party" that we talked about. DX was really the only one who worked on the blaster though, and no other blasters were worked on.
I took a few pictures. I really love (read: hate) how we always get a bunch of pictures of us hanging around, but only a few battle photos.
That damn screw!
I hope iSoaker doesn't get a heart attack from this photo.
The outside of the 2100 was okay, but the inside was completely screwed. The PC case was all cracked, as seen in the last photo, and the valve was stuck closed. There were rubber bands on the valve, so it looks like someone had previously opened the gun up and knew about the rubber band repair. DX said he got it off ebay; we were wondering if it was owned by a community member at one point. Has anyone on here ever sold a MK1 2100 on ebay that had rubber bands on the valve? Because I want you to tell me what the hell you did to this thing! Seriously, I don't know how it's possible to crack the PC case like that.
But yeah, we had to cannibalize Scott's beat-up 2100 MK2 (it was missing a pump) for parts. We didn't end up getting it fixed because someone snapped off the valve while trying to get the case open. We also need an MK2 pump, but DX twice forgot to give us one. I have plans for the 2100 though. Once the valve was snapped off, we decided to head to bed. Tomorrow we would try to have a few more rounds before everyone had to leave.
Sunday, Dec. 2nd:
Unfortunately we took too long gettting ready, so we could only have two or three battles. At this point we just decided to screw the temperature rules, and pull out the big guns. The first battle of Sunday was to take place among the hills in Paine that we'd faught at the previous day.
Round 7, OHS:
My team:
Me w/ CPS 2700
Duxburian w/ CPS 2000
vs.
Enemy team:
Jon w/ CPS 2500
Keith w/ CPS 1200
Scott w/ CPS 1500
There isn't really a whole lot to say about this round. Each team started on top of a hill; DX and I on the hill that my team hid on the day before, the other team on the hill near the island. From the start, the enemy brought the offense. Keith and Jon started attacking the hill directly, while Scott went around to the right. I fired some shots at my brothers while DX took care of Scott. I think some kills were made, but I'm not sure. What I do remember is, the enemy managed to get control of the hill, and forced us to retreat back to one of the trails. They didn't have the high-ground for long though; I managed to get to the top and drive them off, and we held them from that point on.
This was also the only battle where DX got kills. Obviously, it was because he was on my team.
In all seriousness, the real reason probably had to do with the fact that he was using a 2000. This proves that choosing a gun based on your style plays a pretty important role in fighting. Some people are deadly with certain weapons, but somewhat less-so with others (I'm talking about weapons with similar power; obviously the best player in the world will still suck with an Electrostorm, unless the oppostion doesn't know how a water gun works). As for me, I got one or two. The 2700 does suit my style very well, but lately it seems I've been having more trouble getting kills with it. Next season, I'm going to experiment with different guns such as the 1500 and 2500. Speaking of the 1500, the one Scott was using (the same one that Jon used in Downpour '12) forced him to actually quit the battle about three quarters of the way through. How, you might ask? Well, the 2500 that Jon brought from marauder leaks a little around the nozzle. It's pretty bad, right? Well, at least it's usable. I have never seen more water come out of more places of a water gun than Scott's 1500 (it's actually DX's, but he borrowed it). The thing was like a freakin' fountain. Needless to say, it was not usable anymore, so Scott had to stop fighting. He took up my camera and filmed the last few minutes of the battle. Overall it was pretty exciting, though still nothing compared to the first Thunder Gulch battles and the last round at Downpour '12. I think the problem was that we lacked people.
Oh yeah, there was also a dispute between me and Jon; I don't remember when it happened, but we both shot at each other and we weren't sure who got the kill. We decided to settle it with an MD 4000 duel. Unfortunately we did it in the middle of a field, and neither of us could get anywhere (open field fighting sucks), so we decided to rule that no kills were made on either side. It was getting later in the day, and I didn't want to drive home in the dark, so we decided to have one more round. We were going to have it around a pond, probably about 100 feet long and 65 feet long, using my horrible distance estimating skills. We switched back to medium guns for this. Scott decided not to fight, so he took up a camera to film.
Round 8, OHS:
My team:
Me w/ CPS 1200
Jon w/ CPS 10K
vs.
Enemy team:
Keith w/ CPS 1200
Duxburian w/ CPS 12K
There wasn't a whole lot of room; the fighting area was constricted to the rather thin shoreline of the lake. We had maybe 10 feet of room to move from side-to-side. It looked to be an interesting round. On our side we had a lot of big trees to hide behind; my plan was to draw them over and use the trees as cover while they were out in the open. At the beginning of the round the other team went to the left, where we cut them off. Like I said, there wasn't much room to dodge to either side, so neither team got very close to each other.
We kept trying to get the enemy through a thin section where we could trap them, but they didn't take the bait, and eventually ran around to the other side. We mirrored, and intercepted them on the exact opposite side of the lake. There was a little more room there, so we used it to push our opponents back. I was pretty impressed with the 10K's performance. It seemed to shoot a lot faster and farther than all the 12s. In fact, I think it was the main reason we did so well against the other team. We pushed them back to near their starting point, then Jon sent a barrage of shots that drove Keith back, and let me land a stream on DX. There was some dispute as to whether or not Jon was hit by DX; I was so focused on my target that I couldn't see, but DX swore he hit him. Scott was pretty sure the stream fell short though, so we now led 1-0.
We ran back around to our side with the trees, which gave us a better defensive position. Unfortunately they ran around fast enough to get past the narrow section and nab a spot behind some of the trees. From there on out it was similar to the column warfare that we did in the LBW pavilion CTF round. Nothing happened for a while, but I did shoot Keith near the end of the battle, which gave us a 2-0 victory at the end. There was another cool-looking spot I wanted to fight at, but we decided that we'd better get going if we wanted to avoid driving home in darkness. So that wrapped up Frozen Fury, the first community war held in December, and probably the coldest war I've ever faught in. After getting back to the parking lot, we packed up, emptied the guns, and hit the road. We got home in the dark, but it was light for most of the trip.
Some closing thoughts; this was definitely one of the most fun wars we've had so far. The Long Beach West rounds were amazing, and the long battle was a lot of fun despite the fact that most of it was a seige. I think my favorite battle of the war was either the pavilion CTF, or the theater rounds; can't decide. Either way, I've found that I really enjoy urban warfare, possibly even more than forest warfare. It makes me sad knowing that we'll never get to fight at LBW again. Hopefully someone will be able to find another place like that where we can have urban warfare.
As far as combat goes, I'm really proud of the performance that my team showed (except for the time when we somehow let M4 get into our base in CTF...
). We worked together better than we ever have in the past, and everyone played their part in helping us kick butt (we outscored the other team 13-4). Individually, Scott once again showed incredible performance (his username should be "Death Machine" or something, haha), almost getting more kills than everybody else combined (he got 6, and everyone else got 9 or 10). Also, those four kills on the enemy side were all by marauder. Maybe we should name him MVP of the SS Liberation Front. As far as my performance goes, I'm pretty satsfied. I didn't get a whole lot of kills, but I did my job, and I think I did it pretty well (not meaning to brag, of course). Remember, water warfare is not all about making kills. Overall, DX did a good job managing time on Saturday, and I think we got the most rounds we could out of the day, considering that we had to drive aways to get to LBW, and walked two miles to get to the buildings. I would like to thank DX for hosting this epic event, M4 for coming up and getting the whole thing started, and everyone else who showed up for... showing up, haha. One of the better wars I'd say (still not sure which was my favorite so far). I can't wait for 2013's wars. If we get enough hardcore participants, I would like to try something new. I'll bring it up when the time is right...
I have some videos, but they aren't that great, so I'm not going to post them. The real good stuff is on DX's "gun-cam". Hopefully he'll post those videos soon (hint hint). Before I sign off, here's a picture of me with my pistol (it's shooting, but you can't really see it).
I swear, my arms are bigger now than they were before this weekend and the weekend after. Water warfare is really good exercise. Oh yeah, speaking of the weekend after (the 9th), I'm not going to post a war story for that because it was more of a get-together than an actual war. We had some fun battles, and I probably would write about it normally (I did with Ulster Landing), but I want to use the free time I have before next semester for other things. I will post pictures from it though; either later today or tomorrow.
Until next time!
~SEAL
