Re: Soakemore 2016
Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 8:11 am
Look, I'll just say I know 3 people who still thought there was unnecessary downtime at points because we didn't have things listed out. Two were pretty upset, and no, it wasn't me. No one is advocating to sticking to a strict schedule, only having one and or some team ideas on hand to expedite things. If one or 2 people show up it's easier to switch people around than it is to start from scratch. Some people don't like standing around in the rain for more than 10 minutes. I would rather they have fun and want to come back than risk people not being involved or as interested. We need to be inclusive and considerate of everyone.
I've already started film editing. Ben, we should trade footage! If Sam or Rob are interested in making the master video I'd be happy to supply you with the film. My camera wasn't really that great, but for $18 I am happy, and there is a decent amount of usable footage. What I'm doing right now is cutting out the idle time and everything that is way too blurry to use. The end file will be all action and we can make a movie from there.
With that being said, this was crazy fun. Here's my little round by round.
Round 1: OHS
Duxburian CPS 2000, SEAL CPS 1200, Van James CPS 10k, Chief Vanquisher, David XP 150?, HBWW Gargantua (victorious)
vs
Marauder CPS 2000, Scott CPS 1000, Chupacabra CPS 1000, SSCBen XP 150, Tiff Blazer, Kit MD 6000, Gordon Vanquisher
Round 2: CTF + OHS
Duxburian CPS 1000?, Marauder MXL, SEAL CPS 1200, Tiff Blazer, Kit MD 6000, HBWW CPS 1200 (victorious)
vs
Chief Vanquisher, Scott CPS 1000, Van James CPS 10k, Chupacabra CPS 1000, Gordan Vanquisher, David ??, Ben XP 150
Round 3: Four Team OHK
Marauder SC 600, Van James XP 150, HBWW Gargantua
vs
Scott, Duxburian, Kit MD 6000 (victorious)
vs
Brandon, Danny, Gordan?
vs
Chief, Ben?, David?
Round 4: VIP
Kit CPS 2000 (VIP), Van James CPS 10k, Marauder SC 600, Scott Vindicator, Gordan Vanquisher, Ben XP 150 (victorious)
vs
David CPS 2000 (VIP), Duxburian CPS 1000, Chief Vanquisher, Danny CPS 1000, SEAL CPS 1200, HBWW CPS 2500
Round 5: Long OHS
Chief Vanquisher, Marauder SC 600, Chupacabra CPS 1000, David CPS 1000, HBWW CPS 2500 (victorious)
vs
Duxburian CPS 1000, Van James CPS 10k, Scott Vindicator, Gordan Vanquisher, SEAL CPS 1200
Rob and I were only on the same team 1 out of 5 rounds!!! Pretty amazing. Next time, we will have to join up more. Everyone watch out!
Every round was better than the last, for me at least. In the CTF round I slogged through water and mud up to my waist - carrying a Monster XL - and then crawled through and over fallen debris and giant logs to come up behind the enemy base. It would have been even more epic if I had grabbed the flag, but that honor went to Rob, and I think Ben?
This was the first war that I essentially fought entirely with new weapons. Well, I have had my 600 and Monster XL for a long time, but never used them in community wars. My 2000 went down in the first round with a pull valve/plunger issue. The 600, with modded 3x nozzle, proved to be quite capable in the light rounds.
The Monster XL was capable, just not in the way I thought it would be. I imagined that the MXL would make a lot of hits but also get me hit a lot. Actually, it made few hits and I didn't get hit much either. The wide spread of the double barrels seemed to keep people away, but I also couldn't move very quickly. In soakfests I was used to running around a lot with the MXL, so this was surprising to me. The difference, however, is that the MXL wasn't effecting my top speed at all, what it was effecting was my ability to dodge, and move quickly and with agility. In soakfests there seems to be a lot of running. In hit based rounds there is less running but a lot of dodging and quick back and forth movements. This caused me to play more conservatively. When Scott and I switched guns I immediately got a kill with his 1000 and then he finished the game with my MXL at point blank range. Amazing. I realized, today, how much of my game relies on athleticism, and using the MXL negates that athleticism. If I was defending in 1 flag CTF I think I wouldn't hesitate to pick up the MXL again, but I think I will be searching for a medium alternative in the mean time. My Gorgon performed pretty admirably before, the question is whether or not it will stay fully funcitonal. I need to put it back together.
This was the first war I've been to where the newer players all seemed quite competent. At this point it's probably not fair to call David a "new" player, but he is newer, and I think he was definitely tougher this go around than at Frozen Fury. This was Kit's first war, and it certainly didn't seem like it. One positive thing I'll say about Kit is that he has a good tactical mind and works well on a team. He also eliminated me in a double kill on the 4 team OHK round. Gordan was tough and really fit right in. The vanquisher was fairly impressive this war, and Keith pointed out that he actually had more kills with his Vanquisher than with the 1200 or 2500, and so he actually decided to stick with using it. Also, I don't think it's been pointed out yet, but Sam and Van James do really fight well together. These guys were moving up and down the battlefield with only hand signals. That OHK team with the three of us was actually a very good combination. Lastly, it was great meeting finally Ben after, I think it's been 10 years now!
