I'm in Kentucky for the next two weeks and decided to reach out to theoncomingstorm about getting together over the weekend. We picked out the great saltpeter cave as a point of meetup.
So, naturally it was in the 50s and rainy by the time Saturday came around. Because, that always seems to be the case with our wars. To get even more stereotypical, Storm got lost on the way, and GPS/phone service was not available anywhere near the park.
When the infamous El Camino finally did pull up we were greated by the park "caretaker" who was pretty upset with us being there. He said that the park was private. I pointed out that neither the website nor Google maps had mentioned this and that other people had just entered the park. The caretaker gave a vague explanation that Boy Scouts were allowed and then tried to blow us off again. He finally offered an alternate suggestion, a smaller cave with a waterfall down the road. We never found the smaller cave which I'm pretty sure he made up.
We are used to getting chased out after beginning to fight, now we had been denied entrance, and at this rate maybe they'll send the cops to our homes while we're packing just to try to stop us
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
I traditionally try to ease new people into the fight and split up community members in the first few battles to make things more even, they were pretty cocky, so I went straight for Stephen and I vs Josiah and Justin. 275 and 1200 (12k?) us vs Gorgon and Pulse Master them.
The thing is, they were good, and I mean very good. They could tapshoot, backstep, were quick, and had limitless endurance. Who were these guys? Typically new people handle Gorgons rather terribly. They are big and awkward. But not Justin. He was aggressive and kept pressing the attack with burst after burst of tap shots, utilizing the Gorgon's superior field life and moving like he had a much smaller blaster. This ended up being a very close fight that Stephen and I didn't pull away until the end, winning by 5 to 3 (I think).
Next Josiah and I took on Justin and theoncomingstorm. 1200 and Pulse Master vs Gorgon and 275. Normally I would take to maneuver war with this type of matchup. They had superior field life, our weapons were slightly more maneuverable and the 1200 arguably had the advantage in motion with it's greater output and stream speed. That being said, Justin was an endless well of endurance on top of having plenty of speed, and Stephen was not one to become easily fatigued either. I drew up a new battle plan. We would hold a corner of the park with the river to one side and the road to the other. There was no backing out, but we couldn't be flanked and we were at the top of a gentle slope and had just the slightest advantage in elevation. This plan worked out well, and we didn't get flanked or split apart until the end of the match. Josiah was very accurate with the Pulse Master and I was able to call switches and get us to use whatever cover was available (even a parking sign) to keep their superior rate of fire at bay. Despite taking up in the corner of the park this round featured a lot of maneuvering and was very fast pace. We won 5 to 4.
I'll post part II later,but here are some photos from the fight (I'm vaccinated and they were either vaccinated or carrying antibodies)