We really should fight more in Maryland. If this was in CT or NY I don't think I would have been able to come. I could probably be able to make wars in MD every other month, possibly more. The staff for the island did seem surprised that we were there, however. This was not on Scott as I know he made contact with them multiple times before. Apparently all of the "civilians" were family members of uncle so and so who ran the island. One lady asked Tiff what we were doing here and if she was ok and then stared at us really odd a few times. Didn't like that, but hey, the battleground was great regardless of what they thought.
Thanks Scott for hosting this.
I've already started film editing. Ben, we should trade footage! If Sam or Rob are interested in making the master video I'd be happy to supply you with the film. My camera wasn't really that great, but for $18 I am happy, and there is a decent amount of usable footage. What I'm doing right now is cutting out the idle time and everything that is way too blurry to use. The end file will be all action and we can make a movie from there.
With that being said, this was crazy fun. Here's my little round by round.
Round 1: OHS
Duxburian CPS 2000, SEAL CPS 1200, Van James CPS 10k, Chief Vanquisher, David XP 150?, HBWW Gargantua (victorious)
vs
Marauder CPS 2000, Scott CPS 1000, Chupacabra CPS 1000, SSCBen XP 150, Tiff Blazer, Kit MD 6000, Gordon Vanquisher
Round 2: CTF + OHS
Duxburian CPS 1000?, Marauder MXL, SEAL CPS 1200, Tiff Blazer, Kit MD 6000, HBWW CPS 1200 (victorious)
vs
Chief Vanquisher, Scott CPS 1000, Van James CPS 10k, Chupacabra CPS 1000, Gordan Vanquisher, David ??, Ben XP 150
Round 3: Four Team OHK
Marauder SC 600, Van James XP 150, HBWW Gargantua
vs
Scott, Duxburian, Kit MD 6000 (victorious)
vs
Brandon, Danny, Gordan?
vs
Chief, Ben?, David?
Round 4: VIP
Kit CPS 2000 (VIP), Van James CPS 10k, Marauder SC 600, Scott Vindicator, Gordan Vanquisher, Ben XP 150 (victorious)
vs
David CPS 2000 (VIP), Duxburian CPS 1000, Chief Vanquisher, Danny CPS 1000, SEAL CPS 1200, HBWW CPS 2500
Round 5: Long OHS
Chief Vanquisher, Marauder SC 600, Chupacabra CPS 1000, David CPS 1000, HBWW CPS 2500 (victorious)
vs
Duxburian CPS 1000, Van James CPS 10k, Scott Vindicator, Gordan Vanquisher, SEAL CPS 1200
Rob and I were only on the same team 1 out of 5 rounds!!! Pretty amazing. Next time, we will have to join up more. Everyone watch out!
Every round was better than the last, for me at least. In the CTF round I slogged through water and mud up to my waist - carrying a Monster XL - and then crawled through and over fallen debris and giant logs to come up behind the enemy base. It would have been even more epic if I had grabbed the flag, but that honor went to Rob, and I think Ben?
This was the first war that I essentially fought entirely with new weapons. Well, I have had my 600 and Monster XL for a long time, but never used them in community wars. My 2000 went down in the first round with a pull valve/plunger issue. The 600, with modded 3x nozzle, proved to be quite capable in the light rounds.
The Monster XL was capable, just not in the way I thought it would be. I imagined that the MXL would make a lot of hits but also get me hit a lot. Actually, it made few hits and I didn't get hit much either. The wide spread of the double barrels seemed to keep people away, but I also couldn't move very quickly. In soakfests I was used to running around a lot with the MXL, so this was surprising to me. The difference, however, is that the MXL wasn't effecting my top speed at all, what it was effecting was my ability to dodge, and move quickly and with agility. In soakfests there seems to be a lot of running. In hit based rounds there is less running but a lot of dodging and quick back and forth movements. This caused me to play more conservatively. When Scott and I switched guns I immediately got a kill with his 1000 and then he finished the game with my MXL at point blank range. Amazing. I realized, today, how much of my game relies on athleticism, and using the MXL negates that athleticism. If I was defending in 1 flag CTF I think I wouldn't hesitate to pick up the MXL again, but I think I will be searching for a medium alternative in the mean time. My Gorgon performed pretty admirably before, the question is whether or not it will stay fully funcitonal. I need to put it back together.
This was the first war I've been to where the newer players all seemed quite competent. At this point it's probably not fair to call David a "new" player, but he is newer, and I think he was definitely tougher this go around than at Frozen Fury. This was Kit's first war, and it certainly didn't seem like it. One positive thing I'll say about Kit is that he has a good tactical mind and works well on a team. He also eliminated me in a double kill on the 4 team OHK round. Gordan was tough and really fit right in. The vanquisher was fairly impressive this war, and Keith pointed out that he actually had more kills with his Vanquisher than with the 1200 or 2500, and so he actually decided to stick with using it. Also, I don't think it's been pointed out yet, but Sam and Van James do really fight well together. These guys were moving up and down the battlefield with only hand signals. That OHK team with the three of us was actually a very good combination. Lastly, it was great meeting finally Ben after, I think it's been 10 years now!
We really should fight more in Maryland. If this was in CT or NY I don't think I would have been able to come. I could probably be able to make wars in MD every other month, possibly more. The staff for the island did seem surprised that we were there, however. This was not on Scott as I know he made contact with them multiple times before. Apparently all of the "civilians" were family members of uncle so and so who ran the island. One lady asked Tiff what we were doing here and if she was ok and then stared at us really odd a few times. Didn't like that, but hey, the battleground was great regardless of what they thought.
Thanks Scott for hosting this